Cavaliers @ Warriors (10:30PM / FSN)

[Smooth]

PG Baron Davis

ESPN's Scouting Report

Davis is one of the most athletic guards in the game and an absolute terror in transition because of his ability to pass or finish. At 6-3, 215 pounds, he can destroy smaller guards on the post-ups in the half court -- something he happily did to Dallas in the first round of the playoffs from his preferred perch on the left block. Davis has a bad habit of getting 3-point happy and forcing long shots off the dribble, but he isn't a good shooter unless his feet are set and he's just catching and shooting.

His size and athleticism are huge weapons at the defensive end, too; Davis deserved far more All-Defense attention than he received. Davis ranked second among point guards in blocks per minute and third in steals per minute; he also was outstanding at pressuring the ball upcourt and his size allowed him to defend shooting guards in the half court. Although his effort wasn't consistent every night, at his best there was nobody better, and he was at his best for all of the final two months of the season.

Injuries are an annual concern with Davis, who tends to pull hammys and groins quite a bit. He hasn't played more than 67 games in any of the past five seasons.

SG Monta Ellis

ESPN's Scouting Report

Ellis is small for a shooting guard and is just a mediocre shooter, but he's so quick that he's still a handful for opposing defenses. Much like Phoenix's Leandro Barbosa, he's great at pushing the ball upcourt quickly for his own shot. He's also an explosive dunker, although he gets tunnel vision in odd-man breaks and takes it himself too often.

Ellis has the speed and ballhandling ability to play the point, but two things hurt him here -- first, his shooter's mentality, and second, his lack of a left hand. Ellis is vastly more effective going right than left, which allows defenses to overplay his strong hand and take away his drives.

Ellis is a weak defender at the shooting guard spot, lacking in both height and strength. However, his quickness is an asset at the point. He's also very quick in the passing lanes and had the fifth best rate of steals per minute at his position.

SF Kelenna Azubuike

ESPN's Scouting Report

An athletic 6-5 guard, Azubuike is a good leaper who can make some spectacular dunks and blocks. In spite of his leaping, he doesn't seem to be a good finisher -- he cashed a little more than half his close-in shot attempts and missed several easy bunnies. Azubuike can shoot from long-range, too, and has the size and athleticism to get to the line.

What's missing right now is all the subtle stuff. He's not a good ball handler or an elusive dribbler, so it's tough for him to get shots at times; he also needs to learn the defensive side of the game better and take advantage of his athleticism on that end. He's only 23 so there's time to learn, but the absence of those skills cost him a rotation spot when Golden State made its playoff run.

PF Mickael Pietrus

ESPN's Scouting Report

Pietrus is a long, athletic forward who can shoot from outside and finish in transition or on the drive. But his offensive game is limited by his very poor dribbling skills, which prevent him from taking slower players off the dribble, and he also has trouble with traveling violations when he tries to fake a shot and drive.

Defensively, Pietrus has the potential to be a stopper due to his length and quickness, but hasn?t quite put the whole package together yet. He still makes mental errors and gambles too much, and had the ninth-worst rate of fouls per minute at his position.

CT Andris Biedrins

ESPN's Scouting Report

Biedrins lacks muscle, but his activity around the basket makes up for it. He excels at putting himself into position for easy layups and dunks, and has a nice lefty hook shot from close range that he'll bust out in his rare catches on the block.

Free throws are an adventure, though. Biedrins may have the ugliest form since Chris Dudley, shooting one-hand line drives that often fail to clear the rim and only sporadically have any backspin.

Defensively, Biedrins' lack of muscle is a problem because it prevents him from defending elite post players one-on-one -- which is really what Golden State needs. He's an active rebounder and shot-blocker and holds down the middle better in zones, but the hope is that he'll fill out and hit the weights so he can fill a more traditional center role. He also needs to work on transition D -- he jogs back too often and gets beat by opposing big men.

GOLDEN STATE ROTATION

Al Harrington (F-C) / Matt Barnes (F) / Troy Hudson (G) / Marco Belinelli (G-F)

GOLDEN STATE BENCH

>> Patrick O'Bryant (C)
>> Brandan Wright (F)
>> Stephane Lasme (F)

INACTIVE LIST

Austin Croshere (F) | Status Alert: Croshere had an MRI on his back Friday, indicating a mild disk inflammation that will keep him out of action for seven days, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.


Stephen Jackson (G-F) | Status Alert: Jackson is still sitting out of his 7 game suspension, after an incident at a night club over the offseason.

Kosta Perovic (C)

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 Larry Hughes

ESPN's Scouting Report

Hughes found a new niche last season when he took over as the Cavs' starting point guard. This is strictly a ceremonial title, as LeBron James does most of the team's ballhandling, but it allowed the Cavs to play a huge backcourt of the 6-5 Hughes and the 6-7 Sasha Pavlovic and cemented what was already a strong defensive squad.

