We Are All Witnesses To Horrible Team Play

Sorry LeBron all those dreams and hopes of championships were dashed in a myriad of match-up problems, bad coaching, bad officiating all over and horrible play from team mates. Now I know that the series isn't over and am still an advocate that it will now go seven games, cause if one player can carry a team from a 3-1 defect, it is LeBron James.

In trying to figure out the reason for this sudden collapse, there seems to be no one real answer just a bunch of bad scenarios adding up. Mike Brown is, and always was, a horrible head coach. As a defensive coordinator he would be ideal, but his substitutions and "plays" are all from the mind of a high school basketball team that loses games. Joe Smith needs more floor time covering Rashard Lewis, Delonte should be on Courtney Lee and James on Hedo. Do not double and triple Dwight every time he touches the ball! Stay on your man, every once in awhile have a man step out and double, but make Howard beat you himself without these extra freebie 3 pointers. Wally has seen far to much floor time as has Sasha who is still way too streaky night to night. The small line-up works well in short bursts, but have the big men rotate more often to keep them fresh. We all realize that Wallace is a horrible offensive option but he is the best defender on Howard and if you sub in Joe Smith with him then you get another decent to good offensive look. Also Mike Brown needs to grow a sack and set in and tell James no when he starts to take over the fourth quarter. Every game this series he has taken seemingly every shot in the fourth, while wasting as much clock as possible. I realize that your team isn't that good, but they aren't even getting shot attempts in the fourth! That is a horrendous stat. Also, what happened to that "team comradery?"

If the Cavs win this series and then win the finals nothing will be changed by Danny Ferry, which will turn out to be a mistake. If we lose I know he will try to blow it up and get whatever he can to please LeBron. Now I have had quite a few posts on what the Cavs should do so this one will be shorter and sweeter. Rip Hamilton is an unlikely possibility to get. The next best thing would have to be Iggy, and he is more attainable than one may think. Currently he plays the small forward spot and currently Andre Miller is a free agent seriously thinking about Portland this offseason. So what does it all mean? Trade Mo Williams and Delonte West to them for Iggy that way they get a starting one and two guard, considering Delonte would surely beat out Willie Green. Now they still have Lou Williams and Elton Brad is coming back so they can slide Thaddeus Young in to a more natural spot at the three and have a flexible line-up where they can go big and small. What we get is a legit proven scorer who needs a main man to take pressure off him and can create his own shot and for others. Not to mention he is young and a damn good defender. Two minor problems, would Philly really want to trade their star player and the Cavs lose both potential starting point guards. Well remember when the Celtics threw Rondo in to the starting line-up? The Cavs could easily do this with Daniel Gibson. Now I really wanted to see improvements in his play this year, but he seems to have gotten worse. Acquiring Mo and Being injured most of the year seem to me to be the main problems. I think give him the starting job and he will flourish and develop and if he doesn't then the draft and free agency are always available. Regardless Cleveland's "offense" doesn't run through the point anyways it runs through James and Iggy would also be able to help out in running the show.

Free agency has several hidden gems, that would help this new team. Re-signing Andy for cheap would be great and getting Z to use his ETO and also take less money would be amazing. If not I would not be afraid to put him and Ben Wallace on the block and at the least shed those salaries. If Andy doesn't re-sign so power forward/center free agents possibilities would be Leon Powe, Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox, Marcin Gortat and possibly even Rasheed Wallace (which would be weird and may actually kill the team so I pray he stays a Piston). Don't like the idea of Boobie running the show, well if we give Mo to Philly they have no reason to re-sign Andre Miller who would be a pretty good veteran to get back in Cleveland. Or there is always Raymond Felton that we could take a chance on but he may get a bigger than expected payday from the Bobcats so I don't see that happening. A back up swing man for James that isn't named Wally would help. Marvin Williams would likely get a good payday from the Hawks, Josh Childress may be a better idea anyways, if he decides to come back. My favorite idea is still Joey Graham and trading Sasha for him is still a good idea, it would give us extra cap room or at least take us down from being in the luxury tax. Linas Klezia is another possible hidden gem that no one seems to notice.

