• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

Cavs 07-08 Season Thread

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
CPD

LeBron James lets points get away too freely, Bill Livingston says


Wednesday, April 23, 2008Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Asked if the brass-knuckle tactics of the Washington Wizards were responsible for his shooting most foul at the free-throw line, LeBron James said, affably: "I've been a bad free-throw shooter since I came into the NBA."
The question arose because, in the first year of the WNBA, the female-players league compiled a better free-throw percentage than those in the NBA. The immediate explanation was biology. The WNBA ball is smaller than that in the NBA because women have smaller hands, but the rim is the same size.
Presented with this data, Charles Barkley snarled: "You let me foul 'em. Then let's see how they shoot."
@StoryAd
Sometimes, the only recourse seems to be hard fouls designed to daze James as he rampages to the rim.
Brendan Haywood bumped James at the top of his jump on a drive in the third quarter, a flagrant 2 foul that earned Haywood an ejection from the Cavs' rout Monday night. Undercutting a player that way is one of the most dangerous plays in basketball.
"I guess they think I have a temper problem and I'll get upset. No, I don't get upset," James said of the hard fouls.




Cont...
 
Upvote 0
Canton

Cavaliers feel Wizards are crossing the line with physical play
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE All of the Cavaliers expect physical play in the playoffs.

But the Cavs think a line got crossed in Monday night's win when Washington 7-footer Brendan Haywood shoved LeBron James in midair during the third quarter. It happened as the Cavs were pulling away to a 2-0 lead in the series in what became a 30-point win.

"I thought that particular play, he did not try to make a play on the ball," Head Coach Mike Brown said Tuesday at Cleveland Clinic Courts.

"I haven't seen anybody really get wiped out like that in a game I've played in," Cavs guard Daniel Gibson said. "You go back to watching some of those old playoff games, you see those types of things a lot. ... (But) you can really get hurt that way."


Cont...
 
Upvote 0
Canton

Playoffs Notebook: Wally's world
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Szczerbiak finds stroke as starter[/FONT]
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE Given a chance to start in the last week, Cavaliers guard Wally Szczerbiak is making the most of it. His efficient shooting and solid defense Monday night helped the Cavs take a 2-0 series lead against the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs.

"It's been great. I'm really enjoying the starting position," Szczerbiak said Tuesday after the team's film session at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "I think that it's given me an opportunity to build good chemistry with the starting unit, especially LeBron (James), and get comfortable out there. And hopefully, I can continue to build on last game."

Szczerbiak hit 6-of-9 shots from the floor, going 2-for-4 on 3-pointers. He scored 15 points in 30 minutes and also did a nice job defending Wizards All-Star Caron Butler. It was just Szczerbiak's third start with the Cavs, all coming in the last three games.

"I think it's made a difference just knowing I'm going to be out there consistently," Szczerbiak said. "Knowing I'm not going to be in and out of the lineup, knowing I'm starting games and getting back to that mindset I've had pretty much my whole entire career.


Cont...
 
Upvote 0
CPD

In a hard-fouling series, Ilgauskas' softer side eases burden for Cleveland Cavaliers


Thursday, April 24, 2008Jodie Valade
Plain Dealer Reporter
Unusual sight No. 1 during this Cavaliers-Wizards first-round playoff series: Zydrunas Ilgauskas rushing to the side of LeBron James when Washington center Brendan Haywood loomed over the fallen King in Game 1.
Ilgauskas is the Cavaliers' 7-3 gentle giant, more apt to help little old ladies cross the street than stick his nose in the middle of skirmishes. Still, there he was Saturday, ready to defend James if his 6-8, 250-pound buddy needed help retaliating against a hard foul.
Unusual sight No. 2 in two postseason games against the Wizards: Ilgauskas visibly having yuk-it-up fun.
@StoryAd
The normally stoic Lithuanian was spotted grinning and laughing at least twice as he trotted down the court during the Cavaliers' Game 2 rout of Washington. And in Game 1, the typically expressionless center was seen flapping his arms demonstratively in encouragement of increasing The Q crowd's cheers.
"Maybe I'm letting my softer side out now that I'm older," the 32-year-old Ilgauskas joked on the eve of today's Game 3.




Cont...
 
Upvote 0
CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James braces for more hard fouls


Thursday, April 24, 2008Jodie Valade
Plain Dealer Reporter
LeBron James is gearing up for today's Game 3 against the Washington Wizards by preparing for the worst: more hard fouls, more back-and-forth talk about all those hard fouls, and lots of Soulja Boy echoing throughout the Verizon Center.
"If they hit us with a punch, we have to be able to counter their punch," James said Wednesday. He paused, grinning at his choice of words. "Not literally. Let me change the wording. If they make a few shots, we have to counter their attack."
There haven't been any punches thrown - yet. James said he was surprised that Wizards center Brendan Haywood was not suspended for the flagrant-2 foul he delivered in Game 2. James added that Haywood never apologized for shoving him out of bounds when he was midair, though Haywood told reporters in Washington that he apologized to James.
@StoryAd
Meanwhile, the drama continued in Washington as players and coaches told media that the Cavaliers have been delivering fouls just as hard as the ones the Wizards are giving out.
"Well, if they are like the fouls they gave on us, you have to at least act like you are going for the ball and you can throw your body at anybody you like," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan told media. "Just watching the fouls they gave on us, it was you know, pretend you are going for the ball and throw your body at the guy. So, that's a good technique."




