Cavs opener

[vrbryant]

They gave the Jermaine O'Neal-less/Reggie Miller-less Pacers a real good game. Double OT - the only reason it went to a 2nd is because LeBron had to split a pair of free throws at the end of the first to merely tie the game. Per the team, I offer the following observations.

Eric Snow sucks. You suck, you faggot.

Drew Gooden sucks. You suck, you faggot.

As much as I hate to admit it, Robert Traylor seems to have taken to Silas' system like a Robert Traylor to a BBQ buffet line. I think he had something like 10 pts, 7 rebs, a couple dimes and two blocks in his first 15 minutes on the floor. I hope that won him the starting PF job.

Z had an extremely quite 35 points, as usual.

LeBron's game tying 3PTer in regulation was sublime. I imagine him hearing nothing but white noise in moments like that.

I don't like Jeff McInnins at the point. Spends too much time trying to create his own shot.

Sasha Pavlovic is better than average. Should probably be starting.

I'm hoping, vs. the Heat tonight, they start the following:

G - Snow (I hate him, but he's got a better chance of successfully guarding Wade than McInnis)

G - Pavlovic

F - James

F - Traylor (flat outplayed Gooden, and he doesn't look like a 6'10" penis)

C - Z (here's hoping he can play 75+ games again this year)

[tibor75]

Boozer had a very good first game, 20-10.

[buckzip]

How can you say guys suck after 1 of 82 games?

I think they will be fine. This year alot of these young guys get some experience, and make the playoffs. Next off season they add a top free agent, or 2, and take the next step.

I feel they have a great nucleus to start a championship run. Their young guys just need to mature, and they need to add 1-2 pieces.

As for Boozer, I remember all the idiots saying he will suck without LeBron to feed him the ball. I think he will be fine, and probably be an all star.

[exhawg]

I hope they continue to start Gooden and give him more PT at least for a few weeks or else he is going to go in the tank and be worthless for the rest of the season. He just needs to play like he did in the preseason. Traylor did look pretty good though. Snow seemed to shoot pretty well and play pretty good D. McInnis didn't look good. Bron was 1-3 on clutch shots at the end of the game/OT. The Cavs should have won if he had been able to hit both freethrows at the end of the first OT. Z has to love playing with Lebron. Half his points are nice easy dump-offs from Lebron.

[Piney]

I liked what Silas did last night. Even though Gooden has more talent he rode the hot player (ie Traylor). Traylor won't be able to do that every night, more like once every 2 weeks. But you let him go on a night like last night.

But after saying that... Gooden is your man and you have to keep starting him because when he gets hot... oh boy!

Couple things I took away last night...

1) We better sign Z now... cuz I have this feeling he is going to have a HUGE year and his price tag will go up as the year goes on.

2) LeBron, Traylor really ain't athletic enough or tall enough to catch lob entry passes when someone is fronting him. Especially when you stand there for a minute trying to figure out how to lob it in.

3) Did Lucious Harris touch the ball? Put LeBron at guard and Sasha at the 3 and see what happens.

4) Anyone else worried we played 2OT and Z played 99% of the game and tonight he goes up against Shaq? Who got to rest his hamstring by playing only 20 minutes against a pathetic Nets team?

[WestEnd]

does jeff mcinnis ever play any defense at all?

[Brutus1]

Originally Posted by tibor75

Boozer had a very good first game, 20-10.

Well worth 17mil per year.

More impressive in the Cavs game was 18 boards.

I'll give Drew Gooden a pass for last night. I think tonight with Z getting punk'd by Shaq, they'll be more boards for the others to pick up. Gooden should get double digit boards tonight. I'd rather him start and have Traylor come off the bench.

You hit it right on the head VR having Snow guard Wade.

[Bucklion]

Do you guys think this is a playoff team this season?

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

I've watched some of the Cavs games, and I must say I was perplexed at what was going on. They kept isoloating Traylor 15 ft. away from the basket, while Lebron seemed to be a decoy.

I'm not sure if this was going on the whole game, because I didn't watch it all. However, the loss of Boozer seems to be hurting this team. The bright side is that they have played two of the better Eastern Conference teams pretty close. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this slow start.

[Brutus1]

Playoff team ? I think so. Maybe as high as the #4 seed. Of course that all depends on the health of #23 and Z.

LeBron has really seemed to take to the leadership role so far. He's progressing well in his game. He made some great shots going to his left last night. His passing still amazes me.

Gooden played better last night. I'll take 11 boards any time from him. His ft shooting was 10-12, so I was happy with that.

Jeff Mac needs to pass more and shoot less.

What the heck was Lucious Harris the starting sg for? 0-4 in 18 minutes is not what you expect out of your starting sg.

While Z only had 8 pts. I thought he did a surprisingly good job defending Shaq. Any time you hold him to 7-17 shooting, you have to be very happy. Z held his own defensively forcing some longer shots by Shaq that you wouldn't normalyy see. Before, it just seemed Shaq would back down Z and either dunk or shoot a 2 footer. I'll give credit to Z.

This team still needs a good shooter, though. Perhaps Luke Jackson can be that shooter at some point.