L Cleveland 106 Memphis 113

[Rimage]

Pardon me, but you guys are being ridiculous. This game 3...GAME 3!!! This team needs a little more time than 3 games to get it down. You guys give Snow and Z no time to learn an entirely new system. We don't know how good other teams are. The Z bashing is so...tired. He hasn't changed in 3 seasons. Gasol and Parker are great players, it isn't easy to stop them.

This doesn't matter that much. Wins would be nice, but last season we started out pretty well and other teams, such as the Bulls didn't, but the Bulls made the playoffs, and we didn't. Some of you are jumping the gun and it is pretty ridiculous.

Nothing will stay the same. The first month of the NBA season is like an ironing out process. We don't need to revamp the team because we lost. If we lose to the raptors, we don't need to revamp the team.

 

[Troy Wingate]

My thoughts exactly. There is no need to freak out coz the team is off to a 1-2 start. Damn, last year we got off to an 0-3 start, we then won the next 6! Zydrunas and Eric are trying to buy into the new system, Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones still have to find their comfort zones on this team, it will take atleast a month before this team is completely gelled.

The Cavs will gel, and will win no less than 50 games!

 

[LyXo]

Woe be ours, woe be us, woe woe woe. We can't win on the road yet. Not if we don't know our defensive system yet. Too many breakdowns leading to open looks and open drives, and that's why they shot so well from the floor.

Noteworthy notes:
Luke Jackson played solid. Say what you will about his 0 points. But it's what he did with the ball when it counted. Driving and dishing with the best of them. Always enthusiastic about getting the ball. Creating offense for everyone. That's good promotion right there. That's who should be on the court instead of Sasha "I don't want the ball unless I'm wide open for a 3" Pavlovic. Or, Aleksander "I'll drive when I see a hole, then panic when someone comes up to block me and not pass" Pavlovic.

Hughes gladly found his offense. But his passing was lost in the process. Find that happy medium and average 16 ppg 6 apg.

Jones, albeit he looked like a chucker out there, shot well and was assertive. I like that. I still don't like his defense. But it will come along with the familiarity of the system. He has a good motivator role out there.

LeBron might look like a chucker out there. But really though. In the waning moments of the game when we were down 9, I wanted nothing but LeBron shooting those treys. T-mac style. It would be tough to get back trying to score a high % shot and play D. It needed to be something huge to spark the defense and give that gleaming hope. I was upset that screens weren't set for him to just chuck away at the end. I think it would have been our best chance to victory. But that's just me.

And don't chuck it up during the game. Please. No more turn around fadeaways. Eliminate those bad shots from your arsenal.

Again. Road loss. This is a game we should have won, but can afford to lose. Memphis guarded their home well tonight.

 

[cdt]

Actually Pip I saw where raptors PG Jose Calderon dropped 23 the other night and last night he had 10 dimes

 

[MarkPrice25]

I'm upset that we aren't handling adversity well. Both nights, things sort of got out of hand because it looked like we panicked. This was especially evident last night. When we lost that 7 point lead in the third quarter and they splashed the two treys to start the fourth, we went into "chucker mode" and took crappy off-balance jump shots early in the shot clock. That's also how the Spurs game got out of hand so quickly. Come down, take a quick three, long rebound, fast break, etc. It looked like last year at times.

The 10 in a row we missed early in the game was atrocious. Just about all the shots taken in that stretch looked like last-second heaves. The half-court offense leaves a lot to be desired - especially after watching the way the Spurs and Grizzlies pass the ball around the perimeter and get open looks.

We need a road win badly, and Toronto on paper looks to be (as Jim Chones used to say) "Just what the doctor ordered."

 

[LyXo]

Yea, but also take into consideration. All of training camp and practice has been devoted solely to defense. We're still learning offense, getting to know each other, while learning defense at the same time. Growing pains, growing pains, growing pains. We'll be faltering to great teams and we'll man-handle the weak ones. Mess up here and there. I see us finding ourselves around the all-star break, right when Anderson Varejao makes his return with the FRO, and we'll have the best record in the NBA right after that. Mark my words, baby.

 

[Rimage]

Varejao will make a difference. Henderson is a nice suprise as well. He is looks like a really solid vet.