Cavs 07-08 Season Thread

[osugrad21]

ABJ

McManamon's deep thoughts, heading into Cavs Game 2 Published on Monday, Apr 21, 2008

1) Washington writers pretty much summed up the way the Cavs are viewed nationally. A Washington Post column on Sunday stated: ''You do have to wonder when and if the Wizards are going to realize they have more weapons, more depth and too much talent to let one great player and a smattering of very marginal role players ruin Washington's postseason for the third year in a row.'' Now THAT is disrespect.
2) Then there's this from a Washington Times columnist, who called for James to be suspended for his elbow to the jaw of Andray Blatche: ''This is James, the schoolyard bully who sometimes exhibits little class. It is as if he cannot let his wondrous talent tell his story. He has to add a strut, a glare and an elbow or three.'' Truth be told, I'd not be surprised if James is fined for that elbow. It was pretty blatant.



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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao endures up-and-down season

Many factors make for a roller-coaster season for Varejao
Monday, April 21, 2008

Story by Jodie Valade Plain Dealer Reporter
When Anderson Varejao's late-game, decision-making skills still were be ing questioned after last season, he was walking the halls of the Cleveland Clinic with his father to help speed Sebastiao Varejao's recovery from heart surgery.

When Varejao was being vilified as a money-hungry malcontent in his free-agency summer, he was helping nurse his mother, Nely, back from her own heart surgery back in his hometown in Brazil.
And when Varejao and Cavs fans finally had put all the hard feelings behind them and he was averaging career-best statistics in every category, his left ankle gave out and forced him to miss 13 regular-sea son games.
Still, according to the Cavaliers' energetic spark plug, this season of ups and plenty of downs - a roller- coaster ride mirrored in Satur day's Game 1 victory over Washington - has not been diffi cult.
"Different," Varejao said. "Just differ ent."
At times this sea son, much like in Game 1 against Washington, Varejao has dominated defensively and on the boards, performing his best maneuver as the Cavs' designated pest. And at other times, again like against the Wizards, he is frustratingly inconsistent, attempting swooping layups or 15-foot jumpers and vanishing from the defensive role the Cavaliers desperately desire.




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[osugrad21]

Plain Dealer columnist Bud Shaw analyzes the play of Cleveland Cavaliers' Ben Wallace


Monday, April 21, 2008Bud Shaw
Plain Dealer Columnist
Ben Wallace let his hair out, not down.
He looked like his old self, all the way up until the tipoff.
"It was fun seeing Ben bring out his haircut again," Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said Sunday.

It's supposed to be something else, too: intimidating, even scary, at the very least a reminder that Wallace -- not as it's turned out Delonte West -- was thought to be the defining piece in Danny Ferry's Big Adventure at the trade deadline.
With Wallace stuck to the bench in the fourth quarter, Wizards power forward Antawn Jamison (23 points, 19 rebounds) apparently missed that point. He also missed some wide-open 3s -- not all on Wallace's watch -- that nobody expects him to clang again in the series.
"Any matchup is a tough matchup in the playoffs," a terse Wallace said after the Cavaliers' workout.
Granted, Jamison isn't an easy one. Wallace is best as a help defender, springing his hair-enhanced self on penetrations into the lane.


CPD

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James expects hard fouls


Monday, April 21, 2008Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
The series between the Cavaliers and the Wizards began with plenty of trash talking, and that spilled onto the court in Game 1 with hard fouls, especially on LeBron James.
James was knocked down on several occasions, and he went to the line 14 times. James expects more of the same tonight.
"I have to be smart about things and go out and play my aggressive game," James said. "I don't have a problem on getting hit. If that's their game plan, I have to be able to get back up and continue to let my game speak. I've been in the top five in the league in and-ones. They don't want to give that up."

So many times before, especially during the past two years in the postseason against the Wizards, James has gone through the teeth of the Wizards' defense untouched. For most of the first half, the Wizards greeted James with hard fouls on his attempts to go inside. Despite one particular foul when James was hit in the face by Andray Blatche, the fouls on James were simply hard fouls.
"I don't think they did anything intentionally, and I'm not going to retaliate intentionally," James said. "No one's coming out to try to hurt me. They do want to commit hard fouls, but I have to protect myself."




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[osugrad21]

Canton

Beat-up LeBron will stand his ground
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]James, Brown

crying 'foul!'[/FONT]
Monday, April 21, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

With each pound of his fist on the table, Mike Brown made his point loud and clear Saturday. His All-Star forward, LeBron James, "is getting clobbered," and the Cavs coach is tired of it.

The side of Brown's hand thundered off the table to put extra emphasis in the words ? "boom, boom, boom" ? he used to describe some of the hits James absorbed Saturday in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series with the Wizards.

The Cavs won, 93-86, but it's clear Brown wants James to get more protection from officials in tonight's Game 2, which tips at 7 at Quicken Loans Arena.

