Last second heave!

Let’s see if I can get this Cavs/Blazers game thread … Nope… posted before tip-off.

Go Cavs!

~~~~~~
First quarter thoughts while down 29-20:

• Where did that hook come from? It looked methodical and planned. Is that something Lebron has been working on? If so, why? I think the subsequent alley-oop worked better.
• Hm, and offense that capitalizes on opponents weaknesses. Imagine that. The Blazers are going at our weak front line by throwing it in to Aldridge with Simmons already in for Gooden. Z now has his first personal and will soon be removed for his usual rest.
• How does a team with Lebron go through scoring droughts?
• We’re obviously shorthanded with both our serviceable bigs on the bench. Shouldn’t Lebron take a minute here to dominate? Nope, he’d rather float 8 feet past the 3 point line until he gets a pass with the shot clock winding down. Right now I hate you, Lebron. You are a stupid, stupid basketball player. Having a high basketball IQ half the time, or at least only using it half the time, disqualifies you from having a high basketball IQ.
• Look how easily he drives and kicks at the end of the quarter! Where was that the last 6 minutes?!?! No wonder we’re down 9!

Halftime! … wait, gotta stare dreamily into Brandon Roy’s eyes during his interview…

• Lebron drives to start the 2nd. He misses, but I give him more credit than any long 3 he makes.
• And Lebron looks for the pass for another open shot. Gee, good things happen when you don’t just stand off on the wing nonchalantly.
• Ok, another drive. This is when I wish I had a feed during commercials. Who was in his ear? Can I give that man a hardy thank you?
• Drives again for the layup! Down 4 and a timeout for Portland. See how easy it is? He doesn’t even get hit. What stops him the other half of the time?
• I smirk a little bit when the TV guys have their conversation interrupted by a TV timeout.
• I still believe – a whole week later! – that Roy would be Lebron’s best sidekick. Dwight Howard is the best young talent, but it would be Lebron improving Dwight. Next to Roy, Lebron is the one whose game expands.
• Great, offensive foul to wake up Lebron, and he hurts himself on the very next play.
• Hughes dunked! Have we lost a game all year where Hughes dunks?
• We’ve looked pretty bad and we’re down 6 on the road at halftime. I’ll take it.

3rd quarter woes:

• Well, the old Hughes is back.
• Why do the broadcasters keep saying we’re going to see Lebron turn into strictly a jumpshooter? Do they want to torture me?
• 2 dunks for Hughes!! No way we lose this game. I’m tempted to chalk it up and turn it off now, because I’m not sure I can take 18 more minutes of Lebron for 3.
• Instead, Lebron looks to pass more. DJ and Boobie are a combined 5-8, so that’s a pretty good idea. Plus this way we can all say he gutted out a triple double on a bad ankle.
• Hey Lebron got to the rim to end a quarter! Yet another sign we’re assured victory.
• Another positive for Lebron: No turnovers in the 3rd.
• Time to watch him turn it on in the 4th. As with every night, Lebron gets either the credit or the blame at the end of this one.

4.9 second update:

• Boobie has gone to the hoop twice tonight, with ugly results.
• Well, Lebron’s driving early. Yet another sign that we are absolutely not losing this game.
• Ah the catalyst 3. The 3 he always takes to turn the tide when we’re down midway through the 4th. Tonight it took 8 minutes, down double digits, but you knew it was coming. And it’s good. So, again, we’re winning.
• The broadcasters are talking about DJ missed a wide open Lebron on his pump fake, side-step 3. If Lebron rolls to the hoop a) he runs through DJ’s line of sight and b) he dunks it. I don’t care how many in a row he’s made, I want him taking the easy basket.
• What’re the odds Lebron takes this?

TOO EASY! Lebron James is the greatest. Put the ball on the floor and go, Bron Bron, and nobody will ever stop you.

Cavs win.

Championship!

Today Lebron guaranteed an NBA championship if the Cavs can acquire Jason Kidd.

That’s enough for me.

Is there any type of package the Cavs could put together that would be enough?

I assume it would have to look something like this:

Cavs trade:
Larry Hughes
Drew Gooden
Shannon Brown
Ira Newble
Cedric Simmons
1st round draft pick

Cavs receive:
Jason Kidd
Jason Collins (and his bad contract)

Would you this? I wouldn’t….until Lebron spoke. Now I feel like we have to do it.

Cavs v. Blazers tonight….should be a good one.

We keep winning….Damn.

Yeah you heard me right….Damn.

I know, I know, It’s crazy to me too. I’m starting to get a bit upset when the Cavs win. It’s almost as if (It’s actually impossible for me to root against them…I was hopping around the house after Lebron hit that jumper in Kobe’s grill yesterday) I want them to lose.

Why in the sweet lord’s name would I, the self-proclaimed greatest Cavs fan of all time, be rooting against my team?!

