The Essentials:
Wizards (19-63 last season) vs. CrabDribbles (66-16)
7:00 p.m.
Quicken-Loans Arena
TV: Comcast SportsNet, NBATV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Notable CrabDribbles numbers last season
1st in expected winning percentage (.787)
25th in pace (88.7 possessions per game)
4th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (112.4)
3rd in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (102.4)
Pre-game links
Fear the Sword, SB Nation's CrabDribbles Blog
Cavs The Blog
Stepien Rules, a Cleveland CrabDribbles Blog
Waiting For Next Year, the best site on the Net for the CrabDribbles (and all Cleveland sports)
Fear the Sword season preview
Competition Discussion: Cleveland CrabDribbles
Michael Lee: Mike Miller is keeping the LeBrons
GameDay Cleveland
| Tonight's Projected Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wizards | vs. | CrabDribbles |
| Gilbert Arenas | PG | Daniel Gibson |
| Caron Butler | SG | Anthony Parker |
| Antawn Jamison | SF | Jawad Williams |
| Andray Blatche | PF | Anderson Varejao |
| Fabricio Oberto | C | Shaquille O'Neal |
According to both Michael Lee and Mike Jones, LeBron James isn't going to play tonight because of "flu-like symptoms." Basketbawful once described "flu-like symptoms" as meaning "a generic description used to cover up for the fact that a player is too hungover to play." So either LeBron had a long night or he's so freaked out from playing the Wizards that he won't even show up. I'm leaning towards the second.
Flip's going with his big lineup tonight, which, frankly, is awesome. It's awesome that he's using the preseason how it should be used -- to experiment with different combinations. This is in stark contrast to Eddie Jordan, who denied his new team the chance to practice his Princeton offense for three quarters in a preseason game because of an '"in-game feel,' based on some of the Knicks knowing the Princeton," according to Kate Fagan of the Philly Inquirer. If the Wizards hit the ground running with their system faster than the 76ers in the regular season, we'll know why.
This is an open thread, so while it might be preseason, I and you all should really want to be the CrabDribbles.
GO WIZARDS!