One of the questions that has dogged LeBron James during his first four NBA seasons is who will become his perfect sidekick, ``his Scottie Pippen,'' as fans and pundits like to pose.
How about Scottie Pippen?
Using the All-Star festivities this weekend as a pedestal, the former Chicago Bulls great and running mate to Michael Jordan is making it known that he's attempting a comeback. And he's targeting the Cavs as a potential destination.
Should the Cavs give him a call? Probably, but I'm not sure how well this will work. The Cavs just getting used to their new lineup changes (more Pavs and Gibson) and I'm not sure how much Pippen would screw that up.
If the Cavs are going to go after a washed up point forward, I'd like them to call Penny Hardaway. Both guys insist they are healthy, but Penny actually had a bone spur removed, so he has proof.
All in all, I wouldn't expect much from either of these guys. But again, should the Cavs at least take a flyer? Sure. Assuming both guys can play, Pippen is obviously the choice. He's won, he's played with Jordan and he can show LeBron the effort it takes to win every night (and in the playoffs). The problem is that if Pippen can't play, how much would LeBron be deferring (out of respect) to a guy who is over the hill and washed up.
I missed a lot of this game. Everyone missed the beginning of the ball game thanks to the Houston-Dallas game going long. I had the game tivo'd (with an additional 30 minutes!) because Real Life intervened and I had to work in the morning. So when I read this morning that the Cavs won and LeBron played well, I was really looking forward watching LeBron kick some ass, but because there were roughly 102,003 free throws attempted, the game ran a tad bit long. So if I'm missing key points (like say, crunch time...), lo siento.
Fouls. My God, the fouls. 61 personal fouls, 4 technicals and 97 combined free throw attempts. That is insane. Every Cavalier starter had at least 4 fouls (Gooden had 5), Andrew Bynum fouled out and Odom and Turiaf each had 5. James shot 22 free throwms and Hughes and Snow had 10 apiece. How Smush Parker played 35 minutes and only picked up a single foul is beyond me (though he did get a tech). Anyways... the refs were not good. Both team got hosed here and there, but I'd have to most of the real bad calls went the Cavs way.
James played great. I think we've all forgotten how good this kid actually is. James had 38 points on 10-16 shooting and he shot 18-22 from the charity stripe. Ya, you read that right. He. Hit. His. Free. Throws. James took advantage of the crappy refs, attacked the hoop all night and just looked like the LeBron of old. ('The LeBron of old'... right. The kid is what, 22?). Anyways, he looked awesome. He also had a sweet post move on Odom. Needless to say, I loved it.
James made free throws! 18 of 22. 82%! Right now, the Cavs need LBJ to shoot at least 75% from the line, but if he shoots in 80's, he's pretty much unstoppable. Also, for the first time all season (that I'm aware of) James didn't kiss his wrists before shooting. That is a great sign.
More free throws. I'm not sure which is more remarkable, that Eric Snow made 9 of 10 from the line or the fact that he actually got 10 free throw attempts. Either way, well done Eric (he finished with 13 points and 5 assists and I could swear he had more than just 2 turnovers). Then there's Larry Hughes. 3-10 from the line (that's 30% for you scoring at home) just one night after connecting on all 10 attempts against the Jazz. I love that he got 10 attempts, but making just 3 is terrible.
More Hughes. 5 of 18 from the field- not good. 5 turnovers- not good. 1-5 from 3 point range- faaaantastic.
Criticisms of Hughes aside... all Cavs starters scored in double figures. So did Pavlovic and Marshall. Not too shabby; spreading the wealth, moving the ball. I like it.
Third quarter woes. The Cavs started out the third the way they always do: poorly. Jump shots, lackadaisical effort- the works. But then the Lakers imploded (technical fouls, poor passes leading to turnovers, etc). They actually finished the quarter rather strong, so I guess they only crapped out for half the third quarter instead of the entire quarter. So they're improving.
Andy played well. 15 points, 11 boards filling in for Zydrunas. Start the Z trade rumors! (In all seriousness, I think Andy playing a few complete games without fouling out makes Gooden more likely to be dealt).
and finally...
Barkley vs Bavetta weekend! I'd still say it'd have been wonderful if LeBron had pulled a Pedro and skipped the weekend, but I can understand why he didn't (plus, dropping 38 on Kobe and the Lakers the last game before the break doesn't hurt). Despite all the turmoil and disappointment the Cavs have put their fans through in the first half of the season, they are 2nd in the East and just 2 games behind the Pistons for the conference lead. When all is said and done, not too bad.
STOCKPORT, ENGLAND—British homosexual John Amaechi sent shockwaves throughout the sporting world last week when he announced, much to the surprise of his family and friends—in addition to NBA players and fans—that he lived a double life for five years in which he secretly worked as a professional basketball player.
"It was difficult living with this secret," said Amaechi, who in his new autobiography Man In The Middle reveals that he played in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, and perhaps most shockingly, the New York Knicks. "I loved it and hated it at the same time. And I was afraid that if I ever acted on some of my impulses, like say by requesting more playing time, that I would have ultimately embarrassed myself and everyone close to me."
"Now, it's like a tremendous weight has been lifted," Amaechi added, stating that although he still feels a certain shame about his furtive involvement in the often shadowy world of professional basketball, it has been a great relief to finally be able to speak openly about his professional life.
Pluto wants to bring in Schottenheimer. Here's my question, can Marty play offensive line? Will he advocate drafting linemen? (In case you weren't aware, I'm kinda obsessed with the offensive line problem).
As long as we're calling Marty, I say we give Lenny Wilkens a ring. And Grover. Sure, technically he's 'employed' by the Seattle Mariners, but who cares, no one is really that happy with Eric Wedge are they?
Man, that is a tough loss. The Cavs had the lead for the bulk of this game and they never put the Jazz away. Utah was actually up 8 with 1:39 to go and the Cavs got some stops and cut it close again.
Real bitter pill. Not only did the Cavs blow a chance to steal a game in Utah, but they blew a 33 point performance from Larry Hughes. I mean, when the hell can we expect another performance like that? 2 months?
That last possession... I knew what the Cavs wanted to do there; stop Utah and get the ball back with time remaining. The Jazz got the ball with about 30 seconds left, so the Cavs could've gotten the last shot with a stop (and I guess they technically did). But why not foul in that situation? It was only 6 second differential and you would force Utah to make their free throws and you'd extend the game. Plus, you'd take away the chance of 3 ball that would put the game out of reach.
Compare and contrast Deron Williams and Larry Hughes. Both players led their team in scoring, 33 apiece and both hit big baskets down the stretch. Williams abused the Cavs all game and Larry used his jumpshot to set up his drives (he was 10-10 from the line). But what about other aspects.... Williams finished with 12 assists, 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 turnovers while Hughes notched 2 boards, 2 assists, a steal and TO. Don't get me wrong, Hughes played a good game, but he didn't exactly stuff the stat sheet.
Pavlovic came back down to Earth. He got himself in foul trouble early on and he never really was a factor. He did hit a big three late in the game (actually it was the Cavs last bucket) but that was about it.
