Game 56: Grizzlies @ Cavaliers (2/24, 6pm on FSN-OH)

[Hydroponic3385]

Three guys with double doubles. Six guys with double figure points. Big Ben with his season high in points. Despite the sloppy play (which is to be expected for the first few games for sure) and playing against a horrible Memphis team, it's a positive start for the new-look Cavs.

[umfan83]

OOC, how would you Cavs fans evaluate Ben's performance tonight? He's not going to shoot 4-4 every game even with LBJ giving him easy dunks haha

[TheOUTLAW]

If he rolls to the basket he will get easy attempts because LeBron will find him. But he played good defense and he helped us dominate the boards. There is nothing more I could ask for.

[LoveThemCavs]

OOC, how would you Cavs fans evaluate Ben's performance tonight? He's not going to shoot 4-4 every game even with LBJ giving him easy dunks haha

I don't think we're naive enough to think he's going to be perfect from the field every game or even close to it. Our team is already one of the best rebouding teams in the league without Ben. I'd give his performance a solid B maybe even an A. Actually Joe Smith just makes it great. He hit the mid range shot all night which he'll be open a ton for it. I'd say both sides are happy. I'm sure it'll be a little ugly amongst the fans though since our teams play four times in the coming games.

[L&H_05]

Well, that was Detroit Ben Wallace right there...

Should be a little easier for him with playing with a guy like Z as opposed to guys like Tyrus and Joakim..

Hell, it should make Z's life a whole lot easier just cause doesn't have to take the floor with that moron who sported #90

I've already seen Drew F-UP twice in two plays in the 1st quarter... He lost Scola, and he let Battier get an easy layup right at the rim cause he didn't slide over...

Bye Drew

[Rise Against]

Great win tonight. Big Ben looked like he was back in Detroit -- nice double-double for a debut. West had a poor shooting night but the six assists made up for it. Szczerbiak played well coming off the bench and Smith looks like he's already comfortable with the team. I love it, we finally get an easy win.

[LiquidFire]

i loved the pick and roll with delonte and ben, because delonte is so small he just goes to the lane with ease and finds wallace.

feels nice to have a semi-real pg

[Rise Against]

^^I agree.. We hardly have anyone else on the team besides LeBron that can dish out 6 dimes.

[B Mac]

Well it was a fun first part of the game that showed what we are capable of (even if it was Memphis), then the Cavs obviously got bored. I dont even want to think what the score would have been if the Cavs actually focused for more than a quarter. I fully expect all of those sloppy passes and timing issues to get worked out over the next few weeks. It's hard to get used to new players and their styles.

Ben, as has been said before, looked like Detroit Ben. I wont get overly excited over one game, but he showed he still has it in him. I like most of you really believe his Chicago days were just a case of being a horrible fit for him. Not only does Z's precense help him out, but Ben's precense seemed to help Z out. I think those two will grow into an extremely solid pair as they get some more time together. Someone mentioned Boozer, and I think that was a solid point because both him and Ben are basically filling the same role here (rebounding, defense, and dunks), although Wallace should be able to do it better, especially defensively.

Wally, struggled to find his shot it seemed, and looked to be pressing, but what I liked about his game was that NOTHING was forced. There were no 4 on 1 pullup jumpers. No 20 seconds left on the shot clock hoists from 30 feet, just well timed shots in the flow of the offense. Very refreshing to see that instead of what we were used to. Those shots will fall with time, his track record proves it. His D was a little suspect, but Memphis honestly has some great guards that are quick, crafty, and a horrible matchup for Wally.

Delonte had a solid floor game. Again like Wally his shot really wasnt falling, but he took mostly good shots, only one or two forced shots, and only one or two shots he should have taken but didnt. He's a whole lot more fast than I expected and looks very calm and collected with the ball in his hands. It may just be we've been starved for anything resembling a real PG for a few years, but he looked very good in that role.

Joe was solid. Just like Chicago fans have been telling us, he was a real pro out there. He knocked down open shots and didnt get lost on defense. I look forward to seeing what he'll be able to do for us the rest of the way, especially considering most of the time he will be matching up against the other team's bench big men as well.


As for that Memphis team. I really like that team's backcourt. They have some absolute great pieces, but they obviously are missing that main big guy to make it all work. I kept wondering to myself how the hell a team with Pau, Mike Miller, Rudy Gay, Warrick, and Conley to go along with all those other great role player guys wasnt any better... It honestly is a head scratcher. If they manage to get a couple bigs either in the draft with all those picks or can lure someone like Brand through FA. Look out for them. They will be tough.

Now Im off to go skim through some of the Bulls game to watch what I dont miss.

[jnester71]

His D was a little suspect, but Memphis honestly has some great guards that are quick, crafty, and a horrible matchup for Wally.



Yeah, that was pretty much the only negative tonight. IMO Wally struggled to stay with the quicker guards bigtime..

Big Ben looked way better than Gooden pretty much ever has though.. save a couple of occasions when Drew actually looked driven.

I still think Mike Brown trying to find minutes for everyone on this suddenly deep team will be our biggest issue. Brown even confirmed it in the pregame.. saying he struggles with doling out the playing time. Uh oh Mikey.. better ask Damon Jones for help! It wouldn't be the first time would it.

[TheOUTLAW]

There were some times where Wally was trying to stick with Lowry or Conley, that's never going to be a good matchup for him. But as long as he can stay on the court without becoming a big matchup problem we should be okay.

[Icness]

So far, so good...

Regarding Wally's defensive deficiency:
That's why Ben Wallace is so critical to this deal. Ben has always been a much better "help" defender than a man-on defender, and his size and aggressiveness when he helps makes the offensive player make snap, often blind, decisions with the ball in a crowd. If Wally can trust him and rotate back outside to spoil the spot-up 3, he'll be fine. That kind of defense made Rip Hamilton a much better player. Rip has developed into a pretty good defnsive player but it wasn't always so. Wally is too old to develop, but if he can simply not suck we'll be okay.
The other option I see is to let Wally guard the perimeter-oriented guys and have Lebron guard the slasher-types. Wally may not be quick but he's gotten a lot of steals over the years with good anticipation and good angles.

[jimmywolfrey]

I think Delonte played great save for his shooting. That has been his main problem this year when he has played. He has been a streak shooter this year where as he was pretty consistent his first few years with the Celtics.