Tag: LeBron James (Page 80 of 85)

      Look out for the Cavs

      November 16, 2008 /

      So far, my preseason optimism for the Cleveland Cavaliers seems justified. Mo Williams has given the team a legitimate compliment to LeBron James on the offensive end, LeBron has responded by taking his game to the next level, and the other players on the roster are contributing as well. Terry Pluto breaks it down.

      After their first nine games heading into Saturday night, the Cavs are a much better offensive team than at any time in the Mike Brown Era. They are averaging 100.7 points, sixth-best in the league and well above the 96.4 (ranked 24th) last season. The reason is the addition of Mo Williams, the decision to sometimes play a small lineup with LeBron James at power forward and the revival of Delonte West (10.0 points, 54 percent shooting). James has said he’s faced the fewest double teams at any point in his six-year career, and that’s because opponents have to defend Williams, West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Cavs are shooting 48 percent, third best in the NBA.
      It’s only been three weeks and all of this can break down, but the fact is Daniel Gibson, Wally Szczerbiak and Williams do have a history of making outside shots. West is gaining confidence. James is averaging 7.3 assists, passing to open teammates all over the floor as the team has improved its spacing. The Cavs are shooting 77 percent at the foul line, well above their 72 percent last season. It certainly helped that Williams (96 percent) made his first 23 foul shots.

      One area suffering a bit is rebounding, as James leads the team with 8.3. Ilgauskas (6.7) is playing farther from the basket than in the past, because he is more comfortable shooting medium-range jumpers. They still rank seventh in rebounding, but usually are in the top three. They had a recent stretch of being outrebounded in four of five games, which bothered Brown. He is pleased with the defense holding opponents to 42.5 percent shooting.

      OK, it is exciting to see the Cavs develop on offense, especially how West and Williams are molding together. When James goes to the bench, Williams helps the substitutes keep scoring because the guard can create his own shot. Anderson Varejao is playing with tremendous energy, and even shooting a shocking (for him) 70 percent at the foul line. Ben Wallace has had some strong games on defense. They look like a team that can win 55 games.

      Fantasy Basketball, General Sports, NBA

      Early-season NBA awards

      November 13, 2008 /

      The NBA season is less than a month old, but that’s not going to stop me from handing out some early-season awards…

      The most outstanding rookie award goes to…Rudy Fernandez.
      Derrick Rose is probably the front-runner for the ROY award, but Rudy has been better thus far. His PER is an eye-popping 23.89 (Rose’s is 17.78), which is second-best amongst all shooting guards, and it seems like night after night he’s making a highlight-reel play. Fernandez is averaging 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while shooting 48% from the field and 46% from long range. To top it off, he’s nailing 93% of his free throws and is registering 1.3 steals per game. His fine play is allowing the Blazers to be patient with Jerryd Bayless by running Brandon Roy at he point and Fernandez at off guard. Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Jason Thompson and Kevin Love deserve honorable mention.

      The league MVP goes to…LeBron James.
      Cleveland is 6-2 and that projects to a 62-win season. If the Cavs can accomplish that, LeBron is going to run away with the MVP award. He’s averaging 29.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists, and is shooting 49% from the field and 78% from the free throw line (which would be a career-high). A case could be made for Kobe Bryant, but he has a much better supporting cast and LeBron’s numbers are better across the board. (Besides, I don’t think voters would want to give Kobe back-to-back MVP awards.) Paul Pierce is a possibility, but he’s only shooting 41% from the field this season. Chris Paul is having an even better year than last season’s remarkable jump, but the Hornets are just 4-3 thus far. Atlanta’s Joe Johnson might be LeBron’s biggest challenger early in the season, but King James has him beat in virtually every statistical category. LeBron it is.

      The “I’m the real reason the Bucks traded away Mo Williams” award goes to…Ramon Sessions.
      Even though he’s playing fewer minutes (barely) than starter Luke Ridnour, Sessions is averaging more points (15.6 to 10.6), steals (1.1 to 0.9), has a better assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7 to 1.9), a better FG% (48% to 34%) and a better 3PT% (40% to 27%). I don’t think the Bucks are going to be too heartbroken when Ridnour’s contract is up after next season because it looks like Sessions, the former second-round pick, is Milwaukee’s point guard of the future. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal, so it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of contract he gets next summer.

      The “maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come to L.A.” award goes to…Baron Davis.
      First, he thinks he’s going to get to play with Elton Brand, but Brand bolts for Philly. Now the Clippers are 1-7 and are losing games by a league-worst 13.4 points per game. Their defense is bad, but their offense is worse. They have scored the second-fewest points per game (88.3) and have the second-worst field goal percentage (41%). For his part, Davis hasn’t done much to help the cause. He’s shooting 37% from the field and just 26% from long range. If this keeps up, the Clippers will be out of the playoff race by Christmas.

