L T-Wolves 89 Cavaliers 85

[PIP]

that game was a fucking joke. now im pissed. whatever.

But just last week we were "contenders" according to you

There is no need to get too up for the wins and no need to get to down on the losses.

Bad shooting the last two nights... Wide open looks are not falling. That will not remain the case.

Relax.

 

[NarlCavs]

I don't know how the Cavs had a lead for so long and stayed in this game. They were pretty bad tonight.
I agree with you Moohead. It looked like Silas was back coaching this team tonight. Mike Brown now needs to step up. Teams have adjusted to the Cavs and they have yet to make any adjustment back.
It also looked like Silas again with LeBron and Hughes playing the entire 2nd half.

Why the hell was Marshall in there the last half of the 4th quarter? He's in a big time slump and his D has also been awful recently.
I don't know how Marshall, Hughes and Jones can all go in shooting slumps at the same time.

LeBron and Gooden were about all that was good tonight.

Would have been nice if that great defensive backcourt of Hughes and Snow would have stayed with Hudson in the 4th.

 

[cdt]

The only way to get out of a slump is to shoot your way out, you don't break out by riding the pine. I think the Zebras had a large role in this one some Iffy calls all night anytime someone entered the pain Griffin and Kandi like speared them and we got 0 calls. Damon and Donyell need to get out of their slump soon or we're screwed.

Oh and we can go ahead and sign Gooden any day now, he is who I want at the PF spot for the next 10 years yes I said it quote me write it down whatever. He played good defense for the most part on Garnett who hits like 18 foot fadeaways with Gooden in his jersey.

Oh and Z is absolutely positively TERRIBLE he travels every time her tries to make a move, that or he like steam rolls the guy. He can't hit a jumpshot to save his life this year everything is front rim and off what happened?

 

[PIP]

We can just go ahead and never wear those Blue "non streak" jerseys ever again.

Oh and Z is absolutely positively TERRIBLE he travels every time her tries to make a move, that or he like steam rolls the guy. He can't hit a jumpshot to save his life this year everything is front rim and off what happened?

For the sake of not having to read "it's been 4 days, must be time for Z bashing again"

All I will say is the following, and leave it at that:

He is getting paid huge dollars that in no way did I want the Cavs to give him.. But, I went along with a wait and see approach since I was ripped by many on here for saying what I did about him last april. (How dare I questioned Z and his skills ?)... So far, with the lone exception of the Home Magic game, he has been nothing more then below average to poor.

Momentum killer..

Looks like he got his money and got lazy... Real lazy..

Shots are flat.. No lift.

Looks like he lost his knowledge of what to do in the low post. With the excpetion of his UP-FAKE to draw contact for a potential "AND-1", he has done nothing. No turnaround jumper, no backing his oppenent down and laying it in.

He will some times try a sweeping hook.

No defense (very little so far, did have 3 decent games defensively)

Travels at least 2 times a game (every night at least 2) and gets the ball stripped more then any center in the league..

at 7' 3" he is only averaging a shade over 4 Defensive rebounds a game. Most of his Offensive boards are on his own misses.

Averaging less then 1 assist a night thus far... Unacceptable for a "all star/double teamed center"

Averaging a shade above 1 for blocks per game (7' 3" and plays in the paint)

But whatever... He can do no wrong apparently and is worth every penny..I am so glad we have him.

Just seems like an out of shape lazy baller to me...But that's okay. It's loveable "Z"

 

[joma]

just got back from the game.


We hit very little shots.


thats about it.

i liked the jerseys though.

i hope this isnt one of those every time we wear the blue jerseys we lose jerseys.

 

[Cleveland56]

He is getting paid huge dollars that in no way did I want the Cavs to give him.. But, I went along with a wait and see approach since I was ripped by many on here for saying what I did about him last april. (How dare I questioned Z and his skills ?)... So far, with the lone exception of the Home Magic game, he has been nothing more then below average to poor.

Couldn't have said it batter myself. Two years from now, he really won't be able to do anything...He is frustrating. I hope this contract doesn't come back to bite us in the ass. And before the ZPA (Z Protection Agency) starts with the emails, just remember he is our second highest paid player on the team, so f'in start playing like it!!! I expect more from him.

When shots aren't falling for anyone (like tonight), you need the big guy to give you some inside easy points. He just can't provde that anymore.

