Sometimes. basketball is a simple game.  You make shots, you score points, you win games.  Much like last Sunday afternoon, the Cleveland Cavaliers hit almost 50% of their shots, including almost half of their three point attempts, and defeated the Washington Wizards 105-88, to win their first round playoff series four games to two, and advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals against either Boston or Atlanta, who will play a seventh game on Sunday afternoon.

 

Wally Szczerbiak got the good shooting day started in the first quarter, hitting a couple long range shots, and as usual, LeBron James started to look for the hot man.  James spent the first quarter as the playmaker, taking just two shots in the opening stanza, but the Wizards parlayed a good quarter of hitting the offensive boards into a six point lead at the end of one.  Once the Cavs started blocking out the weak side, it was pretty much all over for Washington.

 

There is something about closeout games that gets Daniel Gibson going.  A hero a year ago in the Game 6 clinching game against the Pistons, Boobie continued Szczerbiak’s three point barrage in the second quarter.  He wound up with 22 points on the night, and showed that his coach was right in playing him the last few weeks of the regular season.  Mike Brown knew that the wine and gold needed an effective Gibson to win in the playoffs, both offensively and defensively.  Gibson provided both in the first round series.

 

Of course, you cannot mention the victory without discussing the performance of James.  He had a triple double in hand with almost three minutes remaining in the third quarter!  He wound up with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists.  And as ESPN’s Mike Tirico said in the second half, it was almost surprising when The King didn’t make a shot.  He was that dominant of a figure in the series.  For all of the physical play the Wizards tried in the series, remember it had no effect on the man who is really the best player in the world.

 

We have also said that Mike Brown is a better coach in the playoffs than in the regular season.  After Caron Butler’s Game 5 outburst, the coaching staff took him away from Eddie Jordan in Game 6.  With Antawn Jamison struggling to make shots early in the contest, the Wiz had no alternative.  They scored just 57 points in the last three quarters.  This type of game planning with continue to be important as the post-season goes on.

 

So, Tuesday night, the journey continues in either Boston (probably) or at The Q against the Atlanta Hawks.  If it is the Celtics, the biggest problem facing the Cavs will be stopping the penetration of Rajon Rondo.  The wine and gold have had problems with the quick point guards all season long, and in last year’s Finals as well (see Parker, Tony).  Yes, the Celts have the big three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, but Rondo is the x-factor.  Gibson will get the responsibility to keep Rondo out of the paint.  Don’t think that Mike Brown didn’t know this when he got Boobie back in the playing rotation late in the season.

 

JK

 

 

 

Nothing comes easy this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  They could have wrapped up their first round series against the Washington Wizards by winning at home last night.  However, they played without a lot of playoff intensity and dropped an 88-87 decision last night to force a sixth game in Washington on Friday night.  The wine and gold only have to win one of the last two games, but you have to believe the Wizards will be ready on their home floor tomorrow night.

 

The Cavs started off the game lethargic and didn’t show any playoff intensity until the fourth quarter.  They trailed by seven after the first quarter, and at that point, the Wizards were a one-man team, with Caron Butler scoring 16 of their first 25 points.  Cleveland trailed by two at the half, and by three after three quarters.  The Wizards backs were to the wall, and they played like it.  The Cavs didn’t match their intensity, as they didn’t even dominate on the glass, as they normally do.

 

Cleveland didn’t shoot the ball well, and the biggest reason was their continued use of the three point shot.  When you are making almost half of these shots, it’s a good option.  When you are hitting only 36% of these shots, it might be time to look inside.  Particularly in the closing minutes of the game when you have the lead, you need to attack the basket, especially at home.  Ironically, the wine and gold shot the same percentage from the floor overall, as no one outside of Zydrunas Ilgauskas could hit consistently from the floor.

 

However, I think the biggest flaw was one that is made by many coaches.  The Cavs stopped running offense too early.  With a five point lead and less than two minutes to go, Cleveland seemed to be running a stall, trying to run as much of the clock as you can, before taking a shot.  Unfortunately, when you do that, it usually results in a bad shot.  The Cavs needed to play at their normal pace until about 45 seconds remaining.  They also reverted back to the give LeBron the ball, and everybody watches offense they lapse into far too often.  They ignored Ilgauskas in the fourth quarter as well.  Yesterday, it cost them a game.

