That’s right, Homeless Ted Williams, whose “golden voice” took the internet by storm the past few days, landed a job with the Cavaliers that includes housing and potentially announcing work. It’s a great story and it proves the power of viral videos and second chances in America. Unfortunately not all stories have a fairy tail [...]
Larry Brown Sports
Carlos Boozer started his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a teammate of LeBron James for one season. He said it will be strange playing in Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night without facing James.
“It’ll definitely be different,” Boozer said. “They’re a very good team; they’ve got guys that can play. I’ve been playing against Antawn Jamison my entire career, [J.J.] Hickson’s been playing great, Mo Williams is a great young point guard and [Anderson] Varejao, is always hustling, a very athletic guy.
“They have very good players. They compete every night. I know Byron Scott teams. Every Byron Scott team competes. We’re looking forward to playing them.”
When Eli Zaret interviewed Rodney Stuckey after the Pistons’ win over the Cavaliers last night, the first question was about Stuckey and Richard Hamilton clicking together. Stuckey’s answered about how happy he was to push the pace and that he hopes the Pistons keep doing that.
I suspect that would have his answer no matter what Zaret asked first.
The Pistons are one of the league’s slowest teams, and I’m actually OK with that. I don’t love it, but there is merit to the style. Stuckey doesn’t see it that why, and I understand that for him. That doesn’t make their pace wrong for the entire team, though.
But – and this is an increasingly relevant but – when the Pistons go small, they still play slowly, and that’s a mistake.
A fast pace during small ball would allow the Pistons to take advantage offensively of having more quicker players on the floor and negate some of their defensive shortcomings.
In the third quarter against the Cavs last night, Detroit finally figured that out.
Ben Gordon replaced Jason Maxiell to open the second half – joining other-usual-starters Rodney Stuckey, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace on the court. Anyone who saw lineups with Prince at power forward under Michael Curry probably was weary, and rightfully so.
But whether John Kuester realized it or not, he was swapping the Piston with the highest pace for the one with the lowest (excluding Chris Wilcox and DaJuan Summers). (Data from BasketballValue.com, starters in red, reserves in blue)
You can see the reserves play faster than the starters, but for the most part, this passes the smell test. Stuckey is the fastest-playing starter, and McGrady is the slowest-playing reserve. Greg Monroe, who plays a lot of minutes with the starters, fits better with them than the backups.
The Pistons had 30 third-quarter possessions, and the Cavaliers had 31. That’s a pace of 122.
For perspective, Detroit’s season pace is 91.7.* Minnesota leads the league with a pace of 101.3.
*Pace stats vary by site. I’m using HoopData’s here, because I think that corresponds most closely with my hand count for the third quarter.
The Pistons haven’t put together a game this year that looks anything like the third quarter.
The Pistons weren’t great in the third quarter, but they were good enough. This year, that’s been a rarity. They outscored Cleveland, 27-21, in the period.
This was not only one of the tweaks in his rotation that Kuester has talked about, it was a significant change in strategy.
It helped that the Cavaliers matched up well with small ball. But when the Pistons went small in the past, they didn’t usually play faster, regardless of the matchup.
There is potential for successful playing this way against certain teams. I don’t want to see it every game, but it’s encouraging to know the Pistons have a weapon in their bag.
Share:
If Dan Gilbert expects people to believe that he’s “over” LeBron James after he was angry enough to send Cavaliers fans this letter just a few months ago, he’s even crazier than we thought. What’s particularly convenient about the whole LeBron returning to Cleveland situation is that just one day after Gilbert told reporters he [...]
Larry Brown Sports
The Celtics manhandled the Cavaliers 106 – 87 tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
They inflicted most of their damage in the paint, outscoring Cleveland 60-26.
With the Celtics offense sputtering early, Rajon Rondo (23 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds) looked for his own shot. He tuned up Mo Williams and Ramon Sessions for 11 1st quarter points.
The Cavs held an early 9 point lead, due mostly to the all-out hustle of Anderson Varejao. Shaq was unable to box him out.
The Cs broke the game open with a 35 point 2nd quarter. The bench (Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson) scored 16 points in the quarter. Davis finished with 17 pts, 11 rebounds. Quisy had 16 points on 7-10 FG.
The Celtics maintained their defensive intensity throughout the 3rd quarter. Paul Pierce had three blocks and Davis had one spectacular stuff on a Sessions’ dunk attempt.
KG (11 points, 10 rebounds) tweaked his ankle in the 3rd quarter. While it appeared painful, Garnett managed to play through the injury.
![harris_101019_670[1]](http://www.umhoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/harris_101019_6701.jpg "harris_101019_670[1]")
Manny Harris didn’t play much in the Cavs blowout preseason win over the Sixers this evening but he received some good news after the game. The Cavaliers announced that they had waived former 2nd round draft pick Danny Green.
The cut brings the Cavs roster, which still includes Manny Harris, to the NBA limit of 15 players. The Cavs still have the option to sign a player that was released by another team but, for now, Manny Harris is safe.
When Manny Harris announced he was entering the draft I figured that he had a chance to land somewhere in the second round. When he injured his ankle before the draft, didn’t get drafted, and couldn’t play in the Summer League, I figured his odds were slim to none. 2nd round draft picks don’t always end up on NBA rosters, let alone undrafted rookies. He certainly proved me, and just about everyone else, dead wrong.
The streak is over. The Cleveland Cavaliers either caught a team on an off night or finally grew some balls. I’m sure they don’t care how it happened, but the Cavs beat Blake Griffin and the Clippers on Friday night. I wonder if LeBron still thinks Sunday’s Cavs-Wizards game should be nationally televised? The real [...]
Larry Brown Sports