All those tattoos prepared him for this
Posted May 31st, 2007 by Brian Windhorst
Auburn Hills, Mich. — So I was wrong guessing Larry Hughes was taking a handful of Advil and limping around out there for Game 5. I asked him about the foot this morning at shootaround at the lovely Palace of Auburn Hills and he told me he’s getting injections of Cortisone and Novocaine so he can limp out there and he’s planning on doing it again tonight.
Here’s how the conversation went:
Me: Does it work?
Larry: Not really. I’m doing more for the next day to reduce the pain then.
Me: How do you weigh doing this thinking long-term?
LH: I have been thinking about it, after tonight I’m going to have to revisit it. I don’t want to continue to keep the injections going.
Me: Do you have to look away when they’re sticking a needle in your foot?
LH: They told me to look away but you see my body art. I’m not afraid of needles. I looked a little bit then held my head back.
Yikes. Call him fragile, but don’t call him soft.
By the way, I have no idea who will win tonight because these games have been too close to call. But I can tell you the Detroit media, which in general is passionately in love with their team, has some doubters. Then again, some fully believe even without real reasons why.
May 31st, 2007 at 10:45 am
“And for those sports-talk radio heads screaming that the sky is falling: Relax. No one picked the Pistons to sweep this best-of-seven, Eastern Conference finals series against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.” - Rob Parker
Uh, do they not have cable TV in Michigan Rob? Virtually EVERYONE in the national media was picking Detroit to either sweep or, at worst, win in 5.
Pay attention.
How great it would be to leave all those Pistons apologists shaking their heads as the Cavs advance to the Finals.
Go Cavs!
May 31st, 2007 at 10:54 am
First off, Doc, that Q & A in the last post was hilarious! As for Hughes, all I can say is that Brian, after the season is done, hopefully you can offer your consolation to Danny Ferry as to the failure of the Larry Hughes project, just as you did about playing the Pistons and the Cavs’ growing pains. Lastly, as for “Mr. Big Shot” himself, one angle I hadn’t even considered is how this series might affect him financially. Here’s what I’m talking about:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=2885673
Nothing would make me happier than Chauncey continuing to fumble around and not bringing his “A” game, except Rasheed’s ape-sweat-laden jersey flying into Billups’ face next time.
May 31st, 2007 at 11:06 am
Also, thanks for the link to Rob Parker’s article. This guy demonstrates a blinder faith than our own Reverend Pluto. However, as inane as his article was before the series started (stating the Cavs were merely a “speedbump”) http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/SPORTS08/705210387/1127
his most recent article shows an even greater stupidity. I mean it’s hard to predict who will win this at this point, but for Parker to continue to harp that the Cavs are merely nothing, he actually deserves Rasheed’s jersey in the face.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I just did a couple posts over at my blog about Parker (I know, I know… shameless promotion of my blog):
http://thecavsblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-parker-my-lease-favorite-sports.html
The funny thing is not only did he put his foot in his mouth by calling the Cavs a “bump in the road” but also after Game 3 he was praising Rasheed for being so “calm, cool, and collected.” This before his meltdown at the end of Game 4 of course. High Comedy.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Two things have been bugging me about this series.
1. As noted above, (thanks for the links, BW & Geddy), the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit media have been essentially saying, “The Pistons just need to play up to their potential and they’ll beat the Cavs.”
But what they all fail to realize is that the Cavs (in games 1-3) didn’t play to their potential, either. They all assume it’s just about Detroit playing better, regardless of the opponent they’ll face. (How stupid is THAT? I think Dallas was guilty of such egocentrism, too. And we all saw how that worked out.)
2. The other thing that annoys me is all this talk about how even if the Cavs lose this series, they win because it’s a step forward in experience and respect. Windhorst has been selling us this “big-picture” nonsense for weeks.
I believe he used the example of the Pistons taking their lumps for a few years and then moving on to an elite level. Before that, Jordan’s Bulls took their medicine from the Pistons and then became elite.
This is DANGEROUS THINKING. I bet a lot of people thought the same thing about Kevin Garnett’s 2004 Timberwolves. Or about the 1992 Cavaliers.
I hope I’m wrong, but it’s possible the Cavs could lose this series and fail to make it out of the 2nd round for the next decade. They need to win NOW. I’m tired of hearing people talk about the Cavs as if a 3rd place finish somehow guarantees them a spot in next year’s Finals.
