Recap: Cavs 104, Pistons 79 (Or, Powe knows how to get back to dominating teams)
2010-03-21Overview: The Cavs beat the Pistons with a stifling wire-to-wire effort, controlling the entire game and cruising to a 104-79 victory. In a balanced effort, six Cavaliers scored in double figures. Leon Powe led the way with 16 points, and LeBron James was able to sit for the entire fourth quarter.
Cavs-Related Bullets:
-Finally, 48 good minutes against an inferior team. If I had to sum up what the Cavs did tonight in one word, that word would likely be POWESMASH. The Cavaliers beat the Pistons up in the paint and on the boards, and nobody was doing that better than Leon Powe. Despite barely leaving the ground, Powe was grabbing rebounds left and right and wouldn’t be denied when he got the ball in the paint. Every time he got it down low, Powe either finished the play or got to the line, and the rest of the team matched Powe’s effort en route to an easy win. Powe ended up drawing eight fouls on Sunday, but the Pistons were the ones who came out looking worse for the wear.
-The Cavs also did a complete 180 with their ball movement, getting the ball from side-to-side with ease. 68% of the Cavs’ field goals were assisted, and Mo/LeBron/Parker combined for 20 dimes on their own.
-Great night for JJ Hickson, who did a great job finishing from odd angles inside and creating paths for players to get him the ball. The more JJ can do the things Powe does, the better he’ll get.
-Bit of a bounce-back game for AP, who scored in double figures for the first time all month. When he runs to his spots early and gets an open look at a three, he’s great. When he gets closed out on but still feels the need to get a shot up, problems arise.
-Mo did a great job getting inside and making the pass to the open man, never more spectacularly than his behind-the-back dime to Andy. His shot was also on, although the Godfather music and the honking geese after a made three by Mo is a little much.
-If Z’s minutes end up coming at the expense of Jawad so Powe can stay in the rotation, I’d be okay with that.
-I realized something about the way I watch LeBron tonight. I was absolutely thrilled with his performance, even though he put up one of his lowest scoring totals of the year. I’ll admit to having some LeAnhedonia about LeBron’s game — he makes the good things he does look so easy that I end up taking them for granted more often than not, as hard as I try not to. I often find myself basing my opinion of LeBron’s performance on how many bad things he didn’t do. Missed free throws, forced jumpers, bad passes, all of them stick in my mind while a crazy drive and finish for an and-1 just looks like something LeBron can do as easily as I turn on a light switch.
Tonight, LeBron played nearly mistake-free ball, missing zero free throws, only missing four shots, and not even turning it over once. I was as happy as a clam. A happy clam. Also, that lefty block of Jerebko was magnificent. And that play where he backed down Stuckey at least 10 feet with two dribbles, then turned and casually drained the lefty hook? Pure ecstasy.
-Defensively, the Pistons’ luck on mid-range jumpers finally ran out, and they couldn’t get anything going all game. By my unofficial eyeball count, the Pistons shot 9-35 on two-point jumpers outside of the paint, and they had trouble mounting any kind of solid offense. Rip and Tayshaun finally had a crappy game against the Cavs, combining to go 5-19 from the field.
i will neverget sick of the godfather music or the goose eye when Mo hit a three. haters to the left.
Powe is never going to impress any one with style or quickness Dan, that’s for sure. How ever, other than Shaqtastic I thought that Powe was the most significant pick up for us in the off season. I remember how he was such a thorn in our side a couple of years ago and thought that if he can bring that to the Cavs, he would have a Horace Grant on the Bulls type of effect on the Cavs. I smell championship gentlemen, and it’s been a long time
a comin. BIG DADDY.
I wish I could have seen this one too. As a Cal alum, I’ve been waiting to see Powe get back in form for some Pownage (it’s just too hard to resist saying it). I haven’t seen enough of him recently to know if he is moving too slow, but maybe he’s still not 100% on his leg. KG looked pretty bad a few weeks ago but he’s looking better now. As for Hollinger, I love his work but like everyone’s saying, it’s just numbers. I think Hollinger also said that his championship predictions basically reflect how often a team… Read more »
My thoughts: Jawad’s time is up, yes it is. Powe should steal his minutes – no huge need for Jawad anymore. And, give a bit more time to Jamario at Jawad’s expense as well. Powe does concern me – am I the only one who thinks he looks like he moves in slow-motion anymore. He makes up for some of his lack of quickness in positioning and strength, but Powe is no potential all-star talent anymore. Watch him move up the court in transition – you won’t want to do it again. Hollinger’s PER, rankings, etc are PURE STATISTICS. Take… Read more »
I disagree. I wish I could watch this team for another 50 games :)
It is finally Z-DAY!!!!!
Cheers Rick, makes sense. I absolutely cannot wait for the playoffs. These last 11 games cant go soon enough.
Isaac, I’ll try to explain as best I can though I don’t claim to be an expert on his methods… Who would win is not cut and dried ranking score vs ranking score, nor is the 3 points mentioned added to the ranking. Hollinger’s power rankings are calculated on some formula of Offensive Efficiency vs Defensive Efficiency factoring pace and likely other factors. To do his odds of who would win a game between the two he calculates those factors in conflict with a random factor involved. That is, in an Orlando vs Cleveland match-up, Cleveland’s Off Eff would go… Read more »
John, no intention of Hollinger bashing. Just aggravated that everytime i look at the playoff odds they make me feel all doubtful and confused : ) I love what he’s done with stats in basketball, but as Rick just said above, sometimes it helps to add perspective to his purely stat based work. Even he points out somewhere ( i think its in the playoff odds explanation link) that it doesnt take account of injuries etc. On a related note, could someone explain this for me: Hollinger said recently in the article about why the mavs were so low, that… Read more »
I agree that Hollinger bashing is just plain silly. I like alot of what he does and really am interested in some of his stat creations such as PER which really help to compare players who are too unalike to directly compare. LeBron vs Kobe for instance. LeBron rarely puts up Kobe style scoring numbers because he’s more of a team focused facilitator. PER helps to more directly compare their impact on team success. Even that isn’t a panacea stat but it certainly helps informed discussion. I also do actually like his ranking system in large part BECAUSE he doesn’t… Read more »
It hasn’t happened yet, but I’d just like to intervene at this point and say I’d really hate to see any Hollinger-bashing here. He’s one of the absolute best, in more ways than he gets credit for, and Hollinger-bashing is the most prevalent sign of a maladjusted fanbase.
Hollinger’s playoff odds are based purely on his power rankings system which is why Orlando is favored over us, they currently have the #1 slot in his rankings. We are currently #2 and bear in mind that margin of victory is a key determiner in his system. His system obviously does not take into account our not having a true center, or when Mo and West were out, or when LeBron sat a couple games. Given all of that, I wouldn’t put too much weight into the playoff odds at the moment. I looked at the actual power rankings and… Read more »
What do people think the season record is going to be? Im sort of assuming MB doesnt play lebron in the last game against atlanta, so that could be a loss but I definately think at least 65 wins is well within range. Freakin’ Hollinger and his playoff odds really dont like the cavs right now…
Wish I couldve seen this one. As a Cal alum I was excited to see Powe get traded to this team. He really hurt us in Boston. He looks a little skinnier since his Boston and Cal days. His post moves are real simple and require strength. I hope he replaces Jawad immediately. His time is up.
…
is all I have to say for this week.
Jawad was great when Mo was out and Jawario mania was in full swing, but I’ve kind of had enough. He’s on the court a little too much for my taste.