Because I’ve seen this before. It’s like Groundhogs day and I’m Bill Murray. We did this same last year. Lebron carries us and certain streaky players (Gooden, Hughes, Pavs, etc.) get hot at the right time and we start rattling off a few quality wins against good teams. Then the management, players, and fans are lulled into a false sense of security that our team is really good and that we’re all set. THEN, the trade deadline passes and we do NOTHING because we feel really good about our wins and our chemistry. THEN Larry Hughes remembers that he’s:
1. Not so good
2. Has bones made of pretzel sticks

Luckily for me, Gooden isn’t in on this train yet, but the Cavs did this same thing last year and we got hot and didn’t make a move at the deadline. I know we got to the Finals last year, but that was based on a combination of luck (Washington and NJ in the playoffs), sheer dominance (Lebron v. Pistons) and ultimately led to embarrassment (Swept by San Antonio).

I’m telling you right now…we NEED another significant player, whether it be Mike Bibby, Pau Gasol, Jason Kidd, whoever…we need another guy who can create and score.

You like what Larry Hughes is doing? Good! Trade him now while he is showing a little value to other teams. I’ve seen this guy for a few years now, I’m not impressed! Even when he’s on, he’s nothing special.

(Side: How awesome is it that Matt points out every little flaw (down to a specific shot they took) in the games of Lebron and Boobie Gibson, but trips over himself to compliment Larry Hughes when he looks like a capable NBA player/ not a WNBA player? Note to Matt: Hughes and Lebron make almost the exact same amount of money to play basketball and win games…one guy is producing a little more than the other. Let Lebron shoot his occasional three! Also, thanks for conveniently not pointing out that Lebron was excellent on defense yesterday. If you are going to attack him for shot selection you can at least point out how well he defended Kobe yesterday…especially after your boy Larry got destroyed by Bryant as he just backed him into the lane (from the top of the key) for an uncontested layup in the 2nd quarter)

But I digress…I do love these wins, as long as the Cavs are still urgently seeking to upgrade our roster. If they are becoming copacetic with the current team, we’ll be in trouble again soon.

Damn.

The 1-2 punch

This afternoon one Cavs shot better than 50% on more than 3 shots. One hit 50% from deep. 4 assists was a team high and a lone Cav managed multiple blocked shots.

Was Lebron just doing it all? Was Boobie running the offense? Did Z go crazy?

Or is (Larry Hughes + some confidence – the boos) earning every penny of that 13 million?

In addition to stuffing the box score for the 2nd consecutive game, Larry Hughes has been coming up with big play after big play without the ball in his hands. That’s really becoming a theme to Cavs games.

Of course, Lebron was dominant – 41 points on 50% – but with frustrating flaws in his game, it takes that Robin to his Batman to earn big west coast road wins.

Speaking of Lebron, before Ori comes around tell you all about how great he was, I just want to point out his shot chart from tonight, since every game I get more and more frustrated with his shot selection. Sure, he went 16-32, but how much better would that look without the 1-5 from deep? And with 14 shots at the rim, the excuse of crediting the opposing D goes out the window.

Take a look at those made shots, on the left. King James hit 16 shots from 5 spots on the floor. Yeah, one deep 3. Two two on the line jumpers. One baseline floater. And 12 dunks and layups. Then take a look at that volume on the right. 12 bricks on long, long jumpers, often without any attempt to pressure the offense and force a reaction.

Add it all up: 12-14 when he gets to the rim. 0-2 on twisting floaters in the lane. 1-2 on medium jumpers. 3-14 on his favorite shot.

Look, it was a big win. We played well. Lebron led that charge, playing as well as anybody. But that isn’t what wins championships. And that is exactly what we look at almost every night.

I love the Cavs. I love watching them win. Each game like this is damned fun to watch. But I’m greedy. I want more! I can try to rationalize – he’s doing enough to win; he’s avoiding injury; he’s just streaky. But that’s BS. When have we shown we can consistently impose against quality defenses in tough spots? If this were last June, would have have had 16 shots from the lane, or we would have lost by 10 as Lebron went 10-32?

So Lebron, do it. Attack. Kill. Get to the rim. Demoralize. Set up the team. We have the shooters. You’re not really one of them. You’re bigger, stronger, faster. You don’t need to throw up that awful crap. I’m glad you worked on your jumper, but it still needs more work. And we have plenty of talent around you. No, they aren’t all-stars off creating on their own; they need you. I could take those jumpers. They don’t need me. They need you. Ok?

Good win. Go Cavs.

(PS – Looks like a bad sprain for Varejao. X-rays were negative; MRI tomorrow. Hello Donyell; it’s a pleasure to see you again.)

Cavs/Lakers! Lebron/Kobe! It’s the NBA on LeCavsTV!

The battle of two of the top teams in the league; the battle of two of the top players in the league.

For once, the news in LA isn’t about the latest celebrity DUI.

Discuss.

Go Cavs!

