Mike Brown on the Hot Seat

Mike BrownBased upon the past history of winning the NBA Coach of the Year award, and the shortcomings, thus far in the playoffs, Mike Brown has to start thinking if history will repeat itself should the Cavaliers not win the NBA Championship this year.

Coach   Year Award Won Team   Year Let Go

Rick Carlisle  2001-2002  Detroit   2003

Mike D’Antoni 2004-2005  Phoenix  2007

Avery Johnson 2005-2006  Dallas   2008

Sam Mitchell  2006-2007  Toronto  2009

Byron Scott  2007-2008  New Orleans  2009

Mike Brown  2008-2009  Cleveland  ??

As you can see, most of the coaches were given 1 year after they won the award to continue to coach the team to a higher level, and none were able to do this.  With this in mind, if the Cavaliers can not get by Boston, let alone into the NBA Finals, will Mike Brown be the next man to win this prestigious award, yet will find himself unemployed because he could not duplicate his regular season success into the post season.

LeBron Comes Up Empty as Celtics Obliterate Cavaliers in Cleveland

Ray Allen scored 25 points to pace six Celtics in double figures as the Boston Celtics dealt the Cleveland Cavaliers their worst home playoff loss in franchise history, 120-88. A stunned sellout crowd of 20,562 fans booed two-time regular season MVP LeBron James and the other Cavaliers and then left en masse long before the final buzzer of what has to be considered one of the most stunning collapses by a top seeded team in NBA playoff history, a debacle topped perhaps only by Dallas’ loss to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Granted, this series is not over yet and James may very well lead the Cavs to the two straight wins they need in order to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals but even if that happens it is still unbelievable that the team with the best regular season record in the league for the past two years–a team that has been all but unbeatable at home–has suffered two blowout losses in Cleveland in the past eight days.

Prior to this game much was made of how important it would be for the Cavaliers to contain All-Star guard Rajon Rondo, who erupted for 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in Boston’s 97-87 game four win over Cleveland on Sunday. The Cavs won that battle to some extent–limiting Rondo to no points, three assists and one rebound in the first half, though he scored 12 points in the third quarter–but lost the larger war as Boston’s Hall of Fame “Big Three” had their best collective performance of the series: in addition to Allen’s output, Paul Pierce had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Kevin Garnett added 18 points and six rebounds. Starting center Kendrick Perkins contributed 10 points and seven rebounds, while key reserve big man Glen Davis produced 15 points and four rebounds.

The Celtics outshot the Cavs .550-.412, outscored them 44-30 in the paint and outrebounded them 41-31. Shaquille O’Neal led Cleveland with 21 points on 7-11 field goal shooting, Anthony Parker scored 14 points on 5-9 field goal shooting and Anderson Varejao scored five points with a team-high eight rebounds–but they were the only Cavs who played at or above expected levels and the only ones who displayed any energy. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had five points and three rebounds in a 14 minute cameo, which is about as much as could be reasonably expected after he had been mothballed recently.

There is no way around the fact that the number one story emerging from this game–with all due respect to the excellent effort by the 2008 NBA Champion Celtics, a team that clearly has a lot of pride and determination–is the lethargic performance authored by James: not only were his numbers subpar–15 points on 3-14 field goal shooting, seven assists, six rebounds–but he had very little real impact on the overall course of the game at either end of the court; for most of the night he looked like about the seventh best player in the game. James–who owns the third highest regular season scoring average in NBA/ABA history and the third highest playoff scoring average in NBA/ABA history–did not make a single field goal until the 6:15 mark of the third quarter. James’ mysterious elbow ailment has been the subject of seemingly endless speculation but–as I wrote last Friday–I really do not want to hear any more about that: TNT’s Kenny Smith righly noted that if James had not dramatically shot a late game free throw left handed versus the Bulls then no one would even suspect that James is injured; James shows no signs of being physically limited and just two games ago he produced a stat line of 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a 124-95 Cleveland win at Boston, scoring a team playoff record 21 first quarter points to set the tone right from the start. Unfortunately for the Cavs, James also set the tone in game five–but this time the tone was one of indifference. James did not attack the hoop, spending most of the game loitering aimlessly behind the three point line. Kobe Bryant was once senselessly criticized for supposedly quitting in a playoff game during which he scored 23 first half points before scoring just one point in the second half but there is a valid explanation for that dichotomy: the Lakers were getting blown out despite Bryant’s early productivity, so Coach Phil Jackson decided during halftime that the Lakers should use their “inside man” strategy to attempt to slow the game down. Bryant followed Jackson’s instructions and attempted to feed his big men but the game soon got out of hand.

