Cavs 113, Bobcats 108, 2OT
–This game was a like a mini-series. There are so many wild and clutch moments to talk about and recap that I just don’t have the energy. In my mind there were five huge moments:
1. LeBron wins jumpball when the Bobcats should’ve had the ball with a chance to win it. Refs didn’t know who to give it, too, but it was out off LeBron. Yes, they would have had to go the length of the floor in five seconds but…
2. Raymond Felton nails 3-pointer with .3 left in regulation to force OT. Right over Larry Hughes. And all the Bobcats had was five seconds.
3. Nazr Mohammed fouls out on a dumb play in first overtime. He had 21 points and 15 rebounds and was killing the Cavs inside.
4. Daniel Gibson’s steal with a minute left in first OT. After Damon Jones missed a wide open 3, Boobie’s hustle got the Cavs another possession and Damon another shot from the same spot, which he made.
5. Damon’s 3-pointer to clinch it with 1:25 left in second overtime.
–No doubt in my mind the Bobcats just ran out of gas. Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace and Felton all played more than 50 minutes. Their legs went on the jumpers in the second OT. No Cavs played more than LeBron, who logged 49 minutes. Richardson, by the way, started 6-of-7 and finished 1-of-19. Think about that for a moment.
–Larry Hughes had 16 points and some nice defense. We were all rooting for him to outscore Saint Louis’ 20 points from last night. (SLU is where Larry played for a year). By the way, I asked him before the game about the historic low, he had no idea. Larry is a little aloof when it comes to the media, so create all the websites you want, he doesn’t even know much less care.
–Andy Varejao wins a purple heart for having his leg wrapped in hose and padding and playing one of the best games of his career over 42 minutes. His activity made a difference.
–According to Elias Sports Bureau, no one in NBA history has had at least 31 points, 19 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in a game as LeBron did. Don’t forget the eight turnovers, though. Still, I think his favorite moment of the night was in the first half when he dunked on Mohammed’s head. Payback for the finger injury?
–Too bad about Felton’s ankle. It looked really bad and you hate to see that. Looked like a freak thing, though. Cavs were talking about it in the locker room after the game, Felton was just getting out of their x-ray room in the locker room when the Cavs got in there. He wasn’t able to walk.
–Doesn’t this Bobcats team look like it should be better than 13-22? Consider Adam Morrison and Sean May should be with this team. Don’t know enough what the issues are.
–This was the first time in 13 games the Cavs have scored a 100 points and that was a double OT game vs. Indiana. Bad offense, right? Guess what, Cavs are 9-4 in those 13 games.
Tonight’s recap
Pregame
Starting lineup
Bobcats: Jeff McInnis, Raymond Felton, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor
Cavs: Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Officials
Ron Garrettson, Mark Lindsay, Derrick Collins
–The Bobcats are playing awfully small these days, but it has been working. They’ve had big man issues all season so now they are just rolling with it. Worked in Boston the other night.
–I actually like some of the ‘Cats, loyal blog readers know I think Wallace is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. Plus I’ve always liked Felton.
–Appears Anderson Varejao is going to play, that is important against the Bobcats the way they play.
Halftime — Cavs 58, Bobcats 51
–Bobcats made a bunch of jumpers in the first quarter and scored 37 points, missed a bunch of them in the second quarter and scored 14. That’s what happens when you play chuck and dunk basketball.
–Major difference in the second quarter was the way the small group pushed the ball after the rebounds. In the first six minutes of the second quarter the Cavs scored 10 fastbreak point and Anderson Varejao had seven points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a +11 on plus/minus. He obviously made a big impact. Then the starters came back in and the game got ugly again.
–Cavs have 11 turnovers, but it has only cost them seven points. Why? Because the Bobcats have been shooting jumpers on fastbreaks.
–Ilgauskas has been very active tonight with 10 points and six rebounds in the first, he’d been in a bit of a slump.
Postgame
Stars
LeBron James, 31 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, four steals
Anderson Varejao, 16 points, 18 rebounds
Gerald Wallace, 27 points, 12 rebounds
Nazr Mohammed, 21 points, 15 rebounds
Quotes:
Mike Brown: Literally nothing worth reporting.
LeBron: “Their team made play after play and we did a good job of getting the stops we needed and we made big shots.”
DJones: On the 3-pointers in the first overtime: “I’ve missed a lot of shots in my career and I’ve made a lot, too. I’ll take my chances on making 50 percent.”
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wallace is a beast and richardson shoots the lights out. this should be a good game.
i would say that between okafor and nazr, the bobcats big man situation is just fine. until Z finds his jumper, we’re the ones with the problem.
larry 4-8 at the half !!????
pavlovic still starts?? ferry hasnt made a move? same old same old!! BOOOOOOOOOOO
Thank goodness Hughes was out there tonight. Damon Jones, too, he made a shot now trade him. I love Mike Brown and Larry Hughes
the more this team win ballgames, the less desire dferry have to make a move, thats why the best option for this team is to lose ball games…..grace and peace billy
Wow no stoppin LBJ anymore. I like the six(?) guys in double figures – reminds me of the OLD days with Price et al.