~~~~~~~
Halftime update:
We’re shooting poorly, barely getting to the line and Kobe hasn’t missed.
But wait, thanks to rebounding, we’ve taken 7 and made 1 more shot the Lakers, everybody aside from Kobe is cold, the Lakers really aren’t getting to the line even less and aren’t even hitting when they do. And it all up and it’s a solid 9 point halftime road lead.

I like to see us pushing for easy easier shots, especially when we’re this cold. I don’t feel like we’re falling into the Lakers style, despite them being known as a fast paced team. While they do break and try to keep their rosters stocked with good passers to capitalize on those breaks, a bigger part of their high scoring their half court system, which often works to get quick shots.

I think it’s going to be a lot of Kobe vs Lebron, especially if the Lakers slip further behind while Kobe defers in the 3rd. Should be exciting.

Larry Hughes can’t do it alone!

Larry Hughes was, hands down, our best player tonight. Offensively, he was big picking his spots, forcing the issue, hitting his free throws and crashing the boards. Defensively he was a pest. He read the passing lanes, he snuck in behind; he kept Nash out of the lane pretty well and rotated and contested quickly. He flat out tried to carry the team tonight, and damn near did it.

But Lebron James let him, and us, down. Despite his game high 36, I don’t think anything can convince me otherwise.

We had our foot on the throats of the Suns at halftime, we just needed to put down our weight. Right as Austin Carr commented that the Cavs had the game moving at our pace, saying that we’d have to bend to the Suns will to let them back in, Lebron, with 17 seconds left on the shot clock, put up a fade-sideways 20 footer from near the top of the key. 3 minutes later, after Lebron had missed his third consecutive long jumper, the Suns had recaptured the lead for the first time since the opening minutes.

You’ve heard me talk about Lebron’s inability to get a good shot to close out quarters. Well guess who didn’t have that problem today? Larry Hughes. End of the 3rd quarter with Lebron on the bench with a cut, the ball is in Smooth’s hands. He gets to the rim, draws the foul and sinks the pair. Only bright spot in the 3rd.

Why weren’t there more bright spots? Well, for one, we went stagnant and didn’t even do it while throwing the ball into the big man the Suns admitted they couldn’t guard and moved to trap immediately. Throw it in, look for the double, cut behind it to the hoop, work the Suns D and get the easy baskets. Instead we had Lebron’s
wonderful (read: painful) display.

Again, Lebron, even when he’s bad is good, but don’t be decieved by his 36, 7, and 5 (bonus points for only 1 turnover), Larry Hughes was the man tonight.

Some other notes:

• I liked that we tried to run a play at the end of the first rather than clear out for Lebron. If he hasn’t figured out how to get the rim one on one in that situation, we might as well move the ball while all eyes are on him.
• Speaking of the first, do you remember that fast break where Ira Newble had the ball out ahead and sort of lost it between his legs, sort of passed it to Z trailing for the finger roll? Why didn’t Newble get an assist for that? I mean, it wasn’t pretty, but the ball went from his hand, to his calf, to Z’s hand, to the hoop. I hope Coach Mike gives him the hockey assist.
• I’ll say it: I like DJ’s mohawk. I’m calling everybody who knows it a square. Do people still use that word?
• Can Devin Brown dunk? There was a period in the 2nd with Lebron on the bench where DB was killing them with a hesitation move over and over again, since nobody guarded the lane. When I typed that during the game, I started thinking that Lebron doesn’t use a hesitation much. His man needs to be explosive starting and stopping to keep up, and a move like that would keep them completely off balance, especially when at this point, every defender should sag back and wait to spring at his jumper after the predictable jab step.
• And 2 minutes after I typed that, Devin came down the lane for a dunk, barely cleared the rim, couldn’t squeeze the ball and threw it off the back rim.
• I’ve never paid much attention to Boobie’s arm sleeve before. Has he used it all season? Is there a correlation between his wearing it recently and putting it on the floor more? Here’s my theory: Allen Iverson is a snake. When he sheds his skin, it goes on the black market. Boobie bought it up for top dollar and had Mama Gibson fix it up into a magical sleeve. I know he’s not wearing it to be more like Larry Hughes.
• Speaking of Hughes to end quarters, points to Coach Mike for calling a timeout before the half to draw up a play when he would’ve lost it. Double kudos when that play resulted in Larry hitting a 3.
• Why are the rims mic-ed up to be so loud at the Q?

So my theory on Hughes is that he’s a high IQ player trapped between nature and nurture. He knows all the little things, like reading passing lanes and finding spots for rebounds, but he’s never had to play like that. He’s always been an athlete and a scorer and all his coaches have just focused on that. I’m sure he carried the scoring load in high school and AAU, he was the highest profile players to high the U of St. Louis in a long time, and then he was in some chaotic spots in the pros before finally settling in with the run and gun Wizards.

He comes to the Cavs touted as the scorer we need, gets hurt, plays lousy and gets way too much into his own head. Now recently he’s finally managed to take a step back and use those dormant smarts. He’s starting to embrace his role and play like an all around player for the first time. He still has a long way to maximize this new potential, but with some confidence, the right role and the correct expectations, I think his career is turning the corner into that cliche veteran place where he just does the little things and knows what it takes to win, even if all that has to happen below the rim.

My disappointment in Lebron boils down to 2 plays at the end of the game. First, with about 90 seconds left, he spent an entire possession with the ball in his hands outside the 3 point line, before finally putting up a long 3 at the end of the shot clock.

And if that wasted possession isn’t bad enough, go back and watch the Suns last possession. Watch the ball swing. Watch the Cavs defenders bust ass to rotate. Look at big Z practically dive out at Marion! Then as Marion dribbles in, look at the one lazy Cav half-heartedly stepping out, barely raising an arm, not even jumping to contest a buzzer beater, costing us any chance to win: Lebron James.

One last aside…

Towards the end of the second quarter I started thinking about trash talking. There was one play in particular where Andy got whistled for a clean strip of Stoudemire and immediately complained to the ref. Phoenix seems like an immature team. Stoudemire and Marion particularly, two key parts to their offense and defense, seem very susceptible to psychological attacks.

What would have happened if instead of turning the ref, Andy turned to Amare and said something like, “That was cleaner than my plate after that tasty breakfast your mama made me this morning. You better not bring that soft shit this way again.”

Amare is going to take it personal. If not the first time, then definitely by the 2nd or 3rd. Then watch him try to take over the game. Watch him dominate the ball. Watch the Phoenix offense stagnate. Look at the way the Suns point fingers inward and crumble.

With a team as immature as the Suns, we need to be ready to play that card.

Go Cavs!

Ego trip

Edit: Disregard everything below the curtain. With great power comes great responsibility. It behooves me to use my powers for good, for the Cavs.

First I espouse my appreciation of Caron Butler’s game, and the very next day he mentioned with Lebron on MSN.

I follow up with an article deciding that, rather than Caron, I’d pick Brandon Roy to run alongside Lebron, and now ESPN is having a Brandon Roy love-fest.

I wonder just how far my powers extend.

I hearby declare… hm… Daniel Gibson! to be the greatest human being not named Lebron ever to set foot on any basketball court known to man. Once Boobie comes to recognize and embrace his abilities, the competitive balance of the NBA as we know it will cease to be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acie Law! to be the greatest human being not named Lebron ever to set foot on any basketball court known to man. To pair Lebron with Mr. Law the 4th would end the competitive balance of the NBA as we know it.

Now somebody alert CBS Sportsline. And Acie, you owe me a cut of your next contract.

Halftime!

Huzzah! We’re halfway into 2007-08, so let’s take a minute to give the Cavs and ourselves some props. You can look for some midseason insight around the All-Star break.

