Don’t call it a come back

LeCavs has been slipping lately. It happens when cruises and surgeries get in the way, but enough shenanigans. It’s time to get this ship righted in the time for the playoffs.

I’m back to crank out at least a post each weekday and one for the weekends and Ori is busy carousing with teenaged foreign girls. Everything is as it should be.

I’m starting this post up at halftime, but don’t call it a live blog. This way I can hit that post button and visit Mr. Percocet that much sooner. And if I popped before I posted, I’d write more like a senile drunk again.

The Cavs finished the first half strong. We’ve been powered by Lebron and Z. All is right in the world. The Bulls aren’t very good. The Cavs are moving the ball, forcing the Bulls to play defense and then coming down and contesting every Bulls jumper. If anything, all the Bulls easy shots have been a result of the Cavs being too aggressive. The Bulls get credit for making the extra pass – at least early on. Plus, Larry Hughes is 3-7, so his likely 1-9 second half sets us up nicely.

I love the way that Wally goes into the post when Hinrich ends up on him and I love even more that that is our 4th option. I love how not just Delonte, Lebron and Devin Brown are out running. How about Big Ben throwing the outlet to Delonte then beating everybody down the court for the dunk?

Honestly, it was a damned near perfect half. If there was one thing I’d improve it would be offensive rebounding. But then, if there’s one thing the Cavs don’t need to worry about, it’s offensive rebounding.

While we all get ready for the 2nd half, I’ll leave you with a wonderful line from Brian Windhorst:

–The Bulls are a jump shot team. The Cavs need to keep them off the offensive glass and rotate to contest shots. If they do, they will have an excellent chance to win. Chicago can get hot from the outside but it usually doesn’t last. Which is why Larry Hughes fits in so well.