Why does Lebron shoot so many threes? Would it be wrong of me to run onto the court and punch him in the face after each one? Does he realize he’s not a good 3 point shooter?
I heard Richardson was hanging out with Hughes on Thursday…
these comments baffle me more every time i waste my time reading them. i need to stop my eyes from reading past bw’s coherent thoughts and into la-la land
James was fouled on that loose ball. When a player is running straight ahead and then a player dives from the side and takes out his legs that is usually called a foul in the NBA and NFL. Carroll not only clipped him but as he rolled over he grabbed James’ leg.
The ref was right there and blew not one but two clear and obvious fouls.
I notice that Cedric Simmons and his macaw-like “wingspan” have made their return back from the Akron Aeros, or wherever the Cavs’ little league team is located. Which I presume is a foreshadowing of Gooden’s departure within the next 40 days.
Can’t wait to see who Ferry acquires to blend with LeBron’s athleticism. Perhaps he’ll lure Kenny Anderson, Gheorghe Muresan and Clark Kellogg out of retirement.
Not only did he take out his legs, Mike. Carroll grabbed LeBron’s foot at the end to make sure LeBron hit the deck. Shoulda been a throw down.
Three things I can’t resist commenting on:
1. You are the worst type of sports fan if you are actually rooting for your team to lose, with the only possible exception if they have a shot at a franchise making player. Please go away and don’t come back. Please.
2. You are also an idiot if you boo your team when they are playing well, because you don’t like the GM.
3. Lebron James is become the best closing player in the NBA. From the fourth quarter on, he did it with threes, drives, steals, blocks, rebounds, passing, and even winning a jump ball. If you are really going to take the time to sit there and write this blog complaining about his shot selection because he missed a one three pointer, you are also an idiot.
A good win but the negative vibe continues.
The more I read about Larry Hughes the less I like him. Isn’t he from St. Louis? Why give his hometown alma mater (if you can call a school that after attending one year) the sluff off? He didn’t seem that disinterested in the media after his little brother died. I know that’s nasty to say, but it’s true.
Simmons seems to be about as fragile as Hughes, Varejao’s gone in a year or so, Z’s getting older before our eyes and big men don’t fall off trees. How can they trade Gooden for a small player?
BW reports the Cavs game against the Nuggets is off national TV, the third time that’s happened so far this season. I wonder what LeBron and his friends at Nike think?
Andy is just the shit. That guy is an animal out there. He’s all over the place. I wish Wallace would have taken a swing at him when Andy got in his face…. would have been a nice little rumble.
On a sad note, I hate to see SHannon Brown sent to the D League. I miss his monster dunks.
Andy is soo goooddd!!!
He play with the heart in his hands
wow , you have one of the most advertised and marketable athlete in all of sports on your team and you lose 3 nationally televised games that you were scheduled to appear . that says a lot about that team (the roster make up) and the style of basketball they play(it’s not fan friendly), that does not look good for gm ferry and coach brown
it’s hard to be global icon when you’re games are not broadcast nationally . losing 3 nationally scheduled games is a direct reflection on ferry and brown
–Doesn’t this Bobcats team look like it should be better than 13-22? Consider Adam Morrison and Sean May should be with this team. Don’t know enough what the issues are.
I know what it is… J-Mac .. haha, this dude is a cancer! What is Jordan and the Bobcats thinking having him run the team?
With that said, he is still probably the last good point guard the cavs have had since we didnt re-sign him. That speaks volumes of Danny Ferry not even making an attempt on signing a pure vet pg in the off-season the last two years instead of combo guards (weasly and brown)
a win is a win is a win and i’ll take it. that being said, how about that 11-point 3rd quarter??? woo-hoo!!! and who played the majority of that 3rd quarter in the backcourt??? yes, their 2 worst shooters, larry & sasha. any questions??? the 3rd quarter “production” has been a bone of contention for the cavs all season long and they don’t appear to be doing anything about it whatsoever. in fact, it almost looks like it’s getting worse with each passing game. it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s wrong. just because larry and sasha start the game, doesn’t mean they have to start the 3rd quarter too, does it??? how many times have the cavs fallen into a big hole in the 3rd quarter thanx to the lackluster play of larry & sasha only to have the energy bench bunch (boobie, devin, andy, damon) come in and bail them out??? here’s an idea, why not sit larry & sasha for the first 5 to 7 minutes of the 3rd quarter, then bring them in off the bench when the other team brings in their bench bunch??? that way, the momentum will have already been built up and the cavs wouldn’t have to dig themselves out of these large holes going into the 4th quarter like they usually have. here’s another idea, how about signing free agent earl boykins to a veteran minimum contract and bring him in off the bench in the 3rd quarter to provide some instant offense??? what’s it going to hurt??? yes the cavs will have to pay a dollar-for-dollar luxury tax, but so what???