James’ performance on Tuesday was not part of some game plan made by Coach Mike Brown; it is vividly apparent that to beat the Celtics the Cavs need to be very aggressive at both ends of the court and James must be the leader in that regard. He failed miserably. After the game, James displayed the same nonchalant attitude that he had after Cleveland’s blowout loss in game two of this series, which ironically was the night that he officially received the 2010 MVP trophy. James admitted that the fans had every right to boo as the Celtics pulled away in game five but he also acted as if his bad performance is no big deal because he has rarely had an off night during his seven year career. It is true that James has been remarkably consistent and productive but that does not excuse his lack of intensity while pursuing what should be his ultimate quest: the drive to win a championship. An off night in the fourth game of five nights during the dog days of the regular season is one thing, but James stunk up the joint in a pivotal game five on his own homecourt.

We have already seen several momentum swings in this series as the teams have traded blowouts and proven that they can win on the road. Though history shows that the game five winner of a 2-2 series is the overwhelming favorite to advance, it certainly is not beyond the realm of possibility that James and the Cavs will awake from their self-induced comas, play up to the high standard that they set throughout this season and beat the Celtics two times–but James has seemed so nonchalant during this series (except for game three) that at this point it is difficult to believe that he and the Cavs really have the necessary mental fortitude to beat a proud, championship-level team in an elimination game.

I do not believe in making too much out of one game; James’ performance does not invalidate the MVP awards that he earned with consistently outstanding efforts over the course of two regular seasons, but it does show once again why it is so necessary to be judicious about throwing around the title “greatest player ever.” Not too long ago, I read and heard some discussions about whether James should already be considered a candidate for that mythical title. In my Pantheon series I made the important point that it is difficult, if not impossible, to select one player as the absolute greatest–but even if it were possible to do so it should be noted that James’ accomplishments, while quite impressive, do not yet exceed the individual and/or collective feats of Pantheon members Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Earvin Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Julius Erving.

James’ current concern is not so much his place in history but rather making sure that the Celtics do not turn the Cavs’ current season into history. Even though the Cavs got blown out in game five they did establish some positive things that they can build on in game six: O’Neal showed that he can still score in the post and get opposing big men in foul trouble, while Parker demonstrated that he can play solid perimeter defense and also hit timely jumpers to loosen up Boston’s defense. Antawn Jamison (nine points, six rebounds) is most effective versus Garnett when he is on the move and the Cavs should make a conscious effort to get Jamison more involved in the offense. The Cavs led 29-21 early in the second quarter before the Celtics used a 16-0 run to take control of the game, a pattern that is eerily reminiscent of how the Cavs built early leads versus Orlando in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals only to fall apart later. The Cavs have the necessary personnel to match up with the Celtics and the Cavs have proven that they are capable of playing excellent defense while also being efficient offensively, so game six must consist of 48 minutes of focused energy. This series will not be decided by James’ elbow but rather by his mind, heart and spirit, because he and the Cavs possess the necessary physical tools to get the job done.

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Notes From Courtside:

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a two-time All-Star who was the starting center for Cleveland’s 66-16 team in 2008-09 and who was a major part of Cleveland’s rotation this season both before and after being forced to go on hiatus for 30 days as part of the Antawn Jamison trade. However, he only made cameo appearances versus Chicago in the first round and he had played just five minutes versus Boston prior to game five. During Coach Brown’s pregame standup, I asked him, “I know that you have a minutes sheet that you always go by in terms of your rotation. Was it part of your plan coming into this series that Ilgauskas would really have such a reduced role–or no role–or is that something that has developed as a result of how each game has gone?”

