Category Archives: Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009)

On the Cavs and the salary cap

From NBA.com: "(Wally) Szczerbiak's $13 million contract comes off the books in July, but the Cavs will still be over the salary cap. So (GM Danny) Ferry will not have much flexibility as he tries to tweak the roster."

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 11 Comments

Anything is possible

But I really do not see this happening. Not at all. The very notion seems, to put it mildly, a stretch of gargantuan proportions.

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 6 Comments

One man's take on the Cavs defeat

l Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 12 Comments

There simply was no defense

NBA.com points to one little-noticed element of the Cavs loss to the Magic: Their defense. After the Game 1 loss, I opined that the way the Cavs would stop the Magic would be the key. But as the series wore on, … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Comments Off

Discussing the Cavs

SI conducts a roundtable discusison on the Cavs here. It's got the usual stuff about LeBron leaving and some analysis of the roster.

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 1 Comment

Broussard: Cavs lack the stars

Chris Broussard of ESPN.com has an interesting analysis of the Cavs that states they have LeBron James and a bunch of role players. "Smart, savvy, hard-nosed role players, but role players nonetheless," Broussard writes. "The Cavs are the only team in the … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 2 Comments

LeBron James meets the media

Some highlights of LeBron James' season-ending session with the media at the team's practice facility:  On why he didn't speak after the game: "I didn't have much to say. Congratulations to the Orlando Magic. They played an unbelievable series and … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, LeBron, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Another season ends in disappointing fashion for the Cavs

The Cavs won 66 games in the regular season, but they couldn't win four against the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. They worked all season long to have home-court advantage, but gave it away in the first game … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 31 Comments

So can the Cavs win, or can't they?

I ran into SI's Ian Thomsen last Wednesday as I was leaving the hotel in Orlando. The Cavs were down 3-1, and in typical Cleveland fashion I was starting to wonder how they could ever, ever win the next game. … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, LeBron, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Cavs remain a confident crew

It seems that LeBron James' attitude has become infectious. Many people treat tonight's game like the Cavs should and will win, and many think the series will go the Cavs way. One thing that was striking about James after the … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, LeBron, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Cavs sound perplexed by the Magic — and angry at Anthony Johnson

The Cavs fell behind 2-1 in Orlando Sunday night, and there are several things to discuss and ponder: First … The Cavs were pretty angry with Anthony Johnson after the game for the elbow he threw that disfigured Mo Williams' … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | 10 Comments

The last and final toughs while fying …and flying … to Orlando

–I've about had enough of American Idol. —Brian Windhorst from the PD broke the story this morning that Dan Gilbert might be welcoming Chinese money into the Cavs. Apparently a gentleman named Hua (Kenny "Smith") Huang has been with Gilbert … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, Dan Gilbert, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009), What the heck? | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Some more thoughts while flying to Orlando

—It is imperative that Mo Williams find his shot tonight. At times in Game 2, Williams looked like a mess. He hesitated on shots and looked very uncertain. The Cavs made a concerted effort to get him shots early, and … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, Dayana Mendoza, Dwight Howard, LeBron, McManamon, Mo Williams, NBA, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Last thought on Game 1

I didn't like the looks on the Cavs faces in the final minutes of the Game 1 loss. It was understandable; something was happening that had hardly happened all season. But the players didn't look like they believed they were going to win. … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged | 4 Comments

Series tidbits

From Elias Sports via ESPN: The Cavs blew a 16-point lead, and in the LeBron James era they'd been 100-5 in the regular season and 10-0 in the playoffs when leading by 15 or more at home. … How dominant was … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged | Comments Off

He said it

"We're going to see what we're made of now. But it's not time to get our panties in a bunch yet." — Delonte West

Posted in Cavs, Delonte West, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The word from Orlando

Courtney Lee had a pretty eye-opening dunk on LeBron James in Game 1, a one-handed throw-down as James was preparing to block the shot. ""He shook my hand on the side after I dunked on him. It's all about competition, … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009), Stan Van Gundy | Tagged , , | Comments Off

The Cavs key to winning rests in their touchstone

It was frustrating to watch the Cavs offense bog down in Game 1 into the old style offense. See LeBron. See LeBron dribble. See LeBron dribble some more. See LeBron shoot. Yes, James, as he said, "had it going." He … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, Delonte West, LeBron, McManamon, Mo Williams, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009), Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Jumping off the bandwagon

Amazing what one loss can do. ESPN's John Hollinger picked the Cavs to win in five games. Now he's not so sure: "Sorry to be late to the party, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that Orlando matches up great against … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged | Comments Off

Revisiting Mo Williams' attempted game-winner

Mo Williams made one impossible shot at the end of the half and darn near made another at the end of the game in the Cavs Game 1 loss to Orlando Wednesday night. Williams was on the receiving of LeBron … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Mo Williams, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , | Comments Off

The Cavs lose Game 1 to Orlando

Mike Brown called his team's offense in the second half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals "stagnant." That's putting it politely. The Cavs lost Game 1 to Orlando because they quit doing the things they had done all … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, Delonte West, Dwight Howard, McManamon, Mike Brown, Mo Williams, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009), Stan Van Gundy | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

This week's SI cover story

It's on LeBron James and Cleveland sports. But … do the folks in the background — who can say they made the cover of SI — enhance the jinx or negate it?

Posted in Cavs, LeBron, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged | Comments Off

The Finals (finally) begin tonight

It's been about three months since the Cavs last played, but the East Finals do in fact begin tonight. I think the Cavs will have their hands full, and a couple writers from Fox agree. "If nothing else seems to … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged | Comments Off

Barkley was just being Barkley

 A few questions were asked of the Cavs during Monday's interview about Charles Barkley's opinion that Orlando would beat the Cavs to win the East. But nobody asked about Chris Webber and Kenny Smith ridiculing Barkley's pick. Is this not … Continue reading

Posted in Cavs, Charles Barkley, Joe Smith, LeBron, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Let's not bring back these memories

A quick rundown on the East Finals includes this question: "Will Cleveland's offense remind us of that old Cleveland offense?"

Posted in Cavs, McManamon, Playoffs vs. Orlando (2009) | Tagged | Comments Off