A rematch between Turkey and the United States took place Tuesday.  After losing it's first exhibition game vs. Italy, the team won it's fifth straight pre-Olympic game.

The game was not a re-assuring one for team USA.  Once again they struggled against a team who failed to even qualify for the Olympics, the other team being Germany. Team USA owned a tight 19-18 lead after one quarter of play.  Dwayne Wade scored the USA's final four points of the second quarter to help the U.S. take a 41-29 advantage into the half.

The U.S. opened up their lead to 49-41 late in the third period.  They then went on a 9-0 run to increase the lead to 58-41 just before the end of the third quarter.  Veterans Tim Duncan, four points, and Allen Iverson, three points, led the U.S. run.  Turkey's Ibrahim Kutluay came up with a loose ball and nailed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to cut the lead to 58-46 going into the fourth period.

But the momentum would drastically change.  The star trio of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Wade couldn't stop Turkey from making a fourth quarter comeback.  Team USA watched a 17 point lead quickly fade.

A barrage of Turkey 3-pointers, 11 for the game, spurred a 19-8 run to help close the gap.  Kutluay drilled three consecutive 3-pointers, his last coming with 3:40 to play to make the score 68-65.

"It was a good experience for us because we're going to have games like this when there is some adversity and they start making shots against us," coach Larry Brown said.

Coach Brown admitted he was tempted to leave his youngsters in, but he reinserted the team's co-captains, Duncan and Iverson, who righted the team to close out the game.  The tightened defense held Turkey to just one field goal the rest of the game.

"The big thing was that in the last three minutes I don't know if Turkey scored after we went back to our first unit," Brown said. "The key was we didn't panic, righted ourselves and played with great poise down the stretch."

Duncan led the United States with 16 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks.  Iverson chipped in with 13 points.  No other member reached double figures in points.  Stephon Marbury was held scoreless.

Team USA shot 59.6 percent from the floor for the game. The U.S. out rebounded Turkey 33-27.  Turkey struggled from the floor shooting 31.5 percent from the field.

Kutluay led Turkey with 19 points and Serkan Erdogan added 17. Kutluay shot 7-19 overall and 5-13 from 3-point land.  Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Turkey.

The teams square off again Tuesday.

By Brian Finnan

 Maybe they've finally got it.  Or maybe it was just "one of those things."  But for at least one game, Team USA finally put things together in a 78-60 exhibition victory over 2002 FIBA World Champion Serbia-Montenegro Friday night.  Serbia-Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia) was the team that defeated the USA squad and eliminated them from medal contention at the 2002 World Championship.

The U.S. team was led by Tim Duncan with 16 points, while LeBron James added 11 points.  But it was the defensive strong hold that led a determined U.S. group in their impressive win.  They held Serbia to nine points in the second quarter.  And Team USA took advantage.  They went on a 14-0 run to start the second period of play, getting four points each from James and fellow NBA rookie Dwayne Wade. They jumped out to a 32-17 lead and never allowed Serbia a chance to get back into it.  Team USA's defense held Serbia scoreless the first 5:46 of the second quarter. The U.S. came out of halftime with a 42-26 lead and pretty much put the game away.  They outscored Serbia 12-3 over the first 4:20 of play in the third quarter and put themselves in front 54-32.

The U.S. came into the game as underdogs.  And with this win, they are on track at re-establishing themselves as a gold medal contender.
Instead of playing a tight zone, like Italy and Germany, the Serbian team went with a man-to-man defense. Team USA shot 50 percent from the floor while Serbia shot just 35 percent from the field.  The U.S. also held Serbia to just 1-14 from 3-point territory.  Serbia fell short on the glass as well to Team USA, 32-28.

"We just keep getting better," James said. "As time wears on, we are becoming more of a team."  James had his 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. Team USA will play it's next exhibition game against Turkey Sunday night.

