Tonight game

[Dozen]

Is exactly why they shouldnt take off games prior to the all-star break. Well, not if they want the #1 seed.

[consigliere]

Why?

(I ask, because I missed the game....what happened?)

[swerb]

Very disappointing loss. The Cavs were in control the whole game before letting a shorthanded Charlotte team sneak back in it, primarily because they stopped being aggressive and started settling for jumpers late.

Charlotte tied it at like 87, then the Cavs went back up four late. Two plays killed us. Wallace blocking a Snow layup from behind that woulda put the Cavs up 96-90, and instead turned into a Bobcat bucket that instead make it 94-92. Then, Sasha dribbled one off his foot with about 30 sec left.

LeBron missed a couple shots in the last 10 seconds to win it in regulation, then Charlotte rolled us in the last 2 min of OT.

[Dozen]

They got out coached as well. The effort was there (unlike earlier in the season) but just couldnt adjust to what the Bobcats were doing. By all means Im not complaining about tonight loss, just pointing out if they had played with this intensity from the start, they may be up 2 games instead of down 2.

[swerb]

Hnat's boy Hermann went off.

[Guest]

Just got in from Charlotte and watching the game.

Interesting time...LeBron went off, but why the hell did he try that long three at the end of regulation.

Larry Hughes or tits on a boar hog?

Gerald Wallace is a beast...but Snow did a great job defending him in the second half.

If Morrison learns to play defense, he's a star in the making.

Sasha or Charlie Frye in the 4th Quarter...who disappears worse?

Did Drew Gooden even make the trip from Cleveland?

Did I mention that Larry Hughes is worthless?

[swerb]

The Cavs played Snow 31 minutes tonight (0-2 from the field) and also played Gibson 12 minutes, which really made Hughes the PG on the floor for only the first 6 minutes of the game.

He looked uncomfortable, and was back to being Bad Larry.

[pup]

How in the world does Snow get 31 minutes in a game? Oh, Roker, you idiot!

[Guest]

That shot at the end of regulation wouldn't have even counted, it was afer the buzzer. That is HORRIBLE. How about driving to the bucket?

[leadpipe]

How in the world does Snow get 31 minutes in a game? Oh, Roker, you idiot!

Seriuos question; Is Shannon Brown banged up again or something. Because I am in favor of a rookie, even though I know he is going to struggle at times over Snow. Snow is just so bad, there just no reason.....

[Birdman]

It appeared Roker liked the matchup of Snow vs. Gerald Wallace. Unfortunately, Wallace finished with 27 and 11 so I guess that didn't work out that well.

Anyone hear Scott Williams line about both coaches doing a great job at the end of the game. Not sure exactly what he said but it came right before Sasha gave turned the ball over with a behind the back move when they should have used a timeout. The point is, the announcing team of Mcloud and Williams has to be the worst in the league.

[swerb]

Anyone hear Scott Williams line about both coaches doing a great job at the end of the game. Not sure exactly what he said but it came right before Sasha gave turned the ball over with a behind the back move when they should have used a timeout. The point is, the announcing team of Mcloud and Williams has to be the worst in the league.

That was insanity, I agree. Roker fubarred that one last night. Windhorst had a good take on it this morning ...

http://blogs.ohio.com/cavaliers_blog/

This one's on Mike Brown

Charlotte -- What happened here at the lovely Charlotte Bobcats Arena tonight was the definition of a bad loss. It's an 82-game season, these are going to happen, but considering it is now Spring and the stakes are high, I'd have to say this goes into the unacceptable category.