Back after the game.

~~~~~~

Well I’m a jinx. Hughes has hit his first 3 shots this half… 4… 5 (on a 3). Jeez… 6. This quarter is Hughes vs Lebron like Dominique vs MJ. You know, because at the end of the day, Dominique wasn’t all that good.

Lebron came to score in the 3rd quarter. He hasn’t dominated at all, but he’s just pouring it in. Being on the floor with Delonte and Devin has made his life easier as long as he moves off the ball.

Finally misses one with a minute and a half left in the quarter. The way they’ve shot all quarter, I guess we’re lucky to still be up 8

Z has been crashing the boards hard this quarter, but still the lead is tenuous. As long as we keep it around 6 until Lebron comes back.

In fact, Z is carrying us in the early 4th. As it should be. He’s our 2nd best player, let’s lean on him while Lebron rests.

Reggie Miller: “Do not fall asleep on Ben Gordon. He will rape you. You’ll walk funny for days. I know I did.”

Wow, Noah dunked it THROUGH Wallace’s block. I’ve gotta see a replay of that.

Wow again. Wallace on a great feed from Varejao front rimmed a dunk of his own. I’m not saying he’s washed up, but those 2 plays are the most concise evidence that he’s at least eroded.

The Bulls aren’t missing. It’s tough to lose that way. The Cavs are missing. So far we’ve picked up every offensive rebound to keep the lead.

Until Ben Gordon’s 3 free throws. Damn those stupid fouls.

And now we can’t buy a shot and the rebounds aren’t falling our way. Okay, Lebron, time to take over!

Ok, one possession. Wonder who this play focuses on. With our offensive rebounding, I look to score sooner rather than later. Especially because in crunch time I wouldn’t have any faith in Hughes or Gordon for the game winner, even if they have shot well so far.

Reggie just mentioned our leading the lead in 4th quarter comebacks. This definitely shouldn’t count. We gave away the big lead.

Well, Lebron went for it with enough time that we still have a chance after the layup came up short. It’s amazing how easily Lebron gets a close look in these situations. 90% of the time that goes in.

I guess Hughes is clutch enough. So who shoots the 3? Lebron has shot reasonably well tonight (3-7). Nobody else has taken many. I guess we run the play for Lebron and leave it to him to see who is most open. If I could pick anybody getting a clean look, it’d be Damon Jones, of course.

Well, it was a great play and great decision by Lebron to find Boobie. Boobie just didn’t hit it. This is one of those games that definitely does NOT come down to the final play.

We blew a win and I bet Larry Hughes is loving it. We hit a huge drought, but it was as much our own doing as bad fortune. Sure, the shots stopped falling, but we also stopped attacking. Lebron should never be held to a single point in the 4th – he should at least get to the line enough to score a couple. Instead we accepted our bricked jumpers and kept at them. As I mentioned earlier, the offensive rebounding carried, but as the misses piled up, we couldn’t grab them all.

I should be more pissed about throwing away this one, but the Cavs looked good for long stretches and better to crap the bed now than in 3 weeks. Live and learn.

Go Cavs!

(PS – Look at the pictures and tell me who you think provided the best facial expression. I vote for Ben Gordon, riding the roller coaster he likes to call ballhandling.)

Slow down Cavs!

Seriously, it’s hard enough to keep up with these games every few days when I’m compelled to blog my pretty little heart while feeling drunk at work. These back-to-backs take a toll. Soon I’ll be on the sidelines indefinitely like Ben Wallace, handled with the kiddie gloves because I’m too fragile to finish out the regular season and still be in game shape for the playoffs.

Fortunately, the Cavs took one in Charlotte on cruise control last night. You can always tell when the Cavs are in cruise control because they’re not quite sloppy, but they’re also not exercising Mike Brown’s credo of “slow it down until the other team cries”.

Really, it was a huge positive to see Lebron foul out on the road and see a few of the supporting cast step up to earn the win. Sure, we could never stop the Bobcat machine. And sure there is some karma in store for Lebron’s thundering down the lane for a dunk and then pointing up to Michael Jordan’s owners box as if to say “I’m coming for you”. But the fact is we do have some offensive pieces that can get the job done even without Lebron and it was good to get that reassurance.

Ori will be by sometime to offer up his snapshot view of the game where he turns it on with but 2 minutes remaning and the King riding the pine.

In the meantime, the Cavs get ready for a nationally televised showdown with the Bulls. I bet TNT wishes they could swap out tonight’s slate. Cavs/Bulls and Rockets/Blazers? Yuck! Looks like you and I will be the only ones watching.

Damon "Chuck" Jones