The draft is where we could actually hit big, or not hit at all because Danny Ferry's track record is a sad, sad sight. Would really love Stephen Curry as our young developing point guard, even over Boobie, and if somehow we can trade up I would in a second. I would get players James like this year, while creating a good all around team too, and Curry is a player James likes. We would have to take either a center, power forward or point guard in case Boobie does not work out with our first pick. There are no centers worth the pick and a player that should be around that I'd really like to have is Tyler Hansbrough. Why would a team not want a proven winner, who has done a lot with a little in terms of athleticism, has a good size and hustles always on the court? He could become a starter, I won't say he will be a star, but he'll get his points cause of a nice developing jump shot and his defense will be good because he hustles. Playing with James and now Iggy will help him get open looks and he can rebound and is a smart player who will learn anything he needs quickly. With the second pick just go to trade it or look for size in a center that can learn under Z hopefully, or be a piece in a trade.

Other than that I'm sure that with the great amount of point guards in this year's draft that some will slip to free agency. Find them, sign them, develop them. Go for producers in college, like Scottie Reynolds and Dominic James who are being help back by scouts because of size and other such trivial things. Trades of Ben Wallace and potentially Z will have to happen because of how bad they hurt the team overall. Hopefully a serviceable big man can be had in return, if not Ben Wallace needs to be dumped for salary cap reasons. Maybe Chris Bosh can be had with his contract and that little switcheroo of Sasha and Joey Graham. Some current free agents like Patrick Ewing Jr, Chris Richard, Mike Sweetney and Austin Croshere are all better twelve men than Lorenzen Wright.

posted by: Jason

Don't Hurt Mo

picture from espn.com

Mo Williams has been, lackluster this postseason. Seems to be proving that it took a few injuries to other players for him to make the all-star team a little more correct. It's obvious, really, what he's doing wrong now and what he was doing right in the regular season. I see him come down the floor. look for LeBron, if James says no then he seems to just rush to the hoop or chuck up something awful or make an errant pass, the list goes on. The main thing is that he knows it is playoff time and because of that he's rushing, trying to make six points on one possession.

It's not all his fault though, when you give some thought to it. James also knows it's the playoffs and so he seems to have devolved back to his older, ball hogging-self. Which is in part to team mates performing horribly, and that's another thing throwing Mo off. He is used to dishing to Delonte and Z and seeing them make open jumpers, none of that is happening with any regularity this series. Also this is Mo's first time this deep in the playoffs, he's not used to it and he has never seen another team play this hard, like the Magic are currently doing.

One would have to think or hope that because he's going through his trials and tribulations now, he will be improved when we advance and in next years playoffs. That's a very good possibility, we have all seen Boobie go from a bench warmer to a clutch three-point assassin in just one series. So maybe this getting beat up causing him to guarantee a win will cause him to get it right and stick to his game (and hopefully fix this hitch in his shooting). But if not then he does have next year to prove himself again, because his contract keeps him here for at least one more year. But say he doesn't work out again, that is when trades become possibilities. Realistically though, trading anyone to keep LeBron could happen next year. Everyone should give him this learning experience and realize he can only improve or be traded. If there is a scapegoat needed, look at Delonte and his just as horrible play, compared to JR Smith's stepped up play. Then realize that he was a possibility to pick up, even a year ago for cheap.

