Cavaliers @ Jazz (10:30 PM, FSN, ESPNHD)

[chiefwahoo]

@

10:30 pm ET, EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: FSN Ohio, ESPNHD, Radio: WTAM 1100

Utah Jazz

PG Deron Williams

ESPN's Scouting Report

Williams has a great crossover in either direction, but his move going from right to left is really something to behold -- low, quick and tight. He sat down Cleveland's Larry Hughes with that move in one regular-season game, and nearly did the same to Chicago's Kirk Hinrich in another.

Though right-handed, he tends to prefer going to his left, where he's better at setting his feet for a midrange shot. Either way, he tends to beat people more by deception than straight quickness, though he seemed to be in better shape than he was as a rookie. He has great straight-line speed in the full court, however, and his size and strength make him a capable finisher when he gets near the rim.

Defensively, Williams' lateral movement is only average, but his size helps him hold his own against bigger point guards -- most notably against Golden State's Baron Davis in the playoffs.

SG Ronnie Brewer

ESPN's Scouting Report

A quick 6-7 wing, Brewer is an outstanding finisher in transition and on cuts and drives to the basket. He loves to use the reverse layup, especially when coming in from the left side, and his frequent forays to the rim also saw him draw a high rate of free throws.

That's where things unraveled, as his awkward shooting form produced 67.5 percent accuracy. Brewer is similarly inaccurate from distance and at times looked terrified to even attempt a jumper. His development as a player depends on his making a perimeter shot at least occasionally.

Defensively, Brewer's length and athleticism should make him a stopper in a few years' time, but at the moment he's still learning. Though he was great in stretches, he also got caught out of position quite a bit while taking his rookie lumps.

SF Andrei Kirilenko

ESPN's Scouting Report

Kirilenko has many talents, but shooting is not among them. He made only 20.0 percent of his 3-pointers last season and wasn't much better (32.2 percent) on long 2-pointers. Ironically, a rare make of his was among the biggest shots of Utah's season -- a game-tying 3-pointer late in Game 7 of the Houston series.

Around the basket, it's another story -- despite a slender build he's a fantastic finisher because of his insanely long arms. He shot 65.9 percent on shots in the immediate basket area last season, the ninth-best mark in the league. He also drew fouls by the bunch -- Kirilenko had the second-best rate of free-throw attempts per field goal attempt among small forwards.

Kirilenko is an adept passer and a good dribbler who can play the point in a pinch. However, he is also mistake-prone, as he tends to dribble into traffic or force passes, and the result was the fourth-highest turnover ratio at his position.

Defensively he's an ace, but playing away from the basket takes away one of his best skills. Kirilenko is a fantastic shot-blocker because of his length and superior timing, but that skill is diminished when he's defending wing players. He gets tons of steals on reach-ins and is virtually impossible to shoot over, but he's also vulnerable to quick moves off the dribble.

PF Carlos Loozer

ESPN's Scouting Report

Boozer has, by far, the best left hand of any right-handed big man in basketball. He'll go up lefty for a finish just as easily as he does righty, often flicking in short finger-rolls off his weak hand. It seems to be his hand of choice when he's going in for dunks, and he does it with great authority.

Boozer also has a nice outside touch. He made 42.1 percent of his long 2-pointers, and repeatedly burned Yao Ming with his ability to make 17-footers during the first-round playoff series against Houston. That stroke doesn't extend to the line, though -- he shot only 68.5 percent.

Defensively, he's pretty ordinary. While he has the muscle to push out post players and control the glass, he doesn't react terribly quickly from the help side. Plus, although he's an explosive finisher at the offensive end, it doesn't translate into the quick hops needed to block shots on D -- he had the fifth-worst rate among power forwards.

C Mehmet Okur

ESPN's Scouting Report

Okur looks like a big, burly center, but he loves to shoot from outside and has a great touch from deep. He's deadly on pick-and-pop plays, where he can catch and shoot from the wing or the top of the key. While he's also capable of scoring in the post, his moves are a bit mechanical and he has trouble elevating over longer players. He also tends to shuffle his feet when he's operating under the basket, his lone source of turnovers.

Defensively, he has his limitations -- he's not a shot-blocker, he's only average on the boards and he doesn't rotate particularly well. However, he has the size to be physical with opposing post players, and he showed a newfound willingness to use his muscle last season, which is why he (not Boozer) usually got the call against tough opposing big men.

UTAH ROTATION

Jason Hart (PG) / Gordan Giricek (SG) / Matt Harpring (SF) / Jarron Collins (C)

UTAH BENCH
>> Ronnie Price (PG)
>> Morris Almond (SG)
>> Kyrylo Fesenko (PF)

Cleveland Cavaliers

PG Daniel Gibson

ESPN's Scouting Report

At 6-2 with decent athleticism, Gibson should have the size to be able to get to the basket more than he does -- something he showed at least briefly in the Detroit series. The threat of his shot could become an especially potent weapon, as he's a deadly outside shooter who should be able to open up driving lanes with a pump fake.

Gibson isn't a natural point guard by any stretch, but on this team that isn't a problem -- LeBron James and Larry Hughes do most of the ballhandling anyway. However, he'll have to cut down on the turnovers (a common rookie problem) in coming seasons.

Defensively, Gibson seems to do better against bigger point guards, especially in the playoffs. He seemed to have a much easier time defending bigger points like Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd than he did chasing around Tony Parker.

SG Sasha Pavlovic

ESPN's Scouting Report

An athletic 6-7 forward, Pavlovic can defend both wing positions and is a good finisher in transition. Defense is his best asset, as the Cavs used him as their primary stopper against high-scoring wings and he was a big factor in their fourth-rated defense.

While Pavlovic is a good leaper, he doesn't get many open-court chances because he's such a poor ballhandler, and his inability to handle also limits his ability to take slower players off the dribble in the halfcourt. He's developed a niche by cultivating his skill at shooting 3s from the wing, and since he doesn't turn 24 until early November his game has a chance to progress further from here.

SF LeBron James

ESPN's Scouting Report

One reason James often ends up trying to make a heroic shot at the end of the clock is because there is so little going on up until that point. James tends to be far too methodical when attacking defenses, often waiting several seconds to read the defense before he attacks. That tends to bring the offense to a halt and makes it easier for help defenders to collapse on him. His habit of retreating when double-teamed on the pick-and-roll only exacerbates this problem.

This is particularly noticeable when James tries to post up. Despite his imposing physique, James rarely attacks opponents on the blocks and isn't terribly effective when he does. All he does is wait for the double-team instead of making a quick move, neutralizing what should be his best tool.

Of course, other players would kill for such problems. James is an amazingly good ball handler for his size, acting as the Cavs' de facto point guard and ranking 12th among small forwards in assist ratio. He's almost impossible to stop once he gets some momentum toward the basket and, though a streaky shooter, can get his shot off over anyone. James is also a devastating finisher in transition, making it unfortunate the Cavs can't find a guard to help push the tempo more often.

Defensively, James does a poor job fighting through screens but the rest of his game has become pretty solid. He's still better at playing passing lanes than he is at making help-side plays or taking charges, and he rarely guards the opponent's top scorer. On the other hand, nobody seems particularly anxious to attack him, and he's virtually impossible to post up against.

PF Drew Gooden

ESPN's Scouting Report

Gooden's best asset isn't his scoring, but his rebounding. Despite a slender build, Gooden is a force on the glass because of his quick hops and a nose for the ball. Gooden had the sixth-best rebound rate among power forwards last season, and that was completely consistent with what he'd done the previous two campaigns.

Gooden can be a frustrating player because of his concentration lapses. He'll lose track of his man or forget a play and go the wrong way. He cemented this impression at the end of Game 5 of the Cleveland-Detroit series, when the Cavs had a four-point lead in the final seconds and you could see LeBron James screaming at Gooden during a timeout to stay on the floor. The first thing Gooden did? Take a flying leap at Rasheed Wallace while he was shooting a 3-pointer -- even though the only way Detroit could tie was by being fouled on a triple.

People tend to focus on Gooden's mental lapses, but he also makes a lot of positive plays at the defensive end. Gooden is very quick for his size and his ability to switch out on guards on screens or rotate off his man is one of the reasons the Cavs were the league's fourth-best defense last season. He's not as good in post defense, where his lack of strength becomes a factor, and he's a poor shot-blocker, but overall he's a solid defensive player.

