ESPN’s Marc Stein tells us that the NBA has decided that it will start fining players for flopping next season. There are a lot of people who I know that hate, hate, hate flopping. One of them is the Plain Dealer’s Branson Wright, who fancies himself a bit of a purest. We’ve sat next to each other for hundreds of games over the years and each time he sees one he’ll let out a prolonged moan. I am not in this camp, I think it is part of the game just like other gamesmanship plays are. But the league is obviously trying to reign some things in.
In the 2006-07 season there was a play when Anderson Varejao — king of the timed response to defensive contact, oh, OK, the flop — hit the deck on a jump ball. And he was doing the jumping! And he got the call! I felt this was one of the greatest moments of the season, a signature move by a maestro. Branson literally got up from the table and walked away.
Actually, Andy’s great play from that season was taking a charge from Rasheed Wallace in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Sheed had just been called for a bad loose ball foul at the other end and was steaming. He pushed and shoved Varejao up the court, he must’ve hit him five times before he got the ball. Then setting up in the post he hit him twice more. Andy took them all. Then, at just the correct moment when Sheed was making his move, Andy went to the deck. Sheed was hit with the charge and then he freaked out, tackled LeBron and was ejected. To me, that was sheer mastery. And, as Andy’s often criticized yet not incorrect agent Dan Fegan once said to me: “A charge is just as good as a block.” Actually, it’s better because you get the ball and a foul on the other guy.
I think the key phrase in Stein’s story is fines will only come on the “most egregious type of flops.” Or as some in the NBA would call them: Ginobilis. I certainly recognize that this will change the way the game is played and there’s no doubt Andy is a target and will probably feel this rule at some point next season. More than likely, the league will pass out a bunch early on and announce them all with the hope that it will stem the tide, then will let it go in the late season and playoffs.
When there were first rumors of this sort of action last year I asked Andy about it. He pretty much shrugged and told me that it is easier to get a charge called in the NBA than any other league in the world because of the no-charge zone. “Easier to get charges because of the no-charge zone?” I repeated. “Yes, because if you set up outside of it and there is contact the officials have to make the call. In international games, they can let it go. The line makes them blow the whistle,” Andy told me. And, you know what, he’s right.
So these fines may not be great news for Andy, but I suspect it won’t change the way he plays the game at all.
–One more thing more I go, people are still asking me about why I didn’t address Carmelo Anthony rumors in my previous blog. I mean, I was giving you guys some credit. Why would the Nuggets trade their franchise player for any reason? I don’t care what rumors have come out of New Jersey or anywhere else, this is crazy. And you sure don’t trade him for expiring contracts. C’mon folks. Now, if Denver gets off to a bad start next season I could see them looking to trade Allen Iverson (heading into the last year of his deal) and maybe start a bit of a rebuilding because they have a sky-high payroll and have yet to win a playoff series with this group. But you don’t trade Melo, you build around him.
–Also, on the Jermaine O’Neal rumors. When Chad Ford wrote it he said he checked it out and it wasn’t true. You never say never, but I don’t see Danny Ferry trading Zydrunas Ilgauskas and I don’t see the Pacers moving O’Neal for a guy in his 30s. How does that make sense for the Pacers. He’s their franchise player, even if he’s been hurt for the last couple of years.
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Lakers in 5. The Lakers are just a better team plus they have the best player on the court.
Douglar, good points about Kobe. I never cut on him, though, so that is hard for me to understand. The people that cut on him don’t understand that it’s a team game. To me, it’s arguable about who the better play is, too. Either way, you can’t go wrong, imo.
Didn’t Windy say he was going to put up another blog/story about the year in review? How long ago was that?
Waiting for BW’s year end grades…
it is incomprehensible to me how a beat writer for a nba team has had exactly ZERO stories on players the team he covers will be bringing in for workouts. just today, there were stories out of utah, toronto and minnesota about college players brought in to workout for those respective cities’ teams.
now, i don’t expect much from branson and the two ladies but windy is the best cavs writer going, right? so how in god’s name does he have NO STORIES about the draft?? is he on vacation??
It’s fun going back and reading old blog posts. Fun and funny. Many of the exact same things are now being written for the third straight late spring/summer, both by media folks and by fans. Seriously, you could take many of those same posts, simply change the date, repost them verbatim, and nobody will ever know the difference.