Even with Sasha's foul trouble and Gibson's toe injury, did we really need much Eric Snow? I understand that Gibson was out and having Snow guard Williams is a good idea in theory... But Eric was getting abused, plus the Cavs were switching on the screens leaving Varejao guarding Williams for 3 straight possessions. Why do this? Not surprisingly, Williams burned Varejao as well. Sasha left the game with 7 minutes left and didn't return until 2:30 to go. Why? Having both Snow and Varejao is almost certain doom for the offense, especially when LeBron isn't lighting it up. Pavlovic should've played more (foul trouble was no excuse in the second half).
James was a non-factor. Are the standards too high? James had 20 and 10. If Gooden, Z, Pavs or anyone else on this team had a 20-10 game, we'd be thrilled. Sure James had a 20 and 10 game, but 10 of that 20 came in the first period. Over the last 3 quarters he had just 10 points and just 4 in the final period. True, Hughes had his game going and the Cavs were running the offense through him, but still... The Cavs lost by 1 point and James was 5-9 from the line.
What was up with Carlos Boozer. Does anyone have a picture of him from the game? The dude has hardcore acne all over his forehead. I usually don't notice stuff like that, but it was everywhere. I normally would feel bad about pointing something like out, but it's freaking Boozer. Screw that guy.
Live by the jumper, die by the jumper. The Cavs built separate 11 and 12 point leads during the game, mostly on jump shots. Hughes (and James to an extent) were hot early, Drew Gooden got hot in the third period (he was the only one) but the Cavs couldn't sustain it. By the way, that third quarter was awful; it was full of bad offense and Drew Gooden jumpers- thanks but no thanks.
Don't tell anyone, but the Cavs missed Z. The Cavs had absolutely no inside presence whatsoever. Yes, they did rebound well (the Cavs out rebounded the Jazz 47-37 and Varejao grabbed 17) but they could've benefited from running the offense through the post at least a couple of times. And the Cavs give up a ton of points in the paint, FSN Ohio mentioned that the Jazz had 28 or 30 points inside in the first half and I didn't hear how bad it got by the end (does anyone know where to find that stat? ESPN.com's box score doesn't seem to have it, though they do have this shot chart, which I trust at all).
and finally...
One more to go until Vegas. The Cavs face the Lakers again on Thursday night, let's see how strong the teams come out with the break looming. Speaking of the break, I wouldn't mind in the slightest if LeBron's big toe kept him out of competing. Sure I'd like to see him, but other stars are sitting due to nagging (or serious) injuries. With the way LeBron has been playing and considering the toe injury... well... he could use the rest.
A full week of 'NASCAR Now'? No PTI? Come on, at least put PTI on ESPN2 or something. I was going to post a video of Kornheiser doing the Penguin dance but all the videos are down off of YouTube. There is a bear on trampoline video... but it's from Kilborn's Late Late Show... sigh...
(also, Z is out for tonight's game versus Utah for a personal matter. That is really all anyone knows)
Bonnaroo released their initial band lineup for this year's festival, check this out:
2007 BONNAROO ARTIST LINEUP:
The Police · Tool · Widespread Panic · The White Stripes · Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals · Wilco · The Flaming Lips · Manu Chao · The String Cheese Incident · Franz Ferdinand · Bob Weir & Ratdog · Damien Rice · Ween · Gov't Mule · Ziggy Marley · The Decemberists · Kings of Leon · Michael Franti & Spearhead · Wolfmother · Regina Spektor · The Black Keys · Galactic · DJ Shadow · Gillian Welch · Spoon · Keller Williams (WMD's) · Sasha & John Digweed · STS9 · Old Crow Medicine Show · The Hold Steady · North Mississippi Allstars · Fountains Of Wayne · Hot Tuna · Feist · Hot Chip · John Butler Trio · Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys · Aesop Rock · The Richard Thompson Band · Dierks Bentley · Xavier Rudd · Gogol Bordello · Junior Brown · Tortoise · T-Bone Burnett · Mavis Staples · Clutch · Cold War Kids · Dr. Dog · Paolo Nutini · Brazilian Girls · RX Bandits · The Nightwatchman · The Slip · Girl Talk · Railroad Earth · Martha Wainwright · Rodrigo y Gabriela · Annuals · Tea Leaf Green · Sam Roberts Band · Elvis Perkins in Dearland · Charlie Louvin · Sonya Kitchell · Mute Math · Apollo Sunshine · Uncle Earl · James Blood Ulmer · The National · The Little Ones · Black Angels · Ryan Shaw
First things first, I'm not going to do one. Ever. I really would have no idea who the Bills would select with the 12th pick (and I just had to go look that up) and while I feel free (and obligated!) to speculate on who the Browns should draft, I have no clue on the rest of the teams. So if you read a mock draft coming from me, just assume it's complete bullshit (as opposed to the rest of my stuff...)
Anyways, after reading Erik's plea to Browns fans to not get distracted by shiny objects, I wanted to take a look at what the experts are saying about the Browns draft plans.
First off, Terry Pluto says that the Browns offense is too messed up to draft a QB:
When it comes to evaluating young quarterbacks, the Browns find it hard because they went through two offensive coordinators last year, the offensive line was a mess and running back Reuben Droughns had a poor year. How much do you blame Charlie Frye or Derek Anderson for that? It's not an easy question, even though some fans think picking a quarterback would solve many of the problems on offense. If so, they are conning themselves.
(BTW, Pluto also says the Browns are going to go after Bengals' guard Eric Steinbach in free agency. Hooray!)
Mel Kiper Jr has the Lions taking Joe Thomas and the Browns settling for Adrian Peterson. I'm okay with this. However, Kiper does mention that teams may be willing to trade up for Peterson:
However, the biggest buzz could center around Oklahoma junior RB Adrian Peterson (6-1½, 223 pounds). His workout numbers at the NFL combine should look something like this: 4.37 in the 40-yard dash; 38-inch vertical leap; and eight percent body fat. I have Peterson going to Cleveland, which will have either the third or fourth pick, depending on a coin flip tiebreaker with Tampa Bay; but there also could be several teams interested in trading up to get Peterson.
I'd be more than happy if the Browns traded down for multiple picks, even if that meant passing on Peterson. Todd McShay has JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn going 1 and 2, respectively and says this about the Browns:
Russell or Quinn would be a possibility if available. Otherwise, it would become a tough decision between Thomas and Michigan DT Alan Branch. Thomas seems to make more sense, as he could be the piece that finally solidifies the Browns' offensive line.
Obviously, I'm happy with this. Fox Sports' Peter Schrager has done three (1, 2, 3) mock drafts so far and in two out of the three he has the Browns taking Peterson. He had Peterson going to the Browns in his first and third drafts and the Browns landing Russell in the middle one. However, in his latest MD he has Russell and Thomas going 1 and 2 and the Browns landing Peterson:
How good is Adrian Peterson? When Bears DT and Oklahoma grad Dusty Dvoracek was asked whether he thought the Sooners running back will be a good pro player on media day, Dvoracek answered: "Adrian Peterson is going to be a Hall of Fame player. Mark it down in ink. He's going to be one of the best NFL running backs we've ever seen." With questions at both the quarterback and running back positions, Cleveland can do no wrong taking Peterson here. Hall of Fame or not.
Again, since Thomas is off the board, taking Peterson here is the right move.
I've already addressed the MD of SI.com's Don Banks here.
