New guys arrive, Cavs get semi-miracle win
Posted February 22nd, 2008 by bwindhorst
Cavs 90, Wizards 89
–Wow, that was quite a victory. The fans in the building were very into the game and it was pretty intense, which is remarkable considering the circumstances.
–I did not get to see much of the game, so I can’t provide all that much analysis. The new players got here just before tipoff and there was a press conference at halftime. However, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan was complimentary to Mike Brown’s game plan, which moved Damon Jones all over the court opposite LeBron James so they could take advantage of the double teams. Damon had a hot night, hitting 7-of-11 3-pointers, because the Wizards kept losing him in rotation.
–Based on my research and the history of the league I don’t think it is going to happen, but I don’t think I am being a homer when I say that James is so obviously the Most Valuable Player. Not to fall in line behind Mike Brown or anything, but the guy just has amazing game after amazing game. So many people I hear from talk about whether or not he will stay in Cleveland. Forget about it for right now, pay attention to what you are watching and show your children. It’s history.
–I have to say the possession late in the game where Eric Snow fumbled the ball, Zydrunas Ilgauskas dove on the ground to save it, Snow got it back and shot a fadeaway over three Wizards that was a foot short and two feet left of the rim, only to have Ilgauskas catch it and put it in the basket with one second on the shot clock and the Cavs down by one point with two minutes to go has to qualify for basket of the year. Also, that qualifies as the longest sentence in the history of the blog.
–OK, to a man Eric Snow knows that his career is pretty much over. He can help on defense in certain situations and for short bursts. But play him 32 minutes and you are going to have ugly spots. It happened tonight.
–You didn’t have to tell 10-day D-League call up Billy Thomas what to do. The guy squeezed off 11 3-pointers in 19 minutes. Gun, son, gun.
The new guys
We only got to spend about 10 minutes with the new players, but here’s some things learned:
–Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West are both very excited to be here. They are coming from one of the worst teams in the league and one that didn’t put winning first. West has never been on a winning team and Wally hasn’t been to the playoffs in like four years. They feel like they were rescued.
–Ben Wallace didn’t say anything bad about his time with the Bulls. But he just smiled when he was asked about the four meetings he had left with the team: “I had fun in Chicago, of course we didn’t win the way we wanted to win. The experience was good, the organization was good to me. I was doing things I wasn’t doing in Detroit. It was a little bit of a struggle as far as playing basketball, not being able to play the way we were capable of playing. It was tough to get the team together.”
–Both Wallace and Szczberiak said they wouldn’t mind coming off the bench. Or as Wally said: “I’ve been coming off the bench for one of the worst teams in the league.” But I suspect they’ll both be starting, maybe as early as Sunday.
–None of the players have had their physicals yet, all will have them tomorrow.
–Wally said he’s very happy to be in Ohio. His wife is from Columbus and he said he had a few college buddies from Miami of Ohio at the game tonight.
–West is very impressive in the way he speaks, the confidence and focus he has. You can see why Danny Ferry really likes his character.
Recap:
Pregame
Starting lineups
Wizards: Antonio Daniels, DeShawn Stevenson, Antawn Jamison, Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood
Cavs: Eric Snow, Damon Jones, Devin Brown, LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Officials
Greg Williard, Leon Wood, Tony Brown
–The Cavs signed two D-League players to 10-day contracts. Kaniel Dickens is a 6-8 forward who can shoot a little, he was averaging 20 points in the D-League. Billy Thomas is a 6-5 wing who was averaging 15 points. Both are guys who have been in and out of the NBA multiple times over the last few years. Both are going to have to play a bit.
–The four new players are here and will be meeting with the media soon, before the game. This is going to be another one of those nights where I don’t get to see the first half so please excuse me. But I’ll have updates about the new guys.
–A few minutes ago we spoke to LeBron about the trade. No, it wasn’t Jason Kidd, but he seems to be happy. Here was one of his best quotes: “No, this isn’t the type of deal I expected. You guys heard what I wanted but I am grateful for the situation. We got some good caliber guys that are coming in. It was very surprising, you come into the locker room today and it is very different.”
–Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas are out for the Wizards.
Postgame
Stars
LeBron, 33 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists
Damon Jones, 27 points
Devin Brown, 10 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists
Darius Songalia, 19 points
DeShawn Stevenson, 18 points
Quotes
LeBron: ““I expect to win, as long as I am on the court I feel like we have a chance to win. It was tough, you had guys in the wrong spots, our spacing wasn’t right all the time, sometimes I wasn’t right. We did it with effort.”
Mike Brown: “It was rewarding for the guys who played. They played a lot of minutes, they played roles they are not used to. They just found a way.”
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Should be interesting to see if Lebron can get another triple double tonight.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
tony rizzo reported that lebron was not to excited with the trade, he gave a you have to wait and see attitude, my thing is im glad he was honest, he could of been praising the trade. any way go to http://youtubel.com/watch?v=fuyawi_ssfs and watch some highlites of joe smith, i am telling you guys he is the steal of this trade. if my link did not work just go to you tube punch in his name and watch him in action, i truly hope they resign him next year, he is the sf pf off the bench who could score.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
This might be the most fun game of the year, with both teams without so many key players.
By fun, I mean in a JV sort of way. But hey, who doesn’t spend there Friday nights watching JV basketball when Lebron is involved? He might go for 50-20-10 tonight.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
ALAN WHERE R U, COME OUT COME OUT WHERE EVER U ARE, WE MISS YOU, WE WANT TO READ YOUR INPUT, PLEASE COME OUT AND PLAY.,…… GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY…….U BETTER COME OUT NOW BEFORE THE CAVS MAKE THERE RUN FOR THE ECF BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST YEAR, IM SORRY WE KNOW YOUR FRIEND GOT SICK LAST YEAR, SO TYPE NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR TRASH TYPING. GRACE AND PEACE, BILLY.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fuyawl_ssfs
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
if this link do not work just go youtube joe smith and big party15mix, not the one from college, but the mix, it shows him with the 76ers, and other teams, http://youtube.com/watch?v=FUYAWI_sSFs that should do it.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I’ve seen some bad basketball in my years, but that first half by Eric Snow may have been the worst I’ve ever seen a player have. Honestly, he needs to retire and get on with his coaching career. Not that he’s going to turn down that $7 million on his deal next year, but he’s not even close to being a NBA player anymore.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Cripes Billy…we get it. Youtube, Joe Smith. Thanks
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Eric Snow hasn’t been an NBA-caliber player since he got here, dude. This is about par for the course.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Billy, why are you calling for Joe Smith to resign? He’s only 32.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Wii, you’ll have to forgive Billy. He’s a sermonizing tucker-loving troglodyte, with little capacity to post much intelligent. if you just pretend he’s a 10 year-old, it’s much easier to deal with his postings.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Brian, would the cavs be interested to pick Barry up off waivers??
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:50 am
I didn’t get a chance to see Lebron interviewed about the trade but I heard from a couple of people that he didn’t seem real enthused. Obviously it would look a lot better if he was a little more excited but I’m not worried. It’s easy to forget that just because we traded a bunch of stiffs, it doesn’t mean we didn’t break up a group of guys that has been together for a long time. That’s a lot of plane rides, practices, etc. I’m sure even though Lebron probably isn’t sad to see them go for their collective playing abilities, it’s a little bittersweet, especially considering the run they made together last year.
I also think Lebron probably wants to be known as a loyal teammate so screaming from the rooftops about how happy he is about the trade wouldn’t be a prudent course of action. My guess is once this new group gets on the floor, if the Cavs start winning (and the schedule is favorable), you will quickly see Lebron warm to these guys. The only possible problem is that this group could have some serious growing pains while they learn to play together. They may lose some games they should win in the next couple of weeks.
Everyone, including Lebron, just needs to accept that this is going to take time. In the long-term, I really believe Lebron will end up being very happy with this deal. Cavs fans will as well. Also, great win tonight. A game like this could end up being big down the stretch when we’re fighting for home court in the early rounds.
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:41 am
Wow, Biff actually wrote a thoughtful, intelligent post… Don’t often see that around here.
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:11 am
Hey, I’m interested in learning a little bit about the players the Cavs just traded for. Does anyone know where I can view some Joe Smith highlights?
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:44 am
I concurred with LeBron’s thinking (we sure could use Kidd or Bibby). But there is a lot to like about these four additions. I really like our chances against Detroit and Boston much better now. I doubt San Antonio wins the West, but I’d like to see a rematch with them.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:05 am
The Cavs obviously has quite gotten better. Hughes had been a horrible shooter prompting a website creation dedicated to him larryhughesstoptakingbadshoots and would never be successful as lebron’s sidekick of a pure shooter. Wally is more than able to fill that need and is significantly better than Miller as he can drive within the paint.
Wallace becomes better as the sucking defense to Lebron creates opportunity for the fro on dunks and putbacks around the paint and the overall frontline defense is significantly shored as the Cavs would no longer have to deal with Gooden consistently missing out on his man and gives them a tough basket protector (no more easy PG layups). There is no need for a reliable interior scorer as Lebron usually dominates to ball and simply had to feed to their big men when he drives. West is finally as close to a point guard that the Cavs have been coveting for the last two years and had consistently put up solid numbers out in Boston and siding with Lebron will only get Lebron be better in moving without the ball and handing the ball to him on comfortable spots. Seattle had a glut of point guards as much as Memphis is. I would take a more proven guy in West as say Lowry. Smith’s addition adds to an already formidable bench to Cavs as soon as Pavlovic, Anderson and Gibson finally becomes healthy = 1-12 deep and can compete with any starters in the league. Smith is a consistent scorer with outstanding mid-range jumper who is more dependable than dear in the headlights Gooden nights.
Also, Lebron is having a MVP season and is obviously in a mission to win it all this year. The guys surrounding him would only get better. Look, 31-24 without pratically any consistent help and entirely relying on Lebron. Have you seen actually how the Cavs looked without Lebron even on short spurts? With Gooden and Hughes? It’s a borderline team.
Let’s just see the play in court. Beginning Sunday.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:08 am
I like the trade and am excited to see the new players but I also wonder if there’s ever been a team that underwent such a major overhaul in late February yet made the finals.
I think it can happen for the Cavs but Mike Brown would deserve coach of the year. MVP for LeBron is a no brainer and that has been obvious all year to almost anyone who has watched games. Welcome to Club Obvious, BW.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Even prompted a (horrible) website called “heylarryhughesdidn’tgivemeanyhalloweencandy.com”??? created by a ten-year old who edits out comments when they don’t agree with his whining? Jesus. I’d take Hughes and his 12 mil over Snow and his 6 mil any day of the year. Think about it. Yet Snow gets defended to the death around here.
I wasn’t surprised by the win last night - if you think about it the starting lineup wan’t much worse than usual, even though Snow was in it. You can’t sign enough 10-days to keep him out of last night’s game.
Delonte West is gonna be interesting to watch and I really look forward to him setting in here. I’ve never been a Smith fan but he is what he is and with Wallace and Wally should easily = upgrade over Gooden and Hughes.
LBJ is the obvious MVP choice for the third year running. You don’t have to be one of the greatest historical thinkers of antiquity (Homer) to figure that out. Will he get it is a different story if you ponder Nash and Nowitzki the last two years. Hey I’m Steve Nash, a superstar running around with multiple other superstars for my whole career. Marion, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudamire, Nowitzki, those guys would be jokes without my making them better. The Suns would suck without me because they have no talent. I’m so glad the definition of MVP conveniently changes every year.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Um… Homer was a poet. Maybe you meant Socrates, Plato or Aristotle?
Anyways… I think the Cavs addressed a lot of problem areas with this trade. They moved two soft big guys for two tough big guys, added a gritty young guard for junk, and replaced a slasher with a spot shooter… and they basically have the same cap flexibility to go after a big name a year from now.
Besides not being able to dump Eric Snow, what’s not to like about the trade?
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Oh, and http://www.heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com is/was a great website. I mean some of that guy’s posts were #$*!*$# hilarious. One of the first posts was a “conversation” between Hughes and a ref about how Manute Bol had a better 3p% than Hughes. It’s a must read.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Larry,
I agree with you about the changes. I’d be curious to know the effect that wholesale change has on a team long-term and short-term.
It was pretty clear that Brian was blogging in a hurry, but when referring to LBJ’s MVP candidacy, I think he meant this: It’s rare (very, very rare) for a player to win an MVP on a team that wins fewer than 50 games. Brian did a story on it last year or the year before, I think, but you have to go back more than 25 years to find an MVP on a team that won fewer than 50 games. (Strike year excluded.) Even then, they are exceedingly rare, when adjusted for an 82-game season. I believe only Jabbar, Moses Malone (twice), and Bob Cousy would qualify.
The Cavs are currently on pace for 46 wins, although a return to team health, the new players, and the end-of-season schedule could amend that projection a good deal.
I think Brian is saying that it will be a struggle for this team to get there, but Lebron still deserves the award. Sub-50 wins or not, I think he’ll get it if he continues to play the way he has all season.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Inexplicably, Lebron is running 4th or 5th in early MVP polls at this point by the “national media”. Chris Paul, Kobe and Garnett are ranked above him, with some idiots even putting Nash in there…. Do these people even watch basketball games? Do they live in some alternative universe where a guy posting 30-8-7.5 every night gets overlooked? The CP3 thing is infuriating. He’s a great point guard and his squad is having a surprising season and all but spare me the “New Orleans inspiration story”. They got beat last night at home by 20 to the Rockets. When all is said and done the Hornets are going to be fourth seed at best in the West, with maybe a few more wins than the Cavs. Garnett is putting up Pau Gasol numbers (19-9-4) and arguably doesn’t even deserve to make first team All-NBA at power forward (and maybe not even third team). The only competition is with Kobe and LBJ smacked him down both times we played them. It’s been said before; the MVP race isn’t even close. But I’m worried that unless the Cavs finish like 20-7 he’s not going to get it, because, as of now, there’s just too much ground to make up in the eyes of the talking head elitist sports media. And you would think that after the embarassment of last year (Nowitzki accepting his trophy at halftime of a different game because his team had already been knocked out) the voters would want to move away from the stupid formula of just giving the award to the “best player on the best team”. It’s not Kobe’s “turn”. It’s not second grade tee-ball where everybody gets a chance. It’s the MVP. It’s earned on the court night in and night out. And the choice hasn’t been this clear since the heydey of #23 in Chicago…
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Kobe hasn’t been the best player in any of his seasons. Neither has Nash. LeBron got robbed two years ago. He’s going to get robbed this year.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
LeBron did get robbed two years ago, and I think it was the same year BW wrote his historical thesis on the MVP. He was poo-pooing LeBron’s chances then and I remember a lot of debate about Nash.
Funny thing is, the Cavs wound up winning 50 that year, LeBron played spectacularly and it was obvious he should win it by the end of the season. I think even BW decided to vote for him in the last week or two, but too little, too late.
He’s entitled to vote for who he thinks will win, like he almost did that year. But I’d hope at least one writer in NE Ohio will write a good column arguing that LeBron should win this year, without any silly qualifiers or claims about ‘realism.’
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
i want joe smith to sign with the cavs an extended contract after next year, maybe for 3 years.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
terry pluto hair, i swear that you were alan tucker, you are so funny. you would kill them at the comedy club…….grace and peace….funny man.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
HEY TTS, “bite me,” how is that for intelligence, by the way what the heck is “troglodyte” in your attempt to show your intellectualism did you misspelled a word? Im sorry, i did not know you had to be a graduate of harvard to post on a sports blog….for give me for not being anal retentive…grace and peace, billy
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
HEY JIM, i thought josephus flanvis wrote “antiquity”, maybe “TTS”will correct since i am wrong, he is the brain of this outfit.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
now that game is what i would call a “gut-check”. only 6 true nba players in uniform (and two of those aren’t any good) to go along with 2 d-leaguers just signed earlier that day and yet the cavs still managed to win??? no way, jose. lebron proved who the real mvp of the league was right there and damon jones got his “d” and his “j” back in a big way. honestly, after that type of performance, i would be inclined to keep starting jones with wally-world in the backcourt and joe smith upfront with lebron and z. with that amount of offensive firepower at their disposal i could see the cavs getting 30+ points in the first quarter of games on a regular basis. they could then bring big ben and delonte west in from off the bench to go along with devin and andy to lay down some serious defense. and when boobie and sasha come back from their injuries??? put on your shades, boys, ’cause the future sure looks bright. nba championship, here we come. we can only hope.
February 24th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I’m sorry, Larry, but I don’t get what you’re saying. In this very blog, Brian says that he doesn’t think he’s being a homer in saying that LeBron is obviously the league MVP.
He isn’t saying who he thinks will win; he’s saying who he thinks (objectively, beyond all reasonable doubt) who is the best player this year. He is conceding that is doesn’t happen very often historically, but that LBJ should be the MVP. How is that different from what you’re advocating for him to say?
February 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Miracle win? Did Brian look at the lineup the awful Wiz (losers of 10 of their last 11) assembled? Which lineup would you rather have had before the game started?
What a freaking homer.
Oh yeah, LeBron isn’t going to win the MVP. The cavs are barely a 48 win team in the leastern conference. They’d be OUT of the playoffs in the Western Conference. Nuff said.
February 24th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Douglar,
did you see how many players the Cavs started up? Did you notice how many of them were on an NBA roster 24 hours before the game? Any rational human would have taken the Wizards in that game, despite their injuries.
What a freaking anti-homer.
And if the Cavs win 48 games, and Lebron keeps playing the way he is, he will be the MVP. If you’ve paid any attention to national broadcasters and sportswriters over the last week an a half - and I’m guessing you haven’t - the momentum has gradually been swinging away from KG and towards Lebron and Kobe.
Who cares if the Cavs play in the Eastern Conference. Their record against the West is solid (2 games over .500), with road wins against the Spurs, Mavs, and the Lakers.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Umm..Lakers are 21-8 against the West. LOL.
And no, the national attention isn’t shifting from Kobe and KG - you obviously live in Cleveland (I travel). Kobe is playing like Jordan, for the best team in the league. He’s been shafted so often, they’re going to give it to him.
LeBron will win many mvp’s..just not for a team that doesn’t win 50 games in the joke of an eastern conference.
And again, the Cavs had a better roster than the Wiz in that game. Which team would have rather have had?
February 24th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Umm..the Lakers are 21-8 vs the western conference. LOL
LeBron will win many mvp’s..just not this year, when they won’t win 50 games in the terrible eastern conference.
Kobe is getting tons of national pub…do you travel outside of Ohio?
February 24th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I don’t know what rubbed me the wrong way, Kevin.
LeBron’s MVP performance this season has been so obvious that the sage pronouncement (and the accompanying string of qualifiers) seemed a little silly.