The Cavs begin a busy stretch, considering it's preseason, with 5 games in 9 days, including a rematch with the Celtics in Pittsburgh - this is the one time of year when we can all get along. Since The ‘Burgh does not have NBA basketball, welcoming the Wine and Gold just makes turnpike sense!

LeBron says he does not expect to play a whole lot more per game than he has this preseason because he is "ready" and judging by Friday night's game with the Celtics he is.  He feels practice time like today, gives he and his teammates plenty of time to learn each other on the floor, without piling up the minutes during the preseason. LeBron continues to challenge J.J. Hickson, not so much physically, but mentally...testing him, to make sure the rook is learning. Mike Brown always preaches trusting each other and today, Mike talked about running a proper route on a play to help out a teammate. LeBron quickly asked J.J., "what do we call that?" The first round pick said "trust"...and that drew the proper applause from the head coach...

Mike also took time to praise the other draftee, Darnell Jackson, not only with the media, but with the team. At the end of practice he singled out D-J, because he was indeed flying around, laying a body on people and doing all the dirty work. Mike said "you may not know exactly what you're doing yet, but that was one heck of an effort out there." The rest of the team gave him an ovation. Mike says the rookie from Kansas sets some of the best screens you'll want to see, and has opened his eyes with his toughness and effort...

Darnell says that goes back to his high school football days. He says he "loves contact" and the idea for him, is to hit first - and that he has done. The Cavs knew this guy had a great motor when they made the draft night deal to get him...

Join me via CavFanatic.com tomorrow night in the Official Game Thread during the game...

We're at "The Dunk", or the Dunkin Donuts Arena in Providence, where Lenny Wilkins #14 hangs in the rafters...

I now know why Mike Brown likes this trip - on my run this morning I saw a sign that said "building up Brown". Actually it's Brown University that's being added on to. It's already a beautiful, stately campus. I've now gone on runs through 5 Ivy League schools, unfortunately it hasn't made me any smarter...

Wally Szczerbiak is Ivy League smart though...he considered Harvard before winding up at Miami. He would have come to Brown every year, and probably averaged 35 a game...

Providence is no stranger to assistant, Michael Malone, who coached under Pete Gillen here. Michael says he loved his days here, especially since this is where he met his wife, Jocelyn. Smart man!

Talk to you tonight during the game with the Celtics...

Good atmosphere here for a pre season game...we're only 45:00 from Boston, so, lots of Celtics green in the crowd and Red Sox hats (Rays in 7 by the way)...

Another time out....27-22 Cavs...another thing is really evident in the difference between now and last May.. Mo's quickness is an issue for the Celts...he's gotten to the line for 6 FT's because of his burst...plus he quick pushed it earlier for a Wally 3...LBJ had 12 points in less than 9:00...he looked superb...

The Back-ups finished the quarter...Jawad Williams continues to be solid (gotta root for those Clevelanders) he had a nice post up in the lane, a good assist on a Boobie 3...and a late quarter bail out from the corner, with a good pump fake to get to the line for 3, and he knocked 'em down...twice in practice this past week, he hit the final FT's to end practice...if he had missed the guys would have had to run again...I like his make-up and his basketball understanding...37 points in the quarter...Cavs up 9...The first teamers were pretty much a push...Gee, what a shock since these two teams went 7 toe to toe in May with a hair difference between the 2...I can't wait 'till opening night...

55-50 CLE at the half......I would say the building is about 3/4 full...they're really into it...LeBron played just over 13:00...15 points, on 6 of 9...Got into the lane when he wanted to...The Cavs got to the line 19 times, and made 17...another by product of Mo being on board...he makes FT's...when you include Wally and Z, that's 3 starters who shoot over 80% from the line...Wally played well too with 13...his 2 3's came off Mo pushing it..For the Celtics, rookie, Bill Walker looked good...remember, he played HS ball with OJ Mayo in Cincy...he scored 7 and was very active..

Mike does that a lot in practice when guys do unselfish things...he's stop practice and make a point about playing the right way and leads the applause himself...CLE 65-57...

 It's off to Providence and the first preseason roadie of the month tonight against Boston. A really energetic workout on Thursday with some 4 on 4 and some 5 on 5 in this one. Andy got his orange shirted group together and before they broke the huddle, instead off "1-2-3 work hard" which is what the team does, Andy, said "1-2-3...let's do eeet"...the rest of the guys chimed in too, giving it the Portuguese accent... 

I was watching practice with new European scout, Kornel David, who played with Michael Jordan for two years in Chicago. We were both shaking our heads at some of the things LeBron was doing, as he does on a daily basis - like a filthy and one drive in the lane, then, following the free throw he swiped the in bounds pass and hammered it home on the fly. Kornel said LBJ is just like Mike in that he wants to win every drill, every sprint, every thing and then, the rest of the guys feed of those two guys...

Talk to you from RI...

Back to work for the fellas, following the preseason opener with Toronto last night. It was a good learning experience for the rookies where we saw evidence of the athleticism that both J.J. and Darnell can bring to the table. This is a time of learning for the two forwards...defensive concepts, not to mention the myriad of plays and options they have to absorb. Two things, however, are obvious - both players are hard workers and neither are in awe of the spotlight. J.J. admitted to being a little antsy at first, but felt like he had settled down pretty quickly. He says he’s still in the thinking stage as he learns to react, which effects split second timing...

But both are rookies after all and already they had their first prank played on them. When the team came out on the floor for warm-ups at The Q, the vets were behind them, but purposely stayed in the hallway as J.J. and Darnell ran out on the floor, only to look behind them and see the rest of the team chuckling...Welcome to the NBA!