Posts tagged cleveland cavaliers

Cavs vs. Memphis Live Blog

By on February 24, 2008

The Cavaliers reinforcements have arrived. I thought I would talk about it at least for a while.

  • 6:15 – Starting Lineup – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, LeBron James, Devin Brown, and Delonte West
  • 6:17 – The team is looking awkward so far. Delonte West hasn’t been bringing the ball up consistently yet, and then…
  • 6:18 – Ben Wallace with the steal LeBron on the break, Delonte gets the ball, throws the oop for LeBron on the slam.
  • 6:19 Delonte West might have to become my favorite player with his uniform number choice of 13. I can’t remember the last Cavalier to wear that jersey number.
  • 6:21 – Wally just walked to the scorer’s table to check in.
  • 6:23 – First time out on the floor and the Cavs lead early 18-8 and there isn’t anything to say of note yet other than the defense is playing well. Wallace really does provide an imposing presence in the middle to anybody driving, and Delonte West seems to play defense with a lot of energy.
  • 6:29 – And here come the rest of the traded players. Looks like we are about to get our first look at Wally and Joe Smith off the bench.
  • 6:32 – Uh oh. Here comes Ben Wallace at the free throw line. This will drive my brother crazy, who doesn’t understand why people will not learn to shoot free throws. And Ben Wallace nails two of them.
  • 6:41 – Even with all brand new players, I find Mike Brown’s rotations to be mind-boggling. He has Dwayne Jones on the court along with Wally, Devin Brown, Joe Smith and Damon Jones. That is just weird.
  • 6:45 – Dan Gilbert, owner for the Cavaliers, has just goaded Fred Mcleod, the Cavs TV announcer into a bet where if the Cavs win the championship, McLeod will have to shave a mohawk into his head.
  • 6:51 – SZCerbiak, SZCerbiak… I gotta remember that. I have trouble remembering whether the C or Z goes first. Z before C when it comes to Wally World.
  • 6:52 – Shit. SZCZerbiak. S – Z – C – Z – erbiak… this is worse than Anderson Verajao by a longshot.
  • 6:59 – I know that this game isn’t going to be proof of anything, but it is exciting nonetheless.
  • 7:00 – Dan Gilbert is talking about Orlando’s reaction to the trade and how someone in Orlando said that the Cavs’ trade will help Orlando. Dan Gilbert is openly laughing at that. Dan Gilbert is pretty outspoken, but I haven’t heard him speak this much before.
  • 7:10 – It is half time and the Cavs have a 21 point lead. That doesn’t suck for a debut, anecdotal as it is.

Well, that’s it for me.  I am done with the live blog, but this is a lot of fun.  If nothing else, it changes the ride from last year.  That rocks all by itself.

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    Cavs Starting Lineup Speculation

    By on February 23, 2008

    So, now that the Cavaliers unloaded Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown, Donyell Marshall and others, who will start tomorrow night?

    I am voting for the following:

    C Zydrunas Ilgauskas
    PF Ben Wallace
    SF Lebron James
    SG Wally Sczerbiak
    PG Delonte West

    That’s right.  I want to see THREE new guys in the first game.  This should be exciting.

    What I am really looking forward to is having Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao on the court at the same time, defending and rebounding.

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    LeBron Goes Back to Back Triple Doubles

    By on February 21, 2008

    Not since Magic Johnson (yeah the guy who owns the movie theaters) did it in the 1987-88 NBA season, has anyone had two sets of back-to-back triple double nights in an NBA season.   LeBron finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists last night against the Indiana Pacers in a victory.  On top of that, it was a road game after a home game in back-to-back nights of basketball.  LeBron’s line in Houston the prior night was 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.  Unfortunately for the Cavs, the first of the two games was a sloppy, sloppy loss to Houston at home.

    Regardless, I think it is safe to say who is the clubhouse leader for league MVP at this point.  LeBron leads the league in scoring and has led the biggest group of also-rans the NBA has seen in a long time to relative greatness.  The Cavs are holding on to the fifth playoff spot in the east despite a host of holdouts and injuries.  Add to that some serious trade rumors and it hasn’t been an easy road for the defending Eastern Conference Champions.

    Last night’s victory over the Pacers didn’t come without a price.  Another Cleveland player went down with injury.  This time Daniel Gibson had his legs chopped while Travis Diener was going for a loose ball in the third quarter.  At the time, Gibson was 5-8 from the field (5-5 from three point land) with 15 points in only 19 minutes of work.  The good news is that x-rays were negative, so hopefully Gibson won’t be out too long.

    So, the Cavs are now in a position where the trade deadline has passed.  No more help is coming.  They will have to treat each player returning from injury like an acquisition as they try to find a cohesive, healthy team to finish their run to the playoffs to try and defend their Eastern Conference title.  It won’t be easy.  In fact, it won’t even be probable.  But then again, it wasn’t probable last year when the Cavs went out and beat the Pistons either.

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    Hughes Loses His Mind (For a Night)

    By on February 12, 2008

    Was this what the Cavs thought they were getting when they committed about $13 million per season to Larry Hughes? If so, it doesn’t explain Larry Hughes’ inability to perform at least half as well as he did last night with consistency. In beating the Orlando Magic last night in Orlando, Hughes caught fire for 40 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 12-19 from the field including 4-5 from three point range. He had Cavaliers color commentator (and resident homer*) Austin Carr using a falsetto on the television broadcast to draw his last name out for more than 5 seconds, kind of like “Heeeeyoooooooooooooooze!”

