Another inconsistent effort by the Cavaliers in a loss to Orlando has coach Byron Scott contemplating even more lineup changes.
Manny Harris drives the lane past Orlando's Jason Richardson during the Cavalers' 97-86 loss to the Magic on Monday night. Cavs coach Byron Scott has a message for his players: There are 13 games left in the season, and he's not adverse to making changes at this point.
After watching his team play just one quarter in a 97-86 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night at The Q, Scott knows he still has one thing to get his players' attention.
"The thing these guys really understand is minutes," Scott said after his team lost its third straight to fall to 13-56. "That's the biggest thing right now. If you're not playing as hard as I think you can play, just come over and take a seat."
Yet another slow start left the Cavs trailing, 30-15, after the first quarter, and Scott admitted he was thinking about changes to the starting lineup. He didn't specify, but three possibilities include Baron Davis for Ramon Sessions, if Davis recovers sufficiently from the back spasms that have been bothering him for a week, Daniel Gibson for Anthony Parker and Christian Eyenga for Alonzo Gee.
Gibson and Eyenga provided a fourth-quarter spark with 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the period as the Cavs cut the Magic's 16-point third-quarter lead to nine. None of the Cavs starters played one minute in the fourth quarter.
"We didn't do anything different, as far as making any adjustments," Scott said. "The second-unit guys just came in and did a much better job of competing and playing hard. That was the bottom line. We've got to find a way to do that for 48 minutes and give ourselves a chance to win ball games."
Of course, it would have helped if the Cavs had found an answer for Dwight Howard, but not many teams do. Howard had 28 points and 18 rebounds. A 58 percent free-throw shooter, he also made 10 of 12 free throws, leaving the Cavs basically defenseless against him. They were not physical enough to keep him out of the paint, and they failed to keep his teammates from getting him the ball down low.
"He's a great player, an All-Star caliber player," said J.J. Hickson, the Cavs' starting center who gives away two inches in height and 20 pounds of muscle to Howard. "When he sits in the paint, it's hard to move him out with his size and athleticism. When he's hitting free throws and he's getting the ball that deep, it's kind of tough to figure out what you're going to do."
The Cavs haven't been able to do anything with Howard for years. Orlando swept the four-game series this season and has won 14 of the past 19 regular-season matchups. Let's not even talk about the playoffs two years ago, when Howard and the Magic beat the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Of course, that was a long time ago. This team has its own problems, and Howard is the least of them. Coming down the homestretch, the Cavs have yet to figure out that slow starts and inconsistent efforts every night are responsible for them having the worst record in the league after 69 games.
"For 69 games, there hasn't been a consistent rotation," Gibson said. "Different guys were asked to do different things. I was disappointed in the way I came out and started the game, so I came out with a mind-set in the second half. I have to take accountability. In order for us to win games, we have to come in playing harder than the other team for every minute we're out there on the floor."
Or those minutes will be going to someone else.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2011/03/post_25.html
No comments:
Post a Comment