Posts Tagged ‘Cleveland’

Guilty Pleasures

As I sat anxiously watching “The Decision” I could not control my giddiness. Everything leading up to his decision had me believing that he was jumping ship and I could not be happier. It’s not because Cleveland actually had a good, check that GREAT team…that’s right folks, that’s a Yinzer complimenting a Cleveland sports team…but rather it’s because I enjoy seeing die-hard Cleveland sports fans suffer. Yeah I know thats wrong. Probably kind of sick too, but it’s the truth. Their hopes get built up so much for the Browns and the Indians but each year they fall flat on their faces. However the Cavs were legit. But now they’re unlegit. Again.

It’s hard to say James made the wrong decision because he’s playing with Wade, and Bosh. Miami fans don’t come close to Cleveland fans. Cleveland fans are some of the most loyal fans ever. Cheering for pathetic teams isn’t easy to do…trust me, I find myself questioning why I continue to chee for the Pirates, but then I remember it’s because I love that team. And Clevelanders love their teams. No fault there. But seriously, why get all upset. In seven years, how many championships has James gotten you all? Zero. How many finals did he lead you to? One and they got swept.

Now are you a better team without him. HELL NO. Not even close. Actually, the Cavs are now one of the worst teams in the league if you ask me, but cut the guy some slack. Except for the last few games in this postseason, this guy carried you. He led what was otherwise a collaberation of run-of-the-mill players to the best record in basketball. Here’s something you all should do. Learn from Pittsburgh. When Sergei Gonchar signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators this offseason, the city didn’t go up in arms, instead they thanked him for his time and service to the team and community. Granted Gonchar was a key contributor to their Stanley Cup championship, but when he comes back to Pittsburgh, I promise you he will get a standing ovation. Please do the same with James.

These super-freakish athletes are humans too. They need to lookout for themselves. James tried for seven years and couldn’t get it done. Now nothing is for sure, but I think he has earned the right to go to South Beach to try and win a championship. If nothing else, James can’t be called greedy or that he is in it just for the money. Instead he wants to win. He tried and Cleveland, but now will try in Miami.

Yeah, I’m happy he left. I feel bad to an extent for Cleveland, but at the same time, deep down I’m smiling. Guilty pleasure.

Breaking Down Cavs Rumors (with a side of ranting)….

The NBA season isn’t even over yet, but rumors about the Cavs change 30 times every day. It’s astounding the rumor mongering that is going on before the offseason even starts. The funny thing is, as important as the off season is to free agents *cough*LeBron*cough*, the rumors about him are fading fast while the rumors about the Cavs are spreading like wildfire.

By now, everything has kind of settled with LeBron. It’s going to be either Cleveland, Chicago, New York, or on the off chance David Geffen pries the Clippers from Sterling’s should-be cold, dead hands, the LA Clips. He’s already done Larry King. Everybody from his AAU coaches to his girlfriend’s mother’s hairdresser’s aunt has tried to leak some ‘inside information’ on what he’s planning, but it all boils down to the fact that nobody really knows yet. There’s been so many attempts at discussing LeBron that he’s just not newsworthy anymore. It’s going to happen after July 1 and any attempt to sway him one way or another; any attempt to leak where he’s going….its all pointless.

So, let’s focus on the one sure thing about the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers- with or without LeBron, the team will still exist. It probably won’t look like this years team, even if LBJ signs.

First, we’ve got the front office shake ups. Mike Brown fired and Danny Ferry resigns. Honestly, everyone knew Mike Brown was out. 5 years, numerous all-stars, the current greatest player in the game (debatable), yet only ONE Finals appearance? That just doesn’t fly, no matter who you are.

Now, I don’t think MiBro was a bad coach. Quite the contrary. I think he was a stellar coach without that drive to win the big one. Just like everyone blames LeBron for lacking the passion, the killer instinct needed to push it one more gear to win that trophy, Mike Brown was missing it as well. He was too passive with his players. He was too busy being friendly with them than getting in their faces to get them motivated. When he finally would do that, it would come off wrong. He just doesn’t have the intangibles yet to make a great NBA coach.

I think he should look into a college job before coming back to the NBA. I think he could be a great college coach, especially in a defense-oriented league like the Big Ten. His personality, youth, and coaching style would perfectly fit a college program.

Now…Danny Ferry…he’s got the misfortune of being a Duke product. Anything from Duke when it comes to basketball will fail terribly at some point or another. It’s science, really.