There was lots of crazy stuff happening in the final few minutes. And while I have staunchly defended the head coach all season, I have to assign the blame to him tonight. Here's why:

--The game was in total helter skelter mode with under two minutes left. Let me go over it in a long and winding fashion to illustrate what I mean: Up 94-90, LeBron James blocked Matt Carroll and threw the ball to Eric Snow, who rushed to the other end and tried to layup the ball up a against two defenders and he was swatted by Gerald Wallace, who threw a bad pass that LeBron picked off and threw to Larry Hughes, who was trapped in the backcourt with 1:20 left. STOP! This would be a good time to call a time out and settle things down. But, nope, didn't happen. Supposedly Brown tried to call a timeout here, but it doesn't matter because he didn't get it. Then LeBron threw up a 23-footer with 15 seconds on the shot clock. Eek.

--After the Bobcats scored to pull within two with 40 seconds left, Eric Snow was supposed to take the ball out of bounds to break the press. But Anderson Varejao did. STOP! This would be a good time to call timeout. Nope.

--Then Andy inbounded the ball to Sasha Pavlovic, who is the king of the bad turnover when games aren't even in crunch time. STOP! This would be a good time to call timeout. Someone, anyone, timeout. The Cavs had two left. Heck, Snow knew he was supposed to have the ball, he should've called one. Sasha turned it over three seconds later.

--I am not going to go over what happened after that, it doesn't matter. The game was lost right there. However, I am going to talk about what made a potential blowout such a tight game. The Bobcats went to a small lineup, which seemed to mess up the Cavs' sideline. Despite Zydrunas Ilgauskas dominating the game, he played just five of the game's last 18 minutes. Why? Make the Bobcats defend him. Also, the small lineup made Brown take Sasha out. He got one shot in the entire second half. Why? Make the Bobcats defend him, too. Drew Gooden got ZERO shots in the second half. Why? The Bobcats had no post defenders.

--With six minutes left in the third quarter, Brown put Snow in to guard Wallace, who was killing the Cavs. Wallace had just seven points the rest of the way. One basket came on a putback and one basket came in transition. That means Snow did a good job. However, by playing him the last 18 minutes of the game, Brown took Hughes off the point. This is what was working for the last for the last three weeks. So in crunch time, no Ilgauskas, almost no Pavlovic, and Snow at the point. No wonder LeBron was the only person who could score. And he was dominating the ball and dribbling a whole bunch again, not the dynamic way the Cavs were playing offense. Plus you lose Ilgauskas and Gooden's ability to offensive rebound. The Cavs had just five second chance points in the second half. Just bad personnel decisions.

--In general, I thought LeBron did a good job of taking the ball to the basket. He got 12 free throws and made 11 and got a bunch of layups and dunks. The Cavs had 62 points in the paint, which is good. What killed them was no one of the team could make a jumper all night. In the second half, no one scored more than six points besides James. This was old one-dimensional offense again.

--The Bobcats made a lot of 3s and a lot of jumpers, it was their night in that regard. They shot 55 percent in the second half yet I didn't think the Cavs played all that bad on defense. Also, I thought Wallace was great. His hustle on defense and his attacking of the glass on offense when he stopped going was difference-making. But all that could've been withstood had some better decisions been made.

[FUDU]

I'm disappointed b/c that game was in the bag as Rich mentioned and in the end it could cost us big time, now 2.5 back in" trying to regroup mode" against the best team in the NBA instead of 1.5 back in the midst of a roll.

Hopefully the game against the Mavericks is revenge.

[consigliere]

Does anyone really think we'll overtake Detroit? No chance. And, this team will hit one more rough patch before the season ends, just hopefully sooner rather than later (like, hopefully not in the playoffs).

I'm fine with finishing with the #2 or #3 seed and seeing what happens in the playoffs.

[pup]

The remaining schedule will allow them to coast into the 2 seed. The rest of the East is bad. The first 2 series should just be cancelled and let's get into that Pistons series, which is about a coin flip.

[consigliere]

I wouldn't go that far. To date, the Cavs have shown that they play to the level of their competition. When the schedule was easy earlier in the year, they struggled some....but now that the schedule difficulty increased significantly the past month they have been rolling. So, when the schedule gets light again, it would not be surprising to see them less interested again.