PS: Alan Tucker, we’re all very worried about you. Please write soon and let us know you’re alive. Otherwise, we’ll have to assume your body is stuffed in a crawl-space in JoeHoops’ basement.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:08 pm
The Cavs are a worse team with Hughes playing instead of Gibson, so Larry should just stay on the bench.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Hey just found you guys. BIG FAN of KING JAMES…! I’ve got Cleveland winning tonight!
The Rook Point Guard will get some good playing time and he is NO JOKE!!!
I like Larry Hughes but he has Grant Hill Disease.
You guys might like my support of King James below.
http://blacksportsguy.blogspot.com/2007/05/king-james-cavs-eastern-conference.html
May 31st, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Some thoughts:
-Chauncey Billups is one arrogant SOB - with an air about him, he claimed that he wouldn’t be receiving so much heat about being mr. big shot if he hadn’t “not ever missed at the end of games” Help! I rolled my eyes back so far they got stuck…
-Tayshaun Prince seems like a humble guy - he gives credit where credit is due and even conceded that the Pistons definitely didn’t respect Cleveland enough.
-Rasheed Wallace gets more love from Refs than any guy in the league. Throwing your headband is an automatic T - it’s been that way for a while - this was not a JUDGEMENT technical. It boggles my mind how often he shows up the refs and proportionately speaking, how low his T-count is.
-BW is enabling Bill Simmons to engage in an all out hate-fest against Cleveland and LeBron. He (Simmons)wrote a piece of shit article before the all-star break saying in essence that: LeBron was doing everything he could to get Mike Brown fired, and that his fall from grace would be the dominant theme at the end of the season. Well, now that LeBron preaches defense at EVERY interview and his 4th quarter performances in the last two games have been legendary it’s safe to say that Simmons’ predictions haven’t come true - Bill can’t afford to go back on his work, so he continues to propagate the bullshit that LeBron rarely goes 100% and that this series has been boring to watch (he actually compared it to the WNBA) So BW, if Simmons is going to use you as a Cavalier reference, stop letting him piss on Cleveland.
-LeBron is too passive is really starting to get to me. Here’s the thing: LeBron doesn’t try to SHOOT HIMSELF OUT OF BAD GAMES. If his shot isn’t falling or he isn’t getting the calls, he looks to his teammates. This isn’t a bad thing. Jason Kidd gets praised for this on a regular basis. So what if he’s a great offensive player, the media loves when he goes 10 10 and 10. When LeBron goes 18 12 and 9 it’s like a crime compared to him going 30 6 and 2 with 5 Turnovers. Basically, there are people that don’t like the attention LeBron gets to they FIND A REASON to hate on him.
-The difference in game 3 as opposed to games 1 and 2 is that Detroit played much better offensively but LeBron made jumpshots with INSANE degrees of difficulty that put the Cavs over the hump. The only thing different about LeBron was that he was reluctant to shoot outside in games 1 and 2 and in game 3 he said “Screw it I’m taking these step back 3s” - and he made them.
-Detroit has not been the better team in any of these games, which is unfortunate since they are still in great position to win the series.
-I think the winner of this series may surprise some people against San Antonio. Intelligent basketball people will pick the Spurs to sweep and I don’t think that will happen.
-It IS dangerous to talk about growth and look past this year, however, in addition to franchise growth I see lots of signs of player growth. Boobie is only going to get better, Sasha has made remarkable progress and will continue to, Gooden is showing us good things, and Mike Brown has found a way to get good things out of Eric Snow and Anderson Varajeo who are by most accounts, offensive liabilities. Mike Brown has specifically stated (not that we didn’t notice) that he never worked much on offense this offseason and that he needs to improve it. If they can maintain this level of defensive intensity and become more fluid, less unpredictable on offense, they will be a much better team.
-No one is mentioning LeBron’s defense. When he took over the league in 2006 it was hard for haters to write anything meaningful against him except his on-ball D. He has really improved and is finding ways to use his size, strength, and quickness to make life hell on guys like Prince and Billups.