Ferry is the most to blame. Everyone heaps it on Mike Brown, LeBron, etc….everybody forgets Ferry and 2005. It was a huge free agent summer. Here are just some of the names you know these days that were available in 2005- Ray Allen, Chris ‘the Birdman’ Andersen, Raja Bell, Matt Bonner, Tyson Chandler, Austin Croshere, Samuel Dalembert, Chris Duhon, Udonis Haslem, Grant Hill, Robert Horry, Marko Jaric, Joe Johnson, Jason Kapono, Cuttino Mobley, Shaq, Gary Payton, Vlad Radmanovic, Michael Redd, Jalen Rose, Stromile Swift, Bonzi Wells……that’s just some of them.

Who did we pick up? Who did Danny Ferry decide to nab? Larry Hughes. The same Larry Hughes who has had four seasons with a 3pt percentage under 20%! The same Larry Hughes who had his best FG percentage in 2002! The same Larry Hughes who had ONE healthy season, back in 2001 with Golden State.

Who did Danny Ferry NOT ONCE make a phone call to?

The one and only Jesus Shuttlesworth, Ray Allen.

I mean….really? You’ve got one of the best, pure shooters in the game who is a free agent and you don’t give him a call? By that point, Ray was a 4-time All Star, 3rd team NBA, held the record for most 3s made in a half, AND had the most consecutive games played (400) for Milwaukee.

Yet he didn’t even garner a phone call.

That, boys and girls, in a nut shell, is the single biggest reason the Cleveland Cavaliers do not have an NBA Championship under their belt. Picking Larry Hughes over Ray Allen in 2005.

This is something that irks me….so I’ll end the analysis there before I get heated.

Moving on to other rumors…

Tom Izzo. Love this move. I think its great. Izzo is a stellar, take no crap coach. He’s the polar opposite of Mike Brown. His players love him because he forces them to respect him. This is the type of coach a superstar like LeBron needs. Not one who’s main soundbyte is ‘I’m glad LeBron lets me coach him’. You need a coach who will do just that, coach, and not be a constant ennabler. I really hope we can pull this coup off. Izzo is one of the all-time great college coaches and I think that could easily relay into a great professional coach. He already runs a pro-set offense with MSU as is, so the translation in game between college to pro won’t be as tough.

Trade Bait! The Cavs are shopping Mo and Delonte to see what they can get out of them. With Delonte, you really can’t go wrong. The Cavs would be effectively selling high after they bought low with him. They brought him in as a deep benchwarmer and have turned him into a starter on most any NBA team….barring of course his mental state that day. I love Delonte. I think he’s hilarious. But if we’re gonna be contenders, one of our main guards can’t be a guy where everyday we have to wake up and hope he’s not gonna be carrying his shotgun in a guitar case on a trike because somebody didn’t get him his donuts.

As for Mo…well…I’m really torn. I like Mo. He’s a great guy and a great regular season player. He hasn’t really been a playoff contributor. That could be attributed to fatigue, maybe nerves, I don’t know. This year, he had two stellar playoff games- one against Chicago and one against Boston, but otherwise has been suspect. He’s been a great addition to the Cavs but my fear is that he has reached his ceiling.

There has been rumors of overtures to Toronto about Mo, which made me a bit giddy. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I really think those overtures concerned a sign-and-trade for Bosh. Most rumor reports that I could find mentioned those two for Calderon and others….but I think there would have to be more to it.

If you could package Mo, Delonte, JJ, and Shaq to Toronto for Bosh and Hedo, would you pull the trigger?

I would, in a heartbeat. Hedo hates Toronto and Bosh wants to play with a superstar. With this trade, the Cavs can wipe about 30-40mil off their books. Toronto uses Shaq as cap relief and they get talent for the already-departing Bosh.

This would also give the Cavs Bird rights on Bosh, which allows the Cavs to offer the max contract to both Bosh and LeBron without affecting the year’s salary cap.

Jesus Shuttlesworth is also a free agent this season. Just sayin….Allen, Hedo, LeBron, Jamison, Bosh starting five? Game over. Absolutely game over. Pack the season in and gift wrap the trophy, because it’d be coming to Cleveland.

Even if they didn’t pick Allen up….Boobie can be a starter. You’ve also got Bassy Telfair who just picked up his player option for another year. There’s also some young FAs out there you could probably pick up like JJ Barea or TJ Ford.

In the end, there’s a lot of What Ifs for the Cavs in the coming weeks. Its exciting. Even if LeBron does leave, Dan Gilbert has shown Cleveland he will do what he needs to make us contenders and bring us championships, which is what we need in an owner. Dolan would be run out of town on a pike if fans could get a hold of him and Lerner has finally gotten the hint that we wouldn’t stand for him to focus on Aston Villa…a freakin English Premier League soccer club over our Browns.

So, over the next couple weeks, keep an eye out for more and more Cavs news, because I’m positive it will keep mounting.

Let’s get ready for a good 2010-2011 season, All Together! (which, by the way…one of the worst playoff themes ever…)

Nightmare on Huron Rd., Part 2.

