Some random thoughts with the Cavs in the air heading to Washington for Game 3 –

–Cavs have a longer trip than one might think. They had to fly into Dulles, not National. Some post 9-11 security thing about private planes, I presume.
That means busing from Dulles to the team hotel in our nation’s capital. Said town is a great town, but driving is a nightmare. Picture your typical 20-minute drive here. That drive would take 100 minutes in D.C. The conversion rule for driving in Washington, D.C., is pretty simple: Quadruple the time you expect a drive to take, then add 20. Standard formula.

–First Roc Boys reference of my career. For those keeping score. James was asked if he had his Soulja Boy dance ready, something he apparently did in Cleveland one time. He said no, he’d have his Roc Boys dance ready. Soulja Boy is the hip hop singer James compared to DeShawn Stevenson. Roc Boys is the new song by James’ friend Jay Z. Soulja Boy apparently took offense to James’ slight, and he may attend the game as a guest of Stevenson. Oh to be invited to a game by that guy, eh?

–James spoke to the media with his typical maturity. Said he’d be ready for hard fouls. Wouldn’t say if he thought the Wizards’ physical style had hampered their play. And he said that the key to the first two games was the Cavs defense: “Guys understand that defensively when we are in tune we are very good.”

–The Wizards have to believe that Caron Butler will eventually get the better of Wally Szczerbiak. James said Wednesday that Szczerbiak has done a good job of staying in front of Butler. Butler is an All-Star and he’s made nine shots in the series (in 23 attempts). This struggle seems to indicate Butler is still slowed by a bum hip; Szczerbiak has never been known for his defense.

–Wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Butler (hip) and Gilbert Arenas (wrist, knee) are both hurting more than they’ve let on. This is why the Cavs have adopted their “no excuses” attitude. It’s the playoffs, and if someone is hurting the other team will not and should not feel any sympathy.

–Charley Rosen of Fox Sports points out that even though the Wizards were out to foul him, James made five-of-six layups without being touched. Rosen also wrote that Szczerbiak was “routinely chumped on defense.”

–The Guardian in London wrote this story about Lebron James.

–Mike Brown was going to give the Cavs Monday off, but talked to his leaders – James and Z. He asked if he thought they should have the day off. They said, “We need to come in.” So the Cavs practiced at noon. “That was because the players wanted to,” Brown said.

–Wrote Tom Knott of the Washington Times regarding the hard fouls of James: “The NBA is inclined to indulge James because of his marketing power.”

–Said Mike Brown of Brendan Haywood criticizing him for being overprotective of James: “Brendan, I like him. He can say what he wants about me.”

–What happens in Game 3? If the Wizards don’t try to change their approach, I say the Cavs sweep. James is too determined, too good, too talented to let that kind of play affect him. Hard fouls … fine. Cheap fouls … takes Washington out of their game. If Washington plays their style, though, the game goes to the wire.

For more on this series, check out what my esteemed colleague Brian Windhorst has to say on his Cleveland Cavaliers blog.

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