      The “boy, Devin Harris and those two first round picks are looking really good right now” award goes to…Mark Cuban.
      Last year, when the Dallas owner pulled the trigger on a trade that sent Devin Harris and two first round picks to the Nets for a 34 year-old Jason Kidd, I was very skeptical. It was a longshot that the trade would pan out, as it was debatable at the time of the trade whether or not Kidd was even better than Harris. Certainly, Harris had a lot more upside, and his stint in New Jersey has allowed him to flourish. The first of the two picks was used on Ryan Anderson, and he is playing pretty well in limited minutes this season. The second pick is an unprotected first rounder in 2010, which could be a lottery pick if the Mavs can’t get things straightened out. They are 2-5 and their top four players – Kidd (35), Dirk Nowitzki (30), Jason Terry (31) and Josh Howard (28) – are all at least 28 years-old. Barring an injury to one of these guys, the Mavs will probably be fighting for a playoff spot in April, but that’s not exactly what Cuban had in mind.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      LeBron James is on fire

      November 12, 2008 /

      Last night, LeBron James poured in 41 points for the third time in four games to lead the Cavs in a 99-93 win over my beloved Bucks.

      It’s no surprise that LeBron is leading the league in scoring (29.8 ppg), but it is impressive that he’s not showing any signs of fatigue after a busy summer that included a gold medal at the Bejing Olympics.

      Let’s take a look at his numbers over the last four games:

      37.5 ppg
      53-100 from the field (53%)
      38-46 from the free throw line (83%)
      9.0 rpg
      6.0 apg
      2.0 spg

      That’s a solid week of work. I am most impressed by his accuracy from the free throw line. He’s a career 73% free throw shooter, and if he’s able to get his percentage up around 80%, it will only help his game. Teams will be more reluctant to foul him, and when they do send him to the line, he can make them pay.

      But the best thing about this run is that the Cavs are on a five-game winning streak.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Allen Iverson debuts in Pistons’ loss

      November 8, 2008 /

      It was an inauspicious beginning to the AI Era in Detroit.

      Iverson himself was respectable (24p, 6a), but the Pistons lost to the Nets, 103-96.

      According to ESPN’s Chris Sheridan, the Billups-for-Iverson trade might be more about how Detroit feels about Rodney Stuckey than either of the players involved.

      When Detroit needed buckets in the fourth quarter, it was Stuckey running the show at the point, with Iverson off the ball.

      And when the Pistons needed stops in the second half, it was Stuckey who continually was getting burned by Devin Harris (career-high 38 points, with 22 of his 24 free throw attempts coming in a second half in which Detroit surrendered 64 points to one of the NBA’s worst teams). All that time, Pistons coach Michael Curry refused to switch Iverson onto Harris — even as Stuckey was committing five fourth-quarter fouls on Harris.

      “Stuckey’s the point, and Harris is the point. What we do here in Detroit, you guard your position. And when he comes into the game, Allen slides to the 2. and if Devin Harris is outplaying you, you’re going to have to get better. That’s what you’re going to have to do — play your matchup,” Curry said.

      A couple of things jump out from this game: 1) Devin Harris blew up, and he was on my list of “Six NBA players who are about to break out” and 2) Curry refuses to go with the best matchup defensively, instead insisting that each player guard his position (even if it is to the detriment to the team).

      I don’t know too many coaches that don’t try to utilize the best matchups defensively. Regular readers know that I played for (current UW coach) Bo Ryan at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. The other starting forward was the better defender, so Ryan would have him cover the other team’s best scoring forward. That left me with an “easier” matchup, and since I was one of my team’s primary scorers, going with that matchup would save my legs so I could hit crucial jump shots at the end of the game.

      So why is Curry insisting that Stuckey – who is actually more of a combo guard – cover the lightning-quick Harris when he has his own lightning-quick guard on the court? It might be pure stubbornness, thickheadedness or he could be trying to light a fire under Stuckey defensively.

      But back to the decision to play Iverson off the ball. More and more this trade is looking like one that is meant to keep butts in the seats for this season while giving the team salary cap flexibility to sign one or two big name free agents over the next two summers. Joe Dumars likely saw that, with Billups, the team was going to be competitive, but it wasn’t going to be a legitimate contender. With the backcourt shakeup, it looks like the team is going to give the ball to Stuckey and ask him to create, and it doesn’t really matter if this is the best thing for the 2008-09 Detroit Pistons.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Mo Williams gamble paying off…so far.

      November 4, 2008 /

      With LeBron James on the bench to start the fourth quarter, Mo Williams led the Cavs on a 13-0 run that pushed Cleveland past Dallas, 100-81.

      How’s this for a stretch of possessions to open the fourth quarter of a close game: Long jump shot, longer jump shot. Feed a teammate for a layup, then swish another jumper. Get another assist, then nail a 3-pointer from so deep that your defender walks away saying, “Whooo.”

      “That’s what they expect,” said Williams, acquired in August to ease the load off James. “Tonight was a great sign. It was a long summer for me, two surgeries. I expected to get going kind of slow, but it was frustrating when you’re used to making shots, making plays.”

      The Cavs are just 2-2, but Williams hasn’t hit his stride yet. He’s averaging 13.5 points and 4.8 assists, while shooting 43% from the field. Last season, he averaged 17.2 points and 6.3 assists, while shooting 48% from the field. But with two offseason surgeries and a new offense to learn, it’s tough to expect Williams to hit the ground running. My only concern about the trade (for the Cavs) is that he’s a player that is at his best when he has the ball in his hands. That’s fine when LeBron is on the bench (such as his terrific run in the fourth quarter), but when LeBron is in the game, Williams will have to defer and learn to be a spot up shooter. That’s a tough adjustment to make.

      This is going to be one of the more interesting storylines to watch not only for its effect on the Cavs’ fortunes this season, but also to see how it affects LeBron’s future in Cleveland.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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