It will be different from now on
Posted May 19th, 2006 by Brian Windhorst
When the Yankees lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series in 2003, Buster Olney wrote a book called the Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty. It is an examination of how the Yankees had finished their run of titles due to a variety of reasons including age, ego and death of prospects.
There is a strong possibility that what happened at the Palace the other night will in the future be described as the First Night of the Cavalier Dynasty. It may not start this year, in fact, I would not be surprised in the least if the Pistons rally back as they’ve done the past two seasons from 3-2 deficits. But make no mistake, the torch has been lit.
Things are going to be different from now to the foreseeable future with the Cavs. They are ready to move into the NBA’s elite. First, LeBron James will sign his extension. Second, the Cavs will instantly become a hotbed for free agents, players will soon be taking less money to come to town. When disgruntled veterans like Alonzo Mourning or Michael Finley or Gary Payton demand to let out of their contracts like they do, they will be interested in coming to the Cavs. Third, the team’s critical parts will only get better after having gone through a playoff season. Fourth, Quicken Loans Arena will become one of the toughest buildings to play in based on the momentum created in the postseason.
There are no guarantees, of course. There are no longer any limits, either.
By the way, apparently there’s still a writer banging away on his laptop in the darkened Verizon Center.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I like how you use the term “writer” and not “reporter” or “journalist”. That guy makes Roger Brown look like a Pulitzer Prize winner.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Can’t believe that guy is still at it.
I’m really interested in seeing what will happen with free agents in the next few years. Any amusing early predictions?
May 19th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Ben Wallace.
you did say “amusing”
May 20th, 2006 at 8:57 am
If “The Q” is to become one of the toughest places to play, then they better change the name. Maybe “The Z” since he personifies lock down defense!
May 20th, 2006 at 11:13 am
How does this Tom Knott guy have a job? His columns are not even remotely close to good journalism. His Columns are more like a 12 year old kid wining because he lost at Candystand to his brother. The fact that he is still complaining about Lebron about 2 weeks after we beat his beloved Wizards is almost sad. Someone fire him, quick, or at least show him that good journalism isnt acting like a little girl and writing a gossip column. Give me a break.
May 20th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
“good journalism” and Washington Times
don’t exactly go together. And, Moonies can’t write.
May 20th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Brian, I agree with your most recent column - that dealing with Rasheed is one of the biggest problems facing the Cavs (and all the other teams who face the Pistons). If Gooden didn’t go braindead on guarding the 3-point line, he’d get to try to deal with him more often. I think the Cavs will need to double team him, make someone else beat them, and hope that the Pistons miss their outside shots. Not a good prospect. In Game 4 and 5 when he was gimpy, they got away with single-covering him (and he didn’t play as much). But in the Pistons wins, he’s been killing them. We’ll see how he shoots tomorrow - hopefully bad.
One correction to your article, though: the Pistons are not 4-0 in their last 4 game sevens. They lost their last game 7 to the Spurs last year. Did you mean game 7’s at home? Either way, tomorrow afternoon is going to tough. LeBron has looked tired at the end of the past few games. No surprise, with no suitable backup and all his playoff minutes. I think we should be complaining that the Clips/Suns got 3 days off for a game 7 and the national networks gave the Cavs/Pistons one day off. Though I can guess which game will draw better.
Here’s to a great year for the Cavs - hope they somehow, someway, miraculously come up the win tomorrow.
May 21st, 2006 at 4:26 am
BW,
Perhaps in a future blog, could clarify the rumor about Lebron’s Nike endorsement contract and if it pays him more if he plays in NY/LA/CHI, etc?
This on the heels of the Rob Parker’s story on http://www.detnews.com.
Thnx
May 21st, 2006 at 5:34 am
I saw the Parker story too and it states that the $100 million Nike contract doubles if LeBron moves to one of those three cities. That’s nothing to sneeze at, if true. Somehow, the story seemed bogus.
It will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments Mike Brown makes today. It took Saunders an awful long time to respond to Brown’s earlier adjustments. If I were a Piston’s fan, I wouldn’t count on Saunders coming up with any good counter moves during game seven.
It looks to me like Marshall plays Rasheed best in the low post but Wallace is so tall that it’s almost impossible to guard him on threes. Varejao will foul out in about 15 minutes if he has to guard Wallace much.
Gooden might have to play more, though I wonder what would happen if LeBron guarded Rasheed for short periods–maybe LeBron could front Wallace in the post and deny him the ball outside. With Hughes back to guard Prince at times, that different look might work for a few minutes here and there.