And finally, Yahoo! Sports' John Murphy also has twomock drafts in circulation and he has the Browns going with defense:
3/4. Cleveland Browns – Alan Branch, defensive lineman, Michigan. Branch would fill a major void for the Browns, who would allow him to clog the middle while opening up lanes for their outside pass rushers and young linebackers Kamerion Wimbley and D'Qwell Jackson. Cleveland paid close attention to the interior line position leading up to last year's draft but opted to take the pass rusher, so addressing the spot this year should come as no surprise.
Now, I'm not sure how I feel about this; I mean, don't me wrong, the Browns could use a player like Branch. But Murphy has the Browns passing on both Peterson and Thomas (he has Russell and Jamaal Anderson going 1 and 2). I can't imagine them doing this. If Joe Thomas is available, I fully expect the Browns to snap him up. Plus, Browns fans already have Braylon Edwards on this team, do we really have to root for another Michigan guy?
Eric Snow is starting to warm up to staying in his warm-ups.
The Cavaliers' veteran captain handled his move to the bench in favor of Daniel Gibson like a professional, offering nothing but support even if breaking his run of 139 consecutive starts hurt on the inside. Now, used to the idea, he is starting to find himself in favor of it.
He's been quietly, but convincingly, effective in his new role off the bench. The Cavs have been responding well with him in the game, even if it is somewhat hidden. In Sunday's victory over the Lakers, Snow scored just four points, but had an impact on the game.
After Larry Hughes got in foul trouble, Snow defended Kobe Bryant for nearly 15 minutes in the first half and held him to just six points. In that span, the Cavs outscored the Lakers by 15 points. Snow also ended up with six assists and no turnovers. In the seven games since leaving the starting lineup, Snow has 31 assists against just five turnovers and has the highest plus/minus rating on the Cavs' team.
``I think I may be better suited to what I am doing right now,'' Snow said. ``I know my minutes are more limited and I'm able to give more energy and I don't have to worry about getting in foul trouble.''
Snow also said that being able to play with Sasha Pavlovic, Donyell Marshall and Anderson Varejao with the second unit has also helped because they are more catch-and-shoot players than the guys who start. That allows him to set them up better.
``His leadership skills, especially when he's in, have been off the charts for us,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ``That is something we should all feel good about.''
Having Snow play with the second unit has really solidified the Cavs bench play. I know there's still more to do but these moves have worked. Hopefully this will shut the crazies up for awhile.
Z played some defense and Sasha rewarded the big fella:
I wish the Cavs would run more simple plays like this. Or at least execute them:
Boobie sure can take contact can't he?
LeBron hit another long one, only this one didn't count:
This is a fast break that got Varejao two free throws. Notice how Sasha has the option to give the ball to Snow, but decides pass it up to LeBron (who then finds a cutting Wild Thing):
Slowest. Drive. Ever.
Honestly, anyone who says Z can't pass is a moron. The only passer I've ever seen cut to the hoop after feeding Z is Eric Snow. If that is James or Pavlovic in this situation, it's two points. Move without the ball!
Sasha attacked the rim all game:
This sequence pretty much sealed the game; right before Varejao shoots you can kind of hear the crowd moan, it was much more pronounced in the stands. No one wanted him to shoot that ball.
1. A week ago I'd be thrilled if the Cavs made a trade. But with the emergence of Pavlovic and the insertion of Gibson into the starting lineup (plus Snow's strong/rejuvinated play off the bench) I'm not sure they have to.
• 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.
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.
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.
26. Paul McCartneyPeter Gammons really likes the Tribe. I've always thought that Gammons has really liked the Tribe a lot (I'd say second to, obviously, Boston). He always has good things to say about the Indians.
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)
What a difference a week makes. After the debacle against Detroit last Sunday, all seemed lost for the Cavs. But just a week later the Cavs have beaten both Shaq and Kobe pretty handily.
A guy could get used to this. Good defense? Solid bench play? Beating a good team? Winning a game on ABC? Fantastic. The question is, will they keep it up?
It seems more likely if Brown keeps playing Sasha and Gibson. The young guys have given this team a shot in the arm. Pavlovic is simply playing outstanding basketball and Gibson's confidence grows by the game. A week ago I would've thought that a trade was a must, but now? Not so much.
More Sasha. He really won the game for the Cavaliers today. He took the ball to the rim, he hit his 3s (3-4) and his free throws (4-5) and he actually played defense. Sasha's final tally was 21 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist, steal and block. He was big when it counted, as 13 of his points came in the fourth period. If he plays half this well from here on out, the Cavs will be well off.
The rest of the bench stepped up. With Pavlovic leading the way, the Cavaliers' bench outscored the Lakers' bench 46-15. Anderson Varejao gave the Cavs 12 points (11 in the fourth quarter), Snow played tough defense on Kobe (while dishing out 6 assists) and Marshall hit a couple 3s.
The Cavs needed their bench, cause LeBron had an off night. James was just 5-12 for 18 points (8-12 from the line) but did give them 8 rebounds and 5 assists. James played halfway decent defense as well. As much as I'd like him to snap out of this funk, I have to admit, it was nice to see the Cavs beat a good team with James having an off night.
Z bounced back with a good game. Ilgauskas had a bad game against Miami on Friday (4 points, 1-8 shooting but did have 10 boards) but he bounced back with a 17 point, 7 board, 3 block and 2 assist effort (I really wish someone besides Eric Snow would cut to the hoop when Z is in the post. Just once). Z was also the only one worth a damn in the third period, when he scored 5 of the Cavaliers' 12 points. He also scored 4 points early in the fourth quarter that gave the Cavs a 72-69 advantage.
That's right, 12. What is it about the third period that messes with the Cavs' heads so much. The Cavs started the period with a 52-41 lead and ended it down 67-64. The problem, as always, was their penchant for jumpers. The Cavs stopped going inside and simply settled for jump shots; it was awful to watch. LeBron didn't score and Kobe had 11. To recap: Kobe 11, Cavs 12.
The fourth quarter was a tad better. Pavlovic had 13 and Varejao had 11 of his 12 in the final period. For the second game in a row the Cavs unloaded in the fourth period; against Miami they scored 34 in the final quarter and today they scored 35 (again, after scoring 12 the previous quarter). Again, James didn't have the best quarter (still too many jumpers) but Pavlovic and Varejao carried the load.
Kobe is good. That is all. 14 straight points to start the fourth quarter. His mid-range game is miles ahead of James (or anyone for that matter). For awhile there he was pretty much unstoppable; he even suckered the Cavs into a couple fouls on jumpshots (by kicking his leg out). Honestly, I thought he was going to carry the Lakers to the win, especially after the way the Cavs looked in the third period. However...
Mike Brown actually changed his defense. Down the stretch the Cavs doubled Kobe and made him give up the basketball. The Cavs sent James, Sasha and Hughes at Bryant and it paid off. Kobe didn't score in the last 3 and a half minutes.
It'd be nice if Hughes showed up. Larry did have a big steal down the stretch, but before that he was pretty much non-existent. Larry was 2-8, shot no free throws and had just 2 rebounds.
and finally...
Rematch on Thursday. The Cavs have a quick 2 game West coast swing this week, where they get a back-to-back with Utah and the Lakers. It's not exactly an easy 2 nights, but they've played well this past week, so a split is a must but a sweep is by no means out of the question.