Why even bother with grades? Grades compared to what or whom? Everything summing up the 2005-2008 Cleveland Cavaliers, and I guess the 2005-2010 Cleveland Cavaliers, can be directly traced back to sections of a September 9, 2005 blog post typed by our esteemed blog host. He could not have been more wrong, and he could not have been more right.
Enjoy:
“Several e-mailers over the last week have suggested Danny Ferry be made president, or at least the head of FEMA. I’ll, too, tip my cap to Ferry this offseason. He had a massive responsibility: to properly spend $28 million in cap space. He added a dynamic potential superstar in Larry Hughes, re-signed an All-Star in his prime in Zydrunas Ilgauskas, added a multi-talented veteran who can shoot and play multiple positions in Donyell Marshall, and picked up probably the best shooter on the open market in Damon Jones.
As evidenced by the e-mails and some of the talk shows I’ve heard, many fans are down right giddy with the moves. I’ll say, too, that for the most part I think Ferry has done an excellent job. I think he paid fair market value for Jones and Marshall and actually got Hughes to turn down more guaranteed money from the Wizards. I think he gave Z too many years (5 for $53 million), but I guess he did what he had to do get the deal done.
With all these guys now in long-term deals and Eric Snow and Ira Newble signed for many years, the Cavs are pretty much locked into this roster. Any player can be traded and any deal can be made, but for the most part these are your Cavs. It’s Ferry’s best shot at this point in time and he knows all too well exactly what I’d say to fans: He’s worked hard, he’s spent money, but the proof will be in the win-loss record, not the preseason excitement.
Those who love Ferry today, could be ready to string him up tomorrow.”
Oh, kj, who gives a crap about the draft? If they want to draft five more guys, then they can easily buy five more first-round picks. Low first-round picks these days are a bad joke, they’re sold like $20 hookers. Google some old stuff about Shannon Brown if you really want to read about who Ferry is fawning over. Or is that whom. Is it who or whom? That who or whom thing has always confused me.
And by the way, I forget that kid’s hyphenated name that everybody is screaming about taking so he can ferment on a plastic chair, but I don’t trust any guy that hyphenates his name. That’s just too weird.
I want to massage Kobe’s shoulders with hot oil during all the TV timeouts.
alan, you idiot. you don’t care one lick about cavs or basketball.
and for you to be looking up old posts to show how wrong they could be is beyond freakin’ rich. why don’t you be constructive, for once, and repost some of your thousand and one incorrect predictions, eh? then we can all have a laugh…
oh, and per usual, you’re wrong about draft picks in the 20’s. here’s some of the players from just a couple of years ago who were drafted in the 20’s, dolt:
rondo, farmar, josh boone, kyle lowry.
from the ‘05 draft: jason maxiell, kleiza, nate robinson, david lee
i could go on but my point is made. you can find solid contributors and sometime starters in the 20’s.
Uhh … kj, trust me, you really don’t want me to repost my predictions from 2005 through the present date, because I’d make you look like a damn fool for saying I should repost those predictions. I ain’t Nostradamus, but my predictions have pretty much come to fruition. This team is exactly where I said they’d be. All anybody needed was common sense to be able to clearly see the future Ferry created. Hey, don’t get defensive, pal, I can’t help it if you don’t have common sense.
Like I said, who cares about the damn draft. Hell, if Ferry cared, last season he could have simply bought back the exact same first-round pick Paxson previously traded for Welsch. Since I know you’re a huge Michael Jackson fan, both on and off the proverbial stage, here’s a new Rudy Fernandez highlight video. He would have seen at least 40-45 minutes a game on the Cavs, right? Indeed, he was so ready for the NBA, he was told to stay in Europe for additional “seasoning.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzaRAZ_yNTQ
You’ve gotta be really bored, not to mention starved for Cavs “news,” for you to actually bitch and moan that Windhorst isn’t writing about a bunch of kids, none of whom will see playing time on the Cavaliers in the foreseeable future. I’m far more concerned with the forks in Wallace’s and Ilgauskas’ backs, and how Ferry intends to trade Varejao without first finding a suitable replacement for when Ilgauskas faints in Game 52.