Coach Brown replied, “Yeah, I keep a minutes sheet on a card in my breast pocket. It’s like a rough draft, something to go by–like a game plan. When you have a game plan it helps you to prepare for the game. The minutes sheet, although I have it, I don’t know if there has been one time in my entire career that I have followed it to the ‘t.’ If you looked at my minutes sheet from the last game you would say, ‘That doesn’t match what you did.’ So, again, it’s just a tool to help me think and help me prepare for the game but very seldom if at any time at all have I followed it person by person or minute by minute. I just kind of go by the flow of the game; I threw J.J. (Hickson) in a couple games ago and he played well so I went with him but it wasn’t (written) anywhere going into the game that I had Z sitting and J.J. playing. I play who I think can help us out.”

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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the winners of the prestigious Curt Gowdy Media Awards that are annually presented to members of the electronic and print media. Cavs radio play by play announcer Joe Tait will receive this year’s award for electronic media. Tait has been the voice of the Cavaliers for a total of 38 seasons. Prior to being hired by the Cavs he worked as a pre game host for the Indiana Pacers in the ABA. Tait also briefly served as an announcer for the New Jersey Nets (1981) and Chicago Bulls (1982) before rejoining the Cavs after George and Gordon Gund bought the team from the infamous Ted Stepien. Tait is the 21st winner of the Gowdy Award for members of the electronic media; Doug Collins received the honor in 2009 and previous winners include Hubie Brown, Marv Albert and Dick Stockton.

Jackie MacMullan will receive this year’s award for members of the print media. She is the first female honoree. MacMullan wrote for the Boston Globe from 1982 until 2008 and she co-wrote the bestselling book When the Game was Ours with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Previous Gowdy Award winners for print media include Pete Vecsey, David DuPree, Mark Heisler, Jack McCallum, Phil Jasner and Bob Ryan.

Reloaded Cavs Seek Revenge Against Aging Celtics

Cavaliers vs CelticsThe Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics each cruised through the first round of the playoffs with 4-1 victories over Chicago and Miami respectively, setting up a rematch of their classic seven game 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals duel—but both teams have made significant personnel changes in the past two years.

Cleveland’s 2008 playoff rotation (the top eight players in mpg) included LeBron James, Delonte West, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and Anderson Varejao, while Sasha Pavlovic and Devin Brown were the only other players who averaged at least 10 mpg; Boston’s 2008 playoff rotation consisted of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, James Posey, P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell, with Leon Powe being the only other player who averaged at least 10 mpg (rookie Glen Davis averaged 8.1 mpg).

Cleveland’s 2010 playoff rotation (the top eight players in minutes played during the first round) includes LeBron James, Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Delonte West, Anthony Parker, Anderson Varejao, Shaquille O’Neal and Jamario Moon. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and J.J. Hickson played significant roles at various times during the regular season but only saw spot duty (8.5 mpg and 4.4 mpg respectively) versus Chicago; Boston’s 2010 playoff rotation (the top eight players in minutes played during the first round) is Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace. Shelden Williams averaged 18.0 mpg but he only appeared in one contest—game two—after Garnett was suspended by the league. Michael Finley played just 8.8 mpg versus Miami.

Only James, West and Varejao remain from Cleveland’s 2008 playoff rotation (Ilgauskas is still on the team, of course, but his role has been vastly reduced). James and Varejao are clearly better players now than they were two years ago, while West overall is about the same player that he was. Each of the five new players in the playoff rotation is clearly superior to his predecessor: Williams has replaced Gibson (who, like Ilgauskas, is still on the roster but with a much reduced role), O’Neal has supplanted Ilgauskas and Parker has taken Szczerbiak’s spot, while Jamison and Moon are getting the minutes that went to Wallace and Smith in 2008.

