Cleveland Cavalier's (0 - 0) @ Washington Wizards (0 - 0)
Preseason : Game 1 for both teams
Monday, October 10, 2005
7.00pm ET
Radio : WTAM 1100
Head Coaches
Mike Brown / Eddie Jordan
Probable Staters
Eric Snow / Gilbert Arenas
Larry Hughes / Jarvis Hayes
LeBron James / Caron Butler
Drew Gooden / Antawn Jamison
Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Brendan Haywood
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Damon Jones / Luke Jackson / Sasha Pavlovic / Donyell Marshall / Alan Henderson
Damon Jones / Luke Jackson / Sasha Pavlovic / Donyell Marshall / Alan Henderson
Washington Wizards Bench
Chucky Atkins / Antonio Daniels / Jared Jeffries / Michael Ruffin / Etan Thomas
Chucky Atkins / Antonio Daniels / Jared Jeffries / Michael Ruffin / Etan Thomas
Cavalier's Notes
* Mike Brown debut's as Cleveland Cavalier's coach.
* Larry Hughes first game as a Cavalier is against his former club.
* Positional battles heat up with Eric Snow competing with Damon Jones for the starting point guard, whilst veteran Marshall takes on incumbant Drew Gooden for the starting role at power forward.
* In smaller battles, Mike Wilks and Filberto Rivera look to impress the Cavalier brass for a possible role as the Cavs third point guard.
* Jahidi White against his first team, looks to secure a deal, but will have to share time with fellow trialists Zendon Hamilton, Obinna Ekezie and Menkte Bateer. Unfortunately injury has forced White to miss this game.
* Will be interesting to see whether NBDL bound Martynas gets a look in during the preseason.
* Luke Jackson returns officially for the Cavalier's and will meet competition for minutes with a bulked up Sasha Pavlovic.
* Zydrunas Ilgauskas gets the opportunity to play with some shooters. Coincedentally the last time this happened was the last time Cleveland made the post season.
* LeBron James, has he still got it? Damn straight!
* Ira Newble will miss one to two weeks with a foot strain.
Washington Wizards Notes
* Washington welcome in Daniels, Aktins and Butler to attempt to offset the losses of Kwame Brown and Larry Hughes.
* The Wizards main questions are who will start alongside Arenas in the backcourt and at forward with Jamison.
* Can Brendan Haywood continue his steady development?
* With Hughes gone, Hayes gets a golden opportunity to stamp himself as a NBA starter.
* Coach Jordan has been working hard on defensive strategies, as this was a weakness.
* Will be interesting to see whether they play Arenas as a point guard or off the ball.
Overview : Looking into this game too much is pointless. It is the first hitout for both franchises with major roster overhauls. Both camps will be trialling new matchups and triallists with the end result playing second fiddle. With Washington and Cleveland both having two starting positions still partially open there will be no shortage of commitment. Coach Brown gets his first taste of head coaching and will be feeling slightly under pressure for this much hyped team to perform. With Brown pushing them, I feel the Cavalier's will push that little bit harder and come out with a 9 point win. But picking results in these games are a stab in the dark.
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