Also, in no way is this team a lock for the East Finals. Detroit is still a pretty strong favorite if you ask me, and I don't see them taking the Cavs lightly like they did in last year's playoff series where they allowed us to sneak back into it and almost knock them off. I think there is a very good chance the Cavs will be upset in the 1st or 2nd round, but if they do make it to the EC Finals against Detroit, I give the Pistons the series 4-2.

Making it to the EC Finals would be a good thing for this franchise this year. I think a lot of people will be fine with that.

[leadpipe]

The remaining schedule will allow them to coast into the 2 seed. The rest of the East is bad. The first 2 series should just be cancelled and let's get into that Pistons series, which is about a coin flip.

What if they have to play The Heat before the Pistons?

[Birdman]

Obviously a lot would depend on the health of Wade. If he is not able to go, or not nearly as effective, I don't think the Cavs should have that much of a problem with the home court advantage. Plus we will get to see extended minutes from Scott Pollard. His 6 hard fouls on Shaq is why they signed him, right?

[consigliere]

The Heat, with a healthy Wade, are a low seed that caught create havoc in the EC playoffs. If they are healthy, and we play then in round 1 or 2, it would be a great series. And one that could go 7 games and truly be a coin flip.

[Wolfy]

Consig? Ummm...I think it was yesterday that the Cavs were the hottest team in the league now today they will get upset in the first round? Slow it down buddy...this aint the baseball team bro...your mixing your teams together and spitting out some garbage about first round upsets? Come on. How can you sneak your way into a game 7? They easily could have won with the right bounce here or there! Oh, maybe Chauncy and the boys didn’t watch any of the Wasington series or they thought they had seen enough during the regular season. Please…sneak up? That’s comedy.
I think you got some issues with any team that aint the Indians...Why? The Indians are a team on the verge of what? Playoffs? Yeah we saw that dream go up in smoke quicker than CC, Pronk, and Westbrooke are going to leave this cocksucker of an owner. You loving the Tribe over any franchise in C-town is hilarious. Lets see what happens in the next few years...better keep your fingers crossed for those minor leaguer’s cuz if we have a few misses here or there or even some injuries this team will never recover with our owner's budget. I have watched this team give up more talent than any franchise I can think of but my memory isn’t that good either (we wont go into why). Sorry about the long response but I haven’t been able to log on to reply for the past week and some of the hater aid you been drinking is starting to spill over into the wrong team’s. I would work on trying to keep some of these all-star player’s we’ve been giving up for the past decade instead of ripping one team that is just now starting to recover from the ass raping Model and Mayor White gave them, and the other a YOUNG team that shows us the only hope of winning a title in C-town. Oh did I mention how YOUNG they are? Save the hater spray for the Bison’s because I think you’re the only one watching.
Sorry... had to get that off my chest... I LOVE my C-town!

[leadpipe]

Obviously a lot would depend on the health of Wade. If he is not able to go, or not nearly as effective, I don't think the Cavs should have that much of a problem with the home court advantage. Plus we will get to see extended minutes from Scott Pollard. His 6 hard fouls on Shaq is why they signed him, right?

You and I both know, Wade or no Wade, Scott Pollard will have his suit on for that series.

[consigliere]

Relax dude. I'm not hating on the Cavaliers....just saying what is obvious in the EC this year, that ANY team is ripe for a first round exit. You can insert any high seed except the Pistons into my Cavs take and it would apply. I just don't see the seedings matter much, at least to me. Only the Pistons should be a lock to get out of round one.....the Cavs look to be a good shot, but if they have to play the Heat that will be a VERY interesting series. If you think they are a sure thing, then you are seriously setting yourself up for disappointment.

