What to Watch For - Cavs v. Bulls
Posted January 2nd, 2009 by Michael Curry
Happy New Year everybody. Here’s hoping the Cavaliers look as good in 2009 as they have in 2008. If they do, an early Summer parade is in the works.
What to watch for tonight when the Bulls come into town:
1. The Bulls have been playing very poorly on the road, sporting a 4-14 record on the season, a road record on par with the truly bad teams in the league. While one of those wins did come against Utah, there’s little to indicate that the Bulls are poised for the upset tonight. The Bulls are still more a bunch of mismatched parts rather than a cohesive whole, but that Derrick Rose sure can play.
The one thing the Bulls do well under head coach Vinny Del Negro is get out in transition, something that has been the bane of the Cavalier defense all season. While the Cavaliers have won the first two meetings with Chicago this season, the Bulls have been competitive, despite the fact that LeBron James dropped 41 points on them both times. If the Cavaliers start settling for long jump shots - a distinct possibility given their recent play - the Bulls could get out and run and make it a tough night for the home team.
Still, I believe the loss to Miami will re-focus the Cavaliers a bit, and that the recent offensive and rebounding issues will be less present tonight. The Bulls are allowing a bunch of points lately (104.6 ppg allowed over the last five games, even while holding the Nets to 87 in their one win), and they don’t have any kind of reliable inside presence, even if Drew Gooden returns tonight from an ankle sprain that has sidelined him for the past week.
2. Will the Cavs show the energy that has been lacking for the past week? Over the last three games, the Cavaliers have not brought the same level of intensity and focus that fans have come to expect from the team, especially on the offensive end. The Cavs have averaged just 93.7 ppg in the last three, nearly 8 points per game off of their season average (101.5 ppg), and instead of breaking down the defense with dribble penetration and crisp passing, the team has been settling for too many jump shots.
Part of that inefficiency can be placed right at the feet of Daniel Gibson, who’s shot actually looks worse than it did prior to his toe injury. Over the last three games, Gibson has hoisted 25 shots, connecting on only 7 (28%). In contrast, Anderson Varejao has made 10 of his last 16 shots (62.5%) in that same span, but was only allowed one field goal attempt on Tuesday. While the two are very different players, the fact remains that the Cavaliers have been settling for lower percentage jump shots rather than creating higher percentage shots for the big men.
AP Photo/Mark Duncan
3. Will the Cavaliers regain their commitment to rebounding? The Heat gathered in 9 more rebounds than the Cavaliers on Tuesday, including 10 offensive rebounds. That’s a sharp contrast for the Cavaliers, who have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 4.3 rpg this season. While part of the problem can be attributed to Zydrunas Ilgauskas slowly recovering from his ankle sprain (he’s not rebounding well at all), the rest of the team isn’t picking up the slack. LeBron has only averaged 5.2 rebounds a game over the last five games, 1.4 less than his season average. Rebounding is a hustle stat, and the lack of rebounding of late is more evidence that the team isn’t bringing the same level of intensity that was their trademark over the first quarter of the season.
4. What does LeBron do when his teammates don’t step up? There are plenty of reasons the Cavaliers lost in Miami, but in my mind the real difference was that Miami had their point guard (Mario Chalmers, 21 points) and three point specialist (Daequan Cook, 17 points) providing solid offense, while the Cavaliers (Mo Williams, 10 points; Daniel Gibson, 9 points) did not.
Hector Gabino/El Nuevo Herald/MCT
I stand by my statement that the Cavs would have had a better chance of winning in Miami if LeBron had decided to go for fifty points, rather than passing off to Delonte West and Mo Williams. It’s not that LeBron didn’t shoot in the fourth (he took 8 shots), but he didn’t play with the kind of reckless abandon that got the Cavaliers back into the game in the third quarter, when he proved that there was no way the Miami defense could keep him from going where he wanted to go.
On nights when the team just isn’t committed to the offense, I’d be more than happy to let LeBron take over and do what he does. I know that people complain about the offense devolving into “watch LeBron dribble,” but the fact remains that there isn’t a single player in the league better at breaking down the defense and scoring the basketball. Sure, when the Cavalier offense is flowing, and the shooters are making their open shots, the Cavs offense looks great. But when the players stop moving off the ball, when the ballhandlers dribble away the shot clock looking for the perfect pass even as the defense crowds them, when they stop getting the ball into the lane… I’d rather see LeBron take over.
Hopefully that won’t be necessary tonight, but if the Cavaliers don’t bring the energy tonight, they are in for the same kind of dogfight they experienced against the Wizards and Heat last week. And if you give the opposing team enough chances, even a team like the Bulls can beat you at home.
Go Cavs.
UPDATE: People are reporting that Zydrunas Ilgauskas will miss tonight’s game to rest that sore ankle that has been slowing him down. I’m all for that, but it will mean that some players (read: LeBron, Wally) will need to be more aggressive on the boards. Oh, and consider that an update that Wally is expected to play tonight, after missing the last two games with a bruised knee.
