Cleveland 100, Washington 115: (Breaking another streak)

Just a couple of days after the Cavaliers snapped their 26-game losing streak against the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland helped snap another losing streak.

The Cavaliers fell to the Washington Wizards 115-100 and ended the Wizards 0-25 mark on the road this season. This gave Washinton their first road win of the season and snapped the longest losing streak on the road for any team.

Washington was four losses shy of an NBA record for consecutive road loses set by Dallas in the 1992-1993 season at 29-straight.

For the Cavaliers, they never were able to recover after a hot start by the Wizards. Washington started the game 9 of 11 from the field and Cleveland trailed by 12 points after the first quarter.

Nick Young torched the Cavaliers with 31 points, and the top overall pick from last years draft, John Wall played a solid game scoring 19 points and had 14 dimes to help the Wizards snap the streak.

The Cavaliers never had a chance after the first quarter, they trailed by as many as 22 in the first half and trailed by 25 points in the third quarter.

Antawn Jamison, facing his former team, finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds. JJ Hickson also helped out with 16 points and 13 rebounds as well.

The Cavaliers did make it a game towards the end. After Jamario Moon's three ball, the Cavaliers got within 11 points but a couple of easy baskets by Andray Blatche put the game out of reach.

The Cavaliers failed to win back-to-back games for just the second time this season.

Cleveland entered the game as healthy as they have been for a while. With Mo Willams back in the starting role and Leon Powe being active the Cavaliers started to look full again (minus Andy V).

However, the Cavaliers may have started the game healthy but didn't leave that way.

Daniel "Boobie" Gibson left the game with a strained quadriceps in the second quarter and did not return.

This is a blow because Boobie is one of Cleveland's best players and outside shooters.

Ramon Sessions, who returned to the bench because of the return of Mo Williams had 14 points and 6 assists in just over 24 minutes of action. While Mo Williams scored 10 points and had 7 turnovers.

After the game, Byron Scott showed some frustration calling the game "Ridiculous" and "Sleepwalking through the start of the game".

The Cavaliers host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and then play Houston and New York in trying to start a winning streak, or try to avoid another losing streak.

Preseason Game #2 - Cavaliers 83, Wizards 97

The past few weeks in Cleveland, the weather has been cold and rainy. That cold weather seemed to pass right on through Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night, in a preseason game that featured the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards.

The Cavaliers lost to the Wizards 83-97, on a night where Cleveland turned the ball over 26 times and shot a miserable 35 percent from the field.

Learning Coach Scott’s new offense may have been a reason for some of the poor play.

"We're still in the crawling stage," said Scott. "We knew this was going to take some time."

With the new system in place, JJ Hickson and “Boobie” Gibson looked comfortable. Scoring 16 and 10 respectfully, each played well. Hickson also ended up with 8 rebounds with Gibson looked very comfortable running the point.

The newest Cavaliers that came over from Minnesota also looked good. Ryan Hollins made several key blocks down low and grabbed a game high 14 rebounds. The teams only 7 footer, Hollins, has made it known that he can be the man in the middle, or at least play a big part for the Cavaliers this season.

As for Sessions, the point guard played well tonight. He had several moves that showed the somewhat filled arena why the Cavaliers went out and traded for him. He got the rack at will and pushed the tempo nicely. Ramon ended up with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

As for the Washington Wizards, things didn’t go much better, shooting 40 percent for the game with 12 turnovers.

Missing his first 9 shots, there wasn’t much time for the John Wall “Dance”. Wall didn't come out strong, and looked like a first-year rookie. Coming off his preseason debut in which he scored 21 points, Wall didn’t get his first basket until the 3:15 mark in the third quarter.

However, Wall seemed to settle down at the end of the game, scoring 12 points in the last duration of the game to go along with his 9 assists. "It's a learning experience," Wall said of his second game as a pro. "I told everybody it was going to be up and down. I had a good game the other day. This was an average game, like a C or a D."

For the Cavaliers, the biggest issue is their lack of depth in the frontline. Washington had their way tonight down low, and even though the Cavaliers out-rebounded them by 11, Washington picked apart the Cavs.

Yi ended the game with 16 points but it was an easy 16. Blatche also had some easy buckets and the Wizards got inside without a problem. The Cavaliers hopefully will address this issue sometime soon, knowing you can’t win often without a good post player in the NBA.

Starting point guard Mo Williams, who has a groin injury that occurred in the beginning of training camp, was out again.

Antawn Jamison also sat out tonight on a coaches decision to give him rest, and Andy Varejao was also out for personal issues.

The Cavaliers next preseason game will take place in Houston, where they face the Rockets this Sunday.

All for One.  One for All.

Keep your heads up Cleveland.

Video Highlights

Preseason Game #2 Preview and the "John Wall effect"

Much like the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Washington Wizards are a new team with some fresh faces. 

First you have Gilbert Arenas, the recently-troubled veteran member of the team who has represented the franchise in the past.  The Wizards are turning a new page over from the Arenas-era, to effectively hand the team over to John Wall.  Washington was fortunate enough to lock up the #1 draft pick, and thus were handed the keys to the best college player in recent memory.

