Cavaliers drop home opener to Toronto

The Cleveland Cavaliers showed about what I expected to see in their 104-96 opening game loss to the Toronto Raptors- lots of hustle,glimmers of good things,a lack of outside shooting and outside of Anderson Varejao,a lack of rebounding.
Ramon Sessions led Cleveland with 18 points,Alonzo Gee added 15 and Varejao finished with 14 points and 10 boards.
Cleveland travels to Detroit tonight and the waiting Pistons at 7:30.
I will be watching the Devils live and taking the Cavaliers tape to watch at work,so likely coverage will be Devils tomorrow and the Cavaliers either later tomorrow or Friday....

Swashbucklings

1) I was impressed by the second of the two first rounders play in the loss.Tristan Thompson scored 13 points and grabbed five boards in just over 17 minutes of play.
Thompson showed that he will take the ball to the hoop and as he fills out,he should develop into an excellent rebounder.
Thompson's offensive game is still raw and will need time to develop,but it is easy to see that the tools are there..

2) Kyrie Irving struggled as he finished with just six points,although he led the team with seven assists.
Expect more scoring from Irving as the season progresses,but something gives me the feeling that Irving is going suffer through his growing pains via a well below average shooting percentage.
I think Irving will be fine,but I think that he is best suited to be the second best player on a team rather than the star....

3) Ramon Sessions had a nice night with his 18 points including two from three point land. Sessions also had six assists and Sessions could be the most important player on the team as his play could lessen the pressure on Kyrie Irving to make an instant impact...

4) Anderson Varejao does not have a ton of shooting range or an excessive amount of moves on the block,but one thing that the Brazilian does is bust his hump.
It is easy to see why Varejao is so loved by Cavs fans and coveted by teams that think they have a chance to win it all....

5) Not a great night from former King Omri Casspi with just two points and a board,but Alonzo Gee's evening made up for that.
Gee had a strong performance and that lessened Casspi's playing time accordingly.
We'll see more of Casspi tonight in Detroit for sure.

6) Bad shooting night for veteran Antawn Jamison,who shot the most (20 attempts) and nailed just six shots.
Cleveland needs more from Jamison to both win the occasional game and heighten any late season trade value...

Photo Credit-AP Photo