• That picture is my laptop and work wallpaper. My girlfriend calls it my “Gay Lebron” picture. Well, if that’s true, Tom Brady’s got nothing on this. And I won’t judge if you come asking for the higher res version.
• We’re 23-18! I’m not looking back at last year for comparisons. I don’t care how “positive” it was; it didn’t end well. But, we’re not far from the pace. More importantly, we’re playing well – better right now than any time last year.
• We’re a 4th seed. Let’s be honest: we’re a 1 seed. It just so happens that the Celtics, Pistons and Magic have a better record right now. For the Magic and perhaps the Pistons, that won’t last.
• LeCavs.com has had over 5,000 visits, 2,300 unique. I don’t know how that stacks up in the grand scheme; I know we’re not Deadspin, Truehoop, or even Yay!, but that blows my mind. 5,000! Go us. And go you! Thanks for visiting. Wait, don’t go. Keep reading.
• Lebron James is good. MVP good. Historically good. Put the team on his shoulders and carry them to the ends of the earth good.
• The rest of the team has been good, too!
• Z is headed towards a career high in double doubles, rebounds, even games played.
• Andy is playing like he deserved 10 per in the first place.
• Boobie is having the kind of sophomore “slump” that makes me wish I was 15 all over again.
• I’ll even say something good about Larry Hughes: Since he got healthy and went back to starting point, the offense has been headed up.
• Damon Jones is rocking my lucky hairdo:

So what’s coming up in the 2nd half?

• Shocker: Lebron will make an all-star appearance.
• We’ll crank out at least another 125 posts. Probably more, once some other teams matter enough to talk about.
• I’m typing this while the Warriors have gone on a sick 22-0 run over the Nets. “And Antoine Wright, who leads the NBA in stepping out of bounds, does it again.” – Marv
• The Cavs are going to pile up the wins. Would you want to play this team right now? Or next week? Or in June??
• We’ll get our 10,000th visitor. Once you tell your friends and they tell their friends and they tell their friends, the WHOLE world will be on LeCavs. Lebron is like heroin, only a lot more addictive.
• Sasha will come back strong. After the last few games building his confidence, he’s going to be Oliver Miller hungry in March.
• And now the Nets are back in front. I love the NBA.

Hey Western Conference Champions!

We’re coming for you!

Go Cavs!

THUMP!!!

Doesn’t that picture say it all? When Larry Hughes is throwing it home, you know things are going right. Tonight Teardrop Hughes celebrated the big 2-9 with 2 big dunks and brought enough cake for everyone.

That thump is the sound of the Wizards hitting the floor as we KILLED them tonight!

Our 36 point victory more than doubled our previous largest margin and avenged an early season, Lebron-less 19 point loss.

39 assists! +24 on the boards! 43-17 in the 3rd, including 26-8 to start the quarter (and effectively finish the game)!

10-10 for Z-illa, who was hitting from everywhere.

Sasha with an aggressive 13, 4 boards and a career high 7 assists in 19 minutes before leaving with (hopefull minor) foot sprain.

Drew, with the games only double-double.

Hughes showing great court vision in addition to those hops.

and of course the King reigned, and was robbed of a triple double by the Wiz’s no show.

Really, the only sad spot was Snow getting stuffed on a 3 ball. There’s always one guy who drinks too much and makes a fool of himself at the party.

We’re up to 4th in the East and gaining on #3 Orlando and division leading Detroit.

I don’t know about you, but I’m damned excited to see 3 of the top 4 seeds out west so we can show them how we do it in Cleveland, in Lebron’s town.

We need a recurring links item

http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=79

Just came across that, just after posting the article about Boobie in the comments of Ori’s post.

I haven’t read through to assess it’s validity. I’ll edit this post once I do. Instead I just searched out Ferry and Paxson’s names on the list at the bottom.

Not surprisingly, Jim Paxson slid in at a mediocre 43 out of 53. Most of the GMs surrounding him have led their teams repeatedly to the lottery.

Contrarily, Danny Ferry has the Cavs precisely where we want to be: In the company of the Sputs, Pistons and Lakers. Keeping in mind that the data leading to these stats begins with the 2001-02 season, we are in the midst of the only 3 GMs to lead their teams to titles. Yes, of course he’s helped by having Lebron, but what successful GM doesn’t have stars? It’s what you put around them that leads to championships and even the numbers back up the notion that Danny Ferry has us headed down that path.