Serious Recap:
Ohio State Lost (And are no longer #1) - I was visibly upset.
Cleveland Browns Lost (In heartbreaking fashion, to the Steelers no less) - I was beside myself.
If Cleveland Cavaliers Lose - Committing Hara Kiri would have been the only option.
Cavaliers- 103
Clippers- 95
Cavaliers with a big win last night over the Clippers, in a game of spurts and rallies.
This was the second of the two big wins for Cleveland yesterday as Chef Michael Symon of Cleveland, Ohio won the title of “The Next Iron Chef” on the Food Network, joining the ranks of Iron Chef’s Cat Cora, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Mosimoto, Mario Batali and Colonel Sanders.
Game Ball: Drew Gooden
And seriously, Drew Gooden.
Drew Gooden played really well and had a double-double by halftime. Z played well enough to cancel Chris Kaman out which was big for us. Lebron wasn’t forcing anything and drove to the basket the whole game. Devin Brown was solid. Cedric “Don’t call me Ceballos” Simmons did a decent job in his limited minutes. Boobie hit his shots but didn’t play many minuted due to foul trouble.
Brace yourself for this.
Larry Hughes played well. He took good shots under control, brought the ball quickly up the court, made some great passes, and proved that he is the best point guard on the team.
As usual, free throws were our Achilles heal and we missed 4 in a row at the end of the game before Damon Jones came up and hit two big free throws an played well overall. If we are Matt though, we’ll just choose to ignore that a couple plays before that, DJones tripped over himself dribbling the ball, fell to the floor and gave the Clippers an easy dunk.
It seems that we split our free throws almost every time we got to the line. It isn’t just Lebron, and this is going to kill us as the season goes on. It’s not good that I (and every fan) only trust Zydrunas and Boobie to make crucial free throws. And we certainly don’t have anyone who we would consider “Automatic” (88% or above).
But, if the Cavaliers win in Denver tonight, most would agree that this is a pretty good start to the season; especially considering our injuries, holdouts, free throws and other shortcomings.
November 12, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Gooden was key early on, but I just give the game ball to somebody who didn’t play a minute in the 4th quarter of a close game.
If it’s not going to Z, I’ll give it to Z, simply for catching fire in the 4th.
Really, it was a great team effort. I give lots of credit to Coach Mike for making all the right decisions.
November 12, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Oh - and win tonight would make it a great start to the season. 4-2 on an early west coast swing with a depleted roster? What will we do against the rest of the league and at home?
November 12, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Even with a loss tonight, a 3-3 road trip has to be seen as a success.
November 12, 2007 at 7:44 pm
No. I disagree.
A 3-3 trip is not a success. I can’t imagine the upper echelon teams (Spurs, Mavs, Suns, etc.) would ever think like this. We have to think 4-2 is good, 3-3 is ok but a dissapointment, and anything less would be uncivilized (bonus points if you remember that reference). Z said yesterday that 3-3 is good, and I cringed hearing it. That to me says that the Cavs are “ok” with losing tonight.
Again, we ARE the Eastern Conf. Champs.
November 12, 2007 at 9:20 pm
We were a 50 win team a year ago by winning 3 out of 4 at home and half of our road games.
To maintain that clip this early, given the adversity presented by injuries, a “new offense” and contract holdouts is a success.
Of course, I was taking issue with you calling 4-2 “pretty good”. To win 2/3rds of our road games on these ever challenging swings given the adversity is unquestionably great, especially when you consider that 2 of the losses were struggles against elite Western Conference teams.
November 12, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Ori, you old Right Guard sumbitch!!!
Considering that most Cavs fans were bracing for an at best 2-6 start, I would be very happy at 4-4. They are still trying to figure out rotations and dealing with injuries.