Pip I don't think he is lazy, but he is what he is:
(1) an absolute mess on defense, and
(2) refuses to PASS THE BALL in the post.

On a positive:
I think Gooden played a great game tonight. His defense is improving, and is rotating and helping out on defense.

 

[Troy Wingate]

At this point, giving Zydrunas all that money makes Danny Ferry look stupid, but then you realise we're only 13 games into the season. The first month aint even finished yet. This team is 9-4, played like absolute crap today and only lost by 4 points. Last year, if when we played like this, we lost by 34.

Despite how bad we have been the last 2 games, this team has improved dramatically over last season.

Give it time people, this team will gel, Damon, Donyell and Larry will get their jumpshot back, and this team will be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Cleveland56]

Im not mad at the team. Nights like these happen, it sucks to watch - but it's a long season and games like this unfortunately happen.

My point is this: if Henderson played 25-30 minutes, wouldn't he be around these same numbers with better defense? Is Z really $10 mil a year better player than Henderson? Do you see any drop off when Donyell or Alan come in for Z, I don't.

 

[MHSpecialist]

Yeah I just got back from the game, very dissapointing. You could tell that Lebron didn't have any faith in his teammates. Once he got the ball he wasn't passing it. The ball movement was terrible, everything looked labored. They couldn't even run a fast break without a bobble or kicking the ball out of bounds. Z looked like his feet were dipped in concrete tonight. Anytime he was under the basket he looked like he had no elevation. Just his body mechanics looked like he was praying for a foul to be called because he was in no position to shoot. Pretty much everyone played like they were hung over. I think every team is going to do this to us- slowing it down and playing a grind it out half court game. It kind of felt like last year- if Lebron wasn't taking over, no one else was hitting a shot. I thought Ira Newble was out there for a while. Just a very frustrating game that we very easily could've won with a few sustained runs. Most of the time the crowd was pretty quiet until the last few minutes. I'm as big of an optimist as anyone, but tonight was just difficult to watch.

 

[B Mac]

Im pretty glad that this was the second game of the year I didnt get to watch. Sounds like a real frustrating one. We'll rebound, Z will prove again why he is an all-star center, the same people who are praising Gooden now will be bashing him in two weeks and loving him in 4, and Donyell, Damon, Hughes will all start hitting their shots. We're a good team, but even good teams have a bad night or nights. Losing a few games this year wont kill us like the last two so lets just rebound for the next one.

 

[Glen Infante]

Well there is no need to panic. We weren't going to be undefeated at home. Had to lose at home sometime.

I think we were all just spoiled by the big margin wins. This team is still young, and we had a good streak of easy games and we won them.

But who would have thought that we would win 9 games in the 1st month? That is a good start for our promising season.

Lets just move on to the next month and hope that we can still keep the pace and play above .500 ball.

 

[Maximus]

Look at the bright side - Hughes, Z, Marshall and Jones shot 5 for 41.....and we almost won! :chuckles:

 

[Karma]

Considering the entire team outside Drew and LeBron shot poorly, we single out a player........

Considering a certain player who kept his opponent to zero travels "at least twice a game" and apparently and gets stripped "more then any other center in the NBA" a game he averages right on 2 a game. Hmmm something doesn't work there.

Wouldn't mind seeing Sasha getting some burn if our shooters are struggling badly.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Perhaps the ZISS (Zydrunas Illagauskas Scapegoating Society) should read Brian Windhorst's article this morning in the ABJ... I posted it in its entirety over at sanecavstalk.net. Basically, our new personnel were gently reminded that Z is pretty good on the low block, and its a good idea to feed him in the half court. Terry Pluto essentially says the same in his weekly "Talkin' Cavs" blurb.

Z doesn't create his own shots. He should never even attempt it. His game is more akin to Kevin McHale or Hakeem Olajuwon: getting into a move/counter-move pattern in the low post and scoring at a high percentage. To get his back-to-the-basket game involved in the offense, it falls on the ball handlers around the perimeter. Thus far, I've seen him get most of his points off offensive rebounds. I'm not complaining about his production, I'm just saying there are weapons there which haven't been tapped into.

Tough game to watch... but many people don't realize that Hughes has been playing sick. When he returns to health, our offense should look much better.
____________________________________________

...oops! I now see Maximus posted the article here on another thread. Still a must read.

 

[PIP]

I will give him to April. If he doesn't find his groove by April ? I will start to get nervous