 

Another disturbing development has been the performance, or lack of it, from Anderson Varajao.  The Brazilian seems to be trying to do too much on offense, and it is dragging down his entire game.  In 16 minutes last night, he hit just 1 of 6 shots and grabbed just three rebounds.  Of course, he wasn’t the only one missing shots.  The quartet of Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, Varajao, and Devin Brown combined to hit just 3 out of 23 shots.  One of those guys hitting one more shot would have resulted in a win.

 

So, now the Cavs have made it difficult.  There is no reason they cannot win in Washington, heck they did it last Sunday.  The Wizards’ backs are still against the wall.  However, the Cavs need to put this series away.  No matter how many statistics people will come up with on seventh games at home in NBA history, and how the home team almost always wins, it still would be one game, and anything can happen.  The Cavs need to treat Friday night’s game like it is Game 7.

 

JK

 

 

The Cleveland Indians have now completed 1/6th of their season, and are sitting at 12-15 on the campaign.  The good news is no one has gone off and ran away with the Central Division, as the Tribe is just three games behind the first place White Sox.  The bad news is that our worst fears have come true.  The offense is not up to championship standards, and Travis Hafner has not bounced back as of yet from a down 2006.  GM Mark Shapiro likes to wait until about 40 games to evaluate his team.  Don’t look now, but that’s a little over two weeks away.

 

This team has scored four runs or less in 18 of their 27 games.  That’s 2/3rds of the contests if you are counting at home.  That signals an attack that can best be described as mediocre.  Right now, there are only a couple of players performing at an acceptable level, and that group includes the public whipping boy, David Dellucci, who is hitting above .280 with 3 HR (tied for second on the team) and 9 RBI.  The others are Victor Martinez, who is hitting .364, but hasn’t homered and has just four extra base hits on the season, Grady Sizemore, hitting over .270, but he has only seven extra base knocks, and he had two last night, and Franklin Gutierrez, who’s recent surge has put him over the .250 mark.

 

Casey Blake, of all people, leads the Tribe in RBI with 18, and he had one-third of that total in one game.  The slumping Hafner is actually second in ribbies with 16, a pace that would get him close to 100 for the season.  The only Tribesman with more than three dingers is the hot and cold Jhonny Peralta, who has five, but has only knocked in 10 runs for the season.  Peralta also leads the team in extra base hits with a paltry eight, several others have one less, including Hafner, Sizemore, Gutierrez, Garko, and the aforementioned Dellucci.  Which means, I guess, that Pronk isn’t the sole reason for the hitting woes.

 

Clearly, Eric Wedge has to try something different.  Perhaps moving Gutierrez up in the batting order is a start, since he has been hitting over the past week.  I can’t for the life of me understand why Asdrubal Cabrera is hitting sixth or seventh.  He has little pop, and seems ideally suited for the ninth spot, especially since the skipper was concerned about overexposure following his call up late last season.  Ryan Garko is struggling, but he seems like a better fit in the five hole once he gets going again, than Peralta, who is prone to striking out.

 

I am not someone who thinks Ben Francisco is the next coming of Albert Belle, but I do think he deserves a shot at playing instead or Jason Michaels, who isn’t getting on base, nor providing any pop, two things the Indians organization covets.  He’s the only candidate at Buffalo, since Josh Barfield is still having contact problems at Class AAA.  Wedge has tried playing a little small ball since the hitting has struggled, trying bunts and sending runners more frequently than in the past.

One more concern is Fausto Carmona, who continues to have control issues.  The righty has allowed 60 base runners in just 34-2/3 innings.  It is a testament to his stuff that his ERA is 2.60 despite allowing that many runners.  It is extremely unlikely this will continue unless he can start to throw strikes.  A lack of control is a sign of fatigue.  Remember, he had troubles with his command against Boston in the ALCS last fall.  This is definitely something to keep an eye on as the season progresses. 

 

Last night, Craig Breslow and Tom Mastny had to come in after not pitching for 13 days.  I understand how the manager likes to use his bullpen, but to not have the confidence to use either of these guys in any games over a two weeks span means they shouldn’t be on the roster.  The Indians didn’t win all their games in this span, so there was an opportunity to use them.  Perhaps in the ninth inning on Sunday or after Jensen Lewis threw an inning and a third on Monday with the team losing 4-2.  That shouldn’t happen again. 

 

The season isn’t going the way the front office or the fans thought it would.  But, no two seasons are the same.  There is plenty of time to get things going in 2008.  Just remember, the definition of insanity to doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

KM

 

 

As sports weekends go in Cleveland, this was a pretty good one.  The Tribe took the first two games of a four game series against the hated Yankees, before losing yesterday’s pitching duel 1-0.  The Cavaliers are now one step away from advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals after a huge road victory yesterday, 100-97, to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their best of seven series against the Washington Wizards. 

