“A taste of Cleveland came to the University of Akron Friday as the Cavaliers held a scrimmage at James A. Rhodes Arena. More than 500 students and locals came to witness the Eastern Conference champs scrimmage. Outside the JAR, children could get their hair colored, shoot mini hoops and get a picture with the Eastern Conference trophy.”
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A taste of Cleveland came to the University of Akron Friday as the Cavaliers held a scrimmage at James A. Rhodes Arena. More than 500 students and locals came to witness the Eastern Conference champs scrimmage.

Outside the JAR, children could get their hair colored, shoot mini hoops and get a picture with the Eastern Conference trophy.

The scrimmage was like any other Cavs game.

The national anthem was performed, the Cavalier girls cheered and the Scream Team danced with Cavs mascot Moon Dawg.

Almost every Cavalier was present for the scrimmage. Eric Snow, who is out because of a knee injury, and Sasha Plavlovic and Anderson Varejao who are both restricted free agents, were not on-hand.

Students said they were excited to have the team come to UA.

It’s sweet that they’re playing here, junior Reid Beery said. I have a lot of love for LeBron, even if he is a Yankees fan.

Just before the game got underway, head coach Mike Brown thanked everyone for their support last year and for coming out to the scrimmage.

For the game, the Cavs split into two teams, the Wine team and the Gold team.

Starting for the Wine team were home town hero LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Daniel Gibson – affectionately known as ‘Boobie,’ Donyell Marshall and Shannon Brown.

The Wine faced equally challenging opponents. Starting for the Gold team were Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Ira Newble and Dwayne Jones.

The play wasn’t as fierce as a playoff game, but it did not lack any of the razzle dazzle that makes the Cavs so fun to watch.

There were several alley-oops, slam dunks and blocked shots that kept the crowd on their feet. The final score of the scrimmage was Wine 62, Gold 44. But the real winners were the fans.

Freshman Jeremy Metz was impressed.

It was amazing to have such an intimate and up-close look at the Cavs, he said.

You never get this close to the action in a regular game.

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