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Cavs 08-09 Season - Central Div Champs (official thread)

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Cavs face uphill climb in pursuit of McDyess
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I know he would be a very nice addition to the Cavaliers roster but I don't understand where they would get the money to sign him. I thought that they had to wait until the trading period and then unload some expiring contracts.

I know it is early in the season but they cannot continue to let Lebron be the only one to be able to score and be one of the elite teams of the NBA. I think that is what tires them out when it comes time for the playoffs because he is carried the team the entire season.
 
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LitlBuck;1323210; said:
I know he would be a very nice addition to the Cavaliers roster but I don't understand where they would get the money to sign him. I thought that they had to wait until the trading period and then unload some expiring contracts.
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They still have their max level exception of a one year 5 mill or so contract left...Detroit and Boston only have the mid level exception of like 1 mill or so...

I know it is early in the season but they cannot continue to let Lebron be the only one to be able to score and be one of the elite teams of the NBA. I think that is what tires them out when it comes time for the playoffs because he is carried the team the entire season.
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My thing is he isn't the only one scoring...From the box scores it may look like it, but those buckets are alot easier this year than any time in his career...He is getting man defense and he is just abusing hit, hitting shots in the post, and has been very effecient...

West, Boobie, Mo, are all scoring maybe not the past week for Boobie, but if they hit shots the past couple games we are scoring 120 points...

Offense is much easier for this team this year...
 
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itownbuckeye;1323270; said:
heard Ric Bucher on ESPN last night say that LeBron recently measured in at a solid 6'9" and weighed 274 lbs
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I saw that too. I would worry if he was slower or looked fat, but the dude is just getting more ripped. He's the size of a PF with the speed of a PG.
 
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LitlBuck;1323210; said:
I know he would be a very nice addition to the Cavaliers roster but I don't understand where they would get the money to sign him. I thought that they had to wait until the trading period and then unload some expiring contracts.

I know it is early in the season but they cannot continue to let Lebron be the only one to be able to score and be one of the elite teams of the NBA. I think that is what tires them out when it comes time for the playoffs because he is carried the team the entire season.
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cleveland has their full MLE which is approximately $5 million plus. Detroit and Boston have $1.2 million and $1.9 million of the MLE's left. Cleveland can offer him close to $4 million more than either of these two teams.

LBJ is far from the only one scoring. His scoring efficiency is the highest of his career right now. That means he's getting a ton of easy points, primarily because of his teammates. It's not him carrying the team.

edit: CB 40 already addressed this and I didn't see it.
 
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LitlBuck;1323210; said:
I know it is early in the season but they cannot continue to let Lebron be the only one to be able to score and be one of the elite teams of the NBA. I think that is what tires them out when it comes time for the playoffs because he is carried the team the entire season.
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I know tsteele & cb40 talked about LBJ's efficiency. But we also had 4 other guys scoring in double digits last night. And that was with Wally & Bobbie scoring zero points.

Normally when LeBron scores that many points we only have 1 other guy in double digits. So I don't see it as a problem.
 
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Our team offense is a lot better than last year. You just haven't seen it as much these past few games because lebron is on a tear. Even though he's put up 41 in 3 out of the last 4 games, He's only playing around 35-38 minutes. And he's getting a lot more easy buckets this year compared to previous ones

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ABJ

LeBron helps Cavaliers bag Bucks Forward posts third 41-point game. Varejao adds double-double
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008
CLEVELAND: Last season, the Cavaliers had trouble hunting down the Milwaukee Bucks and nothing has changed in a year.
The Bucks overhauled their organization, bringing in new coach Scott Skiles.
They brought in reasonably fresh faces, including Richard Jefferson, and one of their best players, point guard Mo Williams, now plays for the Cavs.
In his first game against his former team, Williams made just 3-of-11 shots from the floor but was 9-of-10 at the foul line for 16 points.
Yet, the Bucks continue to push the Cavaliers, who had to work hard for a 99-93 win at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night.
It took another 41-point performance by LeBron James, the third 41-point game for James in the past four games. James made 16-of-24 shots.
''I'll take a win.'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''I'll always take a win. But we still need to get better and tonight shows it.''
The game opened promisingly enough, with the Cavs going on a 13-4 run. The
lead grew to as many as 10 points in the first quarter but the Bucks cut it to five by the end of the quarter.
It didn't get much better as the second quarter wore on, with both teams looking as if they'd rather be somewhere else ? anywhere else. It showed with the Bucks more as they made only 31 percent of their shots. The Cavs made 47 percent and took a 48-42 halftime lead.
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CPD