 

Cavaliers.  First, let’s discuss the wine and gold.  They had their three point shooting shoes on, hitting 13 of 28 tries from behind the arc yesterday afternoon.  The biggest shot was obviously Delonte West’s triple from the corner with 5.5 seconds left to provide the margin of victory.  As with every Cavs’ win, there have to be supporting stars along with LeBron James to win, and West’s 21 points, and Daniel Gibson’s four three pointers were keys to the win.  And don’t forget Ben Wallace’s 12 rebounds as well.  It might have been his best performance in the Cleveland uniform.

 

Mike Brown played the hot hand as well.  With Big Ben playing well, Anderson Varajao played just 13 minutes.  Devin Brown didn’t get as much time as usual because West and Gibson were doing the job.  And Wally Szczerbiak saw just 16 minutes of action as well.  Don’t forget LeBron’s effort either.  He scored 34 points, grabbed 12 boards, and dished out 7 assists.  He also made the correct basketball play at the end of the game.  He drove, made the defense commit, and then hit the open man, who hit the game winning shot.  The Cavaliers are now just one win away from eliminating Washington in the first round for the third straight year.

 

By the way, the so-called rivalry between LeBron James and DeShawn Stevenson is akin to the one between The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.

 

Indians.  The Indians rebounded from their pitiful offensive performance against Minnesota last weekend by ripping off five straight wins before yesterday’s 1-0 loss.  The starting pitching was solid all week, even getting a good outing from Jeremy Sowers, who gave the team five strong innings against the Yankees.  Aaron Laffey gets a call up to face the Yankees tonight, as the Tribe’s pitching depth has come into play early in the season. 

 

Cliff Lee continues to be the surprise of the season, not just for the Indians, but also in all of Major League Baseball.  According to Baseball Prospectus.com, no one in the last fifty years has put together three straight starts of eight innings or more allowed less than three hits, walking less than two, and striking out eight or more.  A truly historic pitching performance.  The bullpen has also started to gel since Eric Wedge and Carl Willis decided to use guys that throw strikes, particularly Masa Kobayashi.

 

One concern does have to be Fausto Carmona, who has a 2:1 walk to strikeout ratio.  That would be great if the greater number was strikeouts, not walks.  Also, it is interesting to note that there is nothing wrong with C.C. Sabathia’s arm.  He also reportedly told Fox’s Tim McCarver that if the money is close, he would stay with the Indians after this season.

 

Here’s looking forward to a week where the Tribe keeps it going, and the Cavs wrap up the Wizards.  Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the Browns’ draft either.

 

JK/MW

 

Monday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers treated fans to basketball at the highest level.  They shot the ball well, handled the ball exceptionally, played excellent defense, and rebounded very well in a 30 point win.  Last night was the total opposite of that game.  The wine and gold hit the road, and as it has been for the last two months, the result was dismal, as the Cavs got waxed by the Wizards 108-72 in Game 3 of the best of seven series.  Cleveland still leads the series, 2-1.

 

The combination of shooting less than 40% from the floor, including going 2 for 16 from behind the three point line, and having more turnovers (23) than assists (17), will generally lead to a blowout loss.  And if you include the fact that the Cleveland defense repeatedly allowed Washington players to make foray into the paint, you have the makings of a very, very ugly game.  Game 3 will give Mike Brown a lot of videotape to use to make corrections.  Use this one as a learning experience; it’s what happens when one teams plays very well and the other plays poorly.

 

What is disturbing is the team’s play on the road over the last eight weeks.  Any team that can’t win on the road in the playoffs is in for a short stay in the post-season.  And if the wine and gold can’t win away from the friendly confines of Quicken Loans Arena, this series is going to go seven games, that is, if the Cavs can continue their home success.  You can also forget about advancing past the first round in 2008, because Cleveland will not have home court advantage after this series.

 

The backcourt of the Cavaliers could not contend with the pressure put on by Antonio Daniels and DeShawn Stevenson.  That caused turnovers, which resulted in easy baskets for the Wizards.  Delonte West and Daniel Gibson simply have to do a better job getting into an offensive set (if, of course, the Cavs have one), or this is the time that LeBron James should handle the ball on top, so he can see over the top of the double team.  The King can start the offense, and once he gets the ball to the wing, he can cut to the basket.

