Tuesday, January 9th, the Cavaliers faced off against the Kings in Arco Arena. This game was to kick off a seven game road trip which is to have the Cavaliers playing in seven cities in the Western Conference. Coming off a four game winning streak, the Cavaliers were looking to not only keep the streak alive in Sacramento, but also get their “West side tour” off to a great start.

LeBron and company started the game awfully. They looked sloppy and they were doing a lot of dribbling and shooting without setting up plays or getting some ball movement. The began pounding the ball inside like they so often do at the start of games. Giving Big “Z” some touches early. Drew Gooden even got in on the low post game, knocking down some buckets on Shareef. The Cavaliers however, were a little worried with the Kings getting fast-break points, so they didn’t crash the boards very hard offensively and they got back on defense more quickly. They let “Z” and AV try and nab some offensive rebounds, while the guards and LeBron got ready to slow down the Kings at half court. This play worked, the Kings had zero fast-break points in the first half, however, the half court defense of the Cavaliers was terrible.

The Kings looked to post up early on LeBron James with the solid body of Ron Artest. Artest had two easy buckets on LeBron early. A little later he did the same thing to Hughes, little did he know that this was the last play he would truly have his way with the Cavaliers on offense. Sacramento was pulling Miller out on offense to his favorite spots (the elbows) and forcing “Z” to play defense where he isn’t comfortable (any where not close to the basket). This worked. The Kings ran players off of Miller with give-and-go type play. Martin and Bibby were doing most of the rubbing off Miller. Martin and Bibby (mainly Bibby who was hot in the first half) would then come off Miller and take an easy shot or wait for Miller to step away from “Z” (who was trying to hedge out and stop Bibby) and pass Miller the ball who then would easily hit the shot (Miller was also on fire in the first half). The Cavaliers couldn’t stop this play and the Kings couldn’t miss a shot. The Kings were beating the Cavaliers by 17 points.

Around eight minutes to go in the third quarter, something clicked and the Cavaliers picked up the pressure on defense. The Cavs began getting to the open man, boxing out, and getting in Sacramento’s face. The Kings started struggling, and the Cavalier defense began to thrive. As we all know, when the Cavaliers do good on defense, they begin to do good on offense as well. The Cavaliers went on a 10-0 run to close the 17 point gap they had found themselves in. The real turning point was when AV got a pass from LeBron, got fouled, and made the bucket. He then made the freethrow for a three point game. After that, the Kings had lost all momentum and the game.

The Crowd was getting angry and the Kings were getting flustered. Mike Bibby got an on the floor foul and he threw up a shot from beyone the arc, just because. It went in and the crowd cheered, they all knew it didn’t count, but at least they finally saw something go threw the hoop in their favor. The Kings went seven minutes and thiry seconds without a field goal, although they did get some points off freethrows.

In the fourth, LeBron got real hot and made three shots behind the arc in a row, one from pretty far down town. The once 17 point lead for the Kings had diminished and in its place was a 10 point deficient. The game ended with the score being 108-98. Chalk another win for the Cavaliers. LeBron had 34 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists with 24 points in the second half. Drew Gooden had another double-double that included 21 points and 11 rebounds. Big “Z” put up 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. The top scorers for the Kings included Brad Miller with 24, Mike Bibby with 26, and Kevin Martin with 23 points.

The Cavaliers got their first road win in this “West side tour,” they increased their winning streak to five games, and they increased their lead in the Central Divison by one game against the Pistons who also won that night. The Cavalier defense is what sparked and won the game for the Cavaliers tonight. Defense like what was played in the second half is what wins championships and defense like that, if the Cavs keep it up, will have them playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, headed to the NBA Finals. The Cavs need to keep that defensive pressure and intensity throughout the season and more importantly in the playoffs. The Kings couldn’t handle that second half ‘D, can the rest of the NBA?

Next up: The Suns. This is a big time game for the Cavaliers and a chance to prove they aren’t the same as the rest of the East, they mean business.

- Drake

     Clank! Clank! That was the only sound Damon Jones was able to hear whenever he shot in his first season as a Cavalier. When his shots would go up, they would very rarely go in.

