Not as much to say about tonight’s game as the past two because the Cavs were playing the T-Wolves and, therefore, everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Having said that…
The spacing on offense was definitely improved tonight. It seemed to me that Andy was playing on the opposite side of the floor as Shaq most of the time, which makes it harder for his man to sag off given the defensive three seconds rule. Minnesota got penalized three times for this…
But the other big thing was Shaq, who was waiting for the double team to come and looking to pass. He had three assists in 18:54 minutes. I’ve been hesitant to accept that Andy can start next to Shaq, but tonight at least we saw one scenario in which they were effective simultaneously.
Coldstone’s rotations changed again tonight - and it seemed like it was for the better, although he did go to the Twin Towers lineup early on. Fortunately, Mo made a bunch of shots during this stretch, which prevented Minnesota from getting out in transition.
The first sub, at about the 6 minute mark of the 1st quarter, swapped Z for Shaq and then at about the 3 minute mark, Mo, Parker, and Andy were replaced by Boobie, Moon, and Hickson - where I think Moon was playing the 2 for the first time.
Moon isn’t fitting in properly yet. He only played 14 minutes and was efficient in that time, but he seems lost amidst the other guys, and I even saw Pavs successfully take him to the rack. A good one-on-one block in transition at the end of the game made me feel better about the notion that he may actually be able to be a lock down perimeter defender…but there hasn’t been a lot of evidence to support that so far. His play should be enhanced once his minutes and place in the rotation become set.
Anthony Parker did nothing to distance himself from the word “disaster” tonight, especially since he only had 2 rebounds in 33 minutes and was 2-7 from the field. Again, this is not Delonte-level production and whenever AP attempts to create his own shot…it’s ugly.
I’ve now heard several analysts (no names, I’m feeling generous) say that the Cavs need to act like Delonte isn’t coming back this season and forget he exists. I disagree. The Cavs have to act like Delonte is injured, which he is, and assume he’s coming back. If they don’t, then should make a deal to fill his spot right away because this isn’t a championship team with Parker playing 33 minutes a night.
Johnny Flynn has to be the only player in the NBA who’s had the ball swiped from him by Boobie on two successive possessions.
I love Varejao. His activity level is off the charts. He contested a three that Brian Cardinal took, coming from the opposite elbow. Not too many guys in the NBA would’ve done that. He had three turnovers tonight, which wasn’t great - but 5-9 from the field, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals are. Not to mention a sick over the shoulder assist to Z while cutting through the lane.
LeBron is LeBron. He took a lot of jumpers and was still 10-18 from the floor and 2-3 from behind the arc. His jump shot looks even better than it did last year so far and expect his three point percentage to improve this season from last, based solely on the fact that he started off ‘08 by missing something like 27 straight three point attempts.
Coldstone put Bron back in late in the 4th and Tim and I both immediately said, “Why is he back in?” Then I realized Bron may have been close to getting a triple double. He wasn’t that close (I think he needed 5 more assists and a couple boards when he was brought back), but you know, Bron doesn’t care about individual accolades anyway - plus, he has no idea what his personal stats are during the game either.
Charlotte tomorrow night…if I’m not Halloweening, I’ll be here. Maybe Shaq will hit his first free throw of the season - and even successfully crash the offensive glass.