And, yes, it is my belief the Pistons took the Cavaliers lightly....and once the door was cracked open, the Cavaliers almost broke through and beat the Pistons last year. Just as you say a few bounces may have determined that Pistons series, a few bounces determined the Wwashington series too. That thing could have very easily gone the other way in Washington's favor. I think a lot of people forget how much of a dogfight that series was to just get OUT OF THE 1st ROUND. And we had homecourt too.

I love all three teams. Obviously, my love for the Indians is greater because of my love for baseball which to me is the best sport. The Indians are a good team, but we'll see what happens.

Funny thing is, people in this town think the Cavs are our best chance at a title winner.....yet, I don't recall anyone claiming they will win an NBA Championship this year or even next. Dallas, SA and others are still on top and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Meanwhile, in baseabll, a lot of people consider the Indians World Series contenders THIS YEAR. So, are the Cavaliers TRULY the only title shot in this town? And will they win one first? Who knows. But, I like the Indians chances to win just as much as the Cavs. What the Cavs have going for them is EVERYONE makes the playoffs in the NBA, whereas in baseball it is tough as hell to make the playoffs since only 4 teams in each League get in (compared to half the teams in the NBA). But, then again you have to go through 4 playoff rounds in the NBA and you have to beat the dominant West....

I've been especially hard on the Browns because I love football and can't stand the joke that franchise has turned into. Hopefully they have collected themselves this offseason, and based on some of the moves, are finally putting things together. It is hard though when you don't care much for the coach and a lot of the players, and the owner, to get really behind these guys. While I am apathetic to Wedge and ownership with the Indians, I DO like the Indians front office a lot, so obviously things are cast a little differently. I don't get my panties in a bunch like a lot of fans over what the Indians payroll is, or how cheap Larry Dolan is. As long as the product on the field is a good one, I am happy, and in case the fan's didn't notice, the product on the field IS a good one.

A lot of my opinions on the Indians have been formulated after years of studying the team, front office and players, as well as talking to various scouts and local and national baseball guys quite often. I can't tell you how many times my opinion has changed good/bad on something after talking to several people in the know about things. Maybe if I was able to do the same with the Browns and Cavs some of my opinions would change on them, but it is what it is man.

[FUDU]

John Wolf, I totally agree with consig on the way the ball bounces theory.

We could easily have lost that series against the Wiz, hell the fact they allowed Agent Zero an open look (even from 30 feet) off that inbounds play was more than enough to know we had our hands full in that series.

If you cannot acknowledge that Detroit played down to our level the final 5 games in that series, as opposed to the Cavaliers becoming something they were not, then I don't know what to tell you. Most of the games were played at Detroit's pace and were largely dictated by Detroit. It just so happened we had Superman in a wine & gold #23 jersey to overcome much of that, well overcome it all but when it counted most.

This year is not that much different, while I am confident we can beat anybody in the EC in 7 games I am also weary we could slip up and lose a game 6 to force a game 7 and, even against a weaker less talented team IE Wiz or Knicks, anything can happen and we could be on the outside looking in.

Need look no further than the Cavs "the shot" team for that example.

[Wolfy]

John Wolf, I totally agree with consig on the way the ball bounces theory.

We could easily have lost that series against the Wiz, hell the fact they allowed Agent Zero an open look (even from 30 feet) off that inbounds play was more than enough to know we had our hands full in that series.

If you cannot acknowledge that Detroit played down to our level the final 5 games in that series, as opposed to the Cavaliers becoming something they were not, then I don't know what to tell you. Most of the games were played at Detroit's pace and were largely dictated by Detroit. It just so happened we had Superman in a wine & gold #23 jersey to overcome much of that, well overcome it all but when it counted most.

This year is not that much different, while I am confident we can beat anybody in the EC in 7 games I am also weary we could slip up and lose a game 6 to force a game 7 and, even against a weaker less talented team IE Wiz or Knicks, anything can happen and we could be on the outside looking in.

Need look no further than the Cavs "the shot" team for that example.

You could not be any further from my point to Consig...but thanks for the OOOOOpinion.