Spurs 112, Cavs 105
–Another little bit of NBA karma here. Manu Ginobili’s shot in San Antonio very easily could’ve gone in and beaten the Cavs last month. He got even in this one. He was just great. Yes, he made open shots, but he also made stepbacks and fadeaways and shots with guys in his face. Just a great performance.
–The Spurs totally destroyed the Cavs’ defense in the fourth, scoring on 17 of 19 possessions. They spread everything out and then ran pick-and-rolls with Ginobili and Tim Duncan. The Cavs just couldn’t help and recover well enough. They had to double Ginobilli and rotate to deal with Duncan and it left others open. The Spurs were just excellent tonight.
–Cavs were ahead by five points going into the fourth, LeBron scored 18 in the period, and the Cavs scored 30 points as a team. That almost always is enough to win.
–Overall, going 3-3 over the last six games considering the circumstances isn’t bad at all. The problem was they really didn’t have a chance to win two of the games and they lost two at home. Still, it would’ve felt very different to go into the break at 30-22 instead of 29-23.
–Zydrunas Ilgauskas needs the break badly. The back is really bothering him and he’s had to go against Yao Ming, Dwight Howard and now Duncan over the last week. He’s gassed.
–The Cavs let the refs get to them tonight. I agree there were some poor calls, but again it did not directly determine the outcome. The Cavs spent a lot of time complaining and got a couple technicals.
–Seeing LeBron just rip apart the Spurs defense time and time again really makes you wonder. Tonight he really was physical with Bruce Bowen, just attacking him one-on-one. Other times he seemed like he waited for the help to come when actually he could’ve attacked earlier and scored even more if he want. But he was in foul trouble early and didn’t want to pick up charges. With his confidence now, it would be interesting to see them in the playoffs again. Obviously he didn’t put his best foot forward in the Finals and he’s let it motivate him.
Recap:
Pregame
Starting lineups
Spurs: Jacque Vaughn, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan, Fabricio Oberto
Cavs: Larry Hughes, Ira Newble, LeBron James, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Officials
Steve Javie, Brian Forte, Derek Richardson
–Daniel Gibson is back and said he’s probably going to take part in All-Star Weekend.
–LeBron was upset about Jason Kidd getting traded to the Mavericks for a package of players including Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, cash and draft picks. Here’s what he said:
“Of course I wanted him to be part of our team but if we couldn’t get him I am glad he is out of the East. I hope he does well for that franchise. I think the (front office) probably been trying to do some things, I don’t know. We all know we need to get better, that is simple. We need to get healthier and we need to get better. To me, I want to win now I don’t want to sit around and wait. Sometimes you have to.”
Halftime — Cavs 47, Spurs 46
–Good news for Cavs is they have held the Spurs to 35 percent shooting and just eight points in the paint. Bad new is they are only up one point. Spurs have stayed in the game at the foul line and gotten the Cavs into foul trouble. The game seemed to change a little after Mike Finley got called for a technical and it seemed to loosen the officials.
–Z got his third foul early in the second period, walked over to the bench, kicked the air and went right to the locker room. I guess he figured he was done for the half and he went to lay down instead sit on the bench with his bad back. Neither he or Gooden have looked good with their injuries tonight.
–Hughes’ hot shooting is continuing. He’s already taken 12 shots, though, and you have to wonder whether the high volume approach will be smart if the scales balance.
–Daniel Gibson is active and he warmed up but he just hasn’t played. Not sure what is going on there.
Postgame
Stars
Ginobili, 46 points, eight assists
Duncan, 23 points, 13 rebounds
James, 39 points, nine assists
Hughes, 26 points, six rebounds
Quotes:
Ginobili: “It was a special game, I was feeling really good from the beginning. I felt every shot I was taking was going in.”
LeBron: “I guess that’s how opposing teams feel when I get it going like that in the fourth. It was a great performance by Manu.”
On a personal note, I am taking All-Star Weekend off. Marla Ridenour will be providing coverage in the Beacon Journal and on Ohio.com. Obviously if there is major Cavs news I will be here to report and respond. Also, the other night in Orlando I (again) had computer problems that prevented me from blogging. Will be working on getting that fixed for the second half.
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wow, i found someone who agrees with me, jason kline at the mansfield news journal said the same thing i have been saying for a while, the cavs will wait to next year to make a big move, that is when they will be having the expiring contracts of esnow 7.3, gooden 7.1, marshall 6. damon 4.5 and cedric 1.75 that is 25mill dollars of cap space coming off the books then they would be able to make a big move, not to mention the year before lebrons opt year larry comes off the books but the question still remains, will lebron 2 time all star game mvp want to re up with the cavs, will hotdog head had made such a move that lebron would say yes sign me up. we will see. GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY
great link, doc. from Mr. Reliable(copyright pending) sam smith (who, we might add, has never been a LBJ-hater or anything)! yeah, you can pretty much take anything he says to the bank!
Sam Smith lost pretty much all credibility with me when he wrote an article commending the Bulls hiring of Jim Paxson as a consultant (or something) for the Bulls. He applauded how Paxson had left the Cavilers with several “reliable starters” and was totally forgotten in last years finals run.
Hey Sam, you completely forgot about out the part about leaving no draft picks (05’, 07’), no decent 1st round talent (Langdon(99), Diop(01), Haywood(01), Wagner (02), Jackson(04)) and lets not forget about letting Boozer and Miller go for nothing. Plus, Sam liked the Ben Wallace signing. Sam needs to retire.
Plus, someone needs to tell Sam, the Cavs can’t trade Anderson Varejao this year. Contract thing.
What’s up with both LeBron and Gibson sporting the Hughes arm panty hose recently? It’s not like it’s helped Larry one bit (unless he’s even worse without the panty hose, which is a pathetic thought). What exactly are these panty hose supposed to accomplish–distracting the defender with how much of a sissy it makes the wearer look like?
Genius- What do you propose we should read then? I mean, it would be nice to pick up the local paper and read a well-researched insider piece on what the Cavs are up to but alas, BW inexplicably decides to take a vacation on All-Star weekend and Reverend Pluto is too busy writing sixteen thousand sentimental columns about Augie Busso, Chuck Heaton, or the fact that “Josh Barfield can still be an every day second baseman!” and “Victor Martinez is good!” and “the Browns linebackers aren’t that good!”.
So for today, Sam Smith it is. But you can’t deny the gathering evidence that Lebron isn’t entirely satisfied with the makeup of the squad. His “done deal” quote with regards to Jason Kidd
wow, what a comeback…”hey, why shouldn’t we read a guy who has been consistently wrong time and time again and has been a LBJ-hater all along? i mean, we have to read something that will buttress our weird need to feel like LBJ is unhappy all the time and could leave like, any day! even if he’s here for 2 more years and anyone with a brain knows that two years in the nba is an eternity and ANYTHING can happen between now and then!”
what sad, sad, little people you must be…
p.s.- when the team as presently “made-up” is healthy and together they have and can beat anyone in the league and own a fantastic winning pct. when all together. do you or espn or sam smith actually know anything about basketball?
Why doesn’t Sam worry about his Bulls, ya know, Chicago High
Tick Tick Tick Mr. Ferry. You can,t offer Petrie just
anything for the big bad Ron. Give it up boat fool.
You ain,t beatin Detroit or Boston with LeAndretti
and his pit crew. AND Windy either you host our blog or I
nominate Genius and Mike C as moderators. Tucker please
rock the boat make the calls. Tell Tait and Blanks and Grant
because Danny is too stupid. Get the Prozac out and deal
for Ron the ultimate Artest. We need somebody mean on this
team. Artest is crazy and Detroit is definetly afraid of him.
Living in Chicago, LeCavalier, we’re all waiting in line for Cubs tickets right now. Screw work, some one else can cook the fries.
Andre Miller is the guy who’s made sense all along. Too bad the Cavs don’t have enough depth to trade a power forward to the Sixers. Scola and Big Baby were pretty gettable last summer but Ferry sat on his hands.
My knowledge of basketball probably is similar to your deep understanding of Dungeons and Dragons. How’s that for a comeback? Is it clever? Should I have said … similar to your knowledge of the Fall 2008 Versace line of fashion instead? It has to be one of those…..
actually, larry d. ferry didn’t sit on his hands vis a vis scola, he or gilbert, just decided the hit to the cap was too much to take.
besides, the new sixers gm has said time and again he wasn’t trading miller and that certainly looks to be the case.
listen, the cavs will have almost 25 million worth of expiring contracts at the end of the season, if i remember correctly. that will allow for a TOTAL remake of this roster, if need be. is it too much to ask to be a little patient and REALISTIC and wait to judge ferry then?
meanwhile, the cavs, when healthy, most assuredly will contend for the title this year. they match up well against both boston, as we’ve seen and they’ve got the pistons number. who am i supposed to be fearing in the playoffs, exactly? maybe toronto, i guess but it’s unlikely we’ll meet them in the playoffs.
the fact is, as livingston, manaloff, shaw and levine said last night on levine’s show, ferry’s signings have produced an eastern conference championship and the cavs are right there in the mix again this year. yes, it’s mainly due to LBJ but LBJ didn’t win very much before ferry arrived, did he? the fact is that both the jones and marshall signings were pretty good signings, as both have “won” playoff games for the cavs. the hughes signing has not been worth it but EVERYONE, including LBJ, wanted him and LOVED the signing. snow and newble are paxson-era deals. gooden’s contract is a gold star on ferry’s resume as is sasha’s. he didn’t cave to andy either and now has supreme cap flexibility for next year. i’m not happy with the decision not to sign shannon but that is tempered by ferry recognizing gibson’s greatness right away and positioning the cavs to get him in the second rd.
if any of you are capable of looking at this objectively, ferry’s done a pretty good job. plus, he’s hired a coach, brown, who’s been a good coach and has shown marked improvement in his handling of his bench this year.
sorry for this dose of realism. please resume your wild rants and quoting of discredited sportswriters from other cities…
A classic kj.
