Cavs 07-08 Season Thread

[BuckeyeMafia]

I really would've prefered letting Jones shoot that.. Sorry LeBron.

Pavs proved me wrong tonight- he needs to do a little less than the same every day.

Good game, but we needed a win there, we better beat frickin Orlando and Charlotte now.

Atleast Charlotte sucks and Orlando is a good matchup for us though.

 

[exhawg]

It's sad when 25-7-7 can be considered not one of your best efforts. Probably the 7 TOs. Hopefully the 2 days off will get them back in the groove. They really need Z back. Pavs was the only guy with a good shooting day today. This is one of the games that I would have liked to see Lebron give up the last shot to a guy like Jones who just hit a clutch 3 to pull within 1.

 

[billmac91]

tough night for LeBron.

Tough night for the officials. they were awful.

Tough night for Mike Brown. We got abused and gave up big scoring runs every time we went small with LeBron at the 4. It's not a good move, as it means our perimeter defense is going to get killed.

Liked Delonte West tonight. Damon keeps shooting well. I'd prefer Anderson just focus on defense. I'd prefer Wally not getting back-doored every other play on defense.

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

LeBron James scores Vogue cover Cavs star to appear with supermodel Gisele
By Tom Withers
Associated Press

Published on Friday, Mar 14, 2008
CLEVELAND: LeBron James is striking a pose.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' superstar will appear on the April cover of Vogue, joining actors Richard Gere and George Clooney as the only men to do so in the influential fashion magazine's 116-year history.
Wearing a tank top, shorts and sneakers from his own Nike clothing line, James appears on the cover dribbling a basketball and screaming as if in game mode while throwing one arm around supermodel Gisele Bundchen with Tom Brady nowhere to be found.


Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Latest loss not all that different for Cavs Careless play, lack of defense leads to defeat against Wizards
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Friday, Mar 14, 2008
WASHINGTON: With all the injuries, holdouts and trades, the Cavaliers have constantly looked different throughout this turbulent season.
But one thing has never seemed to show up for long: their defensive identity.


Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Cavs hoping to get big help With Ilgauskas, Wallace ailing, legally deaf player Allred signs for 10 days
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

Published on Friday, Mar 14, 2008
WASHINGTON: Lance Allred hopes it isn't his legacy, but he is now a part of history.
The Cavaliers signed the 6-foot-11 center to a 10-day contract Thursday as he was called up from the NBA Development League's Idaho Stampede. He will provide depth in the frontcourt with both Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace fighting back problems. But there is more to his story.
Allred is the first legally deaf player to play in the NBA. He's had about 75 percent hearing loss since birth but uses implants that allow him to be functional.


Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James comes up empty at buzzer in loss to Washington


Friday, March 14, 2008Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington- The stage was set.
The Cavaliers trailed by two with seven seconds left and LeBron James told coach Mike Brown and his teammates the plan.
"I was going for the win," James said. "I didn't want to go into overtime."

James received the inbound pass, dribbled to the center of the court, went to his left and released a 3-point attempt that missed off the front of the rim and the Cavs fell, 101-99, to the Washington Wizards on Thursday night at the Verizon Center.
It was the Cavs' second straight loss and their fifth straight loss on the road. This loss especially hurt because the Cavs, led by James, had re cently been suc cessful against the Wizards. James had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on this night.
James has been a Wizards killer the past two years. In his previous 15 games against Washington - including 10 in the postseason - James averaged 30.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists. The Cavs won 12 of those games, eight in the postseason.




Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Cavs sign a stampeding big man


Friday, March 14, 2008Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
Washington -- Lance Allred of the Idaho Stampede was in his hometown of Salt Lake City on Thursday, headed to his parents' house for dinner. Before he got there, he got a phone call with some great news.
"My [National Basketball Development League] team was in town for a game," said Allred. "I was headed to my parents' house and then I got call that I was called up by the Cavaliers. The timing was great."




Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch
Wizards 101 Cavaliers 99
Wizards get Butler back, beat Cavs

Friday, March 14, 2008 3:21 AM



From wire services

Pablo Martinez MonsivaisAssociated Press
The Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao lays one in as the Wizards' Antawn Jamison watches.


WASHINGTON -- When the Vogue cover model missed the three-point attempt at the buzzer, the returning birthday boy and the Washington Wizards had an exhilarating win over a big nemesis. Caron Butler unleashed a month's worth of pent-up energy on his 28th birthday, returning to the Wizards lineup after a 16-game injury absence to score 19 points in a 101-99 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night.



Cont...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

The feeling among those around the Cleveland Cavaliers every day is that the benefits from the three-way trade with Chicago and Seattle might be more perception than reality. The insiders' thinking goes this way:
Drew Gooden is better offensively than Ben Wallace but inconsistent. Some days Gooden scores 20 points, some days six. Wallace is better defensively but has lost a step, which is important for a player who makes his living outrebounding opponents. If Wallace continues to play poorly, or back spasms limit him, the Bulls win this trade. Also, because Wallace is so limited offensively, teams can drop off him and double-team another player.

Continued......

 

[Brutus1]

Turnovers killed us tonite...Also slow start killed us and the fact that New Jersey couldn't missed early, but we still got back in the game...

Same thing last night. That and interior defense.

When you wax a team on the boards 51-36 and 18-7 on the offensive end you should win nearly all the time, but when your best player has nearly as many to's (7) as the entire other team (9), you're going to have a hard time winning.

There's really no excuse to get outscored in the paint 42-28 after you win the board battle by such a large margin.

It was a very nice suprise to see Sasha play/shoot so well.

Another solid game by West with 10-5 and 7.

 

[BuckeyeMafia]

This is such a great trade.. Now we have such flexibility.

We now have 2 big energy guys in Wallace and AV. Z and Smith are the rebounders- Z is the scoring big man. From the perimeter we now have a PG with West- 3 point shooting is probably the best in the league with Boobie, Pavs, and Jones for our main guys.

That and we have some people I didn't mention that can play too.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

Whether this trade was good or bad rests with Wallace...

 

[BuckeyeMafia]

I don't agree with that.

He was the biggest name, sure. But really, what it brought us was guys like West and Wally. Those were the two bigger names IMO. Nothing downing Joe Smith either, but those other two improved us most from my stand point.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

I don't agree with that.

He was the biggest name, sure. But really, what it brought us was guys like West and Wally. Those were the two bigger names IMO. Nothing downing Joe Smith either, but those other two improved us most from my stand point.

I'm not basing anything on biggest names, etc... West and Wally have not been commendable... I have loved Joe Smith forever, but when Carter fooled and outquicked him the other night to seal the NJ win, it was obvious, his fastest days are behind him... He's also lost his vertical... He's getting beat on bounds with the young jackrabbits snatching it higher than he can get...

So to me.. if Wallace doesn't come thru with at least a medium performance... IMO we lost in the trade...

I definitely understand that the trade did a lot to improve the psyche of the team... but after that wears off... sooner or later we have to play like playoff caliber... and I'm not seeing it

If it wasn't for the vastly elevated play of Devin Brown and Jones... we wouldn't be smiling right now...

Washington played a VERY effective defense against Lebron... and I'm sure the other teams saw it... They 'layered' the double and triple team... not threw it right at him... First man... manned him up... double team picked him up halfway to key... triple team picked him up at the key...

If Wally can't hit his shot... and Delonte can't do better than he has... we could see an earlier exit than I can deal with...

Wallace is outstanding WHEN he can stay with the man he's guarding... or more pertinent, to the man he picks up driving to the lane... but these guys are getting past him too often... His age is showing... Pretending all other parts of the trade are equal... If Ben Wallace doesn't shut off the key, the trade did not help