If Lebron keeps playing like this, I think he will definitely win the MVP this season. He is doing something this year that he got criticized for not doing in the past…. winning games for us in the 4th quarter. He’s definitely Mr. 4th Quarter now and lets hope it continues!
Lebron for MVP!!!
Umm, do macaws have big wingspans? I don’t get that alan.
Lebron should’ve been MVP at least once in the past two years, so I see no reason why he shouldn’t get screwed again.
Booing the boys cuz Ferry is a dope sucks, but Ferry is an idiot. He ruined the Cavs for 12 years, by my watch, during his first stint here. It was like having Damon Jones or Eric Snow making MAX money for like 10 years and Larry Hughes has way more trade value than he ever did. Sorry, kiddies, it’s true, I know it doesn’t fit into your ‘heylarryhugheswhywon’tyouhitonmyskankymomwhenshejumpsyou?.com’ generation views, but I couldn’t believe it when Ferry came back to town and didn’t get run out. I’m surprised George Karl isn’t our coach. OH I better not go there, cuz THANK GOD Larry Brown never got his paws on this team.
Anyways, the point is, Ferry sucks, always has, Cleveland has always suffered with him around and always will.
How about a point guard before LBJ turns 30? Jesus
I don’t want to be negative -I really swear I don’t. But even when he isn’t having his typical sloppy game, Larry Hughes still finds a way to hurt the Cavs. He is supposed to be a defensive specialist yet he applied token pressure on Raymond Felton allowing the little guy momentum for the three point shot and overtime. And previously when he got the tap from the Lebron-Nazr jumball, if he was thinking at all, he could have at least try to run away from the Bobcats who were clearly out to foul him and kill precious seconds. Instead, he just froze out there and let the Bobcats foul him immediately. And don’t let that 16 points fool you, he still hoisted a lot of knucklehead jumpers he has absolutely no business taking. Now that he scored 16 points, please trade him immediaely before he comes back to hurt the Cavs again in the play-offs.
Cavs-Nuggets off national television? That’s the best news I’ve heard today. Anyone that enjoys watching games on tnt,abc or espn probably also likes playing tackle football on blacktop with no helmet.
JoeHoops, what’s up with your obsession over Brown’s dunks? he’s as useless to the cavs as alan t. is to society. i’m sure that mcdonald’s commercial of brown dunking a mcnugget gets you all hot and bothered or whatever, but realistically he’s simply a wasted first round pick at this point.
remember gerald wilkins (dominique’s lesser genetic half)? another great dunker, but he was never all that helpful to the team.
Jim, my point was that Simmons is yet another member of Ferry’s merry band of stiffs that the local media tries to pump up as something far more than he’ll ever be is, this while an NBA franchise’s national games featuring the great LeBron James incredibly are being cancelled. (This NEVER happened with Jordan, even when his sole help was Orlando Woolridge. Indeed, it was simply inconceivable). If we’re lucky, the paperback edition of Pluto’s and Windy’s book will feature a chapter describing Phil Knight and other top Nike execs putting a Mafia hit on Ferry.
With that being said, to directly answer your question, yes, the macaws DO have big wingspans, Jim. Very big. I didn’t intend to turn this into Jack Hanna’s blog, but you asked. I have two parrots, one of which is a blue & gold macaw, and her wingspan is frighteningly gargantuan. Look on the Internet and try to find a video of one in full flight. HUGE wingspan. She is Cedric Simmons with a major league beak and a minor league salary that doesn’t expire in 2009. High basketball IQ, too. I taught her how to shoot a mini-basketball into a mini-hoop. Let’s see Simmons or Larry Hughes do that. I don’t think so.
ttss, I have been eating a lot of chicken mcnuggets lately so maybe that commercial has brainwashed me into liking both Browns dunks AND those wonderful little chicken creations.
Speaking of the book, I wonder how Ferry’s recent performance has affected its sales. Too bad the team sucked so bad during the heavy book-buying Christmas season.
What, JoeHoops, you think Cedric Simmons and his gigantic macaw-like wingspan is almost as good as the great monster-dunking Shannon Brown?
I think this blog should have some kind of contest to determine whether Simmons or Hughes is going to be the next guy to miss a game because of injury. As dainty as Simmons appears to be, my money will still be riding on Hughes.
By the way, it’s not the least bit politically correct to say, but larry d. hit the nail squarely on the head when he described a fact that seems curiously way too self-serving for anybody’s good taste: “He didn’t seem that disinterested in the media after his little brother died. I know that’s nasty to say, but it’s true.”