While Hughes isn't the offensive player he was in Washington, he's been better on defense. He stopped all the gambling that defined his Wizards tenure and become a much more consistent defender, with his quickness allowing him to keep up with most point guards. His foot injury was a major reason Tony Parker shredded Cleveland's defense so easily in the Finals.

Offensively, Hughes is a natural slasher but also likes to shoot jumpers from the right elbow while going to his right. Shot selection has always been an issue for him, especially regarding his wobbly jumper, and despite getting fewer attempts in Cleveland he hasn't become more accurate.

He's also started using a slow, deliberate shot fake on his jumper which acts as something of an idiot test for defenders. There's no reason to bite on the fake because getting Hughes to shoot a long J is a victory for the defense, but guys fell for it all season.

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

Sasha Pavlovic (G-F) / Ira Newble (F) / Damon Jones (G) / Devin Brown (G-F)

CLEVELAND BENCH

>> Dwayne Jones (F-C)
>> Cedric Simmons (F-C)
>> Shannon Brown (G)

INACTIVE LIST

Eric Snow (G) | Status Alert: Cleveland guard Eric Snow will have surgery on his left knee and will likely miss the entire preseason after getting hurt last week while working out at the Cavaliers' new training facility. Snow will likely be out another 1-2 weeks.

Donyell Marshall (F) | Status Alert: Marshall hurt his wrist versus the Mavericks in the Cavaliers home opener. He is listed as day-to-day after sitting out versus the Suns Sunday night, but it looks more like week-to-week.

Demetris Nichols (G-F)



SMOOTH'S KEY POINTS & PREDICTION​

---> Don't get caught up in the run-and-gun game. We cannot, cannot, cannot get into the jacking up shot mode; it isn't our game... A lot of the teams that lose to the Warriors, lose because they play their game and we cannot fall into the trap many other teams have fallen into before.
--->Harass Baron Davis. Davis is the guy that makes this offense go and we cannot let him get in the lane where he is at his best or kick out to shooters, which they have many... We need Hughes or Gibson or whoever is guarding him and put pressure on him and force him into things he doesn't want to do...
---> Contest shots. A lot of the Golden State Warriors shots will be open, but the key is contesting them and forcing them to make one with a hand in their face, which is much more difficult to do...


Cavs - 107
Warriors - 104

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Very nice preview!

 

[DeeThree]

Suns Jr.

 

[Glen Infante]

Wow, did you do all those graphics? Looks great.

 

[cescott]

Great preview and I'm looking for us to take advantage of our size down low to slow down the game a bit and get their frontcourt in foul trouble.

Lebron should own the low post tonight as we even our record!

 

[crazedcav333]

Awsome preview.

This would be a great win to get us to .500 without "Big-Money" Varejao. Move the ball around, get seperation, and pound the ball into the lane.

 

[TheAdmin]

Stunning preview, thank you for your hard work. If Larry can't go we might be getting a glimpse at the Cavaliers near future with the backcourt of Gibson/Sasha/James.

 

[Cleveland56]

Injury update: Larry Hughes is not expected to play tonight due to his left lower leg contusion. Hughes suffered the injury Sunday against the Phoenix Suns. He did not practice on Monday and did not participate in shootaround at the University of San Francisco this morning. Coach Mike Brown said Sasha Pavlovic, Damon Jones or Devin Brown will start in his place.

 

[Nicky]

It will be interesting to see how a Larry-less team will do tonight.
I'm thinking they will do well. It all just depends on their communication with each other.
In the past, they seem to have been worked well. So hopefully they won't think too much, and just let it flow.

 

[The George]

Was Ben dropping a hint on us with our Near Future back court prediction?????

interesting

I hope there is some truth to that although I have no idea what we would do with Larry...


as for the game...It is obvious that we should manhandle this team down low...whether we do it or not is the question...for some god forsaken reason this team likes to pretend it is a Golden State kind of team where we run up and down and just shoot jumpers all day but we are NOT that team...Hopefully Bronnie dominates like he should and Boobie and Sasha make a couple of open jumpers and Drew and Z own the boards and the paint

we should win but we are on the road so you never know....Ill take us though in a 101-95 win with a really bad shooting night from the Warriors

 

[kevolution]

Anybody know where the Cavs P2P game is tonight?

 

[Smooth]

Wow, did you do all those graphics? Looks great.

Just through Photoshop.. If you want the .psd's just hit me up...

Just noticed I didn't do the Cavs record!

BTW, the highlighted names are the key matchups if anyone noticed...

 

[PIP]

Nice little avatar you have there, Smooove...

 

[osiris]

Anybody know where the Cavs P2P game is tonight?

You have to download sopcast if you don't have it already.

If you have sopcast you can click here for channel VP3. It's the Houston game right now (great game) and will be Cavs afterwards.

If you do not have sopcast the link will not work. I also suggest having virus and spyware protection.

 

[Cavaliersfan25]

Osiris- Can you get the WMA link for tonight?