Its 1:30 in the morning as I write this and sleep just doesn’t sound like a viable option right now.

I think I’m in a nightmare as is.

As a Cleveland sports fan since as long as I can remember, you become indoctrinated to heartbreak. You’re used to it. Its just part of being a Clevelander. With the Cavs in the playoffs the past five years, the video montages come prepackaged and ready to roll every single year.

Red Right 88.

The Fumble.

The Shot.

The Drive.

The Blown Save.

But what about tonight. The Emasculation? The Evisceration?

Tonight wasn’t much about heartbreak. Heartbreak indicated losing a close matchup where you honestly thought your team could win, only to be severely let down. This loss was never in question by the end of the second quarter. You saw no fire, no desire, no passion in the eyes of the Cavs. You had LeBron going up to shoot, outthinking himself, then passing it off and looking immensely awkward. You had Anthony Parker flubbing pass after open pass. You had your best guard playing only 9 minutes of the game and contributing absolutely nothing. You had your coach, a ‘defensive mastermind’ choosing to quickly sub players in the 4th quarter for quick fouls, a strategy saved for the final two minutes of a close game…..not with 4 minutes left in an unholy blowout.

I can’t figure out LeBron. I’m not sure anyone can. Here’s a guy who refuses to shake hands with the Magic because he was fuming that his team couldn’t pull off the win. He then speaks about it and promises to use it to fuel him throughout the coming season. Well, the 2009-2010 season isn’t over until the end of the Finals. All roads from Cleveland/Boston lead to Orlando. The team that enraged him.

So what does he do? Does he elevate himself to aggravated superstar playing with a chip on his shoulder…..you know, that thing that superstars do to play the game at a higher level than everyone else….like Jordan, Kobe, Bird, Magic, Isaiah…

Nope. He plays ONE great game, and four complacent games. His body language just screams that he’s given up. If it’s his elbow injury, then there’s more we aren’t being told.

I just don’t know what else it could be.

Either way….here’s some mental notes from the game:
Mike Brown needs to go. The guy is a non-entity. Retain him as defensive coach or just be rid of him. The guy is likable, but the point of a coach is not to be likable. It is to make his players work harder, to be smarter than them, to show them the path to a championship.

The only guys in the game who showed any passion or desire, even if it was the briefest flicker- Shaq, Antawn, Mo, Z. For 3 of those 4, this could be their last legitimate shot at a championship. For one, he’s been pegged as a playoff dud and, try as he might, only one game out of quite a few prove otherwise.

Boston is just proving to be the luckier team. Better calls. Bench players randomly catching fire (‘Sheed, Tony Allen, Big Baby).

The Cavaliers forgot how to rebound. They just stood there, or immediately began the run back. You know what wins games? Second chance points. Offensive rebounds. Resetting the offense. Thats what makes Z such an invaluable center. He may be plodding, he may be older, but I’ll be damned if he doesn’t scrap and give us 8-10pts per game on tip drill alone. Shaq doesn’t do that. Varejao was kind of catching on during the season but gave that up for playoffs. Hickson has been too terrible to make any judgments.

They just don’t want it. As fans, we often get accused of lumping ourselves in with the team to become a collective we. Not tonight. The city of Cleveland, the fans of the Cavaliers; we want this. We want this bad. We need a championship. We are a dying city that everybody likes to joked about and beat up whenever they can. We want that one shining moment to prove everyone wrong.

I just don’t think the Cavaliers players recognize that. They talk about it, sure, but do they really understand? When the game ends, they put on all their bling, go out and have a great meal, get some sleep in their plush houses/condos/apartments, and attempt to brush it off the next day.

For some fans, the Cavs are the only bright spot in their life. Watching the Cavs win makes their week better.

Cleveland as a city has been losing for years. We don’t hide that fact. We admit that we just can’t catch a break. The Cavs are supposed to be that break. But instead of helping, they’re just breaking us even more.

How much more loss can we take?

As we look toward Game 6, I don’t know what to say. I want the Cavs to pull it out. I wholeheartedly think they can.

But you won’t catch me saying that out loud. I also thought the Indians were World Series champions in 1997.

And that the Cavs were NBA Champions last year.
And that the second and third Matrix films would be the greatest films ever.
And that Han Solo shot first.
And that Luke Jackson, Jason Kapono, and Wally Szczerbiak would be great additions to the Cavs.

As you can see, I’m often wrong when I speak. So this time, I’m keeping my mouth shut.

Surprisingly Not Surprising

Game 5 last night between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers seemed to go the way that I expected. No, I’m not a fortune teller and I was not expecting the blowout of 32 points that the Celtics manage to put up, but in this series it seems that the road teams have played better than the home teams.