    And Hughes’ performance was needed for the Cavs to beat the Orlando Magic 118 to 111. LeBron made his presence felt again in the fourth quarter by scoring eight straight points for the Cavs when they needed to at least trade baskets with Orlando. But the game isn’t really the story. The way it looked to the people who watch the Cavs night in and night out is the story.

    This game looked totally different than most. Because Larry Hughes brought that level of unconscious scoring, LeBron was able to drive to the hole. Instead of having constant double teams, or in some cases having an entire team’s five defenders cheating toward LeBron’s side of the court, they had to play him with only single and double coverage. This enabled LeBron to use his best attribute, speed, around the corner and explode to the basket. It enabled those eight straight points in the fourth and very well could be the overall reason that the Cavs were able to beat the Magic last night.

    Even more amazing is that this was the second night of a back to back – an away game after a home game no less. Don’t get me wrong here. It isn’t time to start printing tickets to the finals or anything. Hell, it isn’t even time to start those Larry Hughes trade rumors. It was just one night. Knowing the Cavs’ (and Larry Hughes’) luck so far, it probably won’t ever happen again. But still, it is nice to dream Cavs fans, isn’t it? Dream of a two headed, or even one and a half headed monster?

    *Austin Carr may be a complete homer for the Cavs, but he knows it and he doesn’t hide it. It is a well known fact that he started welling up and crying when the Cavs got the number one pick in the draft to get LeBron James.

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    Wait Until Next Year Cavs Fans

    By on February 9, 2008

    I know that in Cleveland people hate to hear the words “wait until next year,” but I need to say them right now. That doesn’t mean wait until next year to compete for a championship. It means wait until next year to see any new faces on this Cavaliers roster. In a short period of time we have seen the Suns move Shawn Marion to bring in Shaq, and we have seen the Lakers move expiring contracts* for Pau Gasol. Where were the Cavs when all this stuff was happening? Sitting at home holding their overused junk. And they might as well get used to the feeling because they are going to have to compete for the rest of the year with exactly what they have right now.

    They just don’t have the maneuverability this season. Larry Hughes makes a lot of money and is generally undesirable with two years (and over $25 million) left on his deal after this season. Damon Jones is undesirable and has another year making more than $4 million after this season. Donyell Marshall is undesirable and will make almost $6 million next year. Eric Snow makes almost $7 million this season and has one more year at the same value next year. Oh yeah, and he is undesirable. Notice a trend here? Lots of dollars after this season and more undesirability than the inventory at a second-hand underwear store. And to be honest, that store probably smells better. But I digress. The only guy who has expiring money this season is Ira Newble and he makes about $3.5 million and is undesirable as well. None of these guys are going anywhere. Why? Because nobody would want any of them for an extra year after this one, and two extra years in Larry Hughes’ case.

    Even with my trade idea for Ron Artest, which included Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and possibly a draft pick if the Cavs needed to put it over the top probably won’t work. Why? Well, first of all, ask yourself why Sacramento would want Drew Gooden. He is a decent player, but is he truly truly desirable? I mean, he is ok, but they did sign Mikki Moore this off-season. They do have Brad Miller, Kenny Thomas and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who is on a reasonable contract of $5.8 million per season. Why, exactly, would Sacramento be jumping at the opportunity to have another big man making over $6 million per year on their roster? Does that make them better? Unfortunately for me and all other Cavs fans, the answer is no. On top of that, just the fact that I mentioned Mikki Moore and Drew Gooden in the same sentence should answer any questions as to why someone wouldn’t care about having Drew Gooden.

    Remember Jiri Welsch?

    Now this doesn’t mean that the Cavs couldn’t do something smaller. I have heard names like Jarett Jack and Luke Ridenour. Those aren’t total impossibilities, but then again the Cavs would be wise to remember the past. I remember a trade a few years back that the Cavs made out of desperation to try to make the playoffs. They traded a first round draft pick to the Boston Celtics for Jiri Welsch. That turned out to be the 2007 draft pick #24 and Jiri Welsch is out of the league for all I can tell. Then again, Danny Ferry did bring in Flip Murray two years ago and he did a nice job of contributing when Larry Hughes was out injured. (Imagine that!) The Cavs need to be careful, though. They don’t want to overpay for someone who isn’t a part of the long-term solution. They don’t want to give up something that would make their current starting five any worse than it already is.By this, I guess I mean they shouldn’t trade three players; Lebron, Z, or Daniel Gibson.

    Wow. That is sad. I can only think of three untradeable players on a roster that is 15 players deep.

    So, Cavs fans, just start rooting for health. The Cavs will need all the players they had last year to be totally healthy come playoff time. At this point given the lack of tradeable pieces on the roster, I wouldn’t expect reinforcements anytime soon. And quite honestly, when you look at it from a totally unbiased perspective, would you trade for any of the pieces that the Cavs have sitting on their roster?

    The honest answer should be no.

    *Yes. I just called Kwame Brown an expiring contract.

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