Your Rob Ryan Weekend Update, Self-Loathing Edition
October 31, 2009While We’re Waiting…Cutler bad for the Bears & Browns, DA Expectations, Shaq(s) plays college football
November 1, 2009
Cleveland Cavaliers (1-2) vs
Charlotte Bobcats (1-1)
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Saturday, October 31, 2009
7:30 PM EST
FSOH/WTAM
***UPDATE – Brian Windhorst tweets that Delonte West is active and will come off the bench as a backup PG with no particular minute restrictions.
The Cavs return home for the second leg of a back-to-back after getting their first win of the season last night in Minnesota. The Cavaliers had a fairly comfortable lead for the majority of the game last night resulting in LeBron playing only 33 minutes and Shaq only 19 minutes. Charlotte is coming off of a strenuous double overtime win last night over the Knicks who staged a furious comeback on the Bobcats in the second half. In the span of 24 hrs, many of the national outlets and talking heads doomed the Cavs season after an 0-2 start while later comparing the 1-2 start to last year’s team that began the same way and furiously went on to dominate and win its next 8 games. The Cavaliers should pull their record to .500 tonight and get their first home win against a tired, injured, and mediocre Charlotte team.
Projected Starting Lineups
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (16.0 ppg, 3.7 apg, .455 3P%, .351 FG%)
-G Anthony Parker (9.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .556 3p%, .321 FG%)
-F Lebron James (28.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 8.7 apg, 1.67 bpg & spg)
-F Anderson Varejao (8.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .348 fg % 12.49 PER)
-C Shaquille O’Neal (9.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, .000 FT%, 10.65 PER)
Key Reserves: Daniel Gibson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamario Moon, Delonte West
Injuries: Leon Powe (Out), Delonte West (Doubtful)
Charlotte Bobcats:
-G Raymond Felton (15.5 ppg, 6.0 rbg, 6.0 apg, 15.56 PER)
-G Stephen Graham (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, .333 3P%, 7.64 PER)
-F Gerald Wallace (14.0 ppg, 13.5 rpg, .241 FG%, 6.89 PER)
-F Boris Diaw (11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.0 apg, .200 3P%)
– C Tyson Chandler (19.5 mpg, 3.0 ppg, 7.00 rpg, -8.20 PER)
Key Reserves: Vladimir Radmanovic, DJ Augustin
Injuries: Flip Murray (Out), Raja Bell (Doubtful)
Team Efficiency Stats
Cleveland Cavaliers:
– Off (94.7 ppg, 41.3 rpg, .413 FG%, 20.0 apg, 13.7 TOpg, Eff -98.6, Rank-20)
-Def (94.3 ppg, 44.3 rpg, 43.78 fg%, Eff-98.9, Rank-8)
Charlotte Bobcats:
– Off (80.5 ppg, 50.5 rpg, 34.94 FG%, 14. apg, 18.5 TOpg, Eff – 79.0, Rank-30)
-Def (96.0 ppg, 47.0 rpg, 40.81 FG%, Eff – 95.4, Rank – 6)
Previous Matchups
None
Future Matchups
1. Fri Nov 27 at Charlotte
2. Sun Jan 3 at Cleveland
3. Fri Feb 19 at Charlotte
Game Notes
It is only their third game of the season but the Bobcats are significantly banged up and are coming off a game in which Gerald Wallace played 53 minutes, Boris Diaw played 52 minutes, and Ray Felton played 49 minutes. I know it is early in the season and everyone should be fresh but it is a daunting task to go on the road for the second night of a back-to-back after your best players have played that many minutes the night before. In addition, both Diaw and starting center Tyson Chandler are not playing at 100% and are day-to-day on the injury report. Integral 2 guard Raja Bell is hurt and most likely not going to play and contributor Flip Murray is definitely out tonight. The Cavs have to win this Halloween home game.
The Cavs offense looked much better last night in Minneapolis and the defense really shut down the young Timberwolves squad. LeBron did not have to overextend himself in only 33 minutes of play. Andy Varejao looked particularly impressive last night running the floor and racking up a double-double. Once again, Shaq struggled and looked uncomfortable with the rest of the offense while Z looked much more comfortable with his long time teammates and scored 15 points. An injured Tyson Chandler and backup Nazr Mohammed should not provide much defensive resistance inside and let’s hope the Cavs try to get Shaq and Z involved again.
Defensively, the Cavs will have to clamp down on Charlotte’s quick guards. Both Ray Felton and DJ Augustin can control the tempo of the game and it will be difficult for the Cavs guards to keep them from penetrating. Charlotte’s offensive stats are woefully anemic although they are amplified by a historically poor offensive performance in Boston in game one where they scored only 59 points. A matchup with the Knicks would typically cure offensive struggles and it looked like that would be the case last night after the Bobcats came out and scored 51 in the first half. But Charlotte collapsed and scored only 31 points in the second half before they narrowly squeaked out a two point win in double OT. With both scoring guards Bell and Murray out, the Cavs have to keep Felton and Augustin from creating scoring opportunities and they should.
Random note…This is the last game in a four games in five nights stretch to kick off the season. The Cavs will be providing you entertainment on Halloween, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter this year. Enjoy your Halloween folks.
Vegas Line
Charlotte +14.5
Over/Under 182.5
From the Outside Looking In
Queen City Hoops ; Bobcats Planet ; Bobcats Baseline
Next Game for the Cavaliers
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
7:00 PM EST
Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers
FSOH/WTAM
6 Comments
If the team can’t get some healthy numbers off this team, they never will.
Bobcats are pretty good defensively actually, so it will be a good test to see if last night was a product of playing a bad opponent or if they are actually making strides
Delonte is playing tonight, accoridng to Windhorst’s twitter
I’ll prob post this again tomorrow in the comment section of the recap, but seeing Delonte out there just made my weekend. And only 1% in the team sense, 99% in the human/personal sense. Knowing that basketball keeps him sane, I am happier and happier everytime he so much as shoots, let alone makes a shot. I just feel better “knowing” (and I put that in quotation marks only ’cause nobody really knows what is going through his head) that he feels better being on the basketball court. I’m sure I speak for all of Cleveland when I say “Welcome back, Delonte. You were sorely missed – 1st as person, 2nd as a player.”
I heart Delonte West.
thanks goodness Delonte’s playing again. Wish I coulda seen that standing O to welcome him back….