2. Pluto devotes his View to the Cavaliers, which I'm all for.
3. Pluto, as he's apt to do, defends Z:
• Steve Cipriano wrote: ``Brown is a defensive coach, and everyone knows that. Why did the Cavs sign Z? Z is offensive when it comes to defense.''
• OK, here's a team that's 25th in scoring, and they should dump one of their best threats -- either in the low post or from the foul line? I'd like to see Ilgauskas play more. He's averaging nearly 12 points and 8.1 rebounds in only 27 minutes. He's slow, but his 7-foot-3 frame does help clog up the middle. You don't see many opposing centers throwing in 30 points on the Cavs.
• Fans complain about Ilgauskas' contract. It's not even in the top 50 this season. One ranking had it at 65th. If anyone is overpaid, it's Larry Hughes, who earns more than $13 million compared with Ilgauskas' $9.4 million. I was a fan of Hughes when the Cavs signed him as a free agent, but he has not been able to adjust to the Cavs. Injuries are a part of it. So is the death of his brother. But he has made noise about not liking some of the offense. He settles too often for long jumpers. Most fans would be surprised to know that he's at nearly 39 percent on 3-pointers -- only Gibson (45 percent) and Damon Jones (40 percent) are higher. But he's still better driving.
4. I agree with Pluto here (as I'm apt to do). Sure Z has a stinker of a game every now and then, but the man has played well this season. Take Sunday's Laker game, I didn't think he played all that well (he missed some jumpers he usually hits) but he still contributed 17 points and 7 boards. Anyone who looks at this season and says the problem is Z is an idiot.
5. Not everyone agrees.
6. Windhorst live blogged the Cavs-Lakers game and seems more down about the win than I was.
7. FYI, I was at the game, my fourth Cavs game for the season. So far I'm 2-2, with the wins being against the Lakers and Sonics and both losses being to the Suns.
8. It was nice for the Cavs to finally win a game on ABC. But it'd be a lot sweeter if they won a game on NBC.
9. Their game versus Miami on TNT was good too (btw- that pic is awesome).
10. Speaking of Miami, Mark Cuban defends Dirk from Dwyane Wade (I love Mark Cuban).
11. Windhorst mentioned seeing this guy and being astonished at how tall he was. But damn, that is a large man.
12. My head hurts.
13. This video of Vince Carter is downright awe inspiring. Just fantastic.
14. I meant to link to this before, but here's the 11 most irrelevant people in Cleveland sports. And unlike the Plain Dealer's list, it includes a woman (she may have nothing to do with Cleveland sports, but hey)
15. I love the scandals when the Dems have power again...
16. The Pelosi-Plane story is driving me up the wall. I mean, come on!
17. The Edwards-Blogger story is pretty retarded too. Especially when this asshole is doing the complaining.
18. I guess we've moved on to Barak Obama's first name.
19. Isn't there more important things that we should be discussing? I mean, WTF is this?
20. Good response by Obama.
21. Swerb has a mock draft and he's got the Browns taking... JaMarcus Russell.
22. I think we all know my feelings on the subject, but to reiterate: Joe Thomas or Adrian Peterson. If not, try to trade down.
23. I know trading down is easier said than done, but I think this year it'll be more possible. With the glut of talent up at the top (Russell, Brady Quinn, Thomas, Peterson, Calvin Johnson) I think someone would want one of those guys enough to trade up.
24. Also, even though Randy Lerner wants to draft Russell, I doubt the Browns will even have that chance. Especially if they draft 4th.
25. The best Tribe second baseman Paul Hoynes saw was Robbie Alomar. I could've sworn he was going to pick Ronnie Belliard.
26.
27. Keeping Mark Shapiro is the right move.
28. Do the Beatles really count as Zach Braff rock? I say no.
29. Though, Sondre Lerche probably would. He's got a new album called Phantom Punch and it is great.
30. I first heard Lerche's first album, Face Down, a few years ago in college and I loved it. It's great pop music (not like Jessica Simpson pop music, but Beach Boys and Beatles style).
'You Know So Well' from Faces Down
'Modern Nature' (Live) ('Modern Nature' is probably one of my top 5 favorite songs. It's simple yet gorgeous. This video has the complete album track)
'Two Way Monologue' from Two Way Monologue
'Phantom Punch' from Phantom Punch (the new album)
3 comments:
I'd still make a trade if it's there. Mike Bibby might be a bit too expensive, but if I were Danny Ferry, and Mike Miller or even Ron Artest were there, I'd have to take good long look before I said no.
The reason being is that the Pistons landed Chris Webber for next to nothing, as did the Heat with Eddie Jones. The traditional contenders in the East are getting better seemingly by flipping on the "Open" sign.
Personally, I think it's BS that a team like the Pistons can land a player like Webber for a prorated portion of the veteran's minimum, thereby re-asserting themselves as the team to beat in the East, with virtually no cost to them.
The NBA should have a waivers system like baseball, where the teams with the worst records have the right of first refusal to any midseason castoff. Players like Webber shouldn't be allowed to become unrestricted free agents in midseason like this. But that's another rant for another time.
The bottom line is that if the Pistons and Heat are going to make themselves substantially better by just showing up, the Cavs have to be that much more vigilant to keep pace with them.
Ideally, the Cavs want to get to the point where aging veterans see them as their ticket to a title and will sign here for peanuts. But I think they'll have to win a title first. That seems to be the way this works.
I'm not against the Cavs doing a trade, but with the emergence of Sasha, it's no longer a necessity.
As for the Heat and the Pistons, I don't care if they sign these guys, I'm pissed at the buyouts. If I recall correctly, all the money still counts against the cap and all the teams are doing is creating a roster space (Sixers and Grizzlies I mean).
Screw that, pay the guy and don't play him. Don't reward guys for being overpaid.
Regarding Webber and Jones specifically: they went to the Pistons and Heat respectively because they filled a specific need for each team PLUS they have ties to those communities.
Webber can immediately start in Detroit and Jones can back up Wade and bring the defense. If an overpaid point guard got cut, I would imagine that he'd land in Cleveland.
I'm sending telepathic brain waves to Nets management as we speak.
...cut Jason Kidd...cut Jason Kidd...cut Jason Kidd...
Post a Comment