Look at game 3 in Boston when LeBron James scored 20 points in the first quarter alone. Game 3 is also where the Cavaliers gave Boston their worst home loss in playoff history, which is saying something with all the history the Boston Celtics have. Now here’s game 5 with the Celtics returning the favor, handing the Cavs their worst home loss in playoff history.

If you look at all the games in Cleveland, though, you can’t be surprised at  how poorly the Cavs have looked  against the Celtics. The Celtics have now won two games on the road in the series, when before this year the Celtics and Cavaliers couldn’t win on each others’  floor. One thing I’ve noticed from watching all of the games is that on the road the Celtics have dominated all but three quarters in this series, those being the first quarter of game 5 and the 2nd half of game 1.

However,  this game surprised me at how passive James looked. With the media eating up Rajon Rondo after he had an unrealistically spectacular game,  people were saying that perhaps James should guard Rondo, since no one else on the team seemed to be able to do it effectively. During game five, James was standing around outside the key at points in the game and couldn’t help his team secure a rebound or even create mayhem in the paint. He looked tired, almost worn out, which is surprising to see.

That should worry Cavs fan..a lot. It seems in this series that every player not named LeBron James is just waiting for James to be that superman that he was in ’07, taking the Cavaliers to the finals with virtually no help. No other player on this Cavalier team has stepped up at all.  Antwan Jamison, for whom they traded in midseason, has really done very little throughout the series, perhaps even the entire playoffs. Shaquille O’Neil, who’s main mission was the win a ring for the king, has looked more like a jester out on the floor, not contributing the way he has for Kobe Byrant or Dwayne Wade.

This point was brought up on ESPN by Tim Legler, which made me think, and should have Cavs fan ask themselves: Could we label LeBron James right now as a player who is great in the regular season, but crumbles with the playoff pressure? Look at some of the greatest players that don’t have ring and have crumbled in the finals. Players like Dan Marino, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Barkley never won a ring and failed multiple times in the playoffs. James has been in the playoffs a few times now, even made it to the finals once. Yet he still has no ring,  and he’s the best player in the game. Sadly, at this point we may have to put him in the class of Alex Rodriguez and Peyton Manning, but then again, they each finally acquired one championship ring, James hasn’t.

So as Thursday arrives Cavs fan have to wonder if we have  just witnessed  the last game James plays for the Cavaliers.  Who knows?  Honestly I don’t see James leaving unless Dwayne Wade stays in Miami, which I don’t think he will. But it brings up a point where Cleveland fans have to wonder, with this team being the only team that could make a run for a title, that without their home-grown star will this city be stuck with  a continued championship drought for many more years to come? I can’t really make a  prediction on that, stranger things have happened. I don’t know what to expect for the rest of the series, since it  has been showing surprising numbers throughout with players and teams. Surprisingly, though,  it looks like the Celtics have done what expert and fans didn’t think they could do. Win.

If LeBron Leaves, He Only Has Himself to Blame

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their biggest playoff loss ever on Tuesday night.  Granted, it is a small playoff history, but still.  It’s a rough loss for a franchise that entered the game hearing every sports analyst mention that it could be The Akron Hammer’s last in the wine and gold.

But if LeBron James were to leave Cleveland for another team this summer, he only has himself to blame for not winning a championship for the hometown fans.

Looking at the numbers from the series so far:  In games Cleveland won, LeBron was at least 50% from the field.  In losses, less than 50%.  If he has hit from outside the arc, it’s a victory, but if he can’t, then it’s a loss.  In fact, in Game 5, LeBron scored more points from the charity stripe than from the field.

Simply put, it would seem that for the Cavs to win a game this series, they need at least 30 points from #23.  However, he struggled to put half that on the board.

LeBron couldn’t win a title because he didn’t have a supporting cast.  So the Cavs went out and got them.  LeBron needed a big man.  So the Cavs brought in Shaq.  LeBron hurt his elbow.  However, he keeps telling the media that it’s a non-issue.  So who’s left to blame for poor performance?  Who is to blame for the Cavs post-season break-down?

LeBron James

I hate saying that, since LeBron is Akron’s son…possibly the biggest man in Akron since Goodyear made it the Rubber City.  But if he decides that he needs to go elsewhere to play basketball, he can’t say that the Cavaliers didn’t try.  That team did everything they could to separate itself from the 90′s catastrophe that moved from Richfield Coliseum into the Gund Arena.  They got a new owner, a new name for the arena, renovated the arena, and actually pumped money into a cast of supporting players.  His pick was destiny, since the lottery is, well, a toss-up, and Cleveland somehow landed the #1 pick.

This was his time to shine.  The games are supposed to be on his shoulders.  But he can’t seem to deliver this year.  And if he leaves, that’s his choice, but he should not blame Cleveland.  He should blame himself.