"LeBron is so strong, quick and athletic, that when he drives, he gets hit all the time," Brown said after Sunday's practice. "And teams like Washington have come out and said, 'We're fouling him when he gets in the paint.' So that's something you'd hope the officials take a look at; when he drives the basketball, they've already said, they're fouling him.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Cavaliers Notebook: In passing, LeBron lobs out praise for assists on dunks
Monday, April 21, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

If someone throws LeBron James a pass near the rim, the Cavs All-Star is confident he can get it and dunk it.

Daniel Gibson tested that theory Saturday. A day later, James was still laughing about his big dunk off an alley-oop pass from Gibson that was nearly too far from the rim in Game 1.

"I think he really took it seriously when I told him just throw it anywhere and I'll go get it," James said after Sunday's practice. "I had to really go get it."

Gibson and James hooked up for a dunk late in the first half that sparked a Cavs comeback from an 11-point deficit in their 93-86 win. James called the play "electrifying" for the players and fans.

"What better play to catch momentum ... than an alley-oop or a dunk," James said. "That definitely set the stage for the rest of the game."

James, though, had to reach way back with his right hand, several feet from the rim, to snare the pass before slamming it down. "He always does things like that," Gibson said, making the play sound routine.

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[osugrad21]

Canton

Sports spotlight: James to Wizards: hit me with your best shot
Sunday, April 20, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

CLEVELAND King James isn't Don King, but LeBron James promoted the best bout the NBA has to offer this playoff season. LeBron and his 6-foot-8, 250-pound body against everything the Washington Wizards can hit him with, from their words to their forearms. They may want to bring billy clubs to Monday's Game 2.

Saturday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena, LeBron watched his blood drip on the pristine floor. He pulled his bruised body off the mat, popped up and basically asked them to hit him harder.

James did his best to shut up DeShawn Stevenson. The King outscored the Jester32-3. Stevenson neither scored, nor kept LeBron from the basket, especially late in Cleveland's 93-86 win.

Washington clearly is trying to mess with James' mind or bruise it. After losing seven straight to Cleveland in the postseason, Head Coach Eddie Jordan might want to grasp at those straws.


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[osugrad21]

Canton

Cavs playoffs notebook: Cavs don't back down to Wizards
Sunday, April 20, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

CLEVELAND Go ahead, talk ill of the Cavaliers and try to push them around. Just be prepared for them to take a stand, which they did when push came to shove late in the first half of their Game 1 win Saturday over the Wizards, 93-86.

LeBron James, already the recipient of several hard fouls, didn't care for Brendan Haywood standing over him after the Washington 7-footer knocked down the Cavs superstar with an illegal screen.

James considered Haywood's actions "disrespectful," and pushed the center aside in an effort to stand up. Once on his feet, James got right in the face of Haywood. That brought in the calvary from all sides.

Washington's Antawn Jamison charged at James. Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace came running in to defend James. Officials and coaches kept it from getting out of hand, and everyone relaxed soon after technicals were assessed to Haywood, Jamison and James.

Considering this is the third straight playoff meeting for the two teams and the amount of talk before the series, the little fracas wasn't surprising.

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[osugrad21]

ABJ

CAVS BARREL OVER WIZARDS Potential of big trade takes shape
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
CLEVELAND: Exactly two months ago Monday, the Cavaliers executed a massive, team-
altering trade in an effort to make themselves a more potent playoff team.
Whether or not what happened in Game 2 of their playoff series with the Washington Wizards was the start of a trend or another anomaly is yet to be seen. But with everything from their deal falling into place, the Cavs looked quite potent.
Getting contributions from everywhere, especially from the coach, the Cavs dismantled the Wizards 116-86 to grab a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series. It was the largest margin of victory for a postseason game in team history.



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[osugrad21]

ABJ

Rough tactics by Wizards blatantly bad Wizards talk tough; Cavs have all the fun
Published on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008



CLEVELAND: Which moment shall we pick?
The one when DeShawn Stevenson waved his hand in front of his face after he made a 3-point shot with his Washington Wizards down 19?
Or when Brendan Haywood was ejected after a blatant and ugly flagrant foul on LeBron James as James drove to the basket?
Or when Gilbert Arenas spent much of the third quarter trying to bait Delonte West?
How about this one, more than any: When James answered Stevenson's ridiculous gesture by sinking a 3 of his own ? right in front of Stevenson.
That shot summed up Game 2 between the Cavaliers and the Wizards better than anything.
While the Wizards were engaged in tomfoolery, the Cavs just played. Which is why they won 116-86, and why they lead the series 2-0.
The Cavs played as good a game as anyone could have hoped.



