Brian Windhorst’s Weekly Podcast
“Here is all that Cleveland has to do to put itself back in the driver’s seat to the Eastern Conference Finals: win one of the next two games in Boston. That’s it. Either Friday or Sunday. Lose both those games, and extreme panic will be entirely appropriate. Considering everything above however, this series should be OK for the Cleveland Cavaliers very soon.” [Jacob Rosen]
I tweeted during game 2 that everything LeBron does looks like a travel because he covers so much ground. I received a few responses basically saying “yeah, but, that was a travel.” I wasn’t sure at the time, it did LOOK like a travel on TV, or maybe it was just Nate Robinson flipping out in the background that sold me. Whatever the case, there are probably more people out there posting comments that LeBron takes 4 steps on every play than there are people that recognize that he actually almost never gets away with traveling. Fortunately, someone slowed it down to prove that, yes, it was a completely valid jump-stop. #vindication
“James has no outside game because of his strained and bruised right elbow. Who even knew there was an olecranon bone to bruise until recently? Now we are all convinced the olecranon bone is connected to the King bone.” [Bill Livingston on LeBron]
“Just think, we’re still almost two months away from LeBron actually declaring and already the wooing has begun. We can only guess what will happen once summer actually gets here.” [ESPN]
So Danny Ainge Threw a Towel – Isn’t that Sort of Beneath a GM?
“No big man in basketball is better at switching out onto smaller players, and Varejao combines that skill with toughness in the post and solid work on the boards” [John Hollinger]
From Windhorst’s Twitter: Varejao, James, Perkins, and Garnett are all suffering some kind of injury.
Rumors that LeBron’s elbow is worse than advertised.
Tweets To The Present (follow me @tompestak)
“…when they [Cavs] stumble and have a loss, it’s heartfelt by me. And I’m not even on the team.” -Damon Jones (Shot Anniversary Today) [WayneEmbrysKids]
“Random note: the NBA’s top 13 in lowest opponent 3-point percentage all made the playoffs this year.” [Tom Haberstroh]
It makes me very uneasy when I read things that suggest Lebron’s elbow is worse than he has let on… I think we would have heard more about it by now if that was the case, but it’s still unsettling to hear.
Yes, it is below a GM to do that. In the states the upper management is allowed more room to show emotions than they are elsewhere. When Presidents and owners of Euro soccer clubs watch games from the press box, it is unbecoming for them to even so much as smile after a team goal or win.
It isn’t quite like that here, but there are certain standards. Throwin a towel and participating in the normal fandom is absolutely below what a GM is expected to act like.
I hate this team. There. I said it. LeBron plays 1 game where he was amazing, he was just ‘good,’ and we lose by 15 or whatever it was. Mo Williams had a great Game 1, which is why he’s so frustrating. Then you only make 1 shot the next game? He’s getting torched by Rondo. Shaq can’t make a hook shot from 2 feet away. Varejao is invisible, again. Anthony Parker is useless unless he hits 3 3s. Only Hickson is playing well and god knows he isn’t consistent. Jamison still does one bad thing for every good thing. Give me somebody who can step up please. Get stops on D, make a play off the dribble. I’ve conceded the title to the Magic and I hate everyone who puts on a Cav uniform except LeBron, Jamario, and J.J.. The hate part is reactionary, but seriously, start fitting Dwight for ring sizes.
And I really do hate Jamison and Shaq.
My bad…wasn’t amazing**
Bradley I’m with you to a certain extent. However, my hatred goes to the people of Cleveland. I was at game 1 (I live in Chicago, and am from New York). The fans need to understand that they can have quite an impact on the outcome of games (hence the battle for home court advantage).
If they’re going to be hesitant to cheer just because the game is close in the first and second quarter, then the “home game” essentially becomes a neutral court game. I watched game 2 on TV with some Celtics fans, and they both fell asleep during the first half. Why? Because the crowd was so dull and quiet that there was zero energy. So they fell asleep on their team, which was winning the biggest game of their season.
This NEEDS to change for game 5. If the Cavs come back 2-2, the fans need to breathe a sigh of relief, and start to cheer extremely loudly FROM THE OPENING TIP til the clock hits zeroes.
I know this post isn’t terribly insightful, but it’s upsetting to be able to feel the fans nerves through a television screen. Chill out everyone, you’re not on the team. Have fun and cheer your f*cking lungs out.
@Zeus:
“I was at game 1 on Saturday night, and it was easily the best atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of at a sporting event. Anyone who says Cleveland sucks really ought to attend a Cavs playoff game sometime before LeBron James either retires or bolts. I guarantee you will view the city, and the people in the city differently. The only word I can use to describe it is ‘electric’.”
Those are your words, not mine.
Lol’d. Nice find Colin.
Still hate everyone.
Bradley, you hate the team, now? That’s a bit much IMO. They’re not playing to their potential, I’ll grant you that. If LeBron’s elbow is actually worse than advertised, I guess that’s probably why. I doubt it, tho. Good teams have bad games. Anyone remember how the Lakers went into Houston with a tied series? No? Yeah, you probably forgot. Because they were a championship team, and they fought through it, and when they won the championship nobody cared about them dropping home games to a clearly-not-championship-caliber Rockets team. We need to get more resilient, more rough. While I would have loved to just sweep through every round and get coronated, we all knew that wasn’t going to happen and the Cavs certainly weren’t playing well enough to deserve that kind of a result. They do need to step it up. No doubt.
But are you seriously going to jump off of liking this year’s team just because of one bad game? Come back to me if we show no heart or resolve and lose the series in five. In that case, yeah. I’d probably damn well agree, if I haven’t already had a heart attack in this depressing non-ideal world we’re considering. But I spent the season cheering hard for Delonte, LeBron, Flopsy, JJ, and Mo. I liked Tawn the minute he showed up, and while I still don’t like Shaq or Anthony Parker all that much they’re OK I guess. I don’t actively dislike anyone on the team really. Just because everyone had one bad game where they looked bad, you’re gonna hate the team we’ve loved all season?
Alrighty then. Cool opinion bro, but imma just keep liking my Cavs. I’ve certainly got enough hate for the Lakers and Celts — I don’t need to harbor extra hate for my own dang team.
I remember that series. They went into Houston for game 3, won, then got DOMINATED in game 4.
I’m trying to figure out how you can hate everyone, except for LeBron, JJ and Jamario?
For everything good thing Hickson does he does about 4 bad things. ANd Jamario Moon is such an overrated everything by fans of this team it’s insane.
You’ve hated Jamison from day 1, no matter what it is he does. It isn’t his fault that he sees none of the ball in the 2nd half. People acting like Kevin Garnett is just obliterating him, when in reality Kevin Garnett is shooting an awesome 41% from the field.
The other guys I get. Mo is getting abused and Parker isinvisible unless he is making threes. Varejao, however, made himself known last game, sothat doesn’t really apply.
@Colin I don’t take back what I said for game 1. Granted, a lot of what I said was directly connected to the second half (when the Cavs were succeeding). My opinion changed some when I saw how the fans reacted to one loss. Beer bottles thrown, booing LeBron? That’s busch league stuff, and shouldn’t be the case for a championship caliber team.
While I wouldn’t throw the beer bottle, I sure as hell would have booed LeBron. Look, if a team is getting beat because they just aren’t good enough to keep up, fine, I get it. But the Cavs were getting beat because they played like they didn’t want to be there. If the team is going to show any effort at all until the game is out of reach, I would have booed like crazy.