Friday, March 23, 2007

Cleveland-New York Announcing Live Blog

First Quarter

12:00 - We miss the opening tap. Of course we do.

11:18 - Austin calls Eddie Curry over weight, which somehow means Z will be able to go over the top of him. Makes sense to me.

10:25 - McLeod says Curry is 'still learning to be a defender in this league' How many years has Eddie been around? Still learning? At one point are you a bad defender?

8:44 - Austin is glad that "everyone is aware of their defensive assignments early in the game" That's good.

6:26 - "That'll get a lot of weak hearted guys stopping to attack Z when he goes to the basket, once they know he's going to throw it down" Yes. I agree. Z dunking will strike fear into weark hearted men.

4:30 - We missed an entire New York possession because of Austin breaking down a play that happened two minutes ago (to be fair, they did turn it over pretty quickly. But still, show the game!)

4:00 - With 4 minutes left in the first, McLeod says that New York has 6 turnovers in the first 6 minutes and says they're on pace for 48 and he doesn't "even need a calculator for that".

3:20 - Ira Newble checks in as the first wing player off the bench and neither announcer finds this weird.

2:18 - The Knicks have 7 field goals and 7 turnovers.

2:06 - 8 turnovers.

1:50 - 9 turnovers.

1:36 - Newble hits a 3, Carr sounds (rightly) surprised while McLeod calls him a 'triple marksman'.

0:31.9 - Carr is completely shocked that the Knicks are looking to Curry every time down the floor. I can't blame him, lord knows the last team he's seen a basketball team actually use their offensive talented center (for a whole quarter no less). Austin also informs us (in a very creepy voice) that it's pizza time.

End of the first - Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed so far, there hasn't been much crazy shit going on. Well, besides Austin's "it's pizza time" exclamation.

2nd Quarter

12:00 - Eric Snow and Ira Newble are starting the quarter. Again, neither announcer feels this is that significant. What is this, 2005? There should never be a time, with a roster that contains Hughes, Pavlovic, Gibson, Jones and Brown, that both Ira Newble and Eric Snow are sharing the backcourt.

11:25 - Austin on zone defense: "You know, when I was in high school, the zone... when you go to a zone that used to just... that that that... our coach used to say 'they afraid of us, attack them' and when that usually happens in this league when you to a zone most teams realize it's time to go on the offensive" That's a whole lotta words for 'attack the zone' (Also, is anyone shocked that New York is going zone against a backcourt of Snow and Newble? Anyone?)

10:05 - "Inside, inside. The money is at the basket today"

9:41 - Hughes subs in for LeBron. Bringing Hughes in will surely stop the Knicks zone. Wait... my bad, Sasha is coming in for Newble. Lord help us all if I have to see a trio of Snow, Hughes and Newble.

8:29 - McLeod makes a Bonanza reference which is totally over my head and FSN is using a weird window pane graphic that takes up 2/5ths of the screen, with the rest being solid colored bars. Makes sense.

5:43 - Aflac trivia question: "who was the first team ever to face the Knicks in the playoffs?" Um, Boston? Philly? It's gotta be something weird right? It can't be those two...

5:04 - We're having the Drew Gooden conversation again. Yes, we all know that Drew can score and he now knows his role. It's been 3 years, he knows he has to rebound the ball. I have a feeling we're going to have the 'Drew's learning his role' conversation as long as he's here.

2:18 - Aflac answer: The Cleveland Rebels played the Knicks in the Basketball Association of America playoffs in 1947. Sounds about right.

Halftime - McLeod just called Channing Frye 'Charlie Frye'. It actually took me awhile to figure out what the hell he was talking about ("Charlie Frye was in my jersey" was the line)

Third Quarter

11:24 - "Dick Bavetta was open, but he didn't want the shot"
"Ha ha ha ha"

9:12 - Carr, after a bad Starbury pass "Nobody was at the door waiting for that one." I think he knows what he means, but at the same time... no

8:19 - Austin - LeBron James. To me, right now, at this point, if his rebounding can pick up, he's in a good position for a triple double. But he only has one rebound."

8:19 - Z hook shot highlights. YES!

6:11 - Advice for LeBron, from Isiah Thomas, via Fred McLeod: "you have to either be loved by your teammates or win a championship. You can't have both" Makes sense, everyone hates Shaq.

4:04 - Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas is on Cleveland Rants tonight and McLeod references Austin Carr's excellent draft analysis from a few nights ago.

3:08 - I'm not a fan of the Snow, Hughes, James, Gooden and Varejao lineup. By the way, Hughes just missed 2 free throws.

2:44 - While discussing the Eastern Conference standings, Austin mentions that he doesn't want Chicago to overtake the Cavaliers for the second spot. Um, I don't want anyone overtaking the Cavaliers for the second spot.

2:14 - Malik Rose has 6 fouls in 11 minutes. "He's a hacker. That's called hacking," Austin cackles.

1:50 - Triple Double Watch: LeBron just grabbed his second board and Austin thinks he still has a shot. "He only needs 7 more. Wait 8? Oh, that's gonna be tough".

1:30 - "Brick city"

1:13 - Carr didn't like a Jerome James foul on Varejao and has resorted to fat jokes. "That's why you're Mr. Cavalier," McLeod says.

Fourth Quarter

10:13 - The camera keeps showing Malik Rose on the bench. He is surly.

9:36 - Carr just said that Curry is 280 lbs. Does anyone believe that?

9:10 - This has nothing to do with announcing, but David Wesley is dressed and Damon Jones isn't. That doesn't make sense to me.

5:47 - James makes nice court length pass and McLeod calls it a good spiral.

5:47 - Cavs new lineup: Snow, Gibson, Newble, Marshall and Gooden. Oiy.

4:59 - Austin Carr on Nate Robinson: "Well see, you have to, you have to get the, you can take the guy out of the bun, but you can't take the hotdog out of the guy. He's a hotdog, that's the way it is"

4:45 - LeBron Jr. is on the Cavs bench, that probably isn't be legal. We've also learned that Varejao is little LeBron's favorite player. So ya, I'm betting Varejao will be re-upped this offseason.

0:53 - we just had 5-6 seconds of dead air during a Knicks possession. Well done.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

4:59, fourth quarter. "You can take the hot dog out of the bun, but you can't take the hot dog out of the guy."

These are the Kodak moments that deserve to be immortalized. Great job on the live blog.

Unknown said...

I was actually at this game and I honestly missed Austin Carr's announing. But only cuz nobody would chant "Chili Dogs" with me whenever Curry touched the ball.