Cavs 07-08 Season Thread

[osugrad21]

CPD

SEEN AND HEARD
Cleveland Cavaliers fans stand out in Washington


Friday, April 25, 2008Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington
- Whiteout conditions were in effect.
Just as the Cavaliers have done, the Wizards provided every fan at the game with a T-shirt to wear. Theirs were white, hence the "whiteout."

But there were some notable, and obvious, non-conformists.
Jordan Krantz, 21, and Nick Hendra, 19, both from Solon and students at American University in Washington, stood behind the Cavs' bench in bright orange Cavs gear.
"I'm from Cleveland, and I represent Cleveland to the fullest," said Krantz, holding a sign that read "TNT Go Cavs."


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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cavaliers' playoff stinker is full-team effort


Friday, April 25, 2008
Washington
- There are games when you wonder what the Cavaliers do at halftime.
Like Thursday night, when the Cavaliers were outplayed, outhustled, outcoached and nearly run out of the Verizon Center by a 108-72 verdict in Washington.


The Cavaliers have had games like this where they seemed to step on the court and act as if they never had met each other before. There are passes to the right when a player breaks left. There are balls dribbled off feet, shots banging hopelessly off the side of the rim.
Even more discouraging, there are timeouts that seemed to lead to nothing more than a good GMA - as in General Milling Around. Players sort of move, but not exactly sure where they are going. No one takes charge of the offense and attempts to set things up.
The 24-second clock ticks, ticks, ticks away and then someone lofts a fallaway jumper from somewhere behind the Lincoln Memorial. Too often, it was throw the ball to LeBron James, stand around and watch him do something. Not easy to play 1-on-5.




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[osugrad21]

CPD

Rapper helps Wizards' Stevenson reclaim some respect



Friday, April 25, 2008 Mary Schmitt Boyer

Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington, D.C.- Soulja Boy is going to have to cancel whatever he had planned for Sunday. Now the young rapper has a date at the Verizon Center.
"We've got to get him here," Washington guard DeShawn Stevenson told a mob of reporters in front of his locker after the Wizards crushed the Cavaliers, 108-72, in Game 3 of the best-of-seven first-round series Thursday night. "We won with him. Me and [Gilbert Arenas] we're superstitious. So, we got to get him back."
If Soulja Boy had an actual impact on the game, it was mostly psychological. Not so for Stevenson. For the first time in this series, he was a factor. He hit five of seven 3-pointers and had 19 points and three steals for the Wizards, who still trail in the series, 2-1. Game 4 is here at 1 p.m. Sunday

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers Insider: Commissioner David Stern thinks Brendan Haywood did not merit a suspension


Friday, April 25, 2008
Washington- NBA Commissioner David Stern who was in Washington for Thursday's game and after a brief announcement prior to tipoff, readied himself for the obvious question: Should Brendan Haywood have been suspended for his flagrant foul 2 on LeBron James in Game 2?
Stern said he "agreed" Haywood should have been ejected but didn't think a suspension was merited.
Stern sort of shrugged when asked about it, and then said it was up to league officials Stu Jackson and Ronnie Nunn to make those decisions. Stern just didn't seem that concerned about it, or at least that was the impression he gave.




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[osugrad21]

Canton

Numbing loss
[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Wizards turn the tables in Game 3[/FONT]
Friday, April 25, 2008
By JOSEPH WHITE
AP SPORTS WRITER

WASHINGTON LeBron James was serenaded with chants of "over-rated!" as he stood at the free- throw line late in the third quarter, the latest humorous twist in an ongoing saga that had somehow snared ? yes, believe it or not ? one of his son's favorite rappers into a front-row seat near the basket.

James couldn't help but laugh. He was so distracted he missed the free throw. Didn't really matter. By then, the Cleveland Cavaliers were trailing by 28 points, a stunning reversal from Game 2 to Game 3 in their first-round series against the Washington Wizards.

Maybe it was the new haircuts sported by four Wizards players. Maybe it was the presence of Soulja Boy. Maybe it was sight of Colin Powell in a "White Out" T-shirt. Or just the comfort of being home. Or the inspiration of having Gilbert Arenas in the starting lineup, even though he limped out of the game in the first half.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Cavs seek intensity to match Wizards
Despite blowout loss in Game 3, Game 4 is chance to regain control
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Saturday, Apr 26, 2008


WASHINGTON: The roster is stocked with veterans and playing in hostile environments is not a new experience, but that didn't mean the Cavaliers were immune to what befell them Thursday night.
They looked extremely uncomfortable in their blowout loss to the Washington Wizards in Game 3, shrinking their series lead to 2-1. The Wizards played like their season was on the line, and their fans backed them up. The Cavs' response to the challenge was much weaker than expected.