John Wall has an explosive first-step, and will likely be the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. 

In my opinion, Arenas is still a formidable option at the Point, but he will see a reduced role this year as the team will want to get Wall the experience he needs to lead this team in the future.  Along with Chris Paul, John marks a player who represents the new generation of stud point guards in the Association. 

Don't forget about another off-season acquistion, the underrated Kirk Hinrich.  As a member of the Bulls last year, he saw significant minutes and was simultaneously expected to mentor the young but talented Derrick Rose.  While he knows he will be be expected to mentor Wall in a similar fashion, he still expects to get a fair share of minutes with Washington this season. 

"That comes with the territory of being a veteran in this league," Hinrich said before his first preseason game with the Washington Wizards.  "When you're a veteran on a team that's got a lot of young guys, I feel like it's your responsibility to help bring them up right.  But I'm here to play as well."

Don't count him out either.  Head Coach Flip Saunders has already made it clear that Hinrich will at least begin the season starting at the 2 position, with Wall at the point.  That means Arenas will be coming off the bench, and at least for now, he said he's more than okay with that.

However, with 3 talented players who all originally played point guard, one might anticipate Washington making a move that would send Arenas out of town, effectively removing his long-time stamp on the franchise.  Like the Cavaliers, the Wizards want to get their new players into the mix and create a new feel for the team.

It should be interesting to see the dynamic John Wall in action tonight at Quicken Loans Arena, in a matchup with our Cleveland Cavaliers.  Byron has declared that players who didn't see as much action in Tuesday's game will see more time on the floor tonight.  That should bode well for Christian Eyenga, Jawad Williams, and maybe even Manny Harris. 

The season is quickly approaching, with only 20 more days until the opener against Boston.  Byron needs to see what exactly he has, and what lineups work best.  Wall's explosiveness should be a good test for a Cavaliers defense who has had trouble stopping quick guards such as Rajon Rondo in the past.  Maybe if we're lucky, we'll even get to see him do the John Wall Dance. 

Preseason Game #1 - Cavaliers 87, Bobcats 72

As I sat watching the Cavaliers in their first game of the 2010 season, I couldn't help but notice how different this team is from last year.  New coach, new players, and a new attitude.  Gone are the days where LeBron drew the attention of the entire defense, opening up easy shots for other players.  No more endless media scrutiny from ESPN (that also went to South Beach.)  No, this is a completely different team with an altogether different mindset.

There were definitely some other things you couldn't help but notice.  One, was the lack of J.J. Hickson in the starting lineup.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sold on Byron Scott.  But why was Joey Graham starting at the 3? 

When J.J. did make his way into the game, the Cavaliers endlessly sent the ball to him, almost in a LeBron-esque manner.  How much did we hear about Hickson's improved jump shot, and his new confidence in it?  By my count, he shot one jumper, and it clanked off the rim.  Far more often, J.J. was given the ball outside of the paint, expected to make things happen.  Granted, he does have a quick first move to the basket, but he didn't look like the player we all are expecting him to be. 

Another thing I noticed was the play of Ryan Hollins.  Ryan was given the start, and it was clear everything thats been said about him is true.  Sure, he's an athletic 7 footer who can run the floor.  If you watched the game, you will have realized that this concept does not translate to productivity as well as efficiency on the floor.  Hollins looked out of control, and quite frankly he was physically dominated.  He's exactly what we expected;  Ryan represents a raw and unfinished product who hasn't mastered his craft.  I believe it was in the 3rd quarter when he picked up his 5th foul.  He would exit the game and not return.  Let's hope to see better things from him in the future.

Comparable to the unpolished look Hollins provided, Samardo Samuels did not impress me.  Maybe part of it was the fact that he wasn't sure he was even going to play, but he did get inserted into the game.  He tried to move way too fast and didn't mesh well with the other players on the floor.  Maybe it's just me, but it looks like he could have used another year in college.

Now, let's talk about the play of Ramon Sessions.  He definitely was one of the few players attempting to push the offense down the floor, but he sometimes got into trouble and forced things that weren't there.  He had several turnovers and couldn't really create good opportunities for his own shot.  Under his direction, I didn't really see the flow I had expected.  I think Byron wanted to see a little more out of him as well.

Jawad Williams did not see the floor until the 4th quarter.  For a player you'd assume is challenging for the starting SF position, that couldn't have given him too much confidence.  Sure, Byron said that he was just trying to figure out what might work, but get him in the game earlier.  Jawad looked out-of-sync offensively and couldn't really make good on his opportunities. 

I'm not trying to question Scott's lineup strategy in the first preseason game.. well actually yes I am.  Arguably the most athletic player on the team this year is Christian Eyenga.  Why not get him into the game and get him a taste of some NBA action?  Another major issue:  why not get some of the training camp invites more playing time?  How can you know what you really have until you see them in game action.  Personally, I would have loved to see Manny Harris get a chance to show what he can do.  I refuse to accept the thought of cutting him from the team until we see what exactly he has in his arsenal.  Speaking of which, shoutout to UMhoops.com who linked my last article about Manny.  We appreciate the love.