Going into tonight’s game, the questions will be the same as they’ve been for months:

Will Ben Wallace play?
Will Boobie Gibson play?
Will the offense move at all?

At home against the Bobcats, I’m not especially worried.

As I tried to express over the weekend, what I would like to see is some continuity. Early in the season the Cavs had success overcoming injury by plugging the also-rans, such as Ira Newble, into the lineup to maintain rotations and roles.

The Cavs showed in their last game how we can be successful behind a rotation of Delonte, Devin, Boobie, Lebron, Andy, Z, and Joe Smith. Even if Boobie misses tonight, let’s lean on that rotation once again and see what we have. Plug each of those guys in for close to 30 minutes and fill the space with Wally. I’m sorry Sasha and DJ, but with this being the stretch run, we don’t need to concern ourselves with depth, but rather consistency.

If it doesn’t work, maybe go ahead and tinker with DJ running the show for a stretch. Or put in Sasha for a defensive matchup. Figure out where those guys can play the role of LOOGY rather than regular so we can quickly develop some chemistry with what we’re calling the core.

Meanwhile, over The Angry T…
I’m not sure I know what to make of it, but Damon Jones is, mathematically!, the league’s second best chucker, comfortably situated behind JR Smith and far ahead of Keith Bogans. The formula accounts for the pace at which DJ hoists and how often he hoists 3s, and, further, what percentage of his shots are 3s. I take nothing of value from it, but for the fact that DJ is clearly fantastic.

Go Cavs!

Is this it?

Turns out the Cavs are good. Not great. Not blow-out-a-solid-team-playing-any-style-they-want good, but good. Good enough to win in March and good enough to win some more in April.

Since the trade we’ve all sat back and pontificated about what could be, what should be, how versatile, how deep, how able with Lebron and how able without him.

Tonight’s Cavs team says SHUSH! to all that. SHUSH!, like your grandmother would say.

The Cavs have Lebron, so we’re going to win. We have some rebounders, some defenders, some shooters, some ball handlers, some of everything. But since this isn’t The Matrix, even if Mike Brown does look a little bit like Laurence Fishburne, we don’t need to “see” how everything clicks. What’s the line in The Matrix? “When the time comes, you won’t need to dodge bullets.” Way too heady for me. Way too heady for the Cavs.

So the Cavs have Lebron. We know Lebron plays well with Boobie and Z and Andy. We’ve seen that Joe Smith fits in well and that Devin Brown does what needs to get done. Well that’s 6. And a basketball team only needs 5 to run. Before we could pick another to fill out the rotation, Delonte went and picked himself tonight.

So now we have Delonte, Boobie and Devin, all playing “guard”, all handling the ball: driving, shooting and passing.

Then we have the bigs: Z, Andy and Joe Smith all set the picks and either rolled or got ready to pop. It’s what they do. Who are you or I to complicate things?

Add a pinch of salt, some pepper; I’m a fan of paprika. It makes a good sauce. Throw it onto the main dish and it tastes good. Ok, so the Cavs were like an Iron Chef tonight: we took the ingredients that worked, didn’t overcomplicate and make a good meal.

Sasha, maybe you’re wonderful, but your coriander is just too complicated a flavor.

Mike Brown, you’ve outcoached us all.

That’s right, the playoff rotation is set and if my babble is any indication, I love it.

Lebron with 3 generic “guards”, backed up by Wally (or the occasional DJ). Perfect. 3 bigs, plus the occasional Ben Wallace. Dandy. All the rebounding, shot blocking, and big bodied picks we need.

9 men. Lebron. Delonte. Boobie. Devin. Wally. Zydrunas. Joe. Anderson.

They all have first names. They can all take care of the basics. They all play hard. They like each other. They complement each other. They are Cavs. They have 8 more to prepare for that to mean something.

Go Cavs!

Worst Clincher Ever

The Cavs claimed a spot in the NBA Playoffs tonight.

David Stern, watching tonight’s game, denounced the Cavaliers’ effort as a mockery of the game, and insisted that New Jersey’s loss not count in the Cavs’ favor, but he was told it was out of his hands – the Cavs are in.

Now they have 9 games to figure out how to prevent that atrocity from happening again. I’ve seen the Cavs blown out worse, but never with so little hope or opportunity.

Lebron was clearly not on, but even if he was, what could be done? The Pistons packed it in and watched the Cavs inept offense act as offensively as it’s ever been. I heard that after the game, Mike Brown offered an apology to all the mothers who allowed their children to watch the game.