That's what I'm talking about! The Cavs actually played an entire ball game (that's right four quarters) against the Heat. They shared the ball and LeBron played like the LeBron of yesteryear (except for those pesky free throws). It was fun to watch and the Cavs basically beat Miami in every aspect of the game.
Home cooking is delicious. The Cavs played the Heat much better in Cleveland than in Miami (which isn't exactly a shock) and the fourth quarter really told the tale. Last week, the Heat outscored the Cavs 34-23 in the final period. Tonight? Cleveland won the fourth 34-22. And Wade still led everyone in free throw attempts, but instead of 24, he took just 9.
Hustle. The Cavaliers simply outworked Miami tonight. Gooden had 13 boards, Z had 10, LeBron had 7 and Varejao, Marshall and Pavlovic all finished with 5. Not too bad. Gooden and Z didn't play well offensively, but they both hit the boards really well (Z was an awful 1-8 from the floor. He looks like he has no confidence versus good teams, but against second tier teams like the Clippers he' a real force. I'm not sure if they need to drown him in compliments or what, but it'd be nice if the guy could show up versus Detroit and Miami). The defense was pretty good as well; they actually forced some players not named Wade to shoot the ball (it'd have been nice to have seen that last week at some point). They also decided to single cover O'Neal, which I liked (to be fair, Z did do a decent job on Shaq most of the night, especially in the second half. What? Shaq was tired because he's returning from injury? Um...)
LeBron looked like LeBron. I don't know if it's his toe feeling better, playing on ESPN or playing against Dwyane Wade and co. but LBJ was focussed and active all night long. I still thought he could've punished the Heat more by abusing Kapono (really? the guy the Cavs let go because he can't play defense is guarding LeBron? And they aren't running isos for him all game long? Jason Kapono?). He settled for jumpers a little too often for my tastes. But that's a small quibble on this night; James finished with 29 points, 7 boards and 6 assists.
Larry Hughes scored 16 points and shot 7-12 and I'm still a bit perturbed. The man doesn't just take too many jumpers, he takes too many badjumpers. Fast break jumpers, 18 seconds left on the shot clock jumpers; if you find yourself screaming "no!" at a jump shot, Hughes is probably taking it. To be fair, he made his fair share tonight, but if he did that on a regular basis we wouldn't have a problem with him. Also, he had 1 rebound and 2 assists (also 4 turnovers)- not good. He did foul Wade when he was attempting a jumper... so there's that...
The bench stepped up. Sasha Pavlovic gave the Cavs 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. That's fantastic. Keep giving us games like that and we'll have ourselves a shooting guard controversy (whether Pavs should start over Hughes now or wait until next season). But Sasha wasn't the only bench player worth a damn: Eric Snow gave the Cavs 7(!) assists, Marshall hit two 3s (one that counted), Varejao had 8 points and 5 boards and Scot Pollard had 3 fouls in 3 minutes. Awesome.
Coach Mike kicked some ass. I really liked all of Brown's decisions tonight (well, LeBron did play 41 minutes). He yelled at the refs (he does have emotions), he actually had a defensive strategy and he took Snow out of the game at just about the time I got sick of seeing him out there. He actually got a tech when arguing about LeBron taking some hits (I've been waiting all year for this).
Could LeBron get some calls? Is it weird to ask that? I don't care- LeBron got hit in the face on a few drives tonight and received no whistle. You can't tell me that the refs would've 'let 'em play' if Varejao slapped Wade across the head.
and finally...
The roller coaster continues. How come when the Cavs lose to the Heat it feels like there's no hope for them, but when they beat the Heat it feels like another solid win (ie: not that special)? The Cavs are a much better team at home (the confidence difference is astounding) and it's becomes more and more apparent that they'll need home court if they want to do any damage in the playoffs. If they continue their strong home play on Sunday, they'll have beaten both Wade and Kobe on national television on the same weekend. That'd be nice.
Before the season many pundits (including myself) picked Cleveland to win the Eastern Conference. After all, the Cavs were coming off a 50-win season and a trip to the second round of the playoffs, where they took the heavily favored Pistons to seven games.
Plus, they had LeBron James.
But a funny thing has happened to the Cavs on their way to the Finals: They haven't played all that well.
After a strong start to the season, LeBron and Co. (27-21) had lost eight of their last 12 games through Tuesday to fall to fourth in the East. Nothing to panic about. But nothing to get Cleveland fans dreaming of a championship parade along Lake Erie either.
Stupid lofty expectations, here's what I said before the season started:
My first thought was to brush this off, I mean seriously, how could the Cavs be the best in the East without a point guard? But then I thought about it, if it isn't Cleveland, who among the rest of the East's big four is it?
Miami? I thought they were overrated last year, and true, they did win the title last season. But how motivated are these guys? Their point guard situation isn't a whole lot better than Cleveland's right now and they are pretty old. At times during the playoffs last season, Shaq looked done (really really done) and I doubt he'll be able to muster even last years performance. True, they still have Wade and his 900 free throws a game, but everyone else is a year older (and I don't know if Zo and Payton are as hungry now that they have the ring).
Detroit? Sure they lost Benny Wallace, but they still have Hamilton, Rasheed, Billups and Prince. But the Cavs took them to 7 (well, 6 1/2) games last season and I don't think Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray really make up for Big Ben. Also, Detroit has been remarkably injury free the past few years while playing a ton of games. I think that one of their big four will miss some time this season. Finally, with Ben Wallace gone, the Pistons have to rely more on Rasheed Wallace. Good luck with that.
Chicago? They're a trendy pick right now, but as I've writtenbefore, I don't buy it. I don't care to rehash all the reasons I wouldn't pick them, but I will say this (I'm not sure who first made this argument, but I'm stealing it): if Detroit lost in the playoffs last season with a lineup of Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince, what makes anyone think that adding Wallace to a lineup of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Adres Nocioni and PJ Brown. As much as I like the Bulls lineup (and they're all pretty good), none of them are any better than their Piston counterparts.
The Cavs are returning almost all the players on a 50 win squad, that should count for something. Plus, as Hollinger points out, their 3 key '05 free agents (Hughes, Marshall and Jones) all digressed last season, if just one of them returns to form they'll be alright. It looks like Marshall is in better shape and is looking to return to a complete player (not just one who jacks treys all game, but post moves). And Jones? Well, he says he's in his best shape since he left Miami (Umm... that means he's in the best shape in year. Awesome).
So have I drank the Kool-Aid? Are the Cavs the best team in the East? Um... maybe. Part of me says yes, but the part of me that's a Cleveland fan is laughing and saying "hell no". That Cleveland fan part reminds me that the Cavs stilldon't have a point guard (but they do have a new floor!) and that they're bringing back everyone from an offense that looked terrible last year. It's great that Marshall wants to use his post moves more, it really is, but I'm still waiting for the Cavs to use Z's post game for more than just the opening minutes of the halves. I'm pretty sure Cavs fans wouldn't mind if LeBron would post up every once in awhile either. Also, Larry Hughes is a slasher not a jump shooter, use his strengths (can ya tell I love this offense?).
I do believe however, that if Hughes, Wesley and ShannonBrown get the minutes that went to Pavlovic, Graham and Newble (after Hughes went down), the offense should improve just by lack of Newble alone. I think we can all agree that the less time Newble is on the floor, the better things are for the city of Cleveland.