Continued.....

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Rough road ahead for Cleveland Cavaliers in D.C.

Branson Wright April 25, 2008 23:50PM

Categories: Cavaliers

The Plain Dealer
Washington -- A common notion among players and coaches is a playoff series does not start until the visiting team wins on the road.

If true, the Cavaliers can count their blessings since they own homecourt advantage in this first-round series against the Washington Wizards.
The Cavs have been inconsistent on the road since the midseason trade for Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, Delonte West and Ben Wallace.
The beat-down the Wizards inflicted in Game 3 Thursday was a small example of how terrible the Cavs can be away from home. That's why owning the homecourt advantage in the first round could prove vital.

Continued......

 

[BuckeyeMafia]

Wow. Boobie had the third most minutes today. It went-

LBJ
West
Boobie

Wally only played about 16:30 though.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Wow. Boobie had the third most minutes today. It went-

LBJ
West
Boobie

Wally only played about 16:30 though.

Speaking of this, there was a moment in the fourth quarter when one of our guys was at the line and Brown sent Wally to the table to sub in after the 2nd free throw...The free throw was missed by whoever was at the line, and Wally didn't get to come in for West, who went on too make 2 threes in a row...Wally left the table and never came in either...

 

[exhawg]

Wow. Boobie had the third most minutes today. It went-

LBJ
West
Boobie

Wally only played about 16:30 though.

Wally isn't a good matchup for Butler. West and Boobie were on fire today, which was the big difference between game 3 and game 4. Hopefully they can keep it up for the rest of the playoffs and Wally can find better matchups in the future.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Also thought that Big Ben needed a little love...Didn't have any points, but he did a great job on the glass today, and was all over the place...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

SHARING HIS STARDOM LeBron's unselfish strategy frustrates Wizards
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Monday, Apr 28, 2008
WASHINGTON: In three years and 14 playoff games, the Washington Wizards have felt the full and wide-ranging wrath of LeBron James. They don't like it very much.
James has beaten them with his own hand numerous times with paralyzing baskets in the final moments of games. And he has beaten them with his eye, skipping a pass out of trouble to an open teammate for shared stardom. Sunday it was the latter, the co-star being Delonte West, as James slayed the Wizards again.
The Cavaliers' superstar capped off another superior playoff effort with a whip pass to West, who calmly drained the deciding basket, a 3-pointer from the corner, with 5.4 seconds left to provide the difference in the 100-97 Game 4 victory. With it, the Cavs put a headlock on the series, jumping ahead 3-1 as they head back home for Game 5 on Wednesday with a chance to close things out.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

LeBron James passes to Delonte West for Cleveland Cavaliers' winning 3 against Washington Wizards



Monday, April 28, 2008 Branson Wright

Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington- Dwayne Jones is sure his college roommate and now Cavaliers teammate, Delonte West, had one of those moments following the Cavs' blowout loss in Game 3 of their first-round playoff game against the Washington Wizards.
Back at St. Joseph's University, the usually joyful West would return to the dorm, pop in the DVD of the previous loss and his only communication would involve himself and the TV screen.
"He takes losses worse than bad performances because ultimately he wants to win," said Jones, a reserve center. "He would watch those replays and talk out loud to himself and do these hand gestures on what he should have done. . . . He would dwell so much on those losses."


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[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, Washington Wizards' DeShawn Stevenson have another moment



Monday, April 28, 2008 Branson Wright

Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington -- The feud between LeBron James and DeShawn Stevenson had a moment in the first half when Stevenson committed a flagrant 1 foul on a James drive. James and Stevenson walked toward each other, but they were quickly separated.
There has been tension between Stevenson and James since Stevenson's "overrated" comments and since James compared himself to rapper Jay-Z and Stevenson to Soulja Boy.
But the gloves almost came off after the hard foul. It reminded James of the no-blood, no-foul summer days at Elizabeth Park in Akron.

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[osugrad21]

CPD

Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto scribbles in his notebook about Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards


Monday, April 28, 2008
Washington
- The Cavs have now won 11 of 14 games against Washington in the playoffs over the past three seasons. The Cavs have won close games with LeBron James making two in the final seconds. And Damon Jones beat the Wizards in 2006 with a final-second shot. And Sasha Pavlovic did it last year, "a dagger," as James called it. And Delonte West did it Sunday. And you know Washington is taking a mental beating through all this - just think of what Michael Jordan and the Bulls did to the Cavs in the late 1980s and early 1990s.


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