Coach Brown was hired before Ferry, and Ferry’s been around for three years now so there’s ample time to evaluate his performance.
The Scola thing is a mystery to me. The Cavs were having trouble signing Varejao and needed a similar big man. Getting Scola would have made a sign and trade with Varejao, or a Gooden trade, do-able, and it would have sent a message to Varejao.
I am left to wonder if Scola was given to an in-state division rival instead of the Cavs because the folks in San Antonio just don’t like Danny. The Spurs and Rockets are heated rivals. I can’t make sense of it.
In any case, you’re speaking from opposite directions, as Ferry apologists are wont to do: why does the team need a total roster makeover if Ferry’s put together a championship team with his wonderful signings? If he hasn’t done that, what makes you think he can do so with next year’s potential cap space, since he failed last time?
I don’t think rebuilding from scratch in his fifth or sixth year is what LeBron has in mind, anyway.
Can’t think that the Scola think was ‘cuz they don’t like Ferry – he was a big player in their front office. It is weird Scola ended up where he did, and not with the Cavs, but weirder things have happened. I wonder if Sacramento dragged their feet on the Bibby three way deal, and the Spurs just got sick of waiting. Strange, though.
I have to correct something else in kj’s post. The Cavs do not have 25M coming off the cap. As it stands, they have about 2M coming off the cap this year, until Gibson signs his contract, which you have to think will be around 5M-6M a year. If that’s the case, the Cavs will have around 23M (assuming that Varejao declines his option, Z picks his up, and Simmons is renounced) coming off the cap the following year – but the Cavs are 20M OVER THE CAP. That would mean even if the Cavs stay with their current roster without trading for any additional cap obligations, they’d be around 8M under the cap at best (assuming the cap goes up as it usually does). We might be able to add a decent piece for that amount of money, but not an All-Star or anything. Free agency will not be the answer for this team in the Lebron era. It likely never could have been, unless the team would have been willing to sit on it’s cap space and sign players to minimum contracts during the window year Ferry signed Hughes, Marshall, and Jones. However, the large amount of expiring contracts could be used to acquire a max player – - maybe even two – if teams are still willing to make such deals. For the expiring contracts to be of any use they must be dealt before next season’s trading deadline. The Cavs may not make a major deal this week, but should be HUGE players in the trade from August through next February.
larry d. let’s not be foolish, shall we? ferry was certainly on board with the hiring of mike brown as he was a former san antonio assistant. please…
as to your other point, ferry can re-make the roster AND the cavs as currently constructed can challenge for a title. those things ARE NOT mutually exclusive in the least because of LBJ and the experience gained last year ( and the fact that the cavs can play D, are the tallest team in the league when healthy which cause all kinds of problems for other teams, etc.). i’m not saying ferry *should* re-make the roster, rather i’m merely pointing out he can next season or this off-season. it’s called flexibility. you may want to look the term up as it seems to be beyond your grasp in this instance.
furthermore, i’m not a “ferry apologist” rather i’m a realist. unfortunately, you unhinged ferry haters cannot even give him the slightest credit in the least. no matter what you may think, he is the most successful GM in cavs history and this is the most successful run in cavs history. yes, it all hinges on LBJ but it all hinges on duncan for SA, kobe for the lakers. et al. ferry found shooters to compliment LBJ and got what was thought to be a top 3 FA in hughes at the time. brown got them to play D and they made the finals. are you denying any of this? these are facts and spending your time wondering if we could’ve signed scola and “sent a message” to a restricted FA with no bargaining power at all just illustrates the levels of ridiculousness you ferry-haters have delved into. pardon me if i’ll continue to live in the real world…
btw, i note with no real surprise the fact that all 4 sports writers said the same thing as i have said last night on les levine’s show was not mentioned by you larry d. lemme guess, they’re all “apologists” too, right? in fact, only *you* can see the real truth, right, larry d? the rest of us are just deluded, right? victims of ferry’s incredible powers of mind control!! is there anyone to stop the evil mastermind that is danny ferry??? help!
You’re still funny, kj.
I think I do understand the concept of ‘flexibility’ but don’t see much in the Cavs present situation. The conventional wisdom says the Cavs are working the phones but can’t make a deal because of all the bad contracts and mediocre players on the team–a lack of flexibility.
A team that hopes to contend regularly should retain some flexibility every year, not every three or four years. Scola or just about any decent find over the summer would have provided that flexibility. That was my intended point.
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