Nothing has stopped the Cavaliers so far this season.  At 19-3, the Cavs have the 2nd best record in the League and look to be a title contender.  Everything has been rolling along beautifully as the Wine and Gold has won 10 straight and 18 of their last 19 contests.

The waters are about to get a bit rough.

That nasty little injury bug has reared it's ugly head this week, forcing Mike Brown to alter his rotation for the foreseeable future. It started on Tuesday Night when Daniel Gibson sprained his big toe.  He is expected to miss at least two weeks.  The Cavs hardly missed a beat in jumping out to a big lead in Philadelphia on Wednesday, then that nasty little pest bit again.  With about 9 minutes to go in the game, Zydrunas Ilgauskas came down on the foot of Donyell Marshall. He limped off the court with what has been diagnosed as a moderate sprain to his left ankle.

The team has not placed a timetable for Z other than to say he would miss this weekend's back to back at home against Philly tonight and tomorrow in Atlanta.  After that is anyone's guess.  Personally, I doubt we will see Z until after the New Year - 3-4 weeks.  With all the problems Z has had with his feet the Cavs and Ilgauskas would be wise to be careful.

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			FIELD GOALS				REBOUNDS
	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	+/-	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	PF	ST	TO	BS	BA	PTS
M.Williams	G	32:37	7-14	1-6	2-2	+11	2	2	4	7	4	1	1	0	0	17
D.West	G	30:00	3-8	2-6	1-2	0	1	5	6	2	2	2	1	1	1	9
L.James	F	30:16	7-15	0-2	8-12	+10	2	7	9	9	3	0	5	1	0	22
B.Wallace	F	24:18	1-2	0-0	0-0	+11	2	8	10	0	1	1	0	5	0	2
Z.Ilgauskas	C	30:11	4-9	0-1	3-4	+13	0	3	3	0	2	2	1	2	0	11
D.Gibson		30:57	10-14	4-6	1-5	+32	3	1	4	2	2	0	2	0	2	25
A.Varejao		20:34	1-2	0-0	0-0	+12	1	2	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	2
A.Pavlovic		18:02	0-1	0-0	2-2	+7	1	2	3	1	2	1	1	0	0	2
J.Hickson		10:27	1-4	0-0	2-2	-2	1	1	2	0	2	0	1	1	1	4
W.Szczerbiak		06:39	0-1	0-1	0-0	+1	0	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	0
L.Wright		03:11	1-2	0-0	0-0	-4	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
T.Kinsey		02:48	0-0	0-0	0-0	-6	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
TOTAL		240	35-72	7-22	19-29		13	33	46	23	23	7	15	11	4	96
			48.6%	31.8%	65.5%	TEAM REBS: 11				TOTAL TO: 15

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Cavaliers Thoughts

• Early on we are seeing the way Mike Brown would like to use LeBron James.  I think.  In Boston, during a close game, Brown was able to limit James to 36 minutes.  Of course, LeBron was in a bit of foul trouble.  It had to be encouraging, however, that the Cavs remained competitive with the Celtics with LeBron off the floor for extended periods.  Last night, the Cavaliers were able to give LeBron even more rest, with James playing only 30 minutes.  For a guy who averaged over 40 minutes per game last season, only playing around 33 minutes has to be like a vacation.  
  
• Can we just eliminate the 3rd quarter?  I mean, really, the Cavs don't need it.  In fact, it hurts them.  After being outscored 24-13 in the 3rd against Boston, it appeared the Cavaliers were going to give back a big lead to the Bobcats last night, watching a 17-point halftime lead shrink to 5.  Fortunately, the Cavs were able to pump it back to 9 by the end of the quarter.  Still, the Cavs gave up 26 points, while shotting 4/14 in the quarter(0-6 from distance).  Through two games, the Cavaliers have been outscored 50-31 in the 3rd quarter.  Not a good way to get the 2nd half going.
  
• Daniel Gibson was on fire, giving the Cavaliers a huge lift off the bench.  Gibson scored 20 points in the first half, shot 10/14 from the field and was everywhere on defense as well.  Inexplicably, Gibson was 1-5 from the free throw line, including missing all 3 attempts in the 4th quarter after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.  Gibson also missed a free throw after Larry Brown was called for a technical.  I'll let it slide because I know Gibson is a good free throw shooter and the rest of his night was so good.  If the Cavaliers get that type of production from Gibson on a consistent basis they are going to be very tough.  The Cavaliers were an amazing +32 when Gibson was on the floor.
  
• Wally Szczerbiak looks completely lost on the field.  After playing 16 worthless minutes against Boston, Wally World played just 7 minutes last night, missing his only shot and collecting 3 fouls.  Can someone send out a search party for Wally's game?  
  