May 21st, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Yeah, I’ll say it, I told you so. But hey, it’s the same thing with the Wizards. What I mean is, the Cavs made some great acquistions in the off season, but it’s still a matter of LeBron is the only brain at Cleveland and Gilbert the only one at Washington. The funny thing about both situations is, both guys blew it for their teams, but yet both will want more money for next season. I may have been a bit brash about the LeBron at the free throw line with Gilbert thing; but the more I think about it, those two should be on the same team. Cleveland needs a little more help with players, and Washington needs a coach that will not depend on Gilbert alone.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:29 am
I’d trade the whole Cavs roster for Arenas at this point, GNF-Murray. Does Bob Ferry still have any pull down there?
One item that is getting tiresome in the ABJ is the tendency to blame Mike Brown for all of the Cavs’ offensive woes. The team missed a ton of open shots and layups throughout the playoffs, and I’m fairly certain Brown never told his players to settle for bad three pointers or stand around and watch LeBron; those are tendencies the Cavs have been fighting all year.
Brown did a great job juggling big men(though I thought the team’s best rebounder should have played more in the last two games) and working with an anemic backcourt. And the defense was surprisingly strong. It wasn’t too long ago that the Pistons had to hold teams to 90 points or so to win.
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:30 am
Of course I meant the whole Cavs roster minus LeBron!
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:31 am
^^^ I was gonna SAY!!!! =)
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Maybe it’s my antihistamine overdose talking, but what does “GNF-Murray” mean? Are you comparing ABJ sportswriters to Murray from the “Mary Tyler Moore Show?” That would be “MTM-Murray.” So I don’t get it. Explain. Please.
Also, while it’s on my mind, why was Damon Jones on the court at any time during the playoffs, whether against Washington or Detroit? It’s simply agonizing watching that guy, whether it’s on offense or defense. It’s damn close to playing four against five. I realize Pavlovic will never be Drazen Petrovic, but he’s superior to Jones in every way, shape and form. It’s dopey to blame Brown because he wasn’t given players, but he did make a mistake by making Jones part of the rotation as opposed to Pavlovic.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:54 pm
I meant GFN-Murray, the D.C. fellow who commented immediately before my post.
But you bring up an interesting point. I might not trade D. Jones for MTM’s Murray, but I think Ted Baxter’s schtick would go over pretty well in the Cavs locker room.
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Jeez, I really did OD. Tom Reed’s column from a few days ago is right — Benadryl really does make you play in a fog. I just now realized there’s a guy posting that goes by the name of GNF-Murray. So forget my question.
By the way, I do agree with Brian that James will re-up this summer. But not because James thinks he can win in Cleveland or because of fear of injury. But only because Isiah Thomas has created payroll chaos that won’t be settled down for a few more years, and because Kobe Bryant is only 28. James won’t have better options within two years, so might as well get a fat pay raise now rather than play for comparative chump change for two years and wait for options that won’t otherwise exist.
But in five years, it should be perfect timing. James will only be 26. But Bryant will be 33, Thomas will be gone and the Nets will be playing in a new arena in Brooklyn. My money is on a new Cavs contract in 2006 and a new Knicks contract in 2011.
May 23rd, 2006 at 8:55 am
Whoops. Sorry, Murray. I flip-flopped your initials. No disrespect. That was the print equivalent of Damon Jones accidentally wearing L’eggs on one leg, and Hanes on the other.
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:39 am
By the way, Mur, it wasn’t Benadryl. It was Sudafed. Although it may have been Claritin. I can’t be sure, because the Claritin looks like lithium, the Sudafed looks like Xanax, and the Benadryl looks like Levitra. I take so many pills that my kishkes have shpilkes, and I tend to fall asleep in
May 23rd, 2006 at 10:34 am
No, Schumucker/Taint/Identity Du Jour. It actually was Benadryl. Generic. Sam’s Club house brand, truthfully. No joke.
Loved the Yiddish references. You’re the man.
May 24th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
You guys are a trip, lol. Alan Tucker, larry d, you guys are hilarious, If you had your own website of commentary I would make it a point to sign up to become a member. I’m glad you guys have a sense of humor. “GFN” isn’t any wordsy thing in relation to Mary Tyler more, or sportswriters or anything like that. I have an online racing league called GFN. I don’t know if you guys have been to any dirt track races, but we basically race dirt “Late Models”, “Modifieds”, and “Nascar” style cars. GFN is also the first three letters of my email address, so I just use it to sign into everything. What do the letters G F N stand for? Well, it’s fitting if you’re a Wizards or Cavs fan….Grand Funeral Nation. I live it every year during playoffs, lmao.