If the offense goes right and the Cavs stay healthy... yes, I've talked myself into it. I think the Cavs could win the East. There, I said it. Going out on a limb and daring to dream, right? But do I believe they will win it? Come on, don't ask me that, as a Cleveland fan you know I'm not allowed to have that much optimism.
Couple things stick out to me:
1) that post had pictures. For a brief time I tried to color up my posts with some photos. That quickly stopped due to laziness. Plus, I'm sure there are copyright issues involved as well (but that really hasn't stopped me. I'm an idiot).
2) I was way too optimistic about David Wesley, Larry Hughes and Shannon Brown. With Wesley, I figured if nothing else he could at least shoot (turns out that's his one fatal flaw). As for Brown, he's been hurt and never played anyways. Hughes stinks.
3) I was pretty down on Sasha Pavlovic. Sasha is playing well right now (really well) so it looks kinda stupid that I was down on him. But there's always that chance that Pavs will commit 3 charges and 5 turnovers tonight and he won't get off of Brown's bench for the next month.
4) That article was more like a column, which I haven't done a lot of recently (which is probably why I'm never on Swerbs- besides the crappy writing and postss litterde whit typoes)
5) I've been consistent with my calls for more post action (and my lack of enthusiasm for Donyell's post game)
6) Was it really that hard to see that this Cavs team was full of problems? I'm the biggest Cavs fan I know and I had to talk myself into entertaining the mere thought of the Cavs leading the East.
7) The weird/sad thing is that the Cavs still very well could win the East. It's just that bad.
Solid. That's the one word that sums this game up. Solid. The Cavs gave a solid effort on the defensive end and they did most everything right on the offensive.
And they ran. The Cavaliers actively looked to push the ball up the court and it led to some easy buckets and let them set up the offense just a little bit earlier. This is how I'd like to see them run- they don't have to be the Suns, but push the ball after misses and turnovers. For instance, LeBron got an easy hoop off of a full court drive. We're they going crazy? No, but they ran within their means.
They didn't rely on LeBron. The Cavs had five players in double figures: Z and Pavlovic had 16, Hughes had 15, Gooden had 13 and LeBron finished with 11. I'm not going to lie, it's nice to see the Cavs get a good win without relying on LeBron. The ball moved around the court and the Cavs attacked the basket. They only shot 41% from the floor and just 25% from three; not great numbers but it's nice to see a solid win without them having to be hot.
Pigs flew. LeBron played 'just' 36 minutes. This is down from his usual 41. I harp on this a lot and I really do think this is important. 36 minutes isn't exactly low (that's what Dirk Nowitzki averages) but it is nice to see him a decent amount under 40.
More LeBron. 11 points, 7 boards and 3 assists, not exactly spectacular numbers, but not bad either. He was just 4-13 from the field, but a few of those misses came off of drive that could've/would've/should've gotten James to the foul line (where he was only 2-2).
The young kids. Gibson played pretty well, he didn't shoot much (his two 3s were the Cavs first 6 points) and he finished with zero assists. Simply having him out there changes the way teams guard the Cavaliers, but I'm not gonna lie, it'd be nice to see him set up some of his teammates every once in awhile. Sasha Pavlovic continued his strong play, scoring 16 points and grabbing 5 boards. Hell, we even had a Shannon Brown sighting (which means I can start clamoring for him to play again. I think we're all looking forward to that).
The big men played well. Z had a classic 16-16 game and even had 4 assists. Not too shabby. The bulk of Drew Gooden's 13 points came in the second half and he also had 5 rebounds, all in just 20 minutes of court time. The Cavs ran the offense through Z early on (he got the assists on Gibson's two 3s) and, combined with the effort to push the ball, it really paid off.
Hughes scored 15 and still managed to bug me. 15 points (5-12 shooting), 4 assists and 3 boards. Not exactly a bad game or even bad effort. Hughes seemed engaged and active most of the time but his shot selection still left much to be desired. The man takes too many jumpshots; they went in against the Clippers, but that doesn't exactly make it right.
A lot of those jumpers came in the third period. Both Hughes and James came out firing after halftime. Why does this happen? They play great, team oriented first half and then they come out the second half hoisting jumpers. The Cavs had 28 points in the paint in the first half and just 4 in the third quarter. Makes sense to me.
and finally...
Nice way to bounce back from the Detroit game. The Cavs have had a few days off and we've seen a lot of stories about the offense (or lack thereof) and there's been some grumbling from the players. It was good to see the Cavs get a big, comfortable win after their time off and that the offense ran smoothly. Sure it's just the Clippers, but let's hope that the Cavs can build off this and play well against the Heat on Friday
Bill Livingston wants the Cavs to run more and use their athletes:
In Brown's defense, his roster is a box of mismatched parts. Part of the team is plodders (Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jones, Eric Snow, David Wesley) and part flyers (James, Larry Hughes, Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson, Sasha Pavlovic, Drew Gooden).
A defense-oriented coach in football usually runs a button-down offense to reduce turnovers and keep his defenders from having to play on a short field. Tom Landry was the great exception.
Brown was hired to create a Pistons-like defensive mind-set. Turnovers in basketball happen when you run, although so do easy baskets. But turnovers put Brown's beloved defense at risk.
Alas, Brown hasn't locked down the other team as much as he has put his own biggest asset, James, in chains. He has to let him run.
The Cavs rebound well, a requirement to run.
And it is no hindrance to have Z on the floor in the fast break. The center makes outlet passes, then saunters downcourt if a quick basket doesn't result. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sometimes didn't even move to halfcourt. Neither did Wes Unseld.
I've said this before (and I'm sure I'll say it again) but centers don't finish fast breaks, they start them. Livingston is correct in saying that Z shouldn't be whats holding the Cavaliers fast break back.
Also, having the guards rebound the ball could help:
Numbers like 14.4 points and 3.1 assists seem passable until you realize that Hughes is playing close to 36 minutes a night, and his ability to clean the glass seems to have diminished. Hughes averaged 6.3 rebounds in 38 minutes two years ago, but that mark is down to 3.5 this season. Guards who rebound can't help but start fast breaks, but Hughes' recent decline heads that idea off at the pass.
Having Hughes (and James) crash the boards would do wonders for the Cavs running attack. I know the players want to run, and playing Gibson and Pavlovic will help, but there still will be problems. Gibson is nice and all, but they need a real point guard (from Windhorst's blog):
1. You can't run an up-tempo offense without a good offensive point guard. At least not well. The Cavs don't have one right now. Maybe it'll work for a night or a week, but I not for long periods of time or, um, hello, the playoffs. End of discussion. It may be fun to talk about Sasha Pavlovic at the 3, Andy Varejao at the 5, and LeBron James at the 4. Hey, there's probably valid points and great ideas in there. But the most important piece is missing right now. This is not a slap of Daniel Gibson, I think he's got a great future. Key word there, though, is future.
Windhorst has some more great points:
2. Over the last 29 games, the Cavs have scored 19 fastbreak points or more just twice. The two games LeBron didn't play. I'll bet he doesn't know that.
3. I understand why Larry Hughes is not thrilled with his role and he'd love to have more freedom both offensively and defensively. But I'd have a little more sympathy if he didn't just chuck away from the outside and not pass or rebound much anymore. He's playing mad and it isn't helping. I mean, I know he wants to run, but when he does run he pulls up from 18 feet on a 3-on-2 break. I was defending Hughes earlier this season when fans were getting on him when he was playing through an injury. Well, he tells me he's fine now, so I say where's the real Larry Hughes?