August 7-12  USA Training/Exhibition - Istanbul, Turkey
August 7, 9, 11 ---- USA training
August 8          ---- USA vs. Turkey (exhibition)
August 10        ---- USA vs TBD (exhibition)

August 13-29 2004 Olympic Games - Athens, Greece
August 13 --- Opening Ceremonies
{August 15-23 --- Preliminary Round Play}
August 15 --- USA vs. Puerto Rico
August 17 --- USA vs. Greece
August 19 --- USA vs. Australia
August 21 --- USA vs. Lithuania
August 23 --- USA vs. Angola
August 26 --- Quarterfinals Game
August 27 --- Semifinals Game
August 28 --- Medal Games

It all started in 1992 with the "Dream Team" and the level of expectations
has not dwindled.  And it continues tonight as the United States Men's Team
takes on Serbia & Montenegro in Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro.  Serbia is
the defending World Champion and the 1996 Olympic silver medalist.  They are
one of the favorites again this year to challenge for the gold.

Team USA has not overcome it's deficient outside shooting, which has in turn
led to some nerve wrenching games, including a nasty loss to Italy.  Serbia
will probably take to Italy's gameplan and lay down a tight zone versus the
US.

Serbia will be without countrymen Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.  But the
team still has a solid nucleus of talent.  Forward Predrag Drobnjak
(Clippers) and forward Vladimir Radmonovich (Sonics) head up their inside
game.  Milon Gurovic is a 6-9 forward to keep an eye on as he hits on a high
percentage from 3-point territory.

Guard Marko Jaric (6'5" Clippers) and guard Milos Vujanic (right owned by
Suns) provide Serbia with a young and talented backcourt.

Also on the Serbia team are Zarko Cabarkapa (6-11 forward), Darko Milicic
(7-0 F/C, Pistons), Aleksander Pavlovic (6-7 G/F, Cavs), and Slavko Vranes
(7-5 C, Knicks).

Team USA will then take their exhibition tour to Istanbul, Turkey to face
Turkey August 8th.

USA Team routes Puerto Rico in exhibition; James, Iverson, Stoudemire
suspended one game


Having Allen Iverson as co-captain of the Olympics, hopefully, will not rub
off on Cavs phenom LeBron James the wrong way.  Iverson has had his troubles
on and off the court during his tour of duty in the NBA.  The latest has
Iverson, James, and Amare Stoudemire being suspended one game by coach Larry
Brown for missing a team meeting.

The suspensions left the U.S. team with only nine players Saturday in their
exhibition game versus Puerto Rico. Center Emeka Okafor is one of the nine
active players available, but was hobbled by an injured ankle.

All three players watched from the end of the bench as the U.S. team
throttled Puerto Rico 96-71.  Carmelo Anthony and former Cleveland Cavalier
Carlos Boozer each contributed 16 points in the victory. 

The win kicked off a six game exhibition tour.

"I think we improved a lot after the last two scrimmages we had this week
(versus Puerto Rico and New Zealand)," said USA head coach Larry Brown. "We
played with effort. We got better in areas that we needed to improve on but
we've got a long way to go.

"We turned the ball over a lot and our execution is not great yet. But, this
is only the fifth day. If we make progress like we did today, I think we'll
be very competitive."

By Brian Hagerman

Originally published as a done deal by the Orlando Sentinal.

CavsWatch sources have confirmed that Tony Battie has been traded for Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter and the rights to second-round draft pick Anderson Varejao of Brazil. The deal is said to ready to be announced later today. 

While Gooden has been known to have problems in the past he becomes a legitimate replacement to Carlos Boozer, who signed w/ Utah last week. A better defensive player and as good of a rebounder as Boozer, Gooden should quickly be able to step in and continue the above average play at PF.

Just in the recent, the Cavaliers and Jim Paxson have been able to deal a bad contract in Kevin Ollie for Eric Snow and a oft injured Tony Battie into Drew Gooden. It sure seems that the Cavaliers are now on a mission to fix the miscue that they made earlier this month with Carlos Boozer.

Drew Gooden Profile
by: Brian Hagerman

The Cavaliers will play in two leagues this summer starting with the Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando followed by the Reebok Vegas Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The team will have a three day minicamp from July 3-5 at Gund Arena before heading on the road.  Lottery pick Luke Jackson will play alongside Cavaliers veterans Kedrick Brown, DaJuan Wagner and DeSagana Diop.  

