Preview: Bobcats at Cavs, January 3rd
2010-01-03
In Case You Missed It:
Good News File: Anderson Varejao is now the NBA leader in overall +/-, which is a funky stat in NBA.com’s completely unadjusted form but is a good thing. Also in this article is Mike Brown’s reasoning for starting the clearly inferior JJ Hickson.
Bad News File: According to Windhorst, Delonte West had one of his bad days yesterday, and actually pulled himself from the game in the fourth quarter. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with him playing at home today.
Relevant Statistics:
Pace: Bobcats 91.7 (27th) vs. Cavs 91.6 (28th)
Offensive Efficiency: Charlotte 100.0 (26th) vs. Cavs 108.9 (7th)
Defensive Efficiency: Charlotte 99.7 (2nd) vs. Cavs 102.0 (4th)
Notes:
Obviously, the key to beating this Charlotte squad is cracking their defense. According to Hoopdata, Charlotte has an extremely balanced defense, and is very good at defending every area, with no real weaknesses. Cleveland will have to move the ball.
Defensively, the more shots the low-efficiency pair of Stephen Jackson and Raymond Felton end up taking, the better. What the Cavs don’t want is Wallace or Mohammad getting lots of ugly buckets in the paint area.
Who’s excited for Varejao and Crash battling for boards and loose balls? Also, Crash will eat JJ alive if he can’t secure the ball around the basket.
Recommended Reading:
Alright, I’m doing the Daily Dime Live Chat, so keep me company. Other than that, open thread. Recap tonight.
Hickson clearly can’t play real minutes for this team in the playoffs I’m afraid. Like Krolik said his defense screw-ups are so bad that you just can’t have him on the court for any length of time. When the deadline comes, Hickson is the piece im throwing in with Z or Shaq. Most teams will like his athletic ability ands ee the upside, the cavs just don’t have time to waste on a project right now.
One thing I’ve noticed about J.J. when he’s not actively sabotaging the team is how bad his floor spacing is when Shaq’s on the floor. Shaq doesn’t like to move around much either, and J.J. has a habit of standing around near him. When Andy or Z come in for Shaq, this immediately stops being a problem because everyone else is moving.