A lot of the Cavaliers' problems are philosophical. Do they have the perfect roster? No. Are the pieces a good fit for LeBron? No, not everyone. But they do need to change the way they think.
Jack McCallum has talked about Mike D'Antoni's philosophy with the Suns and how he had to train them to think to run every time. They were used to pushing the ball off of long misses and turnovers, but not after short rebounds or makes. He had to drill into his guys to push no matter what.
Do the Cavs need to do this? Well... kinda. They don't have the players (point guard/shooters) to play like the Suns. But they do need to change the way that they outlet after rebounds. Often you'll see a big man grab the board, hold the ball and wait for a guard to hand the ball off to. This leads to less turnovers (good thing) but allows the defense to set up and doesn't take advantage of the Cavaliers' athletes (bad thing). Plus, it usually leads to the 'stand and watch James' offense (very bad thing).
I posted a video after the Warriors win that showed Zydrunas throwing a quick outlet pass to Pavlovic after a Golden State miss (third video). Pavlovic didn't score (he was fouled) and it wasn't exactly a flashy play, but that's the kind of thing the Cavs need to drill into their players. Push the ball by passing ahead, grab the rebound and get out running; don't wait for James or Hughes to come back to the ball, throw it up to them. They aren't used to thinking this way and Brown needs to force them (and himself) to push the ball when they can.
The Cavs obviously need to change up their offense; they need more easy baskets for James, be it by fast breaks, running more post plays or simply having James move without the ball. The question is, who knows if Brown can make these changes on the fly?
If the Cavaliers were simply average at free throws, they could expect to have won an extra three games this year—a surprisingly big improvement. That's over five wins over the course of 82 games. An average free throwing Cavaliers squad would be the best team in the Eastern Conference (of course, they're already pretty close). And let's not forget the case of the Cavaliers being the best free throwers in the NBA. If that were true, they'd have the best record in the East by an even bigger margin and third-best in the NBA behind Phoenix and Dallas.
One thing we can say for Drew's free throw shooting is that it has been inconsistent. This year, he's actually shooting it pretty well from the foul line--certainly better than last year.
Really? Drew Gooden? Inconsistent? I don't believe it.
"It's fun to get up and down and throw lobs," James said. "I've caught two lobs [so far] this year, and that's a career low. We need to get into our offense quicker instead of waiting until the shot clock is coming down. We've had zero fast-break points in multiple games, and that's kind of unbelievable with the type of athletes we have."
I can't really disagree with that. The players, like everyone else, don't exactly love this 'offense':
``You can hold a team to 42 percent shooting, but if they make enough offensive plays and we don't, you're going to lose ballgames.
``We don't get easy buckets. I don't get easy buckets like I used to in the past. Easy buckets can always help, it doesn't hurt. At times it's fun to get up and down and throw lobs, I've probably caught two lobs this year, that's a career low.''
Brown has attempted to make changes to help his offense. Four games ago, he inserted rookie Daniel Gibson into the starting lineup and has given chunks of Damon Jones and Eric Snow's minutes to Sasha Pavlovic. While no one is looking for radical change, at this point in the season, some don't think it's enough.
``I still don't think it is time to panic, we need to keep an even keel,'' said Larry Hughes, whose scoring average is also down this season. ``I definitely think we should run more, it suits our team. Somewhat, we're trying. I think that we're a much better running team than we've showed.''
The offense the Cavs run now, which often starts out of a 1-4 set, takes time to develop. It can take a while for plays to be run and 41 percent of the time the Cavs don't take a shot until the final eight seconds of the 24-second shot clock. James feels like it often takes too long to develop plays and that it allows the defense to set up to defend him better.
``I think we do a lot of dribbling, when the time is running down, we can't attack, you have to settle for a jump shot,'' James said. ``For the most part, we want to play a half-court basketball game. I'm not saying it's a negative, because we are at times a good half-court team.''
Alright, here's the thing, sure the offense stinks, but I can't imagine Brown drawing up plays that call for LeBron (or Snow or Hughes) to just stand there and dribble for 10 seconds while no one moves. That's on the players. When LeBron was out the ball moved from side to side and the Cavs ran the offense. Too often James holds the ball and stagnates the offense. I don't know if you can really blame the offense on that.
However, getting James some easy buckets isn't a bad thing. I'm not sure what I make of him knowing his alley-oop stats, but he's right when he says he needs more lobs. It seems every time I turn on Denver highlights I see a 'Melo backdoor alley-oop. The Cavs never run a play like that for James, they rarely run anything that involves James moving without the ball.
I'm not sure if the Cavs becoming a 'running team' is the answer (I know everyone loves the Suns, but go look up their record this season against San Antonio, Dallas and Utah). Do they need to run more? Yes. But what they really need is easier baskets. Of course, this involves LeBron going to the post (I always find a way to bring it back around to post play, don't I?) and actually moving without the ball. James can be just as guilty of the 'statue offense' as the rest of them (but he doesn't have an excuse, the other guys are watching a superstar, he's watching an Larry Hughes).
A big part of this whole thing is LeBron's minutes. When he plays 42 minutes a game, there's no way he's going to be running around picks and fighting down low; he's saving himself, he may not say it, but you can tell he's rationing his energy. If the Cavs want LeBron running and jumping, moving without the ball and crashing the boards (I'd like to see him get 8 boards a game, he's 6-8 and strong like bull) then they should be cutting his minutes (under 40 a game is imperative but you'd like him to be somewhere between 35-38). With Sasha Pavlovic emerging, it should be a little bit easier to find James some rest.
1. Hey everybody, I'm back. I went to Columbus for the weekend for the Super Bowl and other debaucheries.
2. Sorry for not posting for a few days (especially after the games), I hate it when sites I read stop updating for (seemingly) no reason. In the future I'll let you guys know before hand.
3. In my defense, I'm not used to leaving the blog and having people notice (or at least voice their displeasure). It's kinda neat.
4. re: Super Bowl: I thought the Bears were going to win, I didn't see Colts defense playing as well as they did. I figured the Bears D could hold their own with the Colts offense. Guess I'm a moron.
5. Am I the only one that was kinda bored during the game? The Super Bowl is always like New Years Eve. Every New Years Eve I get super hyped cause I'm "gonna party" and I get all psyched out and excited for that night. More often than not I have a relatively harmless evening and I'm bummed out cause it wasn't super-ultra-mega-awesome. Same thing with the Super Bowl, with all the hype that goes on, the game can never live up to expectations. I'm pretty sure I need 25 lead changes, a last second field goal, a tragic halftime explosion and a commercial featuring all 4 Beatles alive and hawking the new Sgt Pepper iPod to feel fulfilled after watching the Super Bowl.
6. However, it couldn't hurt if the Browns played in one every now and then.
7. I wasn't old or aware enough to really feel the pain of the Elway losses. Come on Browns, I need some crushing playoff losses to go along with my baseball and basketball tragedies. All I really have with the Browns is second hand disappointments (the 80s) and disappoint drafts. I need more heartbreak! Come on Savage!
8. This was probably the best commercial. The guy is a douche, but props to making fun of yourself. Dave and Oprah was also good.