---

Cavaliers Summer League Roster

Josh Asselin F-C 6-11 - Michigan
Andre Brown F 6-9 - DePaul
Kedrick Brown F 6-7 - Okaloosa-Walton CC
DeSagana Diop C 7-0 - Oak Hill Academy
Chuck Eidson G-F 6-7 - South Carolina
Guilherme Giovannoni F 6-9 - Benetton, Italy
Frank Iguodala F 6-5 - Dayton
Luke Jackson G-F 6-7 - Oregon
Nick Jacobson G 6-4 - Utah
Lonnie Jones C 7-0 - Ball State
Dan Langhi F 6-11 - Vanderbilt
Jason Miskiri G 6-2 - George Mason
Dean Oliver G 5-11 - Iowa
Ryan Randle F-C 6-9 - Maryland
Dajuan Wagner G 6-2 -  Memphis

Pepsi Pro Summer League: July 6-10

Tuesday, July 6, 2004
1st game 3:00 p.m. Miami vs. Washington
2nd game * Boston vs. New Jersey
3rd game ** Orlando vs. Cleveland

Wednesday, July 7, 2004
1st game 3:00 p.m. Boston vs. Cleveland
2nd game * Washington vs. Orlando
3rd game ** New Jersey vs. Miami

Thursday, July 8, 2004
1st game 3:00 p.m. Cleveland vs. Washington
2nd game * New Jersey vs. Orlando
3rd game ** Boston vs. Miami

Friday, July 9, 2004
1st game 3:00 p.m. Washington vs. Boston
2nd game * Orlando vs. Miami
3rd game ** Cleveland vs. New Jersey

Saturday, July 10, 2004
1st game 10:00 a.m. Miami vs. Cleveland
2nd game * Orlando vs. Boston
3rd game ** New Jersey vs. Washington

* (20 minutes following completion of Game 1)
** (20 minutes following completion of Game 2)

Reebok Vegas Summer League: July 13-18

Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Suns vs. Wizards 5:00 p.m
Nuggets vs. Celtics 7:30 p.m

Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Magic vs. Nuggets 5:00 p.m
**Cavaliers vs. Suns 7:30 p.m

Thursday, July 15, 2004
Wizards vs. Magic 5:00 p.m
**Celtics vs. Cavaliers 7:30 p.m

Friday, July 16, 2004
**Nuggets vs. Cavaliers 2:30 p.m
Magic vs. Suns        5:00 p.m
Wizards vs. Celtics 7:30 p.m

Saturday, July 17, 2004
Magic vs. Celtics 5:00 p.m
Wizards vs. Cavaliers 7:30 p.m

Sunday, July 18, 2004
Cavaliers vs. Magic 2:30 p.m
Celtics vs. Wizards 5:00 p.m


(** denotes Cavaliers game to be televised on NBA TV)

 

CavsWatch

by: Brian Hagerman

Aleksander "Sasha" Pavlovic, was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 19th
selection in the 2003 NBA draft.  He averaged 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds
per game.

Utah Coach Jerry Sloan loves veteran players and thus Pavlovic didn't see
much playing time.  In large part, also, due to the emergence of Raja Bell
and the acquisitions of former Cav Matt Harpring and later Gordon Giricek.

Pavlovic has great size and long arms for an athletic swingman.  His
shooting, size, athleticism to go along with his quick first step make him
an intriguing young player.  He's 6'7" and just over 200 pounds.  He has
good handles on the ball.  When he's on, he can catch fire and be hard to
stop, which in turn leads to his aggressive and love to go one-on-one .

He has various moves which includes using both hands to attack the rim.  Can
hit the open mid-range jumper with consistency.  Pavlovic can be pretty
acrobatic down low at times.  He has better than average vision and court
awareness.

He needs to mature.  His youthfulness and knowledge of the game need to
improve.  Pavlovic needs to learn how to use his athletic skills on defense
and offense alike.  He had trouble adjusting to the NBA defensive schemes,
which also limited his time in Sloan's rotation.