Cavaliers' offensive versatility beginning to show

by Brian Windhorst/Plain Dealer Reporter Wednesday November 12, 2008, 10:41 PM


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John Kuntz/The Plain DealerLeBron James may be shouldering the scoring load lately for the Cavs, but Delonte West, Zydrunas Ilgaukas, and Anderson Varajao are all shooting over 50 percent.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Offensive juggernaut. That's not an oxymoron or a joke, it's not even an exaggeration. It is still quite early in the season, but the Cavs improvement on offense is already quite tangible.
After beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, the Cavs found themselves ranked first among Eastern Conference teams in field-goal percentage and third in points scored. At 47 percent and 100 points a game thus far, it is a statistically large jump from last season. In fact, it represents the best offensive start to a season in four years.
Surely is has been just eight games, but on the other hand the Cavs are putting up big numbers despite having some of their offensive weapons not nearly hitting on all cylinders.
"Who'd have thought that?" Cavs coach Mike Brown said after practice Wednesday, half in jest. "We are doing some things right."
Brown has been criticized for having feeble and simplistic offensive systems. But armed with a deeper and more diverse array of offensive talent, the Cavs are starting to show signs of being more dynamic.
Led by LeBron James, who has taken over the NBA scoring lead at 29.8 points a game, the Cavs have four players averaging in double figures. All that while Mo Williams, who led the NBA in 2-point shooting last season, is shooting just 41 percent and Daniel Gibson, who is mired in an 8-of-36 slump over the last five games, shooting just 36 percent.

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CPD
Bill Livingston: What happened to the LeBron James vs. Carmelo Anthony rivalry?

by Bill Livingston/Plain Dealer Columnist Wednesday November 12, 2008, 7:00 PM


Whatever happened to the NBA's Magic vs. Bird rivalry of this century?
Only five years ago, the Cavaliers' LeBron James and Denver's Carmelo Anthony were supposed to save the NBA, the way Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did until Michael Jordan came along.
Now the Cavs' big statement games are against the Celtics and Pistons. The individual matchups at the top of the marquee are James vs. the Lakers' Kobe Bryant or Miami's Dwayne Wade.
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Mark Duncan/Associated PressThe LeBron James vs. Carmelo Anthony rivalry has not lived up to its Magic/Bird expectations. James has made it to the NBA Finals, but Anthony has a 4-20 record in the playoffs with the Nuggets.
The first five players taken in the great 2003 NBA Draft were, in order, James, Darko Milicic, Anthony, Chris Bosh and Wade. James has been to an NBA Finals, with a team nowhere near as good as this one. Milicic became the new Sam Bowie, the mega-bust taken instead of Michael Jordan by Portland. Wade won an NBA Championship, or at least accepted one when Dallas declined it. Bosh, behind only James and Wade, was a key player on the "Redeem Team," the 2008 Olympic gold medalists.
Anthony's Nuggets are 4-20 in the playoffs with five first-round exits. He might not have reached McGradyean depths, a term coined for Tracy McGrady, who, in Toronto, Orlando and now Houston, has never won a playoff series. But that is only because some of McGrady's futility occurred in the then-weaker East.
"Carmelo hasn't been playing the worst teams in the first round," James said. "He's had San Antonio, the Lakers."
And Minnesota and, ahem, the Los Angeles Clippers.

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crazybuckfan40;1324039; said:
exactly Melo has been in the West, and along with that we only play the Nuggets twice a year so it is hard to have a rivalry like that...Unless the two teams were to meet in the finals you won't see anything like Bird/Magic...
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I'll add to that. The league has seen a bunch of players emerge as stars in that time. You don't need a Magic-Bird type of rivalry under these conditions. Dwayne Wade emerged from that very same draft and has a championship ring. You have have other young stars like Dwight Howard and Chris Paul doing good things, so you can't just have two guys alone in the league spotlight. Not to mention, Kobe Bryant has always been a great player but recently he has come a long way in rehabilitating his image.
 
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