 

The other thing that stood out about the game was the reaction of Washington’s players in the second half.  They behaved as if they were ahead in the series and were heading to a commanding 3-0 lead.  Caron Butler is an all-star, but he showed a lack of class.  And someone should tell Stevenson that he is an average player in the league, so basically he should be seen, and not heard.  Also, the “overrated’ chant in the fourth quarter by the Verizon Center fans, will no doubt give extra motivation to #23.  Doesn’t anybody there know the Wizards are 3-10 in the playoffs against Cleveland the last three years?

 

Regardless of the taunting and idiotic behavior by the Wizards, the Cavaliers have to have a better road performance on Sunday.  A victory would mean they can close out the series in five games, a defeat suggests a seven game series which would leave probable second round opponent, Boston, very rested.  But, the most important thing is getting rid of the road malaise that has been characteristic of the wine and gold for two months.  Title contenders have to win away from home.

 

JK

 

What happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and whom were those guys wearing the wine and gold last night against the Washington Wizards?  A little over a week ago, the blog predicted a first round loss to Washington based on the Cavs play over the past several weeks.  After last night’s 116-86 blowout to give Cleveland a 2-0 series lead, I can’t eat enough crow.  Either the Cavs have put it together, or the Wizards are not a good playoff team.

 

For all of the complaints about Mike Brown regarding his playing rotation, offensive strategy, etc. in the regular season, he is a much better coach in the post-season.  He does a very good job of designing schemes to take away what the opponent likes to do on offense.  This can’t be done in the regular season because you are playing different teams every night, but when you are going to play the same team seven times, this strategy is a key to advancement.

 

The Wizards seem to be more preoccupied with committing hard fouls than playing basketball.  LeBron James is in their heads, and their frustration with not being able to beat the Cavs has never been higher.  Brendan Haywood’s flagrant foul against the King in the third quarter was thuggery.  The Wizards can paint it as hard, aggressive basketball, but Haywood made no attempt to play the ball.  It was a cheap shot plain and simple.

 

It is amazing how good any basketball team looks when they make shots.  Yesterday, the wine and gold did just that.  Wally Szczerbiak looked like the guy Danny Ferry traded for, hitting some shots early, and taking it to the hole with a beautiful finger roll at the end of the first half.  Daniel Gibson looked like the Boobie who lit it up against Detroit, and overall the team shot 52%.  Any time they shoot that well; it will likely mean a victory for Cleveland.

 

Meanwhile, on the defensive end, the Cavs held the Washington big three of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison to 10 for 36 shooting.  There were no mysteries to the defensive effort.  The Cavs had just six blocks and six steals.  They just played hard-nosed, solid defense.  That wins in the playoffs.  And everyone contributed to the effort.

 

Thursday night, we will see if this re-energized Cavalier team is for real when they hit the road in the playoffs for the first time this season.  The wine and gold did not play well away from The Q since the big trade was made.  However, the way they approached both Game 1 and Game 2 gives us hope.  Washington now needs to win four out of five to win the series.  Based on the way the first two games were played, that doesn’t seem possible.  Remember though, since they reshuffled their roster, consistency and the Cavs have not gone hand in hand.

 

JK

 

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers rode LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to claim a 93-86 victory in Game 1 of their best of seven series on Saturday afternoon.  And they also mixed in the great defense down the stretch that Coach Mike Brown loves.  With the score tied with a little over two minutes to go, the wine and gold clamped down and stopped the Wizards’ offense.  The King made two key hoops off of set plays (see the offense can be better off when it ends with James) with Daniel Gibson running the point, and the Cavs claimed Game 1.

 

As is usual in a seven game series, the second game will not be easy.  Remember, two years ago, with Washington healthy, the Wizards defeated the Cavs in a game two at Quicken Loans Arena to square the series at 1-1.  The Cavs will be in for a fight, and Washington has already showed they are going to be physical with LeBron when he goes into the paint.  Having scored the two key baskets of the game in the paint will only toughen the resolve of the Wizards.

 

No one wants to see an NBA game develop into a mixed martial arts event, but the wine and gold cannot let their star continue to be hit time and again without retaliation.  Someone on the Cavs must step up and deliver a hard foul when one of Washington’s big three of Gilbert Arena, Antawn Jamison, or Caron Butler make a foray into the paint.  This might be a little more difficult since the Wizards didn’t really attack the basket with drives.  Most of the points by this trio came from the perimeter. 

 

When the small fracas at the end of the first half occurred, it was Zydrunas Ilgauskas who came to James’ assistance.  The big man instinctually got LeBron out of the fray and challenge Brandon Haywood, who committed the foul, and Jamison, who was running his mouth.  After last season’s playoffs at Saturday’s first game, it must be said that anyone who doesn’t understand Ilgauskas’ importance to this team simply doesn’t have a clue about the sport.