CT Zydrunas Ilgauskas

ESPN's Scouting Report

Though the Cavs go to him less often these days, the 7-3 Ilgauskas is still a weapon in the post. He's become increasingly reliant on a sweeping one-handed hook shot going to his right, although he also has a nice touch on turnarounds going to either side.

Ilgauskas is also very dangerous on the offensive boards, where despite a lack of elevation he has an almost Rodman-like knack for tipping the ball multiple times before either possessing it or tipping it in. Along with his height, that same ability makes him very good on jump balls.

Defensively, Ilgauskas has the size to be an effective deterrent around the basket, but struggles when he is pulled farther from the basket. Teams try to attack him in screen-and-roll plays, where he struggles to help on the guard and still get back to his man. For that reason, Anderson Varejao often finished games in the middle instead of Ilgauskas.

CLEVELAND ROTATION

Dwayne Jones (F-C) / Ira Newble (F) / Damon Jones (G) / Devin Brown (G-F)

CLEVELAND BENCH
>> Cedric Simmons (F-C)
>> Shannon Brown (G)

INACTIVE LIST
ray: Larry Hughes (G) | Status Alert: Cleveland guard Larry Hughes is questionable with a lower leg contusion.

Eric Snow (G) | Status Alert: Cleveland guard Eric Snow is listed as questionable but will likely sit out the entire Cavs road trip out West.

Donyell Marshall (F) | Status Alert: Marshall hurt his wrist versus the Mavericks in the Cavaliers home opener. He is listed as out until at least mid-November with a splint on his wrist.

Demetris Nichols (G-F)

AccuScore Prediction
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=============================================
CHIEF'S PREDICTION
CAVS - 101
Jazz - 100
=============================================
​

 

[chiefwahoo]

OK, updates complete. Sorry for the delay!

 

[nikezoom12]

There's a way to wacht this game online i'm in italy and we dont have espn channel, somebody could post a link 4 this game pliz?

 

[chiefwahoo]

No Larry:

Larry Hughes did not play Tuesday and will not play tonight due to the bruised knee he suffered Sunday.

Hughes did not practice Monday, nor did he participate in the shootaround Tuesday.

"Went to see the doctor today, and it was what we thought it was," said Hughes, about the bruised knee. "It's about getting the swelling out and letting [the knee] calm down a little bit."

Source

 

[_amon _ones]

"Went to see the doctor today, and it was what we thought it was," said Hughes, about the bruised knee. "It's about getting the swelling out and letting [the knee] calm down a little bit."

Dennis Green comments about Larry's knee...he will not calm down a bit...

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[The George]

another game without Larry

imagine that

 

[PIP]

HOT BUTTERED Donalds's prediction:

Cavs 93
Suns 106

(The Donny line-- 26pts, 9rbs, 6ast, 3stls, 1blk, 0to)

(8/13 fg/m) (6/10 3ptfg/m) (4/4fta/m)

 

[crazedcav333]

LeBron needs to dunk on Loozer like he did Sheed - I think I'd cry. Move the ball like we did last night and we have a chance.

 

[PIP]

Dennis Green comments about Larry's knee...he will not calm down a bit...

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He's fired up.. No doubt


[Cavs shooting coach Chris Jent goes off after allegations that he's drunk when teaching them the techniques of shooting, and is also trashed during the game..]

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[nikezoom12]

is there a way to wacht the game online? i'm outside of usa(italy) we dont have espn channel here...so maybe somebody would post a link? pliz

 

[Karma]

Back to back game in Utah after a tiring up and down affair in Oakland isn't ideal. Utah's defense will certainly be cranked up a few notches from the Warriors.

Deron Williams is the main danger here. He is strong and quick and will likely have his way with Gibson.

 

[bigtyme]

Demetrius Nichols has been activated for this game

You could say Demetris Nichols was a tad excited about being activated for his first ever NBA game. Nearly two hours before the game, he was on the court in his full uniform and full warmups getting some work in. Every other player on the court was in his workout wear.

I hope they give the kid some run out there. Im not sold on Pavs as a starter, I think Nichols can play better D on the perimeter and may be a more consistent shooter.

 

[DeeThree]

I'm really confident for some reason.

 

[Clevelandfan15]

Gibson goes off tonight passes peja for most 3s made so far. I hope

 

[DeeThree]

Lebron averages 32 ppg against the Jazz on the road... yum =)