Seattle Supersonics (1-2) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (2-2)
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
7:00pm ET
Radio : WTAM 1100
TV: FSOhio
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland OH
Head Coaches
Bob Weiss / Mike Brown
Probable Starters
Luke Ridnour / Eric Snow
Ray Allen / Larry Hughes
Rashard Lewis / LeBron James
Reggie Evans / Drew Gooden
Johan Petro / Zydrunas Ilguaskas
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Jones/Marshall/Jackson/Pavlovic/Henderson/Wilks/Hamilton
Seattle Sonics Bench
Radmanovic/Collison/Potapenko/Murray/Wilkins/Fortson/Cleaves
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
7:00pm ET
Radio : WTAM 1100
TV: FSOhio
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland OH
Head Coaches
Bob Weiss / Mike Brown
Probable Starters
Luke Ridnour / Eric Snow
Ray Allen / Larry Hughes
Rashard Lewis / LeBron James
Reggie Evans / Drew Gooden
Johan Petro / Zydrunas Ilguaskas
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Jones/Marshall/Jackson/Pavlovic/Henderson/Wilks/Hamilton
Seattle Sonics Bench
Radmanovic/Collison/Potapenko/Murray/Wilkins/Fortson/Cleaves
Cavalier Notes
* The Cavalier's return home after a three game road trip with just the one win vs the Raptors.
* Cleveland are playing just their second home game, in which they blew out the Hornets in game 1.
* Larry Hughes is still struggling with a finger injury. "I'm trying to get comfortable and get my hand back to 100 percent," Hughes said.
* The Cavs will have a distinct scoring advantage in the paint with Evans and Petro only there for defense and rebounding.
* Whilst Lewis will have trouble stopping James, LeBron will also struggle in containing the multi talented long forward.
* Hughes's defense will be tested by the purest shot in the game with Ray Allen in town.
* Eric Snow will have his word cut out trying to prevent Ridnour's penetration. Ridnour had a career game on McInnis last time they met.
Sonics Notes
* Seattle are (1-1) heading into Tuesday night's clash with the Grizzlies in Memphis are splitting their opening two games at home.
* Cleveland are the Sonics second stop of a 6 game road trip.
* Need to prevent Hughes and James from getting into the paint. This pair is more comfortable penetrating rather then shooting jumpers.
* Force Cleveland to lob pass to Ilgauskas. Thus far the Cavaliers have struggled to get quality ball to their key inside man.
* Work hard on the defensive glass to prevent Ilgauskas, Marshall and Gooden from getting their team second looks.
* Utilise Ronald Murray to attack Damon Jones in the second unit.
* Rotate Petro, Potapenko and Fortson often at center to inhibit Ilgauskas from geting comfortable.
* Swing the ball on the perimeter after penetration to find good looks against a struggling Cleveland defense.
Overview : Cleveland need to stamp home their authority at the Q against a team on the 2nd game of a back to back. The Cavaliers have struggled stopping teams from the perimeter thus far, and the Sonics will make us pay if we allow open looks. Snow plays a big role defensively in trying to stop the initial penetration to the paint by Ridnour, to stop him finding quality off the ball movers in Lewis and Allen. On offense the Cavalier's need to get the ball inside. Ilgauskas and Gooden have mismatches which they can take advantage of, whilst LeBron also could over power the more finesse styled Lewis. Marshall will come up against a similar perimeter threat in Radmanovic, and will need to be careful not to sag of him too far. Seattle are dangerous on the offensive glass in particular Evans and Fortson.
Looking at this game, I believe the Cavs can be effective enough defensively at the perimeter to frustrate the Sonics. On offense Cleveland will have too many weapons for the Sonics to consistantly repel. With the Sonics energy levels sapped from the Memphis game the previous night, Cleveland will likely cause Seattle headaches with the pace of the game.
Prediction : Cavs by 9
Last edited: