No blood, no foul in S.A.
Posted January 17th, 2008 by Brian Windhorst
Cavs 90, Spurs 88
Dealing with some computer issues, so I’m going to have to be a little brief tonight until I get it figured out.
–Let’s take a vote: How many of you thought Manu Ginobili’s jumper was going in at the buzzer? Well, everyone on the Cavs bench was ready for it after the last few games.
–Very solid win for a number of reasons. Yes, it’s the Spurs. Yes, it’s the Spurs in San Antonio, high quality. When you look at this streak of nine wins in 11 games, there’s victories over the Lakers and Warriors at home and wins in Dallas and San Antonio. I’ll be checking tomorrow whether the Cavs have ever won in Dallas and in SA in the same season. Nobody does that, much less Eastern teams. More important to the flow of the season, the Cavs continue to play well, especially in the fourth quarters. Their defense for the last four weeks has been up to their level of last season and LeBron James is playing better than ever and the results speak for themselves.
–Ok, Ok, this was one of those rare game affected by officiating. In the stretch run players from both teams were executing at a high level and the officials were blowing calls all over the place. You know I almost never, ever cite officials but tonight was different. In general, they let them play, which is good, but there were lots of mistakes. Here’s all you need to know, after the game the TNT crew was waiting for like a half hour outside the official’s locker room to get the microphone one of the refs was wearing back. The only thing I can think is they were all huddled watching the replays and probably slapping their heads. Although, after seeing it, I think they sort of evened out. Obviously LeBron barreled into Fabricio Oberto when he made the winning basket with 33 seconds left. Oberto was showing off the red mark on his chest made by LeBron’s head. But I submit there were at least six other highly questionable calls/non-calls in the final minutes, including the continuation Tony Parker was given when the game was tied with three minutes to go. Both coaches and players were lining up to complain to officials.
–The Cavs bench was excellent again. Anderson Varejao had eight rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. Daniel Gibson made another huge 3-pointer in the closing moments. Damon Jones had a few big baskets and Devin Brown’s hustle was key, too. In the second quarter the Cavs went on a 22-7 run with LeBron on the bench.
–I hear and read lots of complaining about the starting lineup. Stop worrying about it, pay attention to who finishes. Just because Sasha Pavlovic starts doesn’t mean he has a huge role. He does need to play better, but forget about the Cavs changing their lineup, they are hot and they are making no changes right now.
–There may be some lingering issues with LeBron’s ankle. You could hear him scream when he hit the floor after he landed on Parker’s ankle in the third quarter. He said afterward it was tightening up. The Cavs have three days to rest and he’ll probably need them.
–How about Ginobili and Varejao both flopping when they had the ball tonight? Classic work.
–Before the game I talked with Zydrunas Ilgauskas about the obscene gesture — oh, what the heck, this is the net — he flicked off Donyell Marshall on the bench in Memphis and it got caught on camera. I guess in practice on Monday, Z went over Donyell’s back on a rebound and ‘Yell wanted a call. Z told him he never get called for going over the back. Then Z did, for his third foul, in the second quarter against the Grizzlies. Donyell was staring at him when he came back to the bench with a smile and that was Z’s reaction. “I guess that’s the same in any language.” By the way, Z was excellent tonight on offense with 17 points and bothered Tim Duncan as much as he could on the defensive end.
Pregame
Starting lineups
Cavs: Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Spurs: Tony Parker, Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan, Fabricio Oberto
Officials
Mark Wunderlich, Marc Davis, Ed Malloy
–So Cavs still have the same problem as they did the last time they were here, there is no one to guard Tony Parker. But Parker’s had some foot problems and isn’t 100 percent…supposedly. This will be the key to the game, if they can keep him under control. He sets everything up.
–LeBron will get an extra test today, of course. He’s been great lately in mixing up his drives and jumpers but he hasn’t seen Bowen in awhile. Plus the Spurs wrote the book on how to play help defense on LeBron.
–Brent Barry is back for SA, he’s been out with a calf injury. He’s been playing great for them and spreads the defense well. Could be an X-factor.
Postgame
Stars
LeBron James, 27 points, nine rebounds, seven assists
Anderson Varejao, 12 points, 14 rebounds
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 17 points
Tim Duncan, 20 points, 11 rebounds
Manu Ginobili, 31 points
Tony Parker, 23 points, six assists
January 17th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I just don’t want to get too excited no matter what happens tonight. Didn’t we sweep the season series last year? We know San Antonio is just cruising right now.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Wow. I don’t want to get to excited, because I realize that this is the first half, San Antonio looks a little unmotivated, and the Cavs will fall apart in the 3rd, but I’m impressed with how the Cavs have played so far in the 2nd quarter without LeBron in there. DJ, DB, DG, Varejao, and Z have actually looked like an offense! Ball movement, moving without the ball– this can’t be the Cavs team that I have come to know and love…
January 17th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Sasha is a liability to this team… He provides nothing on offensively or defensively! The Cavs would be better off starting Brown.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Can we all now agree that the Spurs are dirty?!? Parker bulls that same Bowen foot sweep under a jump shooter & takes out LeBron’s ankle! What the @$@#&*?
January 17th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
ok honestly, sasha pavlovic just makes this team worse when hes on the court. Get a point guard so Hughes can slash already. When Marshall gets back in a week or so you have got to put Devin Brown in the starting lineup and just take Pavlovic totally out of the rotation. I was a fan when they finally resigned him, but seriously his game has regressed back to his rookie season before he was in Cleveland. The kid has more mental issues than a starting pitcher.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Can we get a halftime update?
January 17th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Anyone know what’s up with Shannon Brown being recalled from the D League? He was posting really good numbers there, not like he’s gonna play in Cleveland. Could they have a trade in place and don’t want to risk Brown getting hurt?
January 17th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Brian, this is one of your 5% of games that IS determined by officiating
January 17th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Boy, the refs sure are letting them play.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
nobody is getting calls either way. the officiating has been bad but at least its been even. this also has to be one of drew’s worst games of the season.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
does anyone else agree that tim duncan cannot get called for a foul and yells and cries all the time?
January 17th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Tim Duncan is hands down the biggest beatch in professional sports. For every call he cries about he easily gets away with twice as many when he hacks away on defense! Enough already… I respect the Spurs organization & what they’ve achieved but stop freakin’ crying to the refs and go out & earn it for god sakes!
January 17th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I agree w/Mtown… Duncan keeps cryin’ like a little girl. How many fouls does he get away w/on the defensive end every game, & yet he pouts & whines & throws the ball when he doesn’t get the calls he wants! The Spurs are legit, but get over yourselves already San Antonio & sack up! Quit lookin’ for the refs to bail you out every game… Go Cavs!
January 18th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Another nice win, that’s now the Celtics, Lakers, Mavs, and Spurs as good wins. It was nice to watch a game flow to the end without 25 fouls and 8 time outs.
I’m glad Brown wised up and got Sasha off the court in the end, what a disaster he is.
Brian, I would love to hear some of the inside scoop about what the Cavs are thinking with regard to Sasha. I mean, I’ve seen slumps, but he appears to have actually regressed to a point of no return, with no sign of being able to play out of it. I don’t see how Brown can keep giving him minutes before D. Brown, Gibson, or even D. Jones. At least with Hughes, we got a guy who can defend.
I have to admit, I was a big critic of Andy during the holdout, but damn does he look good. He seems to have really worked on the 6-10 footer, which changes his dynamic as a player dramatically.
They have two winnable games coming up with Miami and Washington and then its the Lakers and Suns for a real test of where we are.
January 18th, 2008 at 12:35 am
Amazing how this team plays even with good and bad teams! Didn’t we just struggle to beat Memphis? If we can win this kind of game on the road, why are we watching double-OT against Charlotte at home? Drives me crazy.
I was looking forward to the TNT coverage tonight. Barkley hates Cleveland, but he usually makes good points. Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller are both bright NBA analysts. But tonight it was as if none of them have watched one Cavaliers game all year! Barkley criticized Gibson for not breaking into the starting line-up as if his development were stunted. The reality is that Gibson still plays 30 minutes and only comes off the bench because Larry Hughes was even more dreadful as a reserve than he is as a starter. Miller stated that we don’t have any outside shooting and needed Donyell Marshall back (yikes), completely ignoring the season long sharp-shooting of Gibson and recently, Damon Jones in spreading the floor from the perimeter. I know these guys hate Cleveland and wish LeBron would split our little podunk town so they can party with the King in the big night clubs. But as long as he’s here, it would be nice if they’d update their notebooks before rambling dated or inaccurate observations about our team on national TV.
Bibby note: Mike Bibby returned from injury and scored 19 points last night. He also had zero assists. Is this really the point guard we’re looking for? If Sacramento is willing to take Hughes in return, then it would be worth it. (not gonna happen).
Finally, did Shannon Brown shave off his rows? He looks more intelligent already. Tyrone Lue recently did the same thing. Perhaps this miserably unflattering hairstyle is finally dying a slow trendy death.
January 18th, 2008 at 12:53 am
What does one’s hairstyle have to do with intelligence?
January 18th, 2008 at 1:12 am
For a while there I though Ginobili would flop his way to a Spurs win.
::Waits for the usual suspect(s) to put a negative spin on this win.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Mike, Ferry’s IQ was much higher when he had a full head of hair. OK, perhaps it was because he was fresh out of Duke. Or perhaps there is something to be said for active follicles and their relation to brain cells. Regardless, I agree, Shannon Brown looks more intelligent without the cornrows. Maybe Gilbert interviewed him for a job wearing a headset in the Quicken call center, and those ‘rows had to go. At least he’ll still have Casual Fridays.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Temple-Man,
Good analysis, except I disagree on Miller as an analyst. I think he’s absolutely brutal. I like Van Gundy much, much more. He’s insightful and funny, whereas Miller is aloof and akward. Miller also fails to see things both ways, lamenting that the refs were letting Parker get killed while LBJ was still lying on the ground from getting hacked but no call on the other end. You are right about Barkely as well. Its no secret Boobie started the first 15-20 games of the season but went to a reserve role b/c Larry is so bad off the bench. He didnt do anything to really earn a demotion (besides some horrid D at times). Like what I’m seeing out of D. Jones lately too. He’s got a good shot, and while he’s one dimensional he can excel if he has space (see Kapono, J.).
January 18th, 2008 at 2:33 am
I keep seeing posts saying that Bibby isn’t the player the Cavs need because he’s not a pure point guard. Isn’t it obvious the Cavs don’t need a pure point guard? They need someone who can create their own shot other than Lebron, to take pressure off him. If that player is a point guard fine - he can bring the ball up, too. But we don’t really need a player to create shots for people if he can’t create them for himself. The weakness in our starting lineup isn’t point guard - it hasn’t been for a while - it’s shooting guard. I’m not saying Bibby is the perfect player for us, because he’s not. But the number of assists he gets in a game is pretty irrelevant. We have a playmaker in Lebron that is the best in the NBA outside of Nash. We need someone who doesn’t need ‘Bron to do it for him, preferably a guard, since we are pretty strong in the frontcourt.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Guys the crew on TNT is terrible. Love Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith but that is about it. One example: LeBron draws the offfensive foul on the Spurs and Miller is like ohh LeBron was moving and then the replay shows LeBron standing still. Hey Reggie sorry that Jordan owned you in the 90s. Hey Charles sorry that Jordan owned you too. Sorry you are both probably jealous because you know LeBron is the best out there. LeBron was great. Gibson was great as well as Z and Varejao. Hughes and Pavlovic stunk, yup same old Cavs. I can’t call it a big win because we will probably lose to Miami knowing this team. Go Cavs!!
January 18th, 2008 at 8:32 am
[...] in a lay-in. But a wins a win and this team has won nine of its last 11 games. Check out BW’s thoughts on the teams that we have topped over the last [...]
January 18th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Mike:
Nobody with Snoop Dog/Iverson hair looks smart. Not a racist comment. I’d say the same thing about guys with long rocker hair down their backs. Obviously, Shannon has a huge credibility problem with the Cavaliers management. He’s a great physical talent who’s lack of court discipline is hurting him. At least without the idiot hair, he looks like a pro now. I’d like to see him mature with us rather than do it elsewhere.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Haha nice gringo!
Yeah Barkley really doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He picked the Nets to win the Atlantic this year and said the Cavs wouldn’t make the playoffs. No one will remind him of this later either…
I love Kevin Harlen, but I had to mute Reggie twice last night. The first time was when he went on about how the Cavs need a Jason Kapono type shooter…uh BOOBIE!? Then later Kevin Harlen asked him if there was a quicker point guard in the league than Tony Parker. I immediately thought…hmm..quickest point guards: TJ Ford, Monta Ellis, Devin Harris…Well, Reggie thought…JASON KIDD?!
Brutal Officiating. Gooden is an idiot sometimes, but he didn’t foul Parker on that stupid and-1. He had his hands at his sides and his body straight up and down and parker might have bumped his jersey. Ginobili is truly the king of flopping too - i mean Varajeo has the taking the charge down, but Ginobili does it in all facets of his game - I’m surprised he doesn’t flop on free throws. Early in the 4th, he drove to the hoop, put his head down, and fell down, and they called LeBron for a foul. But then later in quarter, Bron’s getting smacked all over the place and no fouls being called. Parker did get hit in the head near the end, but I couldn’t believe SAN AN was so furious about it, given all the no-calls at the other end.
Another good win for the Cavs. Imagine if LeBron hadn’t gotten hurt for those 6 games - what would people be saying now?
January 18th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I think Farina wore braids on the Little Rascals. He wasn’t very smart. Come to think of it, I don’t know any smart guys with that hair style.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:41 am
The TNT crew is far and away the best studio team in sports. Consistently insightful and pretty much hilarious. Anyone see Charles yelling at the dude to get off the stage? “Get out of here little man we tryin to do a show here.” Top comedy.
Van Gundy > Miller in a landslide, VG is probably the best analyst in basketball. Miller is okay, but he slips back into making really obvious comments.
Big win for the Cavs, would have liked to see Lebron nail the 3 to put the game away, but still a great win.
The team looks so different when they play great D and rebound, it looks like a team that can go deep into the playoffs again rather than a one-off.
Lebron’s block on Parker was my favorite play of the game.
Thanks for the updates BW!
January 18th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Steve Kerr was the best analyst
January 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am
see windy even concured what i have been saying, the more they win the more they think they do not need to make a trade. that is why i think losing is a must at this junction of the season, if we hope to start seeing change. so come on cavs stop playing above danny ferry big head and lose….GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY
January 18th, 2008 at 11:04 am
HEY B.W., there is a rumor that “zeke” turn down a trade that would of send larry to the knicks for jcrawford, please tell me that is not true, zeke was my favorite pt guard in the nba, he sucks as a coach and gm, but if he denied us a chance to get crawford im really upset. who else was part of the deal, heck the knicks need a pt guard, we could give them boobie, or snow, or dj, along with larry, but jcrawford would be a very big pick up for this team, he can simply score in bunches and that is one of the things we lack on this team, so please tell me it is not true so “zeke” can continue to be my main man….GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY
January 18th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Thoughts on the win over the Spurs:
- First, I have no idea why Brian thinks that the Cavs beat the Warriors at home. That game was one of the most miserable played at the Q this year. The Cavs got thumped, and looked completely disinterested just two days after beating the Lakers at home.
- Strange ending to the game. You never see the last minute go without a timeout or a foul, and usually you get a ton of both. I’m sure if they had to do it all over again, the Spurs would call the timeout for their last possession.
- The Cavs and Spurs were very evenly matched last night, and the box score shows as much. The Cavs didn’t win this game because the Spurs had a lot of turnovers, or because the Spurs didn’t rebound, or any number of other excuses. This win wasn’t about the Spurs playing poorly, it was about the Cavs playing well enough to win. So if you are Charles Barkley, either the Cavs aren’t as bad as you thought they were, or the Spurs aren’t as good as you thought they were.
- I’m biased, but I don’t think that Oberto gets that call against LeBron. Not only did he fill that spot pretty late, he also backpedaled his way out of the spot the moment LeBron made contact. It was a flop without a flop.
- At the same time, it’s not often that a player can headbutt another player in the chest and not get a whistle.
- Reggie Miller is the definition of common knowledge. Pick a fast point guard? Jason Kidd. What do the Cavs need? Outside shooting. Apparently Reggie’s game notes come from 2005.
- Don’t sleep on the Bobcats. Yes, their record is unimpressive, but they are on a very solid run of basketball. They have won 4 of 6, including wins over the Celtics, Nets, Nuggets and Magic, and took both the Cavs and the Pistons to OT in losses. Memphis is bad, but the struggle to beat Charlotte was legitimate.
- Love how Shannon Brown comes back from the D-League and gets a lot of chatter. Talk about style over substance.
- Great win for the CSU Vikings over #12 Butler last night. Gary Waters is proving yet again that he is an excellent Mid-Major coach.
Go Cavs. Yet another looong break between games.
Mike C.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I LOVED Devin Browns behind the back pass to Damon Jones. That will be an ESPN top 10 play today. Alan Tucker was probably outraged when he saw that!
January 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Mike C, Brian was referring to the Cavs beating the Warriors in GS earlier this year.
Also, Miller was citing a younger Jason Kidd as being exceptionally quick.
Although Reggie saying the Cavs lack a 3 pt threat is still baffling to me…
January 18th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
- Steve Kerr was a great analyst. And he will be great again, after the Suns fail to win a title in the next two years, and Steve Nash finally breaks down, and their championship window closes. That’s not to say that he’s doing a bad job, but the expectations are through the roof in Phoenix, and the ownership refuses to pay the Luxury Tax. Not a good combination.
- I’d love to hear more about that Crawford trade too, but I just can’t imagine what other pieces had to be involved. The Cavs would have to send an extra $3-$5 Million to the Knicks to match salaries, and the Knicks would be getting a much less productive player at a higher salary.
- Crawford routinely kills the Cavaliers, but it’s hard to determine how he would fit with LeBron. Crawford has terrible shot selection, which is largely responsible for his poor career shooting percentage (just above 40%). We’ve seen good shooters slide while playing with LeBron (Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall), and we’ve seen bad shooters (Larry Hughes) go from bad to abysmal (a career .410 to a new low .333 this year). With the exception of Daniel Gibson (so far), guards playing with LeBron James have either been terrible shooters or have become terrible shooters. I don’t think this is just a talent issue. For some reason, it’s hard to play guard next to LeBron James.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
It’s “flipped off”, not “flicked off”
January 18th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Lebron should get mean once in a while -Bruce Bowen is a dirty player who gets away with murder with cheapshots consisting of knees, elbows, kicks, and hard chops that were made to look accidental-incidental. Last night was no excemptions as Lebron keeps hitting the deck with no fouls called on Bowen. Maybe Lebron should flop every now and then to let the refereres know he is being hit hard by Bowen. A nice “accidental-incidental” elbow on Bowens face just might send a nice message.
And I thought handcheckings are no longer allowed- replay showed that when Drew Gooden drove against Bowen and was charged with an offensive foul, Bowens hands were all over Gooden’s back. Then on the other hand, they called a foul on Gooden with hands down for breathing on Tony Parker.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
The cavs didn’t beat golden state at home. They got crushed by them at home. I don’t know if you meant to say that in your analysis here. They only beat the Lakers at home in that stretch. Overall a good article though.
January 18th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
[...] bwindhorst wrote a fantastic post today on “Cavs at Spurs”Here’s ONLY a quick extractPregame Starting lineups. Cavs: Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas Spurs: Tony Parker, Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan, Fabricio Oberto. Officials Mark Wunderlich, Marc Davis, Ed Malloy … [...]
January 18th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
HEY MIKE!!!! how is it hard to play guard next to lbj when the fact that they double team him it will give you open looks, I think jamal would be a great acquisition, I think he shoots better then the guys you mention hands down….GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY
January 18th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Yeah Barkley has had some kind of problem with the Cavs for years - I remember last year he kept saying things like ‘The Cavs just aren’t a good team’ and then whey’d win again. He probably lost a bunch of money betting on them at some point or something.
I wish the announcers in all sports would just give the play-by-play and keep their opinions to themselves. Madden and Barkley are prime examples, instead of saying who did what they talk about what they think should have happened, when convenient. A run to the right is stuffed so they talk about how they should’ve gone left. And they are so biased. How about some impartial play calling for once? I can see the local guys being biased a little, but these national guys gushing over their favorites is so lame it hurts.
I remember a few years back watching the tribe vs Seattle, when Seattle had that super year. I think it was Joe Morgan acting like he was personally responsible for the Mariners success and just gushing over them the whole time. We were down 12-0 and I was wondering why I was watching, when the comeback began. I think it was when we got it to 12-7 that the guy was like ‘That’s nice for making the fans feel good, but as far as winning the game Cleveland can forget about it’. We won 14-12, he still ‘calls’ baseball games. That’s when I stopped listening to them, especially since it’s so rarely slanted our way. We are the underdogs, and we like it that way, but c’mon.
Every sport should hire professionals instead of celebrities to call the games, because this business of having announcers who bet on the games and play favorites is gay. I listen to the radio when possible, and keep the volume off the tube.
PS any PG would be nice at this juncture. We’ll probably get Kevin Ollie or sign Snow to an extension or something
January 18th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Um, did anybody realize that BW said the Cavs beat the Warriors at home? I specifically remember that gotten beaten badly against the Warriors at The Q. It’s a shame because BW also has an article on ESPN.com and it also has this error. Come on, step it up BW!
January 18th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Don’t pick on Sasha we all know he’s not doing well. We already expect Larry to be mediocre so no one talks about that anymore. The reason that Andy has improved is because he’s the only one that cuts to the basket on the entire team.
The most important thing is this: The Cavs are 8-3 when Boobie gets at least 10 shot attempts a game minus of course the games LeBron was hurt.
January 18th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Crawford can score but (insert tired phrase like “hands down” here) he’s one of the softest players in the league. Our perimeter D would suffer greatly with him.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
“Don’t pick on Sasha we all know he’s not doing well. We already expect Larry to be mediocre so no one talks about that anymore.”
The major difference here is that Larry can actually defend - quite effectively - the perimeter. The fact is that Sasha hasn’t been doing well for a long, long time now. The guy was a major contributor last year and deserves a chance to work through it, but at some point you have to just accept that he doesn’t have what it takes to compete.
January 19th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Not that I agree at all, but why do you think this is?
“I don’t think this is just a talent issue. For some reason, it’s hard to play guard next to LeBron James.”
Open shots certainly aren’t the problem. And Damon has shot about his career average with the Cavs. Marshall is old. It shouldn’t be hard to knock down open shots IF you’re a good shooter.
January 19th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I’m not sure Damon, Pavlovic, Hughes, Welsh, etc. are a very good sampling of players to consider when asking the question. Those guys have about three good seasons between them, career-wise.
January 19th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Any thoughts on Damonas new hair do. It kind of looks
like the median strip on 77 near Rockside. And how did
he get that moon shot in the basket in the fourth quarter?
It looked like it was going to hit the roof of the ATT center.
Brown has something with the Gibson, Jones, Brown combo.
They could be called the 3 amigos or maybe tres hombres.
Damona could wear the cowboy hat and Daniel could brandish
the gun. That leaves Devin to ride the hoss.
January 19th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Hey, just wondering why the Beacon Journal or the Plain Dealer didn’t know anything about LeBron Andretti-Earnhardt. The King of Indianapolis Speedway and his pompous vanity plates were busted doing their best Bobby Phills impression at 550 mph back in JANUARY. Over two weeks later, and not a printed word from either the Reverend Pluto nor our esteemed blog host. Indeed, not a printed word from any local sportswriter anywhere.
How can any local sportswriter be taken seriously after this? Don’t these guys have sources? Or are they all like the great Bob Finnan, who simply admits at the bottom of his stuff that he steals material from other beat writers?
It seems to be that one of the two guys who literally wrote the book on LeBron would have heard something from somebody, and would have printed it immediately after it happened. Over two weeks after the incident, and not a peep?
Just wondering.
January 19th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I doubt that Gibson really wants to be that associated with those two, especially since at least at least one of them will likely be gone in the next few weeks. Plus - does Boobie really need another nickname? Why don’t you just call them the ‘tres grande’ ???????? No knock on Gibson, or even Brown really, but please.
That be cool if we had Mike Connely. Man - the kids played like 15 games and he’s already averaging 2-3 times the assists of any of our guards… He’s one of those special players with real upside. Or any PG who can pass and just dish out assists to keep things simple for Lebron. I mean, LBJ is often doubled or more, and all our guys are trying to get out to shoot a three cuz they think dressing like Christopher Walken in ‘Pong’ makes them the ‘greatest shooter in the world’ or something. Weird how the greatest shooter averages what, six points for his career? Almost makes you miss Eric Snow.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:29 am
the fact that he’s about only 6′1″ - despite the fact they still list him at 6′4″ is probably the biggest thing that’ll keep shannon brown from making it in the NBA even if he works on his PG skills; MSU guards just don’t get much better after they reach the NBA. yet appearances matter; given his off the court antics, adopting a more conservative appearance is clearly a wise move in terms of making him more attractive to other teams. but i can’t see the cavs playing gibson and brown simultaneously unless they were deliberately trying to play small ball, so the only he’d see the court is by taking time away from gibson - something i don’t see happening.
if we got after him the was we did after david wells & michael jordan, i can understand why barkley hates cleveland - i personally calling him a big fat slob at every possible
opportunity from near courtside back in the 80’s.
for whatever reason, sasha isn’t going to achieve his potential playing in cleveland. if he’d play just well enough for someone to want him…
yes, even george carlin looks stupid with that ponytail.
i like steve kerr.
you’d think that if lebron can find V cutting to the basket, he should be able to find guards cutting to the basket, but the more i think about it, when you run the pick and roll as much as we do, only the guy setting the pick has enough spacing to move to the basket; the other 3 guys pretty much *have* to spot up on the perimeter to maintain the spacing. and for some reason, i suspect sasha doesn’t like to be a spot up shooter - he’d like to get a couple of dribbles in before letting fly.
crawford is 6′5″ but only 190 lbs. if he just put on 10-15 lbs he wouldn’t be so soft.
January 20th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
The think is, Barkley is absolutely right. How can anybody deny this? Just because James is so great doesn’t make Barkley wrong. The Cavs blow. But James is unreal. As long as he’s on the court, and as long as they occasionally get a 1984 Gerald Henderson-like playoff performance from one of their stiffs, anything is always going to be possible with this sorry squad when the playoffs come around. It’s laughable that some around the Cleveland/Akron area give Ferry and Brown the credit for this, when indeed Paxson and Silas could have accomplished the exact same things, but hey, that’s life.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Boy, that was dumb of me. Shows what happens when you take that Xanax stuff to make you drowsy before going to bed. I just now noticed I wrote “January” above. Very, very wrong month. I meant to write that James was ticketed in DECEMBER. Which is why it’s totally inexecusable that absolutely nobody wrote about it until over two weeks later.
Seriously, the readers deserve an explanation. Either local sportswriters knew about it and are shills for James and covered it up, or the purported “sources” of these guys are both invisible and a complete joke. Which is it?
January 20th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Greetings,
Can any of you folks recommend a good club in downtown Cleveland?
January 20th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Shannon Brown, the Plain Dealer’s club reviewer, strongly recommends the Liquid Cafe located at 1212 West 6th Street. Just be sure not to wear a hoodie, dreads and a hat.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:34 am
Thanks, Alan. Stop by VIP after games if you’re in the area and I’ll hook you up with an autograph.
January 21st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Go, Alan T.! Blow the lid right off this monstrous cover-up behind The Speeding Ticket! Use your investigative journalistic powers to their fullest extent, and right this horrific wrong!
I will never believe another word that any local reporter writes concerning the Cavaliers– ever — thanks to Alan’s vigilance. Our world is much safer thanks to him.
January 21st, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Ah - what red-blooded American hasn’t gone 100mph a couple times in their lives? Medina County is a great place to speed, though clearly you may get caught. LBJ is a free-thinking human being after all, and some idiotic people will have as much of a problem with that as they would with the opposite. Get over it.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Which, of course, Mike, explains why 16 days after it happened, nobody around town was told a thing. Thanks for clearing that up.
I don’t give a crap if that guy drives at the speed of sound. But obviously it was a legitimate story, and not a flattering one, and yet not one local sportswriter wrote about it. Why not?
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:15 am
Enough about the ticket already… Do you think the Chicago media constantly pried on “Air” Jordan and his “alleged” gambling addiction? Or his hos in different area codes? Or his buying out of local establishements the night before a game? OF COURSE NOT, you dolts! It’s a poor business decision. The quickest way to sour your star athlete/meal ticket on your town is to have a nosey media that makes said athlete look bad.
Is this a double standard? yes. Is it wrong, deplorable, upsetting, and sometimes against the law? yes. Will the media’s leaving Lebron alone and being supportive of him be a factor in his decision to stay or go in a few short years? YES.
Big picture people, big picture…
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
“….obviously it was a legitimate story, and not a flattering one, and yet not one local sportswriter wrote about it. Why not?”
Why not indeed, Alan T. Why not indeed. These are the hard questions that only you are unafraid to ask. Thank God we Clevelanders have you, fighting for us. Fighting to protect us from these corporate shills in the Cavs front office, who are brainwashing us with their lies and coverups.
Ultimately their evil plans will fail, as long as we have you to ask these questions, and expose the truth at all costs.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Thanks for again clearing that up, Mike. I was unaware until now that it was my role to be an investigative reporter and a sportswriter. I was operating under the assumption the local newspapers already had staff on a payroll. Thanks for setting me straight.
And Josh, I was unaware that it was the local media’s role to shill out of respect for the “big picture.” Thanks for clearing that up as well.
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
You are welcome Alan T. You may call yourself an investigative reporter or sportswriter, but really that is far too humble a designation.
I call you a Truth Teller — without pay, no less!
Your untiring service to the Greater Cleveland area is not lost on this blog reader. I am with you, I applaud you and I defend you, sir.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Dwyane Wade scored 16pts in the 4th. The qtr Sasha didn’t play. Coincidence? His coach thinks he can defend and most guys that are 6ft 7 can usually keep a couple shots from going down.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:00 am
10 steps to the start of being your own boss from home….
Thinking of working from home: a beginner’s guide. Your 1st early steps to success!…