     September 8th, 2005, Cavaliers sign Damon Jones. Just the year before, Jones had averaged 11.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 4.3 APG. He had played all 82 games with the Heat and started 66 of them. He was a top the NBA in many three point catagories, including: first in the league in three-point field goals made per 48 minutes, third in three-point field goals made, and fifth in three-point field goal percentage, he also ranked fourth in the NBA in assists-to-turnovers ratio. The Cavaliers were excited to sign such a three-point shooting threat. They had been needing this for awhile and would continue to look for one even after the Jones signing. Danny Ferry had said, “Damon has proven himself to be an impact player.”  Coach Brown had said, “Damon will be a great addition to our core group. His character, his ability to shoot the basketball from the perimeter and his playmaking skills will be a solid addition to our team.” The fans were excited as well, it looked like Damon Jones might start as a shooting guard or point guard for the Cavaliers.

     The season kicked off and Damon Jones didn’t. Damon played all 82 games, but only started 7 of them. Everything dropped for Jones, his points, rebounds, assists, and the thing that hurt the most, his shooting percentage. He averaged more minutes than his career average, but all his stats (Points per game, assists per game, shooting percentages, ect.) were all lower than his career averages, and in fact, he shot worse from the free throw line that year than he has in his whole career. Damon Jones, the self-proclaimed “best shooter in the world” was not even a good shooter that year and he had issues with coming off the bench when he was.

     Let’s flash foward to the next season, this season. Damon Jones still isn’t starting, but he knows his place on the bench and he is happy with it. One thing Damon is doing this year is shooting, in fact, he is shooting very well. Damon Jones is shooting 86% from the charity stripe, 42% from beyond the arc, and 45% from the field. Damon Jones is also averaging around 10 points a game and has sparked the Cavaliers off the bench with shooting that LeBron and company can count on. With the new faith in Damon’s shooting comes a new signature move from Damon Jones. After each three point shot, Damon reaches down with his off hand and pretends to twist the handle to a faucet, signifying Jones now “pouring on the threes.”

      Damon Jones has been having some great games as of late, scoring 12 points in a win against the 76ers (shooting 3/5 from beyond the arc). He had another 12 point game against the Raptors this week. He scored 21 points against the Grizzlies the night before.

     Damon Jones has been keeping the faucet running throughout this season. Instead of uncertainty in the eyes of Cavalier fans when Damon shoots, as it was last year, there is now a feeling that the basket is in once it leaves his fingertips. Instead of hearing a “clank,” we now hear a “swoosh.”

-Drake

     After Ilgauskas finishes this season out, he will be 6th on the Cavaliers’ All-Time games played list. After this season is over (assuming Big Z is healthy enough) he will have played over 548 games with the Cavaliers. Now that Zydrunas has entered his 9th year in the league and his second year playing for coach Mike Brown, you would think Zydrunas would have the offense down. Well, coach Brown decided to switch it up this year, doing something Zydrunas isn’t use to- speed.

      Coach Brown has decided to push the ball every chance the Cavaliers get. Using his combo guards effectively, he keeps the offense spread out and moving. Zydrunas is use to playing down low and this new offense is having him move all around inside the three point line. With being a big man and an older man, this has affected his stamina and game play, which we can see in his minutes per game. Only once in his career has he averaged less than he is now. He has been playing sloppy and soft. Not going up strong on offensive put backs, settling for more fade away jumpers (on smaller defenders) than usual, not being a low post threat down low, and other factors that have led him to his lowest points per game in the history of his career. Zydrunas says that this has to do a lot with the new offense. Something is finally starting to click, however.

     Coming off an embarrassing two point game against the Pacers, in a game that the Cavaliers should have won, Zydrunas and the new Cavalier offense clicks. Saturday, November 25th, the Cavaliers play the 76ers. Zydrunas was asked before the game about the new offense, he said, “It’s a new offense and things aren’t the same as in the past. I am not happy with my performance right now.”

    Zydrunas came out of the gate strong. In the second quarter alone, Zydrunas had two diving plays for the ball where he tipped the ball to a teammate to spring the Cavaliers on a fast break and points. He blocked a 76er and then sent the Cavaliers on another fast break which lead to the great alley-oop pass to LeBron James. Zydrunas was playing physical and took the ball hard to the hoop, dunking with two hands on a few occasions. He was boxing the opposing team out and grabbing rebound after rebound. Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended the night with an outstanding 18 point, 5 block shots, 15 rebound game, and 12 of the rebounds were all offensive. “It feels great to be involved in the offense.” He said after the game. Zydrunas tied his offensive rebound career best and found his place in the new offense. Zydrunas looked fresh and moved very well throughout the whole game, he even played close to 36 minutes, far above his season average so far this year.

    Zydrunas Ilgauskas played a great game. Hopefully the offense and himself have “clicked” for good and not just tonight. With play like this from him, a healthy Hughes, and LeBron James being LeBron James, a NBA finals appearance is just around the corner.

-Drake