9. re:Halftime show: I got no problem with Prince, but it didn't really feel relevant, did it? I mean, I like the guy and he's supremely talented but it was a night of cover songs and suggestive shadows. In their, I'm not sure who the NFL could have that I'd be like, "yes! fucking awesome, well done everyone involved". If the NFL had any young popular(ish) group play halftime, it would just feel forced and it would look like the NFL was trying to be hip.
11. What the hell is the thinking here? That maybe some 13 year old girl will be flipping through, see the Pussycat Dolls and stick around to watch Rasheed Wallace launch threes? ABC sucks.
15. Has anyone heard of Michael Ware? I saw him on CNN this weekend (here's part 1). Really sobering, not exactly a pick-me-up but unbelievably fascinating.
16. Brian Windhorst lived blogged the Detroit-Cleveland game. The poor bastard....
17. His final thoughts:
That's five straight losses on national television and all have been pretty undressing in one way or another. It's no wonder the Cavs don't get much respect, they haven't earned very much. This is another game where the Cavs' flaws were displayed. Today they were simply outclassed, from the superstar on down. They have a lot of work to do and a long way to go. We knew this before, we still know it.
Can't really disagree with that.
18. Windhorst doesn't think Gibson is the answer, at least this year. His problem? Gibson doesn't get enough assists:
Yet his wiring is to look to shoot first, and it shows. In the Cavs' win in Philadelphia on Jan. 26, a game in which Gibson ran the point down the stretch in the comeback, he said after the game that a pivotal moment for him emotionally was when he passed the ball to Larry Hughes, and Hughes passed it back to him.
He said it showed his teammates trusted him. Actually, what it showed is he doesn't like to pass because he's afraid he'll never get the ball back
I think thats a little unfair (I mean, it is good that his teammates give him the ball back, it does show trust) but I see his point. It would also help if the Cavs let Gibson play point alone, not sharing duties with Hughes and LeBron.
19. Speaking of Hughes... from the previous article:
It will probably not happen before this month's trading deadline, but at some point in the foreseeable future, the Cavs probably are going to have to make a major trade because they are not maximizing the potential in their pieces. The way things look, the guy who is most likely to go is Hughes.
Hughes is not happy with his role on the team, and that has become more apparent as this season has dragged on. He hasn't done so publicly, but privately he's been grumbling about the way he's used, and he is upset because it isn't the situation he thought he was signing up for when he left the Washington Wizards.
He'd like to have more freedom offensively and defensively, as he did in Washington.
But the organization can't be thrilled, either. Of course, the injuries are an issue. But in the offseason, the Cavs revamped their offense with an eye toward making Hughes more effective.
It hasn't worked that way. He's averaging his fewest points in four seasons and shooting just 40 percent. He has turned primarily into a jump shooter.
That was understandable when he was coming back from leg injuries, but he has declared himself healthy, and many of the shots look ill-advised. The rest of his stats are down as well.
The Cavs usually play their best when Hughes is playing his best. He has value and importance. But based on his 74 games with the Cavs, including the playoffs, it hasn't been the marriage all had planned.
I would not be shocked to see Hughes dealt in the offseason. Maybe paving the way for
20. Sasha Pavlovic?:
Many fans clamor for more playing time for Sasha Pavlovic, who is in one of his hot streaks, and they wonder why Brown doesn't use him more. The Cavs' coach provided the answer Saturday in retelling a conversation he had with Pavlovic earlier this season. Brown told Pavlovic that he didn't ``respect his game'' and, therefore, didn't play him much. James' recent toe injury provided a chance that Pavlovic is using well, especially on the defensive end. But Brown's feelings mean Pavlovic will still be on a short leash.
Um, can Brown really be going around telling players that he doesn't respect their game? They don't respect his offensive game plan (zing!).21. Could Brown's job be on the line?Yes?
People lay on the court, dressed as portions of hamburgers, while two fans raced each other to fetch fake toppings and condiments during a third-quarter timeout at The Q Sunday. A friend, looking on in puzzlement, asked, "When did the Cavaliers become Single-A baseball?"
He's right. You go to a game at The Q and you are bombarded with stuff. A live band, a break dance team (on the concourse), face painting, sign making, a flaming score board and that bastard Moondog. I've said this before and I'll say it again, have you ever heard anyone talk about the Bulls cheerleaders during the Jordan era? I know you need other things at the arena to keep kids interested and casual fans coming- I get this. But part of me feels like that they're putting the cart before the horse here. Put a good, exciting team on the court and fans are going to come.
With 1:44 left, Cleveland gets the ball, trailing 83-73. The Quicken Loans public address echoes with "Deee-troit turnover," mocking a famous Pistons slogan.
That is dumb as hell. First of all, your team is down 10 with less than two minutes, it's not exactly a good time to mock the other team. This is the same team that beat you off the court in last seasons playoffs. Also, the Pistons killed the Cavs earlier in the season. The Cavalier organization is in no position to be mocking the Pistons. It was embarrassing to see.
25. Livingston (link above) says that the Cavs need a point guard (no shit) and Jamal Mashburn thinks that LeBron should play point forward (no). I'm with Barkley on this, LeBron should be trying to get easy baskets, he's a finisher. He's so big and strong, it doesn't make sense for him to be distributing and getting the ball outside the 3 point line. For the love of God, put him in the post, put him in the pick and roll (setting the pick, the horror!) and let him move without the ball. The offense stalls when he gets the ball (not really surprising) and they need to find ways to get him the ball in better spots, not bringing the ball up.
30. Last week I posted a bunch of videos by The Fratellis. As I listened to more of their music, the more they reminded me of The Coral. The Coral can be a little weirder (or at least not as straight forward rock) but they are awesome. Enjoy:
Thank the lord for the Super Bowl. No one will be talking about this. It's almost as if this game never happened. What? Cavs lost to the Pistons? I think you're mistaken- hey look over there, two black head coaches!
So the Cavs lost to both the Pistons and the Heat? Fantastic. If the Miami game was a brutal wake up call on the differences between LeBron and DWade then the Detroit game showed the differences between a team like the Pistons and the Cavaliers. Good stretch of games...
LeBron played alright. Not great, but not awful. Average. Early on you could tell LeBron was focussed because he took to the ball to the rim and posted up. The Cavs always do stuff like that early on; get to the rim, get Z involved, post up LeBron, etc. But once the second half comes around, they either forget (again, what does Brown say during breaks and timeouts?) or, as the Pistons did, the other team adjusts and the Cavs have no answer.
Free throws? Can free throws be a problem if you don't take them? The Cavs were 6-9. Six outta nine. LeBron alone should get 9 free throws (he was just 2-3) let alone the team. But hey, at least they (and LeBron) shot better than 50%.... right? Little victories?
And the bench. Out of those 9 free throws a whopping 0 (zero!) came from the bench. The only guy on the bench that showed up was Sasha Pavlovic with 12 points and surprisingly solid defense. I know that Sasha is in the middle of one of his good swings right now, but I almost prefer him over Hughes at this point. Speaking of...
Hughes wasn't awful! Are we at the point where we're pointing out good games as opposed to bad ones? Instead of lamenting a bad game like, "man, Hughes was off tonight, only 4 points" Cavs fans are saying, "hey, Hughes wasn't that bad tonight he was 7-13 for 14 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists." Of course, he shot 0 free throws. Zero free throws. From your shooting guard. Fantastic.
