Re: Cavaliers vs. Wizards November 1st, 2006
Rivalry against Wizards growing
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
* NBA season opens: Heat melt against Bulls
CLEVELAND - The Cavaliers, currently a golden spoke in the NBA's marketing machine, open their much-anticipated season with the Washington Wizards tonight.
The ads promoting the game, which have littered ABC, ESPN and other cable outlets over the past week, prominently feature LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas.
Such is the custom, especially during high-profile times such as opening night, to shine the spotlight on the stars.
But this is hardly a one-night stand or simply a mano-a-mano rivalry. The Cavs and Wizards are developing quite a feisty acquaintance, and it goes beyond the made-for-TV stuff.
In fact, Arenas vs. James might be the most superficial layer.
``I love the competitiveness in bothplayers, but it is kind of hard to say they're going at it when they don't actually guard each other,'' Eric Snow said. ``They're scoring, but they're doing it on other guys.''
The most real vein of dislike, of course, comes from last season, when the Cavs eked past the Wizards in the playoffs by winning three one-point games.
Both teams put on a ratings-building show of scoring and alternate periods of extraordinary clutch play. For fun, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan accused the referees of favoring James by ignoring traveling, while James, in turn, barked about being called for too many offensive fouls.
``Anytime you play a team in the playoffs, especially when the games are hard fought, it definitely carries over,'' said Larry Hughes, who counts many Wizards among his friends. ``They feel like they should've won the series; we feel like the outcome was the way it was supposed to be.''
Yet it still goes deeper than that. In the summer of 2005, the Cavs were able to pry away two free agents whom the Wizards were hoping to sign.
The biggest was Hughes, who left the Wizards when they offered to match the Cavs' offer. Several weeks later, the Cavs were able to land Donyell Marshall over the Wizards and New Jersey Nets.
Then there's the bad blood.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Wizards center Brendan Haywood have a colorful past. Not only has Haywood seemed to have some of his better games against Ilgauskas, but the two also haven't been afraid to mix it up. During one game in Washington last year, the pair got into a dust-up that resulted in both lying on the floor and Ilgauskas being ejected.
Ira Newble and Wizards forward Etan Thomas also have a bit of history. Thomas is a physical player and several years ago during a game, he and Newble got tangled up on more than one occasion. Newble ended up throwing the ball at Thomas, earning a technical foul.
There is no need for extra hype for tonight's game, which will carry all the classic first-game excitement. But needless to say, there's always a little extra flowing when the Cavs and Wizards see each other.
``I think we compete with each other very well,'' James said. ``I do look forward to playing some of the elite teams. I'm sure they look forward to playing us.''
Peek at plans
When the Cavs submitted their final 15-man roster to the NBA on Monday night, they were required to designate three players as inactive. It is a fluid list that can be changed before the game tonight. But because the Cavs have no injuries, the fact that rookies Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson and Dwayne Jones were named suggests that might be the way that the Cavs go early in the season. Cavs coach Mike Brown has said he doesn't plan on giving the rookies playing time in the early going.
Jent retained
After giving him a monthlong look in the preseason, the Cavs are planning to hire Chris Jent as a development coach. He will help players work on various areas before and after practice and sit behind the bench during games. The former Ohio State star had a similar role previously with the Philadelphia 76ers. He was also an assistant coach and later an interim coach with the Orlando Magic.
Dribbles
Mike Brown and several assistant coaches ran wind sprints at the end of practice Tuesday, supposedly after making an unspecified mistake during the workout.... Gibson changed his number from 21 to 1 on Tuesday. It was his college number and was previously held by Stephen Graham.... A very limited number of tickets remain for tonight.... The Cavs will debut new public-address announcer Olivier Sedra in the opener. He comes to Cleveland from Montreal, where he had been doing some PA work and local radio.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at
bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Check out Windhorst's Cavaliers weblog at
http://blogs.ohio.com/cavaliers_blog.
