Cavs rookie displays NBA savvy

[ducks]

Cavs rookie displays NBA savvy






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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- LeBron James' second assist was more impressive than his first basket.

Making his professional debut in the Cleveland Cavaliers' first exhibition game, James was a better passer than scorer in a 100-96 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.

James shot 4-for-12 while scoring eight points with three rebounds and seven assists -- the prettiest of which came as he was cutting across the lane midway through the first quarter. As a second defender came over, James quickly delivered a no-look, behind-the-back bounce pass to Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a dunk.

It was the play of the night from the 18-year-old phenom on an evening when he struggled with his outside shot but would have had more assists if his teammates had converted his other nifty passes.

James' only basket of the first half was a breakaway dunk off a steal by Ricky Davis. Knowing he was all alone, James fully extended his right arm and flushed home a one-handed jam. The dunk was replayed twice on the main scoreboard.

The pass to Ilgauskas came less than two minutes later -- one of James' four assists in the quarter -- and thrilled a near-sellout crowd of 20,862 that booed him during introductions and after his first basket.

One heckler made James laugh by telling him his car was ugly, but James had little other interaction with a crowd sprinkled with fans wearing replicas of James' wine-and-gold Cavaliers jersey. Many more No. 23 jerseys will be bought and worn this season as most fans get their first look at the most hyped prep player ever to make the jump directly to the NBA. James was the No. 1 pick in last June's draft.

"The biggest difference between this and high school is that I don't have to go to class anymore," James said. "The level of play is so much higher here. In high school, you could take a few minutes off and coast a little. You can't take a second off in the NBA."

James was under the watchful eye of veteran referee Joey Crawford as the players came out for the opening tip.

James, unadorned by the headband and arm sleeves he wore in high school, walked over toward the Detroit bench and greeted each starter individually, calling several Pistons by name while exchanging hugs and pounding fists as Crawford watched bemusedly from the center circle.

Crawford later made sure James tucked in his shirt, then called the rookie for the type of ticky-tack hand-checking foul that referees use in the preseason to test a young player's response.

James shrugged off the call, similar to his non-response in the fourth quarter when he tried to draw a charge against rookie Ronald Dupree but Crawford whistled a blocking foul instead.

"I just want to see what he's going to bring to the table. There's a lot of hype around him," said Detroit's Ben Wallace, whose curiosity mirrors that of many who have not yet seen James play.

The Pistons credentialed more than 100 media for a game in which the enduring image of James was his passing. He had assists off two other no-look passes, although he also had a drive swatted away by Wallace and shot an airball on one of his first attempts from the outside.

James spend only a few moments on the court together with Serbian teenager Darko Milicic, who was taken second overall in the draft by Detroit. Milicic was only 2-of-8 from the field and 1-for-4 from the line for five points.sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=231007008 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=231007008)

[LittleGeneral]

www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/spo...957773.htm (http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basketball/6957773.htm)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - It's about the pass.

Remember that about LeBron James.

Don't pay much attention to the eight points next to his name in the box score.

Or even the 4-for-12 shooting.

It's the passing.

It's the seven assists that could have easily been 10.

It's LeBron James turning the Cavaliers into a team, a process that began Tuesday night as the Cavaliers beat Detroit, 100-96, in the opening exhibition game for both teams before 20,862 fans and more than 100 media members.

No 18-year-old should be able to do this. No 18-year-old who never played a moment of college basketball should be able to command the respect of older, millionaire teammates. No kid from high school has ever made the impact that James will on the Cavaliers this season.

It all goes back to the pass.

Just ask Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who made the first James highlight tape early in the first quarter. The center rolled to the basket, two defenders closed on James - and somehow, don't ask how - somehow, the rookie delivered a perfect bounce pass to the 7-foot-3 center for a dunk.

A perfect behind-the-back bounce pass.

A perfect behind-the-back, no-look bounce pass.

A perfect pass the likes of which the Cavaliers never saw a year ago.

This wasn't Welcome to the NBA, LeBron. It was LeBron saying Hello to the NBA with an unselfish approach to the game that would leave Magic Johnson smiling.

There was another pass to Ilgauskas, this one on a fast break on which James looked right, passed left, and the result was a wide-open layup.

No wonder Ilgauskas seemed happier Tuesday night than he has in years.

That's because no one has thrown him the ball like this since Andre Miller left town in the summer of 2001.

The Cavaliers are destined to be a better team than they have been in years.

Not a championship team. Probably not a playoff team. But an improved, pass-first team with a style of play that should appeal to the purists.

The Cavaliers opened the game with Darius Miles as the point, James at small forward. This won't last long. Miles is poorly suited to handle the ball, as he had three turnovers in the first four minutes. He also committed two fouls, seemed shaky and ill-prepared.

Instead of a guy heading into his fourth pro season, Miles played like the raw rookie while James was the veteran.

James admitted to being nervous before the game, and he was a bit hesitant during his 14-minute stint in the first half.

But in the third quarter, Miles was deferring to James to bring the ball up the court. James was driving harder to the basket, putting pressure on the defense, finding teammates for open shots.

It's a beautiful thing to watch. That's because James can also make the basic, fundamental, unspectacular pass to a big man in the low post - something else that was an adventure last season. He also can throw passes that make you swear he has eyes in the back of his head.

The longer he played, the more James put his stamp on the game.

In the third quarter, Miles lost the ball, and right out of mid-air, James tapped it directly to Ricky Davis under the basket for a layup.

"His vision," marveled Coach Paul Silas. "He sees passes that no one else does."

Especially on the Cavaliers, a self-absorbed, dysfunctional team that considered pass to be the ultimate four-letter obscenity. They were lucky to win those 17 games a year ago, and every Cavaliers fan should be thrilled with those 65 losses that led to the team winning the LeBron lottery.

James will change all that.

When your premier player passes, the others tend to follow.

James also played surprisingly gritty defense on Detroit's Richard Hamilton, a 20-point scorer a year ago who had 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting. James even blocked two shots, including a Hamilton jumper.

Scoring?

It's almost an afterthought. He swished an 18-footer from the top of the key, and a nice jumper from the corner. But his jumper is probably the weakest part of his game right now, which is often the case when young, athletically gifted players first enter the NBA.

Bottom line?

"We need a lot of work," Silas said. "But I saw some things that were awesome out there."

Like that kid from Akron wearing No. 23 in the new wine and gold uniform.