Gibson was a non-factor. 2 points and 0 assists. He had a rough time going against Hamilton and Billups (not that Snow or Jones did much either). It was pretty obvious that Gibson was a rookie out there. Of course that's no excuse for the rest of the Cavs (nine free throws!? Come on!).
78 points isn't good, no matter who the point guard is. Sure, at this point I prefer Gibson over Snow, but I'm not sure it's a good thing that he's starting this year. The Cavs really shouldn't be needing to start a second round rookie. I will say I like the offense better when Gibson is out there. Also, around the time I get sick of Snow being out there, Brown pulls him. I like this. I find myself hating Snow less due to his reduced minutes.
Credit where credit is due. I'm not a big Bill Livingston fan but I like this quip:
People lay on the court, dressed as portions of hamburgers, while two fans raced each other to fetch fake toppings and condiments during a third-quarter timeout at The Q Sunday. A friend, looking on in puzzlement, asked, "When did the Cavaliers become Single-A baseball?"
Heh. I will say that the "Deee-troit turn-ov-er" line that the Cavs announcer dropped was completely lame. First of all, the Pistons were winning pretty handily at the time. If you wanna drop something like that, make sure your team is winning. Second, I hate that god damned "Deee-troit Bask-et-ball!!" crap and, while I know that you're mocking it, it's still annoying. It sounds like a tired attempt to be hip. It failed.
Dear Dan Gilbert: focus on getting a point guard and hiring Mark Price to teach free throws THEN worry about mocking the Pistons announcer. Also, Fred McLeod sucks.
What's with the lack of Varejao? Anderson was one of the key players in Cavs second round series against Detroit, so I'm wondering why he only got 13 minutes (only 17 vs Miami and 20 vs Charlotte). Are the Cavs showcasing Gooden? Or just giving Marshall more PT? Either way, I'd have liked to see Varejao out there a bit more.
Detroit is good. That's really the lesson to take away from this game. The Pistons are a better team. Their scoring is balanced, they share the ball and, I don't know if you're heard or not, but they communicate on defense. I still hate them.
and finally...
Tough schedule coming up. Sure, they're at home, but the Cavs are facing the Clippers on Wednesday, Miami again on Friday and next Sunday they're playing Kobe and the Lakers on ABC. Friday's game is also on national television, so it'd be nice to beat Kobe and Shaq... I don't want to say that these are 'must wins' but they've lost to the Suns (twice), the Heat and the Pistons on national TV recently. It'd be nice to beat a good team in front of a national audience.
I'm going to be sick. So the Cavs led for most of the game and even had an 11 point advantage early in the fourth quarter (71-60 with about 10 minute to go). And they lose 92-89. Fantastic. And the sickening part?,Eeveryone knew this was coming. Kenny Smith called it at halftime, I know I felt it during the entire second half. I was just waiting for the Cavs to collapse. And they did.
This team is not mentally tough. The Cavs have a lot of decent players; Z is talented, Hughes is skilled, Gooden has an underrated offensive game and Sasha Pavlovic can play when his head is on straight. But when things go South, no one on this team has the mental fortitude to weather the storm. Z looked out of sorts all night, Gooden committed a bad foul on Wade late in the game, Hughes took terrible shots- oh yeah, LeBron James deferred to his teammates and missed free throws. I hate watching any team break down but I cannot stand watching my team do it (get the picture? The final 10 minutes were brutal).
James vs Wade. Early on in the game, both players were having off nights. James was feeling his way through his toe injury and Wade was turning the ball over at a remarkable pace (he finished with 12 TOs); but the way they finished out the game couldn't have been more different. Wade put his team on his shoulders, drove to the hoop and collected free throws. James took bad jumpers, drove every now and then and missed his freebies. James was just 3-8 from the line while D.Wade was an astounding 23-24.
What is this? The NBA Finals? Ya, I know Wade attacked the hoop all game, but he shot as many free throws as the Cavalier team. Of course, he made 23 of them while the Cavs only made 15.
Time to hire Mark Price. LeBron James officially has a free throw problem. Sure he's never been the greatest free throw shooter in the world but this year is just bad. He's hovering just below 70% for the season and he's shooting just 50% over his last six games. We're all going to have our ideas and solutions, here's my take: his motion isn't fluid enough and he doesn't bend his knees.
The kids are alright. Gibson continues to impress, leading the Cavs in scoring with 19 points on 4-6 three point shooting and 5-6 from the line. He played decent defense, ran the offense and only had 2 turnovers. He also hit a big three late in the fourth quarter- this kid has got huge balls. Snow ain't going to be starting anytime soon. Meanwhile, Sasha Pavlovic (10 points off 4-7 shooting) is forcing Mike Brown to give him more minutes. Right now Sasha seems to have a lot of confidence, which is usually pretty good but pretty soon I'm guessing we'll see him due something stupid. When his confidence grows he tends to try to do too much; he'll give the ball away trying to dribble behind his back or between his legs when he doesn't have to. Historically, that's when Brown takes him out and we don't see him for a week or two (and we start the Pavlovic cycle all over again). Hopefully he doesn't make any dumb turnovers, but if he does, let's hope Brown keeps him in and let's him learn from his mistake.
Either way, Pavs is playing with more confidence than Larry Hughes. Didn't Larry say he wants to run more? That the Cavs weren't a defensive team? They've be more effective if Hughes ran a break without shooting a jumper or causing a charge. Hughes shot 4-11 from the field, didn't get to the line and got abused by Dwyane Wade all night long. Not a great showing. Though, I will say this: Hughes cannot get a call when he takes it to the rim. Maybe he doesn't finish strong enough, maybe refs think he gets pushed too easily and they don't to call weak stuff- I dunno. But there was a couple times I thought Hughes could've gotten a couple free throws for his efforts.
Put James on the low block. James was being guarded by Jason Kapono. Take him to the rim, take him down low, I don't care. Just don't settle for long jumpers or fade aways. It's Jason Kapono for crying out loud! Abuse him!
How bout that defense... Nothing screams 'defensive genius' like your team giving up an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter. It also would've been nice if the Cavs could've executed their offense down the stretch.
and finally...
Charlotte at home tomorrow night. Hopefully the Cavs will abuse the Bobcats like they abused the Warriors. Get the taste of this loss out of their mouthes. For the love of all things holy, don't come out flat and dismiss them. And LeBron, unless I'm mistaken, you still owe Sean May for his stare down from earlier in the season. I would love nothing more than to see James posterize him.
A Troy Smith second round selection would not be a bad thing. If the Browns do draft Smith in the second round, I really hope that they would have selected Joe Thomas in round 1. A Thomas- Smith combo isn't a bad first day.
Now, if they can't get Thomas and "settle" for Adrian Peterson and create a Peterson-Smith combo, well... my feelings will be mixed. On one hand you'll have two sexy picks and you'd create an offense around the following players: Troy Smith, Adrian Peterson, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow Jr and Joe Jurevicius/Josh Cribbs. I can't really complain about that- that's a pretty stacked lineup.
The flip side here is that, once again, the Browns would have neglected the line(s) in favor for skill position players. They need young talent on that line. Plus, it doesn't really matter who's in the backfield if the line doesn't block (lets not forget the fact that a few times last year Frye was tackled while handing the ball off. That's terrible).
