The “Trendy” Cavaliers…
Once again the Cavs won a game at home, and once again the Cavs won a game with at least one nights rest in between games. Now they face two demons that have plagued them in this early part of the season:
A road game…and the second of back-to-back games.
I read in last night’s recap that the Cavs are an NBA best 24-5 at home since March. That’s very encouraging to say the least. In any sport it’s important to control your home floor, and we should keep that stat in mind come playoff time - all the more reason why it will be important for the Cavs to earn a high seed in the playoffs.
The Cavs are only 1-6 in second games of a back-to-back set, and going to Chicago to face off with the Bulls tonight will be another chance for Cleveland to start making progress to improving that aspect of their game.
Chicago has not struggled as much as the Cavs have in second games of back-to-back sets, currently holding a 5-2 record in those games. Add that to the Bulls current home record of 13-2, and things do not look promising for the Cavs to win their first back-to-back set of the season.
What a perfect night it would be to win one though…LeBron’s birthday, a division rival, and the last game of 2006, where a win can set the tone for this team heading into a fresh 2007.
One thing that will be key for the Cavs if they do stand a chance tonight will be the availability of Anderson Varejao, who missed last night’s game with a sore neck. If Varejao can’t go, then the Cavs will desperately need Donyell Marshall to repeat his performance from last night…more importantly his 10 rebounds.
Marshall credited his breakthrough game to his hot shooting during pre-game warmups. I credit his breakthrough game with just getting more minutes of playing time.
Marshall has played more than 30 minutes only twice this season. Last night when he scored 29 points and had 10 boards, and December 9th in the 107-75 blow out against the Indiana Pacers where he played 34 minutes, scored 11 points, and grabbed 17 rebounds.
Marshall is the kind of player that needs to get into a rhythm to be productive, especially his best weapon - the three-point ball. When the minutes have been given to him, he has always produced. The problem is, spreading those minutes out among the Cavs roster the best way possible - something Coach Mike Brown is still struggling with and perfecting.
Hopefully Coach Brown has taken notice of Marshall’s production in relation to minutes played and he will find away to use Marshall more effectively.
Another troubling trend continues for the Cavs - free throw shooting. Last night
Cleveland shot only 52% from the line, connecting on only 14 of 27 shots. That has to change. There is simply no way around that. So far, there has not been a game come down directly to free throw shots, but that time is coming and the Cavs will need to close out close games in the future from the line. Missed free throws will especially kill teams in the playoffs, and even though the playoffs are months away, it still must be an immediate concern.
As of today, the Cavs sit second to last in the league in free throw shooting with a horrible 69.5%, leading only the Hornets who have made 69.2%. Cleveland is not far off from being the worst free throw shooting team in the league, and if we have dreams of a championship season, that percentage cannot stand. It should be no surprise that the two best teams in the NBA right now, Phoenix and Dallas, currently rank 1st and 2nd in free throw shooting at 82.2% and 80.6% respectively. So you can see how much work the Cavs need to do in that area.
On a side note, LeBron has played an NBA game on his birthday one other time in his career - his first year in 2003. LeBron scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 4 assists in a loss to Indiana.