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[osugrad21]

ABJ

Wizards keep sending LeBron to line Playoff rival tries to exploit James' weakness when it comes to shooting free throws
By George M. Thomas
and Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriters

Published on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
CLEVELAND: With the design of their road uniforms, few are going to refer to the Washington Wizards as fashion trendsetters. But they might, indeed, have started a new way to deal with LeBron James.
In the past playoffs, there has been two ways teams have dealt with James on defense. They have double-teamed him on the outside to force him to give the ball up or they have dropped off him and encouraged him to shoot midrange and long jumpers. The San Antonio Spurs seized on the latter and forced James to have a subpar NBA Finals last June.
This season, though, James showed dramatic improvement on his jumper and shot the highest field-goal percentage of his career at just better than 48 percent. So now the Wizards are trying to poke at another of James' weaknesses, free-throw shooting.
They are trying to send him to the foul line at a higher rate than the past two seasons. And because James was second in the NBA this season in so-called ''and-1s,'' baskets plus fouls, with 87, the Wizards want to issue hard fouls to keep him from scoring. After going 10-of-17 in Game 2, James is just 18-of-31 (58 percent ) at the foul line in the series.
''It's not entrapment,'' Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. ''We're not going to allow him to drive the ball then foul him.''



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[osugrad21]

CPD

LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers rout Washington Wizards to take 2-0 lead in NBA playoff series


Tuesday, April 22, 2008Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
Talk is cheap, and the play of the Washington Wizards in the first two games of their series with the Cavs was bankrupt.
After so much pregame babble on player ratings and how every team wanted to play the Cavaliers, the Wizards found out the Cavs and LeBron James were more than they ever imagined.
A huge first-half run and another splendid outing by James were all the Cavs needed in a 116-86 blowout victory over the hapless Wizards on Monday night in their second game of the best-of-seven playoff series at The Q.

The victory gave the Cavs a 2-0 lead, and it was their eighth straight victory over the Wizards in the playoffs. The 30-point spread was the biggest margin of victory in Cavs playoff history.
Game 3 is Thursday at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
The game was decided during the second quarter when Zydrunas Ilgauskas snapped a 36-36 tie with a jumper. That started a 16-2 run, capped by Wally Szczerbiak's layup for a 52-38 lead with 48 seconds left in the half. That spurt was all the Cavs needed.




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[osugrad21]

CPD

It's the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James doing all the manhandling so far, says The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto


Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Play good defense? Play physical? Knock down Le Bron James every time he goes to the basket? That was Washington's plan heading into this series, and that sure looks like a very bad idea. When healthy, Washington is a run-and-fun team with 3-pointers flying and scoreboard lights popping. But in their two games here, Washington was trying to be macho, talk trash and act tough like the old Detroit Pistons Bad Boys. In the process, the Wizards made their offense disappear. Meanwhile, the Cavs controlled the game and played with poise like a team expecting to win in the playoffs.
Washington has lost eight playoff games
in a row over three years to the Cavs. Being knocked out of the first round by the same team over and over breeds frustration. It's no longer about injuries, as was the case in 2007. Meanwhile, James (30 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds) is dominating. As Washington coach Eddie Jordan said, "They have the monster player . . . a man among boys . . . taking control of the series." He praised James for his defense on guard Gilbert Arenas (2-of-10 shooting, seven points). James is intimidating Washington even more than in 2006, when he averaged 35.7 points as the Cavs knocked the Wizards off in six games.

Coming into this series,




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[osugrad21]

CPD

Seen and heard at Cleveland Cavaliers-Washington Wizards Game 2


Tuesday, April 22, 2008Jodie Valade
Plain Dealer Reporter
Coaches like to remind how once the calendar turns to the playoff season, the NBA becomes a chess match. From game to game, the adjustments made are the difference between victory and defeat.
After Game 1, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown made the first move, moaning about how hard LeBron James was clobbered by the Wizards time and again, without being sent to the free-throw line. James shrugged off the physical play, but acknowledged a difference between a "hard foul" and a "LeBron foul."
The Wizards think the complaints about the hard fouls on James were meant to send a message to officials to blow their whistles more often.

"We didn't do anything dirty or excessive at all," Wizards forward Antawn Jamison said. "We're just trying to make it difficult for him when he goes to the basket."
Even the Cavaliers -- aside from James -- didn't think the game was extraordinarily physical. On a scale of 1-10, Cavs guard Devin Brown ranked Game 1 as a 6.
"It wasn't that bad," Brown said. "I've seen worse."




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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James will not get upset about getting fouled in NBA playoffs



Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Branson Wright

Plain Dealer Reporter
There was "Hack-a-Shaq" for Shaquille O'Neal and "Hack-a-Ben" for Ben Wallace over the years, when teams decided to foul them because they were poor free-throw shooters.
The Washington Wizards might have established their version of "Hack-a-'Bron" when it comes to fouling LeBron James hard enough so he won't score, instead sending him to the line. The Wizards don't want James to score easy buckets without a body check.
"Teams may think I have a temper problem and that I'm going to get upset, but I'm not going to get upset [when fouled]," James said. "Physical contact is part of the game. There's a difference between a foul and a LeBron foul or a Shaq foul these days. I just have to protect myself."

Because James is built more like an NFL tight end than a small forward, he believes he receives more punishment than an average player, and it often goes unnoticed by officials.
"It takes a little bit more of a hit for me to get a call sometimes," James said. "If I let that affect me, I won't be able to do the things out there on the court. I can't let that affect me or worry about a call, I just have to continue to be aggressive."




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