yeah, alan, like how you predicted the pistons would destroy the cavs in ‘07? great call!
also, your response to my “fact smackdown” (copyright pending) is classic tucker and by that i mean you essentially repeat what you said in your previous post and don’t actually address the EIGHT examples i gave of players who have made serious contributions in the last couple years after being picked in the 20’s of the draft. as i said, classic tucker…oh and then mention a player i *never* mentioned! genius!
i care about the draft and the coverage of it because, unlike you, i CARE about the cavs. i’m a FAN of the cavs. i want them to SUCCEED. you, on the other hand, neither want or are any of those things. you’re an idiot and a fraud and dyed-in-the-wool troll who i should never feed but sometimes your comments are so inane, i can’t help myself.
btw, to anyone who actually cares about the cavs, it’s a FALLACY that the cavs pick will get no PT this upcoming season. the cavs need athleticism at nearly every position. and the one thing say a young front-court player could bring is energy and athleticism, assuming we pick correctly. so really, considering this draft is very deep, we have a good opportunity this draft to augment our athleticism.
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
Hahaha. You two are so immature. I don’t mind arguing, but this is past an argument.
kj, I said my predictions regarding the state of the team, not the Pistons series. I pretty much nailed it all, beginning with my prediction regarding what would happen if they hired Ferry, then my long-term prediction what would follow that horribly botched summer of 2005, and then right on through 2008. Yep, I missed it with that specific playoff series, true. Not that it matters, I didn’t say they’d destroy the Pistons, I said they’d beat them, just as most people thought would happen. And James beat the Pistons, the Cavaliers didn’t beat the Pistons, per se. But I was wrong, I underestimated James’ greatness. Regardless, I can live with one wrong prediction out of 50, not bad. Well, actually 47 out of 48 so far, I’m still waiting to see if my 2006 long-term prediction regarding Shannon Brown is going to come true and my 2006 long-term prediction regarding James is going to come true. The latter I think is a given, but the former, still up in the air. I wrote after Ferry bumped his head and drafted Brown that Brown would be playing in Europe in 2009. I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that one, but right now I still feel pretty good about it.
By the way, I loved that part about this draft being a good opportunity to “augment our athleticism.” Hilarious. And then Ferry can work on augmenting the breasts on a titmouse. If he works as hard this summer as he did last summer, then there will be a lot of stacked titmouses hanging from the autumn leaves.
KJ, you’re too intelligent and insightful to be taking on a mental midget the stature of one Alan T. Just let him hang himself. Or perhaps when LeBron re-signs with the Cavs in 2010, he’ll ’slip into a coma’ for a solid year instead of a mere few months.
I think the only person who bumped his head would be the elderly, senile guy who’s talking about “titmouses”(what on earth is that?), babbling about his amazing Cavs-bashing percentage, and re-hashing his awkward crush on Danny Ferry.
One more time, big gay Al… the Atlanta Hawks are, what did you call them? SSSSuperrrrr-fabulous?
Oh, one other thing, kj, since you brought it up … if you weren’t so busy playing the role of crazed fan/blog dufus, then you would certainly have known that Rudy Fernandez ended up being the first-round pick that Ferry could have bought back from Steve Kerr long after Paxson gave it away to Danny Ainge.
I think Windy has spent too much time hanging around Danny Ferry…..weeks go by without any results…..
What could Brian report on the draft? Coverage will pick up once the Finals are over. In any event, the 19th pick probably won’t make an impact next year. I hope I’m wrong but knowing how Ferry drafts…
I love revisionist history:
- Just because something didn’t work out the way you wanted doesn’t mean that you made the wrong decisions. Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose. I’m not saying that every move Ferry made was a masterstroke. But the fact that the Cavs haven’t won a title yet doesn’t mean every move was a mistake.
- Kobe single-handedly made his team worse for the last 3 seasons. And now that he has his team back in the Finals (I’m picking the Celtics in 6), everyone has forgotten the fact that he has been a terrible teammate and a terrible person for those seasons. He hasn’t apologized, he hasn’t redeemed himself. He just looks better because his team is better around him, specifically an atlethic, talented big man who was stolen from Memphis without the Lakers giving up any of their top ten players. I guess winning is the best deoderant. I’m not doubting his talent, but let’s not pretend like Kobe suffered through a Peyton Manning-like struggle to reach the top. He made his bed, and he had to lie in it until David Stern pulled the strings to save the L.A. market.
- That being said, I think that everyone in the Cavs Front Office should read the following article by Scoop Jackson. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/080603 It’s about Kobe and his “thirst” to win. I don’t doubt it, and with a good team around him, Kobe’s need to win will make the Lakers tough to beat. But that means that the stakes for all other would-be contenders are higher, and that includes the Cavaliers. The Cavs can’t be like the Indians, hoping that things will come together. They have to seize the opportunity now.
Go Cavs.
Mike C.
I think Phil Jackson’s book would be a good read for anyone who’s ready to put Kobe Bryant in the same class of person as a Peyton Manning or Tim Duncan. Polar opposites, actually.
Alan, is Rudy Fernandez “Super-fabulous”? I mean he hasnt even played a game in the NBA yet.
Since kj is bashing other people for their predictions, let’s jump in the time machine and go back to last summer.
“by any REASONABLE judgement the season was a major success. we have the best young player in the game and yes, gibson, pavs and brown WILL improve. trying watching an nba game sometime. you’ll see that it happens to a lot of guys on alot of teams.”
—-kj, 7/5/07
I didn’t see much improvement in the games of Daniel Gibson, Sasha Pavlovic, and Shannon (lmao) Brown. But since you watch NBA games and no one else on planet Earth does, I’m assuming you noticed that as well.
“and btw, lewis is soft and orlando will be killing itself down the road if it signs him to a max deal, as is being reported…”
—-kj, 7/5/08
Yeah I’m sure Orlando is kicking themselves after improving dramatically and winning more games than everyone in the East except Boston and Detroit.
“we’re at the top! we’re the hunted! we’re where every team in the east wants to be!! that’s why their making crazy moves left and right because they knew ( and know ) that once LBJ got a taste of the finals he was going to shut the door on the east for may a year. period. and if you don’t think that that’s true, well, you haven’t been paying attention…”
—-kj, 7/5/08
Wait. Did Lebron slam the door on the East yet? If he did, I think we were on the wrong side of it.
“oh my gosh! i almost forgot the celtics! they got a 32-year old jump shooter who just got BOTH ankles surgically repaired! curses! the celtics dynasty is sure to rise again now! oh, the horror for us lowly clevelanders! fate has struck us the cruelest of blows again!”
—-kj, 7/5/08
Nice call, dumbass. Why don’t you head on over to the Branson Wright blog? I think you’d be more comfortable there.
Lewis’ salary is pretty scary. 17, 18, 20, 22, 23 mil over the next 5 years, 4 of which he’ll be 30+.
Orlando better get past the second round in the EAST to make that deal look better. Getting manhandled by museum-piece Detroit again won’t cut it.
Um, if LeBron gets even a LITTLE help in game 7, the Cavs are playing the Lakers right now. You can stick a fork in the Pistons…
Orlando got significantly better because Dwight Howard is the most dominant low post force in the NBA and Hedo Tubofglue had the season of his life. Rashard Lewis was the 3rd banana and he’s making max money. Not good for the future, and they got knocked out by those Pistons who just fired their coach and are officially on watch for a complete blow up of their core…
Ray Allen is killing the Celtics, no arguing that…
Gibson and Pavlovic were both injured for most of the season, so to measure their improvement would be almost impossible. Shannon Brown’s best ‘dunk’ was in a McDonald’s commercial, fair enough.
But I think it’s “Super-fabulous” that Alan wastes all this time trying to make KJ look bad, when if someone were to go back and chronicle all of his misdeeds, it would be an epic collection of garbage. I mean, how many different ways can you say “Ferry is an idiot”, anyway?
Josh, are you dating kj, or what? Seriously. And I don’t waste time trying to make kj look bad (or you, for that matter), it’s typically a reaction to your moronic personal attacks. Truthfully, you and kj normally do a masterful enough job making yourselves look bad without me getting involved in any written pissing match. But I do take exception when somebody calls me a flaming homo, or something, and simulaneous posts a video of that person waving Cavaliers pom-poms, or something. Personally, I’d rather see a video of Delonte West dribble a ball off of his foot, a video of Gilbert laughing his ass off whenever his accountant shows him the ticket receipts, or a video of Ilgauskas racing Big Brown in a special challenge match. So I figure, what the hell, I don’t have to leave for work for another hour, I’ll kill a few minutes and respond to that flamimg homo remark accompanied by the waving pom-poms video.
And, in answer to your question as to how many ways can you say, “Ferry is an idiot?” Hmmm … well, several hundred thousand, at least. Although, I must admit, that my very favorite isn’t even my own, but instead is doc’s reference to Ferry’s ankle hairs. He didn’t even have to mention Ferry’s lack of a brain to convey that Ferry is an idiot. Now *that’s* true genius.
KJ here are your precious names from BW’s story. he said earlier that the Cavs don’t release names of players unlike a lot of other teams.
“The Cavs began their private draft workouts with a group of players Tuesday. They have another set scheduled for early next week. Among the players who have worked out are Lester Hudson (Tennessee-Martin), Stanley Burrell (Xavier) and David Padgett (Louisville).”
Hudson, Burrell and Padgett–I guess Ferry’s not looking to trade up.
Well, grampa Alan, you dropped the gay term, so I guess living with it is the price you pay?
I think the majority of readers on this board know who the idiot is, and for YOU of all people to whine about personal attacks considering that no one in the Cavaliers organization is safe when you sit down at your keyboard… well that’s just beyond hypocrisy.
But hey, wasnt Paul Pierce “Ultra-fabulous” in Game 1 last night?
The point is, if you want to come on here and rip any and all things Cavs to get some attention, you’re more than free to do so. HOWEVER, dont be whining and complaining about people disagreeing with you or making fun of the stupid things you say. That’s part of the deal, is it not?
As I said, Josh, the writings of the pom-pom people make incredibly easy targets. I think a fair analogy would be all the dodos who were all gung-ho about invading Afghanistan and Iraq, and were all gung-ho over the leader that invaded them. The moves were all great at the time. Everybody was all giddy. And then time goes on, and you begin to realize the moves weren’t all so great. And then, as more time goes on, you finally come to realize the moves were beyond inbecilic, and now you’re in a quagmire with no way out. It’s too late, and there is absolutely no way to come out of it with your head held high. Only naive fools and complete idiots keep cheering it on, claim victory is right around the corner, and keep applauding the boob that is responsible for creating such a gigantic mess.
Josh, LeBron won’t eventually be signing with Iran, will he? Or maybe he’ll seek asylum in China. Put down the pom-poms and answer the question.
I don’t get it, why doesn’t Ferry drop a dime about who he’s tried out? What’s the big secret? He certainly seems to have no trouble leaking misdirection whenever it serves him, like when he leaked those ridiculous lies about Varejao’s bogus $100 zillion a year demands. Especially when you’re drafting 19th, really, who cares? Precisely what is his shrewd underlying strategy here?
Good to know Windy has a Deep Throat that can feed him info that guys named “Lester” and “Stanley” have been given a looksy by our scouting maven Ferry. Has there ever been a good player in the NBA who’s had a first name of “Lester” or “Stanley?” Hey, those would be good pet’s names, by the way. The only two guys I can think of off the top of my head with the first names of “Lester” or “Stanley” were stiffs Lester Conner and Stanley Roberts. Hell, I can’t even think of any more Lesters or Stanleys who have seen a single minute of regular season playing time in the entire history of the NBA. If anybody can come up with any, please post them.
You dont actually predict the future, though, Alan. You’re obviously the Democrat who stands ildly by and criticizes the other side every step of the way, WITHOUT ACTUALLY SAYING WHAT YOU WOULD DO DIFFERENT. That’s the difference. You criticize and rip constantly, and when things dont go well, you say “I told you so”. In other words, you’re Ted Kennedy.
The PROBLEM IS, you didnt “tell us so”. You were just the negative old coot who pointed the finger and naysayed the whole time like a giant senile raincloud over everyone’s heads. You dont offer constructive ways it could have been better, and you certainly dont have any fresh ideas of your own. You live to be a negative person, that’s just who you are.
Whether you want to admit it or not, much like the Iraq situation, you were on board with it at the time, you liked those signings, and you wanted them to succeed. Everyone did. But to participate in a revisionist history lesson and act like you were the dissenting voice who said, “NO, dont spend that salary cap space! Save it for someone else next year! These guys will be terrible!” is simply dishonest and irresponsible. If you try to pretend so, you’re a liar and a fraud, Alan.
Will LeBron leave? While it’s possible, it certainly doesnt make sense. Here’s why…
-He’s home, he can make the most money under the Collective Bargaining Agreement here. So reason #1 is money.
-The Cavs have made 3 trips to the postseason and seem to have a system in place that wins playoff games, even with mediocre talent. Keep adding talent and eventually someone will pan out, and when that happens, it’s a title.
-Cleveland is much better than New York and New Jersey at this time, in terms of record and salary cap space, and the only reason he would leave would be to go and WIN somewhere else. They’ll be even better when contracts start expiring and/or are traded for better assets.
-He was the 3rd highest money earner of any professional athlete this past year (behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson) so dont tell me he needs a big market to be a “Global Icon”, that’s horse dung.
-He has all he needs with the Cavs, an owner willing to spend, a coach who lets him play his way, and his adoring hometown fans who will come to see him play. The grass is never greener on the other side, he can ask Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Carlos Boozer… the list is endless.
I’m done rambling. I could go on all night. I dont think he goes anywhere unless something really dramatic happens, like missing the playoffs or a rift with the front office develops. I think the Cavs will be players in the trade market, the draft, and in free agency to improve this team, which will help.
Pom poms are down. LeBron will be here in 2010, and when it happens, I hope you dont disappear and make up a lame excuse. Or wait, maybe I do.
I think if the Cavs won the NBA Championship, we would all be friends again.
Shaq thought the grass was pretty green in L.A. and it turned out he was right.
Larry, he’s the only one, especially in the NBA where comfort level and chemistry are so important. LA was already a good team when he arrived, so he went there to win.
New York, and New Jersey for that matter, had better not just strip their teams to the bone and try to lure LeBron with money alone. The kid cares about winning more than just about any player in the league, and right now, the Cavs give him the best opportunity to do just that, and in his home town. Where else does he really fit?
Shaq was the exception, not the rule.
You’re right about Shaq being an exception Josh but LeBron has always seen himself as pretty exceptional. I just hope he thinks he has a chance to win championships in Cleveland.
Unfortunately, this summer’s litany of front office spin has already started and it doesn’t bode well. First, a story two weeks ago about how wise it is to take a step back before rushing into any moves. Now we read how all the players who are going to be traded this year are in the Central.
Oh boy.
I noticed that too, larry. I think the best post I’ve ever read in that regard you wrote yourself. It was last year some time, it detailed, in all its seamy glory, the chronological history of Windhorst front office spin. Some things seem to never end. Death, taxes and Cleveland Cavaliers front office media spin. The three sure things in life.
Few more sure things in life…
Comaguy, aka alan t., never having a positive thing to say about anyone associated with the Cavaliers.
Comaguy lapsing into a coma emergency the next time the Cavs have a good run thru the playoffs.
Few more as well but these should suffice for now.
I’m waiting for this summer’s story about Boobie’s outrageous demands to be paid more than Steve Nash.
Hey why don’t they just go ahead and let Z play for the Lithuanian team this summer if he wants? He’s worked pretty hard for the Cavs for a pretty long time and this is his last chance at the Olympics, probably.
Dissing the Gentle Giant this way is going to jinx the team.
I wouldn’t let Ilgauskas play, but that’s just me. Gilbert, too. That guy isn’t dumb, with no insurance coverage to pay Ilgauskas’ contract if he gets hurt, it’s not worth the risk.
And dissing the Gentle Giant will result in a Cavs jinx? Seems like a moot point. The team already got jinxed when Bob Ferry impregnated his wife in January 1966.
Actually, the Cavs jinx began in February 1966, not January. Unless Bob Ferry’s wife had one of those weird 10-month pregnancies.
Gilbert has to pay Illgauskus if he’s healthy, too. What’s the difference to him, money wise?
Regardless of how lousily average a player Ilgauskas is, he has worth. Not worth the amount he’s being paid, but worth, nonetheless. But he’s worthless if he’s hurt, and then he’s being paid for doing nothing but petting the pet rabid Labrador of his, or whatever that thing is. At least if he’s hurt during an NBA game, Gilbert & Co. are reimbursed. No way he’ll be allowed to play, especially in light of Varejao dislocating his shoulder and Garbajosa ruining his leg. There’s a greater chance the Browns will give Kellen Winslow permission to do this for yucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7IUKyDkDig
BREAKING NEWS: The worst road team in NBA finals history came back from 24 down to win on the road the day after the NBA was accused of fixing games for the home teams and arranging for series to go 7 games. I’m just shocked….never saw this one coming.
I wonder what the next episode of “NBA” will bring us. I’m sure Stern has some crazy plot twists scripted out for us.
LOL…Biff, great comment. I was thinking along similar lines. I’m not a conspiracy nut at all, but the timing was perfect.
Considering there are a lot more franchises now than in past “NBA history,” that “worst road team team in NBA finals history” is yet another deceptive stat that can mean pretty much whatever you want it to mean. I haven’t done the research, but I’m guessing that if you lined up all the losers of past NBA finals series, and looked at their road records leading up to those finals, a decent percentage of those records would be considered to be pretty lousy, too. But a lot of those series’ didn’t go seven games, there were a lot less series’ leading up to the finals, plus NBA early series’ used to be five, now they’re seven. Apples to mangoes. And didn’t the Cavs have a pretty rotten road record, too? Or did Bongyell save the day in some hotel somewhere, I don’t recall. Or was some bastard filth ref calling one of those games.
The Celtics play with a lot of passion. Refreshing, to say the least. Teams like the Cavaliers go through the motions. And I’m glad to see Rivers reads this blog, he got Cassell out of there and is playing House instead.
Relax alan, I thought it was implied that I was using the “worst road team” tag loosely.
And p.s…. the celtics can blow me because in the non-fixed world, 24 win teams don’t win NBA titles the following year.
Biff, perhaps Ferry is heavily involved with the mob, too. I’ve noticed a lot of olive oil coming out from around the forks in Wallace’s and Z’s backs. At first I thought it was sweat, but now I’m not so sure. It’s making more sense.
IN YOUR TOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’re right alan…..I’m the idiot for thinking that maybe, just maybe, something isn’t quite on the up and up when a 24 win team (that just so happens to play in Boston) becomes a 66 win team overnight when it had no real valuable assets to work with. I’m the idiot for wondering why Kevin McHale just decided to give up Garnett for 10 cents on the dollar to the Celtics of all teams. I’m sure they made him the best offer and I’m also sure that David Stern was just devastated that Boston was getting on of the league’s marquee players for next to nothing.
I’m also sure that the Lakers offer of a couple pieces of poop and late first rounders was the best offer Chris Wallace was presented with for Gasol. I’m also sure that once again, David stern was infuriated that his second biggest market became relevant again overnight.
Alan, I’m not some conspiracy theorist sitting in my parents’ basement coming up with this stuff. I’m a reasonable person (actually a lawyer – insert cliche’ lawyer joke here) who just so happens to be overwhelmed by the evidence that the events of the league we follow are not as spontaneous and naturally occuring as they appear. I didn’t need Tim Donagy to tell me this but it certainly reaffirms what I already believed to be true.
The Wolves got one of the most promising young power forwards in the league for Garnett. What more could anyone have offered outside someone like LeBron, Kobe, etc.? They got market value plus, I’d say.
I’m a little befuddled by all the Celtics denial. They’ve got two of the best players in the NBA and they usually work pretty hard on defense. That’s plenty to win in the NBA even without help from the league and refs.
Not only did they get Jefferson, but assuming they’ll still suck, they also got back an extremely high future draft pick, since they got back their own first-round pick they’d previously traded to Boston, which if the ping-pong balls fall correctly, could land them the first pick in a draft. So not exactly “10 cents on the dollar” nor “next to nothing.” There aren’t many teams that can afford to pay a guy $23 million for a season, let alone have cap room to do it.
Tim in Plantation FL and Mike C, basketball prophets:
Posted on 5/30/08 by Tim in Plantation FL:
I never said that the Lakers defense sucked. I just said that it’s not as good as the Cavs or Pistons defense and the Celtics will have more room to operate to make shots. I think the Celtics will win in 6 or 7. In my opinion, there’s no way the Lakers steamroll the Celtics in the Finals. I think most people are underestimating the quality of the top 4 Eastern Conference teams and they think that since the West was the better conference overall, then the Lakers must kill the East team in the Finals.
Josh, I’ll guess we’ll just have to see how it plays out in the Finals to see who’s right.
Posted on 6/1/08 by Tim in Plantation FL:
Reasons why I think the Celtics will beat the Lakers in 6 or 7 games:
1) Celtics have had the best defense in the league all year (except for the Cavs in the playoffs, which was the best defensive display of any team this playoff season). The Pistons have a very good, efficient offense and the Celtics did a great job of disrupting them.
2) Kevin Garnett will DOMINATE Pau Gasol down low. Pau may be a very skilled offensive player, but there’s no way he has the strength to guard Garnett.
3) The Celtics will dominate the Lakers on the boards.
4) Rondo is too quick for Derek Fisher.
5) Paul Pierce will contain (not stop) Kobe.
6) The Lakers defense is decent, but it’s not even close to the Cavs or Pistons defense. Kobe is a great perimeter defender, but the interior defense of the Lakers is weak. Also, there’s no way they will swarm and rotate to stop Ray Allen like the Cavs did. He’ll have room to shoot and I predict he’ll have a big series. The Celtics have been playing against two rough, physical defenses the last 2 series and the Lakers defense will seem like a relief to them.
7) The Celtics just beat in 6 games (2 on the road) a 59-win Detroit team that easily handled the very talented Majic in 5 games the series before.
I think the toughest defensive matchup for the Celtics is Odom, but they rotate well on defense and can also use Posey on him if needed. Of course, Kobe is playing great now and is always a tough matchup, but Pierce is big, strong and quick enough to give him problems. Of course, if Kobe shoots lights-out the entire series, then the Lakers will most likely win. Should be a great series. We’ll see what happens.
Posted on 6/3/08 by Mike C:
Just a few thoughts:
- I don’t care if the Lakers won in 5, they are not leaps and bounds better than the Spurs. The Spurs had a hobbling Manu Ginobili, who was unable to hit those back-breaking shots that killed the Cavs last year, and they got abused by the officiating to end Game 4.
- The Spurs seemed to run out of gas this year. Give credit to the Lakers, they earned their #1 seed, but they also got lucky on the draw. San Antonio had to go through Phoenix and New Orleans in the first two rounds, while L.A. had to deal with the emotionally challenged Nuggets and the mentally weak Jazz. At the same time, San Antonio has been dealing with long runs through the Playoffs for the last 10 years, while L.A. was sitting at home a full month before the Spurs won the title last year. The Lakers were fresher, and that was the huge difference. It had little to do with a talent disparity between the two teams.
- Everybody wants the champion to be a great team. And the Lakers looked more like a great team than the Celtics in the playoffs. But I think we’re going to see that the Celtics brand of basketball creates problems for the Lakers, and will really create problems for guys like Odom and Gasol. The Lakers are counting on some really soft guys to help Kobe out, and I’m not sure they are going to come through. Maybe Kobe is good enough to do it himself (LeBron almost did), but I wouldn’t count on Odom to pull a Robert Horry and put the dagger in down the stretch.
Hey Mike C, looks like you and me nailed the Finals pretty well. Maybe ESPN should fire some of their “experts” and hire us instead
. OK, the series isn’t over yet, but barring a major collapse, the Celtics should be NBA champs this year. Mabe Joe Dumars acted a little hastily when he fired Flip Saunders and is threatening to tear up the team. You know Joe, maybe its not that your Pistons didn’t play hard enough, weren’t coached well enough, etc…. maybe the Celtics are just THAT GOOD.
By the way, I got amused reading all of the Celtics fans posts on the Boston Globe during the Atlanta and Cleveland series calling for Doc Rivers head. The moves he made last night were absolutely BRILLIANT and he totally outclassed the 9-time champion zenmaster to go up 3-1.
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