[narek]

Will the bench continue to be productive against the Cavs?



The Bucks will need that help to beat James and the Cavs on the Cavs home court.

[narek]

About the Cavaliers: They put an emphasis in training camp on improving their offense. So far, so good. They are scoring almost three more points per game than last season. But the defense has suffered, resulting in the Cavaliers giving up 102.7 points per game compared with 92.9 last season.

PLAYER TO WATCH
LeBRON JAMES, Cavaliers

Like Milwaukee's Michael Redd, a positive experience last summer on Team USA has carried over into the season for James. He's putting up some imposing numbers (29.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists) and has also improved on defense. He stole the ball from Utah's Carlos Boozer with 12 seconds left Friday against Utah to help preserve a victory.

LINEUPS
PROBABLE CAVALIERS STARTERS

Player Ht. From
G-Daniel Gibson 6-2 Texas
G-Sasha Pavlovic 6-7 Serbia
F-Drew Gooden 6-10 Kansas
F-LeBron James 6-8 Akron, Ohio
C-Zydrunas Ilgauskas 7-3 Lithuania

Coach: Mike Brown (third season, 105-69).

Injury report: Larry Hughes (left leg) is out and Donyell Marshall (right wrist) is questionable.

PROBABLE BUCKS STARTERS

Player Ht. From
G-Mo Williams 6-1 Alabama
G-Michael Redd 6-6 Ohio State
F-Desmond Mason 6-5 Oklahoma State
F-Yi Jianlian 7-0 China
C-Andrew Bogut 7-0 Utah

Coach: Larry Krystkowiak (second season, 9-17).

Injury report: Michael Ruffin (left wrist) is out.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=688124

[Yao Mania]

Yi v.s. LeBron! Can't wait

[roux2dope]

You know Lebron is going to get his. Its guys like Drew Gooden that scare the hell out of me. He usually tears the bucks up pretty bad. At least resident bucks killers larry hughes and donnyel marshall wont be playing. Keep getting Bogut the ball, Mo keep on dishing, and the cowboy doesnt let Lebron get to out of control,we can win this game.

[narek]

Originally Posted by roux2dope

You know Lebron is going to get his. Its guys like Drew Gooden that scare the hell out of me. He usually tears the bucks up pretty bad. At least resident bucks killers larry hughes and donnyel marshall wont be playing. Keep getting Bogut the ball, Mo keep on dishing, and the cowboy doesnt let Lebron get to out of control,we can win this game.

The Bucks haven't won a game in Cleveland since LeBron was drafted. It would be nice to get a win. The J-S mentions the last game the Bucks won in Cleveland:

Redd's memory was correct. The Bucks have gone 0-8 at Cleveland since LeBron James broke onto the scene in the 2003-'04 season. Not only have the Bucks lost eight straight road games to the Cavaliers but they've dropped seven straight overall.

The Bucks have not defeated the Cavaliers since they scored a 111-106 victory on Dec. 10, 2005, at the Bradley Center.

"I don't know what it is," center Andrew Bogut said. "They match up well against us. We'll have to go out there and give them our best punch right away. If you let LeBron get going early, when he does, he destroys us most games. He had a couple 30-point games against us (last season). If we can contain him and make the other guys hit shots. . . ."

The Bucks' last victory in Cleveland occurred way back on Jan. 6, 2003, when Milwaukee handed the Cavaliers a 106-94 defeat at Gund Arena.

Starting that night for Bucks coach George Karl were guards Sam Cassell and Ray Allen, center Joel Przybilla and forwards Anthony Mason and Tim Thomas. Redd came off the bench that night to score eight points in 21 minutes. Allen led the Bucks with 27 points and Mason grabbed 11 rebounds.

Starting that night for Cleveland were guards Dajuan Wagner and Darius Miles, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and forwards Tyrone Hill and Ricky Davis.

Things sure have changed.

Cleveland tough place for Bucks

[narek]

I thought this game was over in the first period, and I'm glad I'm wrong although I did watch the Marquette game while the Bucks were making their comeback.

Solid game by Bogut, Redd was the very good "new" Redd, and Mo and CV were very good. And Royal Ivey! They just have to figure out how not to almost blow games in the final two minutes.

[roux2dope]

Charlie V is really thriving in his role off the bench, he has outplayed Yi 3 straight games now. I would still like to keep yi in the starting lineup though and play the hot hand more minutes. Mo is coming on real strong too, starting to earn that paycheck of his. Redd finally had a big road game which is huge because he is the Bucks lone crowd silencer. All in all it was a great comeback tonight that once again got too close at the end.

5-4 <---

[narek]

Originally Posted by roux2dope

Charlie V is really thriving in his role off the bench, he has outplayed Yi 3 straight games now. I would still like to keep yi in the starting lineup though and play the hot hand more minutes. Mo is coming on real strong too, starting to earn that paycheck of his. Redd finally had a big road game which is huge because he is the Bucks lone crowd silencer. All in all it was a great comeback tonight that once again got too close at the end.

5-4 <---

Those may have been the longest two minutes the Bucks have played in ages.

[narek]

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Backup guard Royal Ivey isn't known as a scorer but he did lead a second-quarter Bucks rally by scoring 11 of his 15 points, turning up the energy and playing some defense. "That's what they signed me for," Ivey said. "To be an energy player and I feel comfortable doing that." Said Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak, "I know I wouldn't want him guarding me."

PLAY OF THE GAME: Guard Michael Redd sank a three-pointer with 7 minutes 30 seconds left in the third quarter and drew a foul on Cleveland's Daniel Gibson in the process. He made the free throw for a four-point play that tied the score, 63-63.

STATISTICS SHEET: The Bucks held a 42-40 edge on the glass against the top rebounding team in the league. Charlie Villanueva led the Bucks with nine rebounds. The Bucks had 15 offensive rebounds. "That was the thing on the top of our list," Krystkowiak said. "The last couple days we'd been talking about they'd been beating up a lot of people on the glass. We were hoping to stay close. . . . That's a big point in us winning this ball game."

OFF THE BENCH: Villanueva continues to give the Bucks good playing time in a reserve role and once again played the entire fourth quarter. "He may be better coming off the bench, I'm not sure," Krystkowiak said. "He sure is soaking it up right now."

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=688597