My last major bone to pick is the so-called "Princeton" offense, or lack-there-of.  Too many times I caught myself wondering why we were running a halfcourt offense.  This team is not going to win many games if we play that sort of basketball.  Byron clearly is conditioning this team to run the floor.. the entire game.  Let's not get into some of the bad habits this team had from last year.  I expected to see more of an uptempo feel.  Enough setting up the offense and attempting to play through the big-men we clearly are lacking.

Enough about the things that bothered me, because in all reality, the Cavaliers put on a pretty good show.  Most of these things can either be corrected or improved, and we still won the game by 15 points.  Mind you we were without two of our biggest impact players, Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao.

Daniel "Boobie" Gibson led all scorers with 19 points.  He has noticeably improved his game from last year, and looks far more confident this year. 

Boobie's jump shot is undeniably pure, and we can only hope to see more of that. 

Not only was he knocking down perimeter shots, he was also looking to drive to the hole, and it translated into point production.  When's the last time Gibson shot 10 free throws in a game?

Anthony Parker can still shoot the basketball, and proved it with multiple jump shots.  He really seems to have great focus when he's on the floor, and he probably will cement his starting position at the 2.  Parker was actually pretty fun to watch last night.

Jamario Moon might just be the most underrated player on this roster.  His energy level was a huge boost for the Cavaliers, and he made several nice plays that made him stick out from the rest of the crowd.  One was a great/lucky block.  He added a few memorable dunks as well.  Jamario might have had the best game out of everyone on the floor.  If I had to name a starter at the SF position after last night, I'd say the nod would have to go to Jamario.

The Cavaliers pulled away in the 4th quarter, thanks in large part to the terrible shooting of Stephen Jackson.  It seemed like every time he pulled the trigger on a 3 it was always going to be a brick.  Gerald Wallace didn't have his best night either;  The Bobcats will need both of these players to perform on a nightly basis to be competitive this year.

There is however, another player who is worthy of mention.  In fact, it's almost embarassing that I haven't mentioned him yet.  I must say it was a shock to see.. an NBA legend representing the Charlotte Bobcats?

No, I'm not talking about Michael Jordan.  He was okay from what I've heard, but there was a more notable figure on the sidelines.  If you guessed Larry Brown, you're wrong again.  Do you even know who #24 on the Bobcats is this year?

Ahhh.. it's all starting to make sense now.  Darius.Miles.  Say it one more time out loud.  Darius Miles.  Really?  I felt honored to watch in person, a player with such grace and presence as the great D-Miles.  Don't look at the statistics, just believe me when I tell you he made the impact that was expected of him.  In fact, he played so well that he should maybe cement his chance of surviving another week of training camp.  That's right, he doesn't even have a guaranteed contract.  Something is clearly wrong with the world we live in.

To sum everything up: 

• The Cavaliers blew out the Bobcats, on the same day they unveiled new jerseys as well as a new teamshop.  We actually played halfway decent defensively, and beat a team who arguably has more talent than we do.
• There is a lot of room for improvement, namely the insertion of Manny Harris into the game.
• Everytime the Cavs scored, I said proudly.. "Anddd the Cavs are better than the Bobcats"
• The Legend of Darius Miles exists.    

The way I see it, the Cavaliers are off to a running start.. pun intended.  Let's hope we can keep up the good karma and show John Wall how to do the "John Wall Dance".  Ladies, look at your man, now back at Darius, now back at your man.  Sadly, he's not Darius.

We can't all be perfect.

Larry Bird Considered?

When the Cavaliers took the floor for the first time on Tuesday night in the post-LeBron era, Byron Scott was the Head Coach on the sidelines.

However, Byron Scott may have not been the only alumni from the once classic Lakers-Celtics rivalry in the 1980’s the Cavs considered.  Cleveland is believed to have considered Larry Bird, the Pacers team president and still to this day a legend.

It is confirmed by sources close to the situation that the Cavaliers did indeed contact Bird, before naming Scott the new coach on July 2^nd. Larry Bird did take the phone call, but it is believed that the call was quick and didn't get anywhere.

Bird let Cleveland know that he wished to remain in the front-office with the Pacers and has all but ruled out coaching again, because of health and family reasons. Larry Bird was a successful coach from 1997-98 to 1999-2000, posting a 147-67 record while gaining a significant amount of respect from players around the league.

Although many players respected Bird around the league, Byron Scott was named head coach. He receieved strong recommendations from Chris Paul and Jason Kidd.  Winning three rings as a player, Scott knows how to win it all.  He also took the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 as a coach, and won Coach of the Year honors with New Orleans in 2008.

John Wall is coming in town on Thursday and I will be watching him in person as the Cavaliers take on the Washington Wizards. Should be interesting, let’s go Cavs!

One for All. All for One

Keep your heads up Cleveland

P.S. The new team shop looks utterly extravagant