The Cavs were punched in the mouth and simply didn’t have the repetoire to respond. Last year, in a situation like this we could fall back and rely on defense and spacing. But now we have neither. Lebron was swarmed and was never able to convert that into an open shot for a teammate. On the other end, the Cavs were on the heels while the Pistons showed us how an offense with numerous weapons and some chemistry could operate.

It was the worst case in every situation.

We’ll see how we bounce back against a far less physical team tomorrow in Philadelphia. At this point, we need to stave off the Wizards, Raptors, and even those Sixers for home court. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to see the Cavs slide down to 7th (and a quick rematch with the Pistons) if we continue to execute on this level.

The next 3 weeks really are an extended practice session. I’d rather lose all 9 and have a system on both ends, as the 7th seed, than stumble along leaning on Lebron against inferior teams.

Yuck. Nothing more to say.

but … Go Cavs!

Never the same game thrice

I have to assume it’s the bitterness that rises from his core as the memory of being swept in the finals coalesces after consecutive losses.

Or maybe it’s just dumb luck coupled with fortunate scheduling.

Either way, Lebron hasn’t let his Cavs fall three games in a row this year. And tonight in Detroit, he and the Cavs will be tested again. Each game with the Pistons feels like a statement game. That’s just the nature of a rivalry. I imagine the Pistons feel pretty comfortable with their eventual homecourt advantage over the Cavs, as long as the Pistons believe “Game 5″ was a fluke.

So either tonight is the irresistible force of Lebron’s will versus the immovable object of the 29-6 Pistons at home, or it’s just another tune-up for the playoffs.

Playoff level intensity or not, every Cavs fan should be on the edge of his seat waiting to see if the return of Boobie Gibson will settle the Cavs into the championship level consistency we found heading into the playoffs last year.

For the stat comparisons:
Detroit manages to play the slowest ball in the league, at 86.3 possessions per, 2.7 fewer than the 8th slowest Cavs.

They excel offensively and defensively in those limited possessions, scoring 112.7 per 100, 7th in the league, but only allowing 104.9, 4th fewest.

We know the Cavs numbers don’t match up, but this one will still go down to the wire.

Go Cavs!

NBA.com reads LeCavs

Just days after LeCavs tells you that the real heavyweight battle is not Celtics/Suns but rather Cavs/Hornets, which turned out to be an epic duel to the buzzer, NBA.com has swooped in to crown the regular season champs as the Hornets foe in “A Heavyweight Battle”. Hm…

All’s quiet in the King’s Court

… at least until tomorrow, when for the first time since… New Years? the Cavs will take the court at full strength. Or at least in personnel. Ever seen a rusty Boobie?

In the meantime, we’re leaving the ace up our sleeve to the dreamers.

Ace: Truehoop, how you tease…

King: With 126 assists, Lebron could hit the near unattainable season long numbers of 30, 8, and 8. Of course, if he’s dishing 12.6/game, we might also run off all 10 and hit our magic 50 wins. And we’ll still end up in the 4 seed. So really, it doesn’t matter.

Queen: Now, I’ve seen some queens lined up along Santa Monica in my day, and despite all those slow, gangly post moves, Big Z is definitely pretty enough to fit in with them. Since returning from his pre-playoff rest/injury, the big fella is chiming in at just under 18, 10, 2 and 2 on 54% shooting.

Jack: *This spot reserved for Boobie Gibson.* No, the Cavs haven’t gelled since the trade. We also haven’t gotten a flash of this biggun’. I’m willing to attribute all 10 wins in his absence to the trade and all 8 losses to him. Who else clicks with Lebron? And what happens when Lebron clicks? We don’t lose.

Ten: The closest thing we’ve had to reliable the last month, Devin Brown has boosted his numbers across the board, to 10, 4 and 3, on a solid 46%, with some energetic, if not always effective defense. I’m hard pressed, seeing what he’s brought while we’ve needed it most, to pencil him in for much fewer than 20 minutes per.

Workin’ 9 to 5: Everything that’s left fits into a jumble where from game to game somebody is stepping up, a few are going unnoticed and at least one is making us wince.

I’d top the list with Andy and Joe Smith. Together, the should provide all the hustle (Andy) and offense (please god NOT Andy) to give our second unit the best front line in basketball.

DJ has been the steadiest hand off the bench, making sure the Cavs run an offense from time to time. His assist to turnover ratio is a dynamite 7.5 to 1, and while March hasn’t been as hot as February, he is still stroking from deep at a 40% clip. Like Devin, I want to maximize his minutes for what he brings to us offensively, but a backcourt rotation of Boobie, DB, and DJ might not even contain me and Ori. Ori has a wicked floater.

So if those 3 can’t play much together, how do we fit in Sasha, Delonte, and Wally?

