:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/981941/20120717_jla_aj4_178.0.jpg)
Cleveland Cavaliers basketball is back! Well, kind of. The Cavs have their first real preseason game tonight against Montepaschi Siena from the Euroleague. The game tips off at 7 PM Eastern tonight and you can listen to it on WTAM 1100. It's not televised in the United States, but there's a rumor that an Italian stream of the game may be available online somewhere. Of course, I can't post any links to websites that would have such links, so just ask someone on Twitter if you need it.
I'll be honest and say that I know virtually nothing about Montepaschi Siena. I know that they got stomped by the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and that they are playing the Cavaliers tonight. That's pretty much it. They probably also eat pasta --lots of pasta. No truth to the rumor that Angelo Benedetti is rooting for the Italian team tonight. You can read a bit more about Siena here, thanks to Rafael Uehara. He points out that the team is in a bit of a rebuilding year, so they aren't particularly strong.
On the Cavaliers side of the ball, not much has changed in the past couple of days. Byron Scott is still focusing on defense and conditioning and added that he thought the ball security was lacking during the Wine and Gold scrimmage. Because the Cavaliers have another preseason game tomorrow night against the Milwaukee Bucks, don't expect guys to play huge minutes tonight. Scott also pointed out that, like during the scrimmage this weekend, the lineups don't really mean anything. He's just trying to see what he's got and figure out what works. The starters tonight are not guaranteed to be the starters next game or on opening night.
Things I'm Looking for Tonight:
Dion Waiters being aggressive -- attack the basket, take no prisoners, scare some Italians.
Tristan Thompson being confident/aggressive -- go up strong, use that new muscle, dunk on some Italians.
Kyrie Irving ruining souls -- cross some fools up, be ridiculous, embarrass some Italians.
Something notable from any of the guys trying to make the team -- Kelenna Azubuike, Michael Eric, Kevin Jones, etc...they're all trying to make this team. Give us and Byron Scott a reason to keep you.
I'm not doing a prediction tonight because it's preseason. It doesn't really matter and I'll try not to overreact to anything we see (or don't see, if the stream doesn't work) tonight. Regardless, LET'S GO CAVS.