MEMPHIS, Tenn.: Twenty-two thoughts for 22 Cavs fast-break points Wednesday after they concluded the preseason 5-2 following a 96-92 loss to the Grizzlies…
1. In discussing LeBron James’ impact on a game, one current Cavs player put it this way: “He can decide who he wants to get going and who he wants to have a big game. You saw it a couple weeks ago with Kevin (Love) and the other night with Andy (Varejao).”
2. In the game against the Heat in Rio, James had the assist on each of Love’s first three baskets and five of his nine. Most of his looks were wide open, and after the game Cavs coach David Blatt commended Love for how quickly he fit into the Cavs. That happened, of course, because James took it upon himself to get Love going.
3. It was Varejao’s turn against the Bulls, perhaps the best defensive team in the league with a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate at center in Joakim Noah. Varejao scored 22 points in 23 minutes, and while James only assisted on three of Varejao’s 10 baskets, he was on the floor during eight of them.
4. Contrast that now with Wednesday’s preseason game against the Grizzlies, which James sat out. Against another sound defensive team with a former Defensive Player of the Year winner at center in Marc Gasol, Varejao only took four shots in 16 minutes and scored his only basket came midway through the third quarter.
5. He had a number of inside looks, similar to the Bulls game, but he missed a lot of them. Was it just an off shooting night? Maybe. Is it unfair to make so much out of a small sample size? Perhaps. But I think it illustrates the impact James has on spacing and his teammates.
6. When James, and Kevin Love, are on the floor, the lane is wide open for Cavs centers to operate. That should mean big, big nights for guys like Varejao and Tristan Thompson this season.
7. “Right now it feels like there’s a lot more space,” Varejao said. “Other teams are trying to figure out how to play against us. They have to guard LeBron, Kyrie, Kevin and Dion. I believe it will be more space for me, but all I’m doing is trying to be ready and score the ball whenever I get a chance.”
8. Mike Miller had a present waiting on his chair before tonight’s game: Three of his No. 13 jerseys from his time with Memphis last season, one in every color. Miller playfully tossed them to LeBron and told them it was a present to hang on his wall. James cracked up and threw them back at him.
9. I’m still getting used to the maturity and number of adults now within the Cavs locker room. Ask a question about shortening the preseason and you get thoughtful, eloquent answers from both Shawn Marion and James Jones. Talk about sacrifice with Mike Miller, who is humble enough to swallow his pride every night.
10. The locker room the last few years has been full of kids trying to find their way. That’s not a knock against them, it’s just where this team has been. Now there are grown-ups to show them the way.
11. I asked Miller how the Heat became so elite defensively. They were very good even before assembling their Big Three, and with them, they were ranked top five in fewest points allowed all four years.
12. Miller said when guys figured out they didn’t have to work so hard on the offensive end to score, they began exerting more energy on the defensive end. A number of coaches, including Byron Scott and Mike Brown, often pleaded with players to exert their energy on the defensive end and rest on offense. That never really happened.
13. Part of the reason for that was the Cavs’ youth. All young players want to see the ball go in the basket and they get frustrated when it doesn’t. As one member of the Cavs said this week, a lot of times the young guys would shut down when they weren’t scoring. As this season progresses, the hope is the young guys like Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and yes, Kevin Love, will understand that the ball movement and supreme talent on the floor will be enough to get everyone easy baskets. In turn, they’ll give a better effort on the defensive end.
14. I think Blatt did more coaching in the fourth quarter tonight than the first three combined. He played primarily his regulars in the first three quarters and didn’t have to bark out many instructions, but when he got to the end of the bench for the fourth, he spent more time telling guys when to go and when to cut.
15. He also spent more time muttering to himself and cursing. And when Alex Kirk hoisted a shot from about 18 feet, Blatt threw his arms up in disbelief and asked, “What are you doing?” After the game, asked if any of those bench guys stood out to him tonight, he answered simply, “Not really.”
16. The team hotel in Memphis is across the street from FedEx Forum, so a number of players and coaches stayed after practice Tuesday. Tyronn Lue, himself a former NBA player, made a side bet on how many corner 3-pointers he could make. I forget the number now, but he was one short of reaching it before missing his last three to lose.
17. Lue made a second bet and had to make eight out of 10 3-pointers off the glass from the top of the 3-point line. He made seven, but missed the last one and lost that bet, too. He walked away muttering as much as Blatt was Wednesday night.
18. Matthew Dellavedova became a San Francisco Giants fan while attending college at nearby St. Mary’s. After Wednesday’s game, he was asking for a World Series update. Waiters won’t call Delly a true fan of the Giants because he came on board when they were really good. Delly tried to plead his case, telling Waiters he has attended both an NLCS game and a World Series game in San Francisco.
19. “That don’t make you a fan,” Waiters said. “That makes you a supporter.”
20. A fan, Waiters later explained to me, is someone who hangs in during the lean times and still supports his team. Waiters, of course, is a huge Philly fan and loves the Eagles and Phillies. To Waiters’ point, the Giants have had a winning record all but one season and have won two World Series since Delly first appeared in the Bay Area.
21. Not much left to analyze about this preseason. I’m more concerned with coming up with stories to write for the next week before they play another game. I still think the defense has a long way to go, but luckily it’s only October. The Cavs will win a lot of games 122-114 until they figure things out defensively.
22. The Cavs have been inundated with media requests for next Thursday’s opener. One team executive estimated tonight that the requests have surpassed the Dec. 2, 2010 game that was LeBron’s original return game to Cleveland as a member of the Heat. Now the Cavs are scrambling to find places to house all the media, since they can’t use their normal postseason media seating. That requires eliminating seats, and fans have already purchased tickets for those seats for Thursday night. Regardless, it should be a special night for the city and Cavs fans. I’ll see you then.
I think our old jerseys were 
especially the blue alternates, I was hoping those would become our standards. These new jerseys are way too plain in comparison to the rest of the league, and the color combo is too Hulk Hogan/McDonald's