I’ve been thinking the same thing about that book’s sales. I’m guessing Ferry’s performance caused it to be DOA. If life is fair, Ferry will pay his two homies the royalties they’ve lost.
Speaking of that book, is the little local yokel publisher so small and underfunded that they can’t afford a competent editor? Ever since he made the mistake of leaving Simon & Schuster to sign with Cleveland sandlot publisher Gray & Company, all of Pluto’s books have been consistently riddled with egregious spelling errors, punctuation errors and poorly-written sentences. Amateur hour. Please go back to Simon & Schuster, Terry. It’s embarrassing.
Also, I’m curious as to how Windy reconciles writing that Hughes is “aloof” with the media when, as a member of the local chapter of the Pro Basketball Writers Association, he voted for Hughes to receive the Austin Carr Good Guy Award. This award, according to a Cavs flack, “was designed to recognize the Cavaliers player who is cooperative and understanding of the media, the community and the public.” Perhaps Windy got his Austin Carr Good Guy Award vote confused with his vote for the Albert Belle Aloof Award.
Hughes is a strange bird. I wish he were better at basketball.
I wish Hughes would get in a barfight or something in the warehouse district so that ferry would be just as anxious to ship him off to albuquerque or rio grande or wherever.
does anyone even go to these stupid-ass d-league games? hell there have to be more fans in the arena for wnba games than this crap. iowa, idaho, sioux falls, tulsa?!? fine places to research for native american history, but hardly bastions of basketball.
i really believe that the cavs are going to stand pat this year and let contracts fall off the books over the next 2 years….then in the year before Lebrons last year they will make some big free agent signings…..the question is will it be to late to keep the global icon happy…if by chance they do make a move this season, it will be a minor move…nothing to get excited about but enough for the fans to say, “its about time”, ……GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY
A few Monday thoughts on a Friday game:
- I’ll let Raymond Felton take a last second, pull-up three off a dead sprint to tie the game any day of the week. Hughes even seemed to put his leg out underneath Felton to get into his head, but Felton still made the shot. Felton is much more dangerous passing in that situation, as he proved by missing his jumper at the end of the first overtime. Badly.
- You know a team is injury-depleted when Jeff McInnis is getting starts. According to some reports, McInnis has been starting because Sam Vincent thinks that Felton is at his best when he’s not the primary ballhandler. I like Felton, but if you are 6′1”, 180, and your head coach doesn’t think you have point guard skills, you are not an NBA player that can start on a winning team.
- The Cavs didn’t want to send Shannon Brown to the D-League. He requested the move, and the team acquiesced. I’m sure he has been throwing down some of his trademark dunks on superstars like Kevin Pittsnogle and Alondo Tucker of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, who beat the Rio Grande Valley Vipers last night. The aforementioned Shannon Brown missed 1 of 2 free throws with 2.8 seconds left in the game, which left the door open for Pittsnogle to win it on a buzzer-beating tip.
- The Rio Grande Valley Vipers’ dance team is called the Snake Charmers, and a fun-loving snake mascot called Fang. I love the minor league vibe of these NBDL teams.
- Pittsnogle is still a funny name.
- I have no idea why national TV would be shying away from the Cavaliers and LeBron, given that the team has won its last 3 games on national TV against the Lakers, Heat and Mavericks. Yes, the Christmas game was awful, but those other games were good. Seems like bad, reactionary programming by people who thought fans wanted to watch the Hornets beat the Heat by 26 last Friday.
- Anyone who hasn’t driven 100 MPH at least once is either a pansy or a liar. He shouldn’t have done it, and he should get his ticket, but let’s not go crazy.
Go Cavs. Hopefully this long break is helping.
Mike C.
Cant sit on the “expiring contracts” (useless players?) on the roster. We need to ship them out of here before they poison the water more than they already have. There is more talent available this year at the deadline than there has been in a loooong time. Andre Miller would be a nice start, although if Michael Redd is truly availabe as I’ve been hearing, that’s a no brainer.
This thing needs a shakeup, and soon. The reason Gooden seems to be the primary guy involved in trade rumors is a) a decent player and a friendly contract and b) the guy is a knucklehead and Lebron doesnt seem to like him.
Make a move, Ferry…
I agree–letting contracts expire so you can sign free agents is a fool’s game.
Gooden’s biggest problem is the fact that he can’t catch the ball and finish strong. If the Cavs had big fellows who could, LeBron would average 10 assists a game.
there goes the neighborhood, the cavs extended mike brown contract, this ship is sunk. GRACE AND PEACE BILLY
what is the purpose of shipping one useless player away for another, we will not get anybody good for the useless players that we have. come on fellow open up your eyes. why take on more bad contracts.. be patient, we might make a move but nothing significant……grace and peace, billy