Report: Eric Mangini Hired by Browns By Week’s End
January 7, 2009A Couple Quick Announcements
January 7, 2009Charlotte Bobcats (12-22) vs
Cleveland Cavaliers (27-6)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
7:00 PM EST
FSNOH/WTAM
The Cavaliers will try to get their groove back tonight as they take on the Charlotte Bobcats at home. In theory this should be a somewhat easy game for the Cavaliers. Cleveland should be up for this game coming off an embarrassing loss in Washington the other day, the Cavaliers are well rested, and the Bobcats are playing a road game on the tail end of back-to-back games. Normally that is a recipe for success for Cleveland. However, the Bobcats just knocked off the Celtics last night, and tonight they will be ready for the #2 team in the East. If the Cavaliers don’t find a way to get their offense back on track tonight, this could be another long and frustrating game to watch.
Projected Starting Lineups
Charlotte Bobcats:
-G Raymond Felton (13.3 ppg, 6.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 12.68 PER)
-G Matt Carroll (4.1 ppg, 0.7 apg, .268 3P%, 7.42 PER)
-F Gerald Wallace (17.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 18.77 PER)
-F Boris Diaw (10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.5 bpg, 14.38 PER)
-C Emeka Okafor (13.8 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 19.14 PER)
Injuries: Raja Bell (doubtful)
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (15.8 ppg, 4.0 apg, 0.8 spg, 16.25 PER)
-G Delonte West (12.4 ppg, 3.5 apg, .388 PER%, 15.24 PER)
-F LeBron James (27.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6.7 apg, 32.19 PER)
-F Ben Wallace (3.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 13.18 PER)
-C Anderson Varejao (9.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 16.99 PER)
Injuries: Eric Snow (out), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (out)
Team Efficiency Stats
Charlotte Bobcats:
-Off (91.2 ppg, 39.1 rpg, .444 FG%, .744 FT%, 19.6 apg, Eff-99.8, Rank-27)
-Def (93.8 ppg, 39.9 rpg, .449 FG%, Eff-103.2, Rank-16)
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (101.2 ppg, 42.0 rpg, .475 FG%, .765 FT%, 20.5 apg, Eff-110.0, Rank-1)
-Def (89.4 ppg, 38.2 rpg, .421 FG%, Eff-96.4, Rank-2)
Previous Matchups
Game Notes
In two previous matchups this season, the Cavaliers have simply crushed the Bobcats. This another one of those “on paper” games. On paper, the Cavaliers should experience similar results again in this game. The Bobcats are likely to be without Raja Bell, and no disrespect to Matt Carroll, but he has to be one of the worst starting players in the entire NBA right now.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have Daniel Gibson who, for whatever reason, just goes bananas against the Bobcats. In the first game Gibson went 10 of 14 from the field (4 of 6 from three) for 25 points, and then he followed that up with a 6 of 9 from the field (3 of 4 from three and 7 of 8 from the FT line) night for 22 points in the 2nd game against the Bobcats. It would be nice to see that kind of output from Gibson again as the Cavaliers are desperate for an offensive spark.
As far as the matchups go, you have to like the way the Cavaliers matchup. You can give the Bobcats the advantage at C and a slight advantage at PF (although it’s hard to compare as Diaw and Ben are VERY different players), but the backcourt is solidly in the Cavaliers favor.
The key for the Cavaliers in this game really doesn’t have anything to do with matchups or anything external like that. Instead, it’s going to be up to these players to figure out how to survive without Z’s offensive presence. It’s going to be up to these players to find ways to move without the ball and stay active, and to find ways to get easier baskets rather than taking all the high volume jump shots.
Defensively, the Cavaliers should be able to hold the Bobcats at a pretty low number again. With Varejao you may not get as many blocked shots and shot alterations that you get with Ilgauskas, but what you get instead is more quickness and hustle that can really annoy opposing big men. Okafor is a solid enough post player, and Varejao’s going to want to do his best to not let him get too many open looks. LeBron has done a marvelous job this year defending Gerald Wallace, and if you can contain Wallace and Okafor, it’s going to be awfully tough for the Bobcats to win this game.
Vegas Line
Cleveland –14
Over/Under 182.5
From The Outside Looking In
Queen City Hoops
BobcatsPlanet
Rufus On Fire
Bobcat Bonfire
Next Game For The Cavaliers
Friday, January 9, 2008
8:00 PM EST
Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers
ESPN/FSNOH/WTAM
9 Comments
The groove is back…but when I turned on the game I thought I was watching the Golden State Warriors…I didn’t like the jerseys at first until I saw the score was 43-16 and then I decided that I didn’t care what colors they wore as long as they kept playing like they have been for the majority of the year.
the cavs are currently the best team in the nba… HOT
For the first time I got to watch a broadcast from Fox sports in ohio. (Being as I live in NC it’s hard to do. At least not in a bar setting without audio) This brought me to the entertainment that is Austin Carr. 3 words.
“Dropping the Hammer.”
I think I’ll go back to the sound off. I was looking for dull, rusty objects to jam in my ears by the 13th time I heard that.
I understand why non-Cavs fans loathe listening to AC call games, but for the life of me I cannot understand how any Cavs fan can hate listening to him. He’s the ultimate homer, and I love that about him.
I watched a few games when we were back in Ohio and I really was disappointed in AC’s game calling. He’s borderline unintelligible at times. Half the stuff he adds is unnecessary IMO. But to each his own. He’s better than most of the ESPN crews that I get when the games are on national TV.
GETTHATWEAKSTUFFOUTTAHERE
Here’s a Question:
Austin Carr or Charles Barkley?
Barkely hands down, the guy is so brutally honest at times it hurts.
However AC has grown on me (it took a few years), but now I love his catch phrases the way you love a stupid dog that can’t figure out how the doggy door works and keeps banging his head into the wall next to it. At first you’re upset because this level of stupid is in your house, then you learn to ignore it, then you realize its become a part of your natural surroundings and things just wouldn’t be right without that bit of stupid in your life. Thats how I feel about AC.
and Rock is right, AC is the ultimate homer, he was defending Lebron against that travel call all night, it was cracking me up. Anyone that can say it was a bad call with a straight face is definitely a homer.
DEEP IN THE Q!