-If the Cavs don’t win this series - Cleveland is really going to feel the pain. And all the national media is going to do is talk about how LeBron is a choker and how the pistons just never flipped the switch. ::SHUDDERS::
May 31st, 2007 at 4:55 pm
hey tom, cleveland will win this series, they will say like muhammad ali, “I SHOOK UP THE WORLD”, but by a slim chance they do not win I for one will be very upset, im not happy with taking det. to the limit, they put themselves in a position to win this series and any thing less will be unacceptable. Im not into all that moral victory for next year, next year is now.
May 31st, 2007 at 6:46 pm
OK, we are keeping it close. NOW LETS SEE IF WE CAN ACTUALLY SCORE 20 OR MORE POINTS IN THE 3RD QUARTER!!!
May 31st, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Its halftime and this is so awesome, this game is ours for the taking, all we have to do is grab it. Detriot sucks and it shows, and they are playing nervous. one thing we have to do is watch the drive and dish when z or gooden leaves there man and he ends up getting the ball for a slam. they had about 4 of those in the first half, but we have to put the clamps on that. FELLOWS, ARE U READY FOR THE FINALS, BABY THIS IS IT, WE WILL PREVAIL.
May 31st, 2007 at 7:47 pm
OKAY NOW LET’S SEE IF THE REFS WILL CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE FOULS THE CAVS ARE COMMITTING!!!!11 Maybe the refs will eject another Piston on another BS call. Maybe then we’ll have a chance to steal this one!!111111 Thank goodness the rules don’t apply to Lebron!!111 He’s so great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH73R9GIbXg
May 31st, 2007 at 7:52 pm
The Pistons are going to win another game because of the REFS! Sheed gets ALL ARM on LeBron and then HE gets the call at the other end. Then Pavlovic gets called for an offensive foul when all he did was SPIN! We’ve gotten screwed out of 3 calls in 1 minute! Went from UP 1 to DOWN 5!!!!! UNREAL!!!!
May 31st, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I sent a mold of Lebron’s penis for Marv Albert to suck on during TV timeouts. I bet he thanks me on air at the end of the game tonight.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Hey Tom, you lost all credibility when you wrote “Rasheed Wallace gets more love from the refs than any guy in the league.” BWHAAHAA!!!11 Sorry buddy, but that distinction clearly belongs to Lebron “the rules don’t apply to me” James.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Lebron wanted a foul?!? Lebron wanted a foul?!?!? HHAAAAHAAAHAAA. Proof positive that he thinks the rules don’t apply to him.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:45 pm
this officating is sucking in the ot”s
May 31st, 2007 at 8:47 pm
know way in the 1st ot did andy foul rasheed, and lebron is playing a hell of a game but the last shot in the 1st ot he should of drove to the basket its 130 left in the second ot, we will prevail
May 31st, 2007 at 8:58 pm
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, MARK MY POST CAVS SPURS FINAL.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:59 pm
THAT WAS THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA! SLEEP WELL TONIGHT LeBRON!!!!!!! CLEVELAND LOVES YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 31st, 2007 at 9:00 pm
THIS IS AWESOME, MAN LEBRON PLAYED HIS ASS OFF, THE REF, TRIED TO GIVE IT TO THE PISTONS BUT THEY DID NOT WANT IT.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:01 pm
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOWWOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW
HOWS THAT FOR A GAME TUCKER????
May 31st, 2007 at 9:12 pm
LeBRON is the ONLY PLAYER ON PLANET EARTH THAN CAN END THE CLEVELAND CURSE!!!!!!!!!!!! IT STARTS TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!
May 31st, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Holy Crap, BW may be the luckiest man alive because he gets to put that game into words the way he does so well.
I’m near tears of joy right now, amazing.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Witness…
May 31st, 2007 at 9:30 pm
LeBron…wow. That’s the only thing that can describe his performance tonight. If only BW had been live blogging this game for the ages…
May 31st, 2007 at 11:15 pm
you are all summons to appear in court. BECAUSE YOU WERE ALL WITNESSED TO THE BEST BASKETBALL GAME IN CLEVELAND SPORTS HISTORY.
May 31st, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Dude - that was the best game in BASKETBALL History.
June 1st, 2007 at 1:11 am
Jeremy? Want me to make you some warm milk while you lie down?
June 1st, 2007 at 4:43 pm
AHEM.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/17276170.htm
June 12th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
OOMG Why doesnt anyone take that mop headed douche bag scrub out the game? hes horrible. plain and simple. scrub.