Hey Larry Hughes, Please Stop Taking So Many Bad Shots

Feb 8, 2008: Cleveland 100 (win) at Atlanta 95

FG          FG%         3P         3P%       FT       FT%   

5-16        .312        2-5       .400        3-6      .500

Injury alert! Mr. Glass somehow managed to hurt himself in Friday’s game without sustaining any noticeable contact. The injury is listed as “STUBBED TOE” and he’s “day-to-day”. Immediately after he stubbed his toe, he was smart enough to walk out of bounds on the left wing so when his teammate passed the ball to him, it was a turnover. Bonus points for making a bad situation even worse. Let’s hope he can return soon so we can see more carrying violations and brick jumpshots on fast breaks!

1st Quarter Highlights:
9:22 Larry Hughes bad pass (Anthony Johnson steals)
8:22 Larry Hughes misses 28-foot three point jumper
5:13 Larry Hughes makes 28-foot three point jumper 

2nd Quarter Highlights:
8:08 Larry Hughes enters the game for LeBron James
7:13 Larry Hughes misses 17-foot jumper
5:39 Larry Hughes makes free throw 1 of 2
5:39 Larry Hughes makes free throw 2 of 2
5:18 Larry Hughes makes dunk
3:50 Larry Hughes makes 28-foot three point jumper
1:43 Larry Hughes makes 19-foot jumper
0:30 Larry Hughes misses 25-foot three point jumper

3rd Quarter Highlights:
11:29 Larry Hughes misses 27-foot three point jumper
10:03 Larry Hughes misses 20-foot jumper
9:03 Larry Hughes bad pass
6:41 Larry Hughes misses jumper
5:31 Larry Hughes misses two point shot
5:13 Larry Hughes misses 18-foot jumper
3:43 Larry Hughes makes free throw 1 of 2
3:43 Larry Hughes misses free throw 1 of 2
3:00 Larry Hughes misses 20-foot jumper
2:09 Larry Hughes discontinue dribble

4th Quarter Highlights:
7:18 Larry Hughes shooting foul (Josh Smith draws the foul)
6:58 Larry Hughes misses 19-foot jumper
6:48 Larry Hughes misses free throw 1 of 2
6:48 Larry Hughes misses free throw 2 of 2
6:09 Larry Hughes makes 18-foot jumper
5:20 Larry Hughes turnover

Feb 7, 2008: Cleveland 77 (loss) at Houston 92

FG          FG%         3P         3P%       FT       FT%   

6-16        .375        0-4       .000        1-2      .500

Overheard at the game in Houston last night:

Houston Fan: “Wow, that was a pretty crappy shooting night for Larry Hughes.”

Larry Fan: ”But we didn’t have Gooden, Sasha, or Varejao.”

Houston Fan: “How does that impact Larry’s 3 point accuracy?”

Larry Fan: “But Daniel Gibson was injured too.”

Houston Fan: “But why would you blame Larry’s bad shooting on Daniel Gibson’s hamstring?”

Larry Fan: “Dude, you just don’t understand!”

Feb 5, 2008: Boston 113 at Cleveland 114 (win)

FG          FG%         3P         3P%       FT       FT%   

6-13        .461        1-2       .500        5-5      1.000

Good game? Yes.

Great game? No.

Would I say Larry shot well last night? No! 6-13 is solid, but those stats were inflated by a few close range shots. Larry shot just 3-9 (33%) on shots from 17 feet and beyond. So the box score is deceptive on this one.

“But wait,” you say “46% is still pretty good.” Well, the entire Celtics team shot 57%. The Cavs shot 52% without Larry. So is 46% still good?

And of the 8 guards than played in the game last night, Larry had the worst shooting performance:

Ira Newble: 67%
Daniel Gibson: 67%
Ray Allen: 62%
Rajon Rondo: 62%
Damon Jones: 60%
Tony Allen: 56%
Eddie House: 50%
Larry Hughes: 46%

Am I happy? Yes. But before we crown his ass, make sure he’s playing like one of the better guards in the game. I’m thrilled we beat the Celtics. And even without Garnett, it’s a quality win. If Larry goes 6-13 every night with plus 6 assists, this team goes far.

And maybe one day, Larry will dance.

Since the country can’t vote to trade Larry Hughes, our next best option for Super Tuesday is to hope Larry can continue his hot streak tonight against the Boston Celtics. Check out the splits by day of the week:

4 games is a small sample size, but I have a new hypothesis to explain why Larry shoots so well on Tuesdays:

Every Monday night, Larry watches Dancing with the Stars and gets completely jealous of Mark Cuban for stealing what could be his spotlight. So every Tuesday, Larry goes out there with something to prove. And if he can prove to the world he’s an elite NBA player, there’s hope of getting on the show!

Larry WANTS to dance.

Larry NEEDS to dance. 

What’s your theory?

Feb 2, 2008: LA Clippers 84 at Cleveland 98 (win)

FG          FG%         3P         3P%       FT       FT%   

3-10        .300        1-4       .250        3-4     .750

I am in Vegas for the Super Bowl. No time tonight to blog about Larry Hughes!