Two links to leave you with: Ball Don't Lie is Yahoo Sports basketball blog and is actually very entertaining. Remember that commercial where LeBron dreams he's a star football player? Me too so read this somewhat biased ESPN article on that exact possibility.

posted by: Jason

Trade Magic

Let's say Toronto is ready to trade Bosh next year. Why wouldn't the Nuggets go all out and trade K-Mart and a 1st and even a 2nd rounder for him? He would fit in perfectly for them, keeping them athletic, fast and giving them another legit scoring threat. Their defense would be pretty mediocre but their offense would be putting up like 130 a night easily. Also Bosh is better off defending the big men like Duncan in the west than Martin is anymore. And he can be the finesse to Nene's power.
Why would Toronto do this trade? Well they get back a proven veteran starter at the same position and they get extra picks to rebuild around the young core of Calderon and Bargnani. It's a very possible trade as long as the Raptors realize Bosh is out after this year, especially because next years draft has to be a lot better than this years so those picks have more meaning.
Now why should Bosh stay in Denver? He can team up with the other other guy from the 2003 draft. All everyone talks about is LeBron and Wade and you and I and everyone knows it. But this team wins a lot of games and would click quickly with Billups running the group and they get more mentally stable without Martin. This is a legit championship team for years to come as long as they get a young back-up point guard soon to learn under Horse-Teeth Billups.
It's just a thought but if I were the Nuggets GM, multiple calls would be made to Toronto directly after the season.

posted by: Jason

Minor Notes On The Eastern Conference Finals

Mickael Pietrus is slowly becoming the new James Posey and seems to be relishing in this new role, being hated by every opposing teams' fans.

Dwight Howard's one "post move" where he lowers his head and just elbows and shoulders everyone out of his way is completely and utterly ridiculous. As in illegal and should get the whistle blown every time he does it, but the NBA loves him to much to do that. Which brings me to the next point...

Should the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard get the dirty team/player tags? Because they are not playing very nice and their whole "Fuck the Cavs, I'm Dwight/Hedo/Skip To My Lou/Mickael/Courtney" attitude is very unearned. Congrats you beat a down and out Boston team in seven games that the Cavs would have beat in four. They are playing a form of team ball that includes players getting theirs which is not really a good thing. Rashard is the only one that seems to be about the team, it was better when Jameer was running the point.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Cavs are not a good team. Being deep with a bunch of sixth men and role players isn't the same as having a big three or even a big two. Delonte is proving my point that he is horrible and Z is proving another of my points that he is too old to play against Howard, not to mention he is missing his shots. We are playing two players a total of 27 mil to sit on the bench! Also Mo Williams seems to be proving my point that having a playoff veteran like Rip Hamilton or a clutch scorer and defender like Iggy would be a better option for the Cavs.

As off right now the Cavs and the Lakers are the two worse teams remaining. Both Denver and Orlando are more talented all around and deeper teams.

What happened to Boobie? I know he was hurting about his foot, but I think he is also hurting about Mo Williams. Because maybe he thought he could win the starting job or now he's sad cause he is no longer LeBron's butt buddy. This needs to change he was always clutch. Even though he's a one trick pony, he knows a good trick and that's making threes rain.

The Cavs are making the match-up problems they already had even worse. LeBron's too busy trying to be a free safety to cover Alston and Delonte can not cover Hedo. Not to mention Z is awful against Dwight, Andy's style of play tends to get him in foul trouble against him and he is too slow to cover Rashard. Ben Wallace knows what to do but then again on offense he's retarded.

Stan Van Gundy is a mess, unfortunately Mike Brown is, and always has been, an even bigger mess. He can't coach a team he can ask them to do things that they may or may not do.

Having said all this I still believe the Cavs will show up and finish off the Magic with three straight wins. It's just a matter of pride and we've been there before, even though it was a fluke.

posted by: Jason

Drastic Reactions

I did not get to see the Nuggets/Lakers game last night or even the highlights yet. However I did get these three pictures and can only assume the following: Kobe flew, Pau killed two men and George Karl wept.I got these pictures off espn.com so I'm sure they are copyrighted to Reuters or AP.


Also the Cavs bandwagon went from full to empty to half filled to empty to people hanging off the bus since this series started. I've stayed on the whole time and have to say after witnessing LeBron's shot that this series is over. It's gonna be the Cavs in 6 because they will drop one in Orlando.