Well, Sasha is the key to the defense, being the quickest, strongest and most athletic of all the guards. Headed into the playoffs, we’re not going to suddenly jump start the running game Delonte promised to bring, but he might also be our best hope against some bigger, stronger PGs. Wally, as he has been, gets the leftovers.

And then there’s Big Ben. We still don’t know what he can bring to the table night after night. He’s actually led the charge of awful numbers in back to backs, but as I force myself to harp on, we won’t have any of those come playoff time.

So starting tomorrow we’re 11 deep. Come the playoffs, that’ll probably get trimmed to 9. We have 10 games to figure out who provides our defensive identity. Honestly, my vote for first man out at this point is Delonte. DJ matches up so poorly against other starting PGs, but I’d love to see him go 8 minutes into each half running an offense that isn’t Lebron + 4. After that, I guess I’d cut out Wally.

But then again, I’m in the midst of a Darvocet induced coma… What do you think?

$&#*!

Complain, complain, complain. That’s all I usually do. The Cavs can’t score; the Cavs can’t defend; the Cavs can’t even make a turkey and swiss sandwich without taking most of the night off.
But… It’s getting late, I’m headed under the knife in the morning (closest I’ll ever get to being a ballplayer), and I need to get some more work done, so I’ll keep this brief.

By extolling the positives.

Tonight the Cavs kept it tight against one of the best teams in the league, falling only on a buzzer beater. And it was a well-earned buzzer beater. Sure, David West’s shot was wide open, but that’s only because everybody kept disciplined in their assignments and a great point guard made a great pass.

In fact, we did a pretty good job on Chris Paul all night. After all, if all you get are layups, not even I would go 5-17. Ok, maybe I would go 5-17 – if they were right-handed layups. The reality is that the Cavs played tight D all night, allowing very few easy baskets to one of the (probably THE) best creator in the game.

We blew a few assignments boxing out in the 4th – I think the Hornets pulled down half their offensive boards in the last 6 minuts – but we DID dominate the glass against a team known to have a plus front court in All-star David West and snub Tyson Chandler.

Really, our only defensive fault was a little too much sagging off of Peja in search of a help block. 2 blocks vs. 6-9 from deep… Must’ve been a hiccup in the high basketball IQ.

We even managed to get it done offensively. For most of the night, Z was the focal point of the offense and he was on. My criticism last time we were in this scenario was that Z would never get the shots he should while Lebron would hoist upwards of 20 and make far fewer than half. Not tonight. Z took 5 more shots than the King, while the L-Train did his damage from the line.

We killed the offensive glass, moved the ball and limited our turnovers, en route to coming up one point short of giving the fans some chalupas and overtime.

I won’t get in to why we lost or why we should have won. The Hornets are a great team, with 4 legitimate quality players ranging from the aging Peja to MVP candidate Chris Paul.

If this was a 7 game finals series, I’d like our chances. It could happen.

Next up is the Pistons. The Cavs still haven’t lost 3 in a row with Lebron at the helm, a streak I’d like to keep up through June.

Go Cavs!

Battle of the Heavyweights

Tonight in the NBA there is potential finals preview and everybody is a buzz. That’s right, Phoenix is headed to Boston. Meanwhile, news out of Cleveland is that Joe Tait will be announcing his 3000th game. Huzzah! I wonder who the Cleveland Gladiators are taking on tonight.

In fact, the Cavs/Hornets game is as likely a finals preview as any possible NBA game, as it pits the the leaders of the West against last year champions of the East. What has Boston or Phoenix done for me lately? If you were a betting man, would you really put money on either to go all the way? No, you wouldn’t. And if you would, please get in touch with me.

The Cavs statistical numbers are very much as the same as ever: 89.1 possessions per game, 23rd “fastest” in the league, 107.8 points per 100 possiessions, 17th, and 108.2 points allowed per 100, 12th.

The Hornets operate in a similar manner, but more efficiently. They keep it slow, because in the end, Chris Paul can beat you: 88.2 possessions, 27th in the league. The score with an underrated big man and shooter (right now, would you rather have Wally or Peja?): 113 PP100, 6th. And they defend, with Tyson Chandler patrolling the paint: 106.6 PAP100, 5th. But they’re also coming off a tight game in Indy last night. However, unlike the Cavs, they’re 7-3 on the back end, on the road. (Only the Cavs and lousy teams make that excuse. We’re not lousy, we just play possum. And I’ve never seen a Celtic, Piston or Laker kill a possum. Suckers.)

Go Cavs!