“Z was actually probably relieved, a long ordeal may have brought some tears. He got a putback hoop at the end of the quarter that got almost as loud of a cheer.” [Brian Windhorst's Beat Blog]
“I love you,” he told the fans. “Thanks for everything.” The ceremonial part of his return is over. There are practical benefits in the offing, in particular what his size can mean against Orlando and the Lakers. But that’s for later. Sunday, a town showed its appreciation of Ilgauskas for the years gone by. [Bud Shaw on Z-Day]
“Already facing a letdown game coming off a Western road trip, the Cavs didn’t seem to gather much momentum from the reception for Ilgauskas. Without their top energy player, the issue became a bit of a problem as they were sluggish for much of the afternoon.” [Brian Windhorst]
“With the victory, the Cavs swept the 10 games against Pacific Division teams this season, the first time it has happened in history under the 82-game format.” [Brian Windhorst]
“So, if your eyes filled up watching #11 say thank you on the floor of The Q, imagine what it would be like to watch him raise a championship trophy over his head. That would be a tear jerker!” [Fred McLeod]
“Without disparaging anyone on the Cavaliers, looking at his roster compared to other teams that have won the Finals makes him look even better, should they win it all.” [Christopher Reina on Roster Imbalances]
Lots of Cavs questions and answers in Chris Sheridan’s Sportsnation Chat.
So what does ‘Melo think about LeBron’s future?
“Why would LeBron leave a situation where he has an opportunity to win a championship every year, to going to a place that’s rebuilding?” Marbury said. “How does that work?. How do you try to get to people to believe that? I don’t understand it. As a Knick fan, that would be great. But playing in the NBA, it doesn’t make sense.” [Marc Berman on Starbury]
“It’s not about a big city (LeBron thinks he’s a world capital), pleasing Nike (it’s the other way around) or money (infinity plus $1billion = infinity.)” [Mark Heisler on Summer 2010]
Nothing to do with the Cavs – but you will enjoy this, I promise.
Fun Tweets:
“LeBron surely has to at least listen to what this guy has to say. Also safe to say free-agent upgrades to Nets’ dance team on way for sure” [Marc Stein]
“Um, why did my Spurs-Celtics feed just cut to some women’s college basketball game?” [JE Skeets]
“Just realized that Knicks could potentially knock Toronto out of playoffs on last day of season … and grease skids for Bosh to NY” [John Hollinger]
“Listen to my audio tweet. http://tmic.fm/rfvnwqxlfk0 [Shaq]
“Boy @THE_REAL_SHAQ is about one hour away from eating Vaseline. He needs to get back on the court quick, fast and in a hurry.” [realcavsfans]
nice quotes from Windy and Shaw. JE Skeets thought the Z ceremony was over the top and a farce, but I think those quotes really show that the celebration was more about Z’s connection with the fans than anything else.
@Amin – I was at the game and it was an all-out Z-day. I was surprised. I, like many people, thought that there would be an insane ovation when he checked in, and that would be it.
1.) The “placards” they gave out were REALLY nice. AND, this is the first time in the history of the world that I’ve been given something for free at a sporting event that had no ads, logos, or anything on it.
2.) All Cavs personnel were wearing Z jerseys. Every member of the dance team, vendors, everyone.
3.) I thought Ahmadd Crump introduced Mo as “Zo” and Hickson as “Zickson” but it could have been “Sickson” I’m not sure.
4.) They introduced Z right after the starting lineups, they had a a couple video montages of Z.
5.) On the jumbotron, Cavs was CavZ, make some Noise was NoiZe, among other misspellings.
6.) During LeBron’s free throws, you could hear many individual fans yelling “we love you Z!”
7.) The fans cheered when he emerged from the locker room, during all the festivities, when he got off the bench to check in, and when he checked in. It was still a loud ovation when he checked in, but 2 things happened: 1.) As many pointed out, the crowd had already bellowed for Z about 5 times and 2.) The kings inbounded and hit a 3 right away, which pretty much ended the Z cheers.
8.) His first contribution to the box score was a foul, and the fans cheered.
9.) When he got that putback at the end of the quarter, the place went nuts, but it died out quickly because they announced “At the end of the first quarter…” stuff and then immediately do promotional things.
10.) Z had 3 blocks and with each one the crowd cheered.
It really was Z-day. Everyone was glad he was back. It’s a good thing for the franchise. LeBron sees this and thinks to himself: look at how well the organization treats Z, and Delonte, and everyone. It’s a good message.
Tom – Thanks for your first-hand account for those who were unable to attend. Sounds like the Cavs went all out.
Jason (Orlando)
How are the Magic constantly overlooked? They are the defending East Champs that beat Cleveland almost handily last season without home court.
WHEN WILL THIS MEME DIE? When two of your wins come as the result of last second shots,* that is not beating a team handily! I’m surprised he didn’t THIBW (to convert one of Tom’s phrases into an active verb–Try to Have It Both Ways) and point out that one of the two Cavs wins was in the last second, implying that the Magic could have won in 5.
*One of these merely forced an OT, but had Lewis not made it the Cavs would have won in regulation.
Yea Ben I still don’t understand how people think Orlando just ran the Cavs over last year. People honestly seem to believe the 5 game series in the finals was closer than the 6 in the ECF and it just wasn’t the case.
PLEASE INCLUDE THE VAREJAO ENTHUSIASM CHART!
http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/?p=26501
Here’s a fun matching game. Pair the team in the first column with Orlando’s average point differential against them in the 2008 playoffs in the second column.
1. Philadelphia A. 4.29
2. Boston B. 7.67
3. Cleveland C. -9.40
4. Lakers D. 2.50
Answers: 1.B, 2.A, 3.D, 4.C. This is just support of Rich’s point–their closest series by far was against the Cavs, even though they went to 7 with Boston.
So my spacing totally got messed up in translation, but the point remains the same.
When Marbury is making sense maybe it is time to start worring about LeBron leaving.
I think we need to start worrying about shaq when he is starting to sound like marbury…
Dude wants to play!
Wow there was a lot of suck going around the league right now. Anyone else notice the Cavs are pretty much the only team that hasn’t faltered when missing key guys?
Mo’s out? No problem. Shaq? We got ya covered. Delonte’s early season troubles? Well, early season kinda sucked…but hey, we got through it, didn’t we?! This team is mad skilled. Thanks coaching staff + LeBron + fans (from bringing it every night at home when the team needs it most!)
weird night huh: Nets beat spurs, new orleans beats LA…
Yeah – but no Ginobili for SA. He’s been the reason they’ve been so good lately.
I can’t figure out LA at all.
hey tom
i was at the game on sunday and recorded video of z’s “ovation” in the first quarter. The video is perfect because it highlights what you said about the video, mainly that it was really loud for only a few seconds at most and then you see the SAC player hit the 3 and it goes quiet. I think you can even hear my friend sigh or gasp or something at the end of the video. It is about 25 seconds, and if you want it for any reason, just lemme know.