Pavlovic has room for growth and good potential.

The Rules:

The expansion draft is on June 22.  The Cavaliers must submit their expansion list to the NBA by June 12.  The Cavaliers can protect up to 8 players who are under contract for next season.  Restricted free agents can be protected but are eligible to be selected by Charlotte if they are not on the protected list.  In a case where a restricted free agent is drafted by Charlotte, said player becomes an unrestricted free agent.  The Cavaliers may also use up to 3M, draft picks or players as a bargaining chip to induce Charlotte into selecting or not selecting a player from their unprotected list.  Cleveland can only lose one player.  They can also have none selected.

Protected List:

SG LeBron James - The no-brainer to end all no-brainers.

PG Jeff McInnis - The Cavaliers have a $300,000 buyout on McInnis before
July 1st but they do not plan on waiving him so he will be protected.

PF Carlos Boozer - C'mon now.

C Zydrunas Ilgauskas - Not even Jim Paxson is dimwitted enough to leave Ilgauskas unprotected.  Going into the final year of his contract, Ilgauskas is an under-30, top 3 center that the expansion Charlotte Bobcats would select and pawn to the highest bidder.

SG DaJuan Wagner - Wagner is the type of cheap young talent that would appeal to Charlotte.  Even if he is not in the Cavaliers plans, it makes sense to keep him and then trade him in order to get something in return.

SG/SF Kedrick Brown - Ending contract.  Also see DaJuan Wagner.

C DeSagana Diop - Ending contract.  Also see DaJuan Wagner (minus the word "talent").

PF/C Tony Battie - (Cavs Watch sources are incongruent with the current media reports on the expansion list.  We we're told that Battie was not protected) This one I don't really understand.  Battie doesn't fit the profile of the type of players that the Bobcats are targeting.  Battie is an
oft injured veteran with shaky knees and 2 years 10M left on his contract.  He doesn't have much trade value but he is one of Silas’s favorites.  That may account for something.

Unprotected List:

PG Kevin Ollie - The veteran PG no longer fits into the Cavaliers plans.  He also has 4 years at roughly 12M left on his contract.  Unless the Cavaliers can induce Charlotte into taking him, he will remain a Cavalier.

SF Ira Newble - A bit younger than Ollie but has the same contract making him unattractive to the Bobcats.

SF Jason Kapono - This is the player we thought would be protected instead of Tony Battie.  The normal philosophy in expansion drafts is to protect cheap, young players and Kapono fits the bill.  Charlotte could target him because of his youth, rookie minimum contract and shooting ability.

C Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje - (There is some debate as to whether Boumtje-Boumtje is a restricted or unrestricted free agent) Bruno Sundov was activated to see what he had but the Cavaliers were mum on Boumtje-Boumtje.  He is an restricted free agent therefore the Cavaliers must decide hether to protect him or not.  Boumtje-Boumtje is the most attractive player on the Cavaliers unprotected
list simply because if Charlotte selected him he would become an unrestricted free agent and not cost them any salary towards their cap

Ineligible for the Expansion Draft as Unrestricted Free Agents:

SF Eric Williams
SF Lee Nailon

Overview:

The Cavaliers did not have many hard choices when it came to their expansion list.  Apparently, the last selection came down to Jason Kapono or Kedrick Brown.  If Jason Kapono was left unprotected as reported by Bob Finnan in the News Herald then it goes against the philosophy that GM Jim
Paxson hinted at in his earlier statements.  Protecting Tony Battie implies that the Cavaliers are scared of losing him.  I really don't understand why. The Bobcats only have 66% of the league's salary cap available to them in their inaugural season.  That is projected to be around 29M.  I find it hard to believe that the Bobcats would use 4.8M of it on Tony Battie because Battie doesn’t have much trade value and has multiple years left on his contract.  There are other big men who are expected to be available, like Detroit's Elden Campbell and the Suns' Jahidi White who are going into the last year of their contracts.  You’d have to assume that Battie isn't down on the Bobcats’ list.