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02-08-2008, 09:12 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Maybe Next Year....
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Age: 25
Posts: 9,435
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Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
 vs 
vs
Atlanta Hawks
Phillips Arena
Atlanta, GA
Friday, February 8th, 2008
7:30 pm EST
Projected Starting 5
Cavaliers:
 PG - Larry Hughes  SG – Ira Newble
 C – Zydrunas Ilgauskas
 SF – Lebron James  PF – Hot Donny??? :
 PG – Anthony Johnson  SG – Joe Johnson
 C – Al Horford
 SF – Marvin Williams  PF – Josh Smith
Quote:
LeBron James could use some help if the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to rebound from one of their worst shooting performances of the season.
They hope Drew Gooden's potential return to the lineup on Friday night against the surging Atlanta Hawks can provide that support.
Gooden, who averages 11.3 points and 8.5 rebounds, missed Thursday's 92-77 loss at Houston due to a right groin strain. The power forward is day-to-day after suffering the injury on a putback dunk in the Cavaliers' 114-113 win over league-leading Boston on Tuesday.
Though Gooden may be back, the Cavs (27-21) will again be without reserve forward-center Anderson Varejao, who is sidelined for at least two more weeks with a sprained left ankle. He's averaging a career-high 8.5 rebounds.
"When you have 20 rebounds not here, it obviously hurts," James said.
With Gooden and Varejao missing, Cleveland was outrebounded 55-35 in the loss to the Rockets. James made 12 of 23 shots for 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but the rest of the team went 19-for-55 (34.5 percent) from the floor.
Larry Hughes was the only other Cleveland player to reach double digits in points with 13.
"We got outworked on the boards and we got outworked on all the loose balls," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.
James, the NBA's top scorer at 30.2 points per game, will try to help Cleveland beat the Hawks (21-24) for the 14th time in 17 tries. The Cavs' haven't lost a season series against them since dropping all four games in 2002-03, the season before they drafted James first overall.
The All-Star small forward didn't get much support in the last meeting at Atlanta, a 90-81 loss on Jan. 9. He had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the rest of the team made only 19 of 66 shots (28.8 percent). There was better balance during a 98-94 home win on Jan. 2 when James scored 36 points and his teammates combined to shoot 26-for-55 (47.2 percent).
Gooden totaled 23 points and 18 rebounds in those two meetings.
Atlanta, meanwhile, is looking to close out a four-game homestand by trying to match its season-high four-game winning streak set from Dec. 15-26. The Hawks followed that winning only four of their next 16 before their current surge.
The winning streak reached three games on Wednesday with a 98-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers behind rookie Al Horford's 15 points and season-high 20 rebounds. The former Florida star is providing a strong presence in the paint, averaging 9.2 points and 9.9 boards.
"Coach just wanted us to be solid inside and try to establish the paint, and just defend and rebound," said Horford, who had 10 points and 15 boards against Cleveland on Jan. 9. "That's what I tried to stick to and that's what we tried to do as a team."
Joe Johnson, Atlanta's leader with 21.0 points per game, is looking to build on his 28-point performance from Wednesday, which matched his total from the previous two games when he shot 11-for-32 (34.4 percent).
The guard scored 29 points in the last contest against the Cavs.
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__________________
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Futuristxen:
"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."
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02-08-2008, 09:16 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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Maybe Next Year....
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Age: 25
Posts: 9,435
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
We REALLY need this win. If you look at the other games before the AS break:
Feb 10th - DEN
Feb 11th - @ ORL (back-to-back)
Feb 13th - SA
Those could all realistically be losses. We could very easily be sitting at 2 games over .500 before the all-star break if Gooden misses any more time.
__________________
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Futuristxen:
"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."
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02-08-2008, 09:39 AM
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#3 (permalink)
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The Stars or Bust!
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 16,948
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Injury report is bad:
Gibson - hammy (probably a no go)
Lebron - ankle and R thumb sprain (will go but he's hurt)
Sasha - out
AV - out
Gooden - probably no go? with the groin
That's 5 of our top 7 players there: uggh
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My Blog
Discuss the Cavs and Lebron in the Cavs Forum
My Favorite 10 in order
Lebron • Wade • Ginobili • Deron Williams • A. Miller • AV • "Boobie" Gibson • Roy • Dirk • Hedo
Last edited by Pioneer10 : 02-08-2008 at 09:46 AM.
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02-08-2008, 09:46 AM
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#4 (permalink)
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The Stars or Bust!
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 16,948
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
If Gooden is out luckily the Hawks aren't as big as the Rockets so hopefully the rebounding discrepancy won't be so big
__________________
My Blog
Discuss the Cavs and Lebron in the Cavs Forum
My Favorite 10 in order
Lebron • Wade • Ginobili • Deron Williams • A. Miller • AV • "Boobie" Gibson • Roy • Dirk • Hedo
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02-08-2008, 04:42 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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Maybe Next Year....
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Age: 25
Posts: 9,435
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Ewww Eric Snow is starting..
__________________
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Futuristxen:
"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."
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02-08-2008, 04:43 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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Maybe Next Year....
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Age: 25
Posts: 9,435
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
LOL man this is gonna get UGLY...I don't even know if I can watch this
__________________
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Futuristxen:
"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."
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02-08-2008, 04:49 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Maybe Next Year....
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Age: 25
Posts: 9,435
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Hmm nice defense by E. Snow though..
__________________
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Futuristxen:
"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."
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02-08-2008, 04:54 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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The Johns
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Age: 24
Posts: 12,953
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Snow has made a couple of good defensive plays. But I now remember why we were so bad when he was starting.
__________________
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Originally Posted by Shaq_Diesel
A true sign of greatness is when people start hating you. If he wasn't great, you wouldn't hate.
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02-08-2008, 04:55 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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The Johns
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Age: 24
Posts: 12,953
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
"On the bounce feed, literally."
What the hell else would it mean? Do they ever use it figuratively?
__________________
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Originally Posted by Shaq_Diesel
A true sign of greatness is when people start hating you. If he wasn't great, you wouldn't hate.
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02-08-2008, 05:01 PM
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#10 (permalink)
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The Johns
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Age: 24
Posts: 12,953
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Wow, that was actually a play to Newble there. Awesome.
__________________
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Shaq_Diesel
A true sign of greatness is when people start hating you. If he wasn't great, you wouldn't hate.
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02-08-2008, 05:01 PM
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#11 (permalink)
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Maybe Next Year....
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Age: 25
Posts: 9,435
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Cavs playing with good intensity
__________________
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Futuristxen:
"This season has been one giant pile of suck. It's been just good enough to keep paying attention. But horrible enough that you were better off if you didn't."
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02-08-2008, 05:03 PM
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#12 (permalink)
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The Johns
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Age: 24
Posts: 12,953
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Lebron is getting SCREWED out of calls.
__________________
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Originally Posted by Shaq_Diesel
A true sign of greatness is when people start hating you. If he wasn't great, you wouldn't hate.
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02-08-2008, 05:03 PM
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#13 (permalink)
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The Johns
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Age: 24
Posts: 12,953
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Re: Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
Bull**** unfair officiating right now.
__________________
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Shaq_Diesel
A true sign of greatness is when people start hating you. If he wasn't great, you wouldn't hate.
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Cavs vs Hawks - Feb 8th - 7:30PM EST