• I like J.J. Hickson alot.  The energy he brings into the game is addicting and the dude can jump out of the gym.  I know Mike Brown like veterans and he has little patience for the mistakes rookies make, especially on defense(though, M.B. will allow vets to make those same mistakes....go figure).  Hickson has to get playing time, however.  He reminds me of Anderson Varejao with a much better offensive game.  He may not be the defender that Varejao is right now, but the pure hustle will win over teammates and fans alike, much like Andy did his rookie season.
  

 

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A new feature here at FearTheSword, the daily look around the web at what others are saying about the Cavaliers.  I'll add a short snippet from the article and give a few of my thoughts as well.  Let's start, shall we?

LeBron and Jay-Z stump for Obama at The Q -- I'll let the following video say it all for me.  Regardless of my own political affiliation, I'm not sure about how I feel when athletes, or the Cavaliers for that matter, openly support a political candidate.  While LeBron can surely do what he wants, I feel it is in bad taste to get "Cavs Insider" e-mails promoting what was a political rally.  That's just me.  Here's some video --

LeBron James and Jay-Z at The Q

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According to Brian Windhorst, Darnell Jackson, acquired in a draft night trade with the Miami Heat, will miss 5-6 weeks after being diagnosed with a fractured wrist.

Jackson had been impressing team officials and fans alike with his tough, hard-nosed play during training camp and with Jackson and fellow rookie J.J. Hickson the team felt confident about it's front court situation.

More from Windhorst's article -- 

Jackson said he wasn't sure when the injury occurred, since the first week of training camp he'd been bothered by soreness and was getting the wrist tapped. But it didn't get better and became more bothersome.

A former football player who is proud of his pain tolerance and as a rookie trying to make a positive impression, Jackson simply dealt with it. Discomfort in a weight-lifting session on Thursday, though, convinced Jackson to have it examined.
"I can take a lot of pain, I just kept blowing it off," Jackson said. "Finally, I just got irritated with it and asked if they could check it out and next thing I know I'm in this [cast]."

Jackson hopes to be out of the cast in 10 days or so and expects to return well before the doctors' estimate, but the Cavs will likely proceed cautiously because it is so early in the season and he's a reserve.

He averaged 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 14.3 minutes over the first four preseason games.

"He's having a good camp," Brown said. "Now's he's got to figure out the other side of it, which is how to stay in shape and still learn even though he's going to be out."

The injury could also mean that former St. Edward Eagle/Noth Carolina Tar Heel Jawad Williams could get the nod for the team's final roster spot.  Without Jackson, the Cavaliers are mighty thin on the front lines as Windhorst explains -- 

Brown said the injury may force the team to re-evaluate its roster plans.Ronald Dupree is the narrow favorite to get the last spot. Now thinner on the front line, however, St. Edward graduate Jawad Williams may get further consideration because he can play both forward spots.

 

 

Man, it sure was good to have basketball back in Cleveland.  The Indians were a disappointment this summer and the Browns, well, we won't talk about that.  The Cavaliers have high hopes for 2008-09 and they got to show off their shiny, new toy last night at The Q.  The score may lead one to believe the Cavs didn't play very well, but that would be a bit misleading.

My post-game reports are a work in progress, so feel free to let me know what you like, what you don't, and how I can change it up a bit.

After the jump, the BoxScore and reaction --

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The message on Cavaliers first round pick J.J. Hickson is mixed so far in Training Camp, literally.  One needs only to take a quick look at today's headlines on Cleveland.com and Ohio.com.

The Cleveland angles proclaims, 'A good first impression: Cavs rookies Hickson, Jackson earn Brown's praise'

Ok, How about Ohio.com - 'Hickson shows growing pains; Cavs rookie appears to be having trouble playing defensive end'

So which is it?  Probably a little bit of both.  First, the Ohio.com article is written by Brian Windhorst, who I personally believe is the best beat reporter in the NBA, covering any team.  His insight on what the Cavs players, coaches and front office are thinking, along with his inside knowledge on all things LeBron make his column a daily must in my RSS Feeder.

Windhorst implies in his piece that Hickson's age, he's 3 years younger than anyone on the team, is finally starting to get the best of him, especially on the defensive end. 

While there was some belief that the 6-foot-9 inch forward could become an instant rotation player, some early training camp growing pains may be bringing everyone back to reality.

Now surrounded by all the veterans, Hickson is having some moments where he can't keep up, especially on the defensive end.

On Thursday, he had to bring several dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the morning practice, a normal rookie tradition. But the real hazing has been the demands of coach Mike Brown, whose expectation for perfection on
defense even in drills had Hickson admittedly surprised.

Not surprising.  Defense in the NBA, esecially for a coach like Mike Brown who demands it form every player on the roster, is usually the last thing to come to a young player.  Unfortunately, to see the light of the court during the season, Hickson is going to have to be effective defensively.

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