 

The coach did make one key mistake in the fourth quarter.  When the Wizards made a little run to tie the game up, Brown left himself without an inside scoring option.  He had both Ben Wallace and Anderson Varajao on the floor at the same time, which allowed Eddie Jordan to double and even triple team James when he received the ball.  The coaching staff has to be mindful not to have these two on the floor together.  Also, Varajao has to be reminded that sometimes players are open for a reason.  When he tries to create something on offense, it’s not a good thing.

 

The key for the Cavaliers in the playoffs is they have to have a second banana to LeBron James.  It doesn’t have to be the same guy, one night it can be Ilgauskas, the next night it can be Boobie Gibson or Delonte West.   There has to be someone else who can put the ball in the basket.  It’s the same formula that worked last season.  Of course, it has to be in tandem with playing solid defense, especially with the weapons the Wizards possess.  It’s going to be a tough one tonight, and it’s very important because of the struggles the wine and gold have had on the road lately.  They can’t afford a loss at home this year.

 

JK

 

 

 

 

Last night, it all came together for the Cleveland Indians.  They actually hit the ball, got good starting pitching from Fausto Carmona, and for the most part, the bullpen did its job in a 11-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.  The offense had their extra base hit bats going, collecting three doubles, a triple, and two home runs in the win.  This is something that has sorely been missing after the first two games of the campaign.  Grady Sizemore got his first double of the year last night, in game 16.  That’s amazing, considering he belted more than 50 doubles just two years ago.

 

The offensive problems thus far have been documented here, but the relief pitching for the Indians has also been a disappointment.  And it extends beyond the closer spot.  Joe Borowski blew two ninth inning save opportunities, but the troubles in the bullpen go beyond him.  This was a strength of last year’s team, and even though GM Mark Shapiro did bolster this area in the off-season, so far, it has been an area of concern.  The most effective guy out there thus far has been lefty Craig Breslow, picked up on waivers from the Boston Red Sox at the end of spring training.  That’s really a problem.

 

Outside of the aforementioned lefty, every member of the Tribe bullpen has allowed more hits than innings pitched except for Jorge Julio, who has allowed 8 hits in 8 innings.  This wouldn’t be alarming for starting pitchers, who really can give up a hit per inning without having damage caused.  However, relievers come into situations with men on base many times.  Giving up a hit in that situation makes for a opposition rally.  And with the way the Indians are scoring runs, that’s the difference between a win and a loss.

 

Another problem for the relief corps has been the amount of walks.  Last year, Cleveland pitchers were very stingy with free passes, but this year has been radically different.  Last night, with a 10-1 lead, Jensen Lewis came in and walked the first two hitters he faced.  That cannot happen.  Lewis has walked six and struck out eight.  Julio has walked five and fanned six.  He came in against Boston with a 2-1 lead, and promptly walked the first two men he faced.  Rafael Betancourt has walked just one with his usual pinpoint control, and Masa Kobayashi also has walked just one.  Look for Eric Wedge to give the Japanese veteran more opportunities with Borowski on the shelf.

 

Nothing can ruin a season like a bad bullpen, so it isn’t too early to start examining roles.  Outside of C.C. Sabathia, the starting pitching has been fairly solid, although it would be nice to see Paul Byrd have another good start or two.  But, it deflates a team to lose games late.  That has happened several times already this season.  Turn two of those games around, and suddenly the Indians are at .500 for the first 16 games.  It might be time to use Breslow and Kobayashi instead of Lewis and Julio.

 

Adjustments must be made and made quickly if the bullpen doesn’t get straightened out.  Otherwise, the Tribe could dig themselves a hole that they won’t be able to get out of.  Mark Shapiro likes to be patient, but it might be a luxury he can’t afford in 2008.

 

KM

 

 

Remember the Cleveland Indians have played only 14 games.  It’s less than 1/10^th of the season.  It’s the equivalent of the first game for the Browns.  We all recall how that turned out, yet our football team wound up with a reasonable shot at the playoffs.  Couple that with the fact that no one has jumped out to a 12-3 start in the AL Central, putting the Tribe six or seven games out just two weeks into the season.  However, the Cleveland Indians need to start winning series.  Starting a seven game homestand at 1-4 is not what Eric Wedge’s guys needed.

 

The offense cannot sustain any type of attack; although it is encouraging that the Tribe is at least starting rallies by getting guys on base.  They just can’t get the clutch hit.  Once you get past Ryan Garko in the 6^th spot in the batting order, opposing pitchers breathe a sigh of relief with the likes of Asdrubal Cabrera, Franklin Gutierrez, and Casey Blake coming up.  Three guys hitting under .200 doesn’t exactly strike fear in anyone’s hearts.

 

At this point, it’s a punch and judy offense for the Cleveland Indians.  When the Tribe was hitting the ball big time in 2005 and 2006, they were a doubles machine.  This year, they rank 12^th in the AL in doubles.  They rank second to last in the league in slugging percentage as a team.  Only Minnesota, Kansas City, and Oakland have hit fewer home runs so far in 2008.  As mentioned previously, they are getting men on base, ranking 8^th in the league in on base percentage.  However, the extra base hit is missing from the offense, and that means they need three hits to score a run.

 

With the offense struggling, it might be time to time to give some people a day or two off.  Why not give Jamey Carroll, who has shown an ability to get on base, a couple of days at 2B.  Could Andy Marte give you less offensively than Casey Blake is giving the Indians right now?  Or you could play Blake in the outfield in place of Jason Michaels, who is currently hitting under .100.  It also might be time to play for one run, in order to score by making outs, or with two hits.  Without the extra base production, there is a definite need to manufacture runs.

 

As for the batting order, can anyone explain why Jhonny Peralta hits fifth, ahead of Ryan Garko?  Garko is a much better pure hitter than the shortstop who has problems making contact at times.  Spacing out the strikeouts is a key to making up the batting order for the Indians.  It’s not like Peralta adds a dash of speed amidst Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, and Garko.  Garko is the more consistent hitter, and has the potential to be a better run producer than Peralta.

 

It is still very, very early in the season.  A four game winning streak put the Tribe at 9-9, that’s all it takes.  However, the Cleveland Indians have to figure out a way to score when they are not hitting home runs, or hitting the gaps.  Right now, the Tribe has scored less than five runs in a game nine times, coincidentally the same number of losses they have accumulated.  It’s not time to panic, but it is time to try some different things and/or play some different guys to get this team going.

 

MW

 

 

 

Actually, the only scenario is for LeBron James to put his entire team on his ailing back and carrying the Cavaliers past the Wizards.  It’s sad to say, but it’s the only way the Cavs can win this series.  Right now, this squad looks like they just met yesterday, instead of being together for six weeks.  They have had injuries to key people, but that is just an excuse.  As was written shortly after the deal, the two contributors the Cavs picked up in the deal are Delonte West and Joe Smith. 

 

Ben Wallace does his best defensive work 20 feet away from the basket pressuring point guards.  Friday night’s game against Chicago turned into a dunk fest by Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas in the third quarter.  Where was Big Ben?  The reason the Cavs traded for Wallace was for interior defense, but that area of the team has not improved since his arrival.  Wally Szczerbiak seemingly left his jump shot in Seattle, although to be fair, he played well against New Jersey, but logged less than 20 minutes in each of the next two games. 

 

Mike Brown needs to have another sparking playoff coaching performance, or the second guessers will be out in full force.  All of a sudden, Sasha Pavlovic is getting meaningful minutes.  The constant switching of the playing time with less than a week to go before the playoffs start is a worry to those who watch the Cavs, but how do you think the players feel about it.  They have to be shaking their heads.  And that doesn’t count Damon Jones, who can’t seem to figure out that the reason his time gets reduced is because he cannot guard a phone booth.

 

Also, the so-called revamped offense is not working.  The attack has reverted back to LeBron dribbling and trying to penetrate, while everyone else stands around watching.  It doesn’t appear there are any plays being run, nor does anyone have a clue as to how to get the ball to the King attacking the basket.

  

The deal also did not improve the team’s physicality.  When Wallace arrived, fans thought the wine and gold finally got the tough presence is has been lacking since James arrived.  However, no matter how hard you think #23 gets hit on his drives to the hoop, he does take some shots.  Still, there have been no hard fouls in retaliation.  You can’t expect a finesse player like Zydrunas Ilgauskas to give a hard foul, but that is Wallace’s reputation, and another thing he has not delivered on.

 

It would be a miraculous turnaround if the Cavs advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs.  They have shown no inclination that they can beat a quality opponent, nor can they win on the road.  Danny Ferry will have to go back to the drawing board to get the wine and gold back to the NBA Finals in the 2008-09 season.  Because it’s not going to happen this spring.

 

JK