Cont....
 
Upvote 0
Canton

Cavs will have to counter Wizards' home crowd in Game 3
Thursday, April 24, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE After two games filled with hard fouls, heated words and more LeBron James excellence, the Cavaliers and Wizards take their act to Washington tonight for Game 3.

The Cavs enter the Verizon Center with a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series, but they sound far from content.

"We're not going down to D.C. happy and comfortable with being up 2-0," James said.

"It's going to be a hostile environment. ... The crowd's going to try to give them a lot of energy. We have to be able, when they hit us with a punch, be able to counter their punch."

James paused and laughed a bit at the point, realizing a boxing metaphor might not be good to use for this series.

"Not literally, not literally. Let me change my words," he said. "If they make a few shots, just counter their attack and move on."

Cont...
 
Upvote 0
Canton

LeBron is ready for more of the same - hard fouls
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Cavaliers playoff notebook[/FONT]
Thursday, April 24, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE News of Brendan Haywood not getting suspended surprised LeBron James. The Wizards 7-footer was ejected from Monday's Game 2 for a flagrant 2 foul against James and there was speculation it would earn Haywood a suspension for tonight's Game 3.

"I thought he was going to get suspended for what happened," James said Wednesday after practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "But he's not, so we're prepared for him to be in the lineup and to continue to do what we've been doing."

James also is prepared for the Wizards to do what they've been doing against him, foul him hard when he drives the lane.

"I'm going into Game 3 thinking it's going to continue, so we'll see what happens," James said. "... I'm always going to attack the hole, no matter the hard fouls or how many times I fall. I'm able to get up and continue to attack.

Cont...
 
Upvote 0
That's it, I'm done with this garbage for tonight.

I figured you were supposed to stop phoning it in when the playoffs start. I guess the Cavs disagree. I don't mind if they lose here and there, but this just sorry. They are playing pussy basketball.

I realize not all of these guys are not capable of playing like LeBron James, but they are still (allegedly) professionals. They better start playing like it in Game 4.
 
Upvote 0
No energy what so ever...Too many turnovers...

They let the crowd get to them early...

Honestly if I was playing in this game I would be fucking irate...It is like they just don't care...Maybe they didn't care about this game...Maybe they got to confident after game one...

But we need someone else to step up in game 4...Boobie has probably one of his worst games I have ever seen him play...West, Wally, Brown, all bad...
 
Upvote 0
ABJ

WHIPPED BY WIZARDS Cavs fall hard in Game 3 of series
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Friday, Apr 25, 2008
WASHINGTON: Just in case there was some delusion that the Cavaliers had their series with the Washington Wizards in hand, they were dragged back to earth Thursday night.
The whip changed hands in Game 3, as the Wizards showed their strengths and the Cavs their weaknesses in a 108-72 Wizards victory. The obvious irony is this: After scoring their most lopsided win in postseason franchise history in Game 2, the Cavs set a record for their largest postseason loss.
It ended the Cavs' eight-game postseason win streak over the Wizards and drew the series to 2-1 and was quite therapeutic for the previously beleaguered Wizards, who expelled some frustration and had fun doing it. Complete with the series' alter ego, rapper Soulja Boy, who danced from the front row all evening as running mate DeShawn Stevenson broke out of his slump, too.
''We read them the riot act after the game in Cleveland and the next two days we told them how great they were,'' Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. ''It is risky this late in the season, but you have to lay it on the table.''



Cont...
 
Upvote 0
ABJ

Cavs must ask themselves why they played so poorly Crowd jeers LeBron every time he has ball
Published on Friday, Apr 25, 2008

WASHINGTON: The Cavaliers didn't just lose Thursday night.
They lost so badly they got the Washington Wizards back into this first-round NBA playoff series.
In fact, the Cavs couldn't have done a better job of allowing the Wizards back into things.
On Monday, all of Cleveland howled at winning a playoff game by a franchise-record 30 points. On Thursday in the Verizon Center, the Cavs lost by 36 ? another franchise record.
Yuck.
As good as the Cavs were in Game 2, they were that bad in Game 3.
Pathetic, in fact.
Especially in the first half, when the Wizards firmly took control of the game.



Cont....
 
Upvote 0
CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers embarrassed by Washington Wizards

Wizards retaliate for Game 2 beatdown
Friday, April 25, 2008Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington- This time, the Cavs were on the wrong end of a demolition.
Before a frenzied Verizon Center crowd and a highly inspired Wizards squad, the Cavs on Thursday suffered their worst postseason beating in franchise history, a 108-72 pounding in Game 3 of this best-of-seven series.
The Cavs lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 on Sunday in Washington.


Cont...
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top