Superficially it looks like Boston has not had quite as much turnover but even though the top five players remain the same their roles have changed: Rondo has emerged as an All-Star and is arguably the team’s most important player, while Garnett—who was the backbone of the team’s suffocating defense during the 2008 championship run—has been hobbled by a knee injury and is no longer a dominant rebounder (7.3 rpg during the regular season, his worst average since his rookie year) or defender (he averaged a career-low .8 bpg this season). Pierce and Allen have both shown signs of age at times, though their overall production now is comparable to their production in 2008. Perkins has improved since 2008, becoming one of the league’s top defensive centers while also ranking second in the NBA in field goal percentage this season (.602). A big difference between the 2008 Celtics and the 2010 Celtics is that the 2008 squad had a deep bench comprised of playoff-seasoned veterans Cassell, Brown and Posey, plus young big man Powe (who later suffered a knee injury and is now a reserve for the Cavs), while the 2010 squad has a bench that is much more suspect: Davis is a solid contributor and Tony Allen has had some good moments, but Wallace has been a huge disappointment both literally—in terms of the excessive pounds he is carrying around his midsection—and figuratively.

Although the 2008 Celtics proved to be one of the most dominant defensive teams in recent memory en route to winning the championship, the Cavaliers pushed them to the brink, extending the series to seven games before dropping a 97-92 decision in the Boston Garden as Pierce (41 points, five assists, four rebounds) and James (45 points, six assists, five rebounds) staged a duel for the ages. James and Pierce are still the closers for their respective teams; James is now a consistently effective jump shooter, while Pierce added career-high three point shooting accuracy (.414) to his already deadly midrange game.

The 2008 Celtics led the NBA with a 10.2 point differential and a .419 defensive field goal percentage while ranking second in points allowed (90.3 ppg); the 2008 Cavs ranked 15th in point differential, 11th in defensive field goal percentage and ninth in points allowed, though some of those numbers are a bit skewed because the Cavs made some trades and dealt with some injuries to key players: by the time the playoffs rolled around, they were playing at a higher level than those regular season statistics portray, as demonstrated by how competitive the Cavs were versus the Celtics. However, one statistic that really jumps out from that season is that the Celtics ranked second in field goal percentage (.475) while the Cavs ranked just 27th (.439); perhaps lingering memories of that Cleveland team’s struggles on offense explain why some people still carp about Coach Mike Brown’s alleged deficiencies as an offensive coach but the reality is that the 2010 Cavs are a very potent offensive team, ranking third in the league in field goal percentage (.485), just ahead of fourth place Boston (.483). The Cavs have also improved defensively since 2008, ranking in the top five this season in point differential (second), defensive field goal percentage (fourth) and points allowed (fifth). The Celtics ranked ninth, ninth and sixth respectively in those categories this season.

The teams split the 2009-10 season series 2-2 but—as is often the case—you can largely disregard the statistics from those games: Cleveland’s first loss to Boston took place in the season opener when the Cavs were still getting used to their new roster additions, while the second loss happened on April 4 when O’Neal was out due to injury. Cleveland’s first win against Boston came on February 25 when the Cavs were nearly at full strength (missing only Ilgauskas) while the Celtics were without the services of Pierce, but the second win was a bit more significant: a Cleveland team without both O’Neal and Ilgauskas beat a full-strength Boston squad 104-93.

One weird statistic about the 2010 Celtics is that they actually did better on the road (26-15) than they did at home (24-17). That does not bode well for the Celtics, because the Cavs have been almost unbeatable at home the past two seasons and they are just as good on the road as the Celtics are, matching Boston with a 26-15 road record this season. The home team won every game in the 2008 series and has been very dominant in general when these teams have faced off during recent seasons, but those statistical splits suggest that Cleveland is more likely to get a win in Boston than vice versa.

Cleveland’s homecourt advantage could obviously prove to be significant if a game seven is necessary but I do not expect that this series will go the distance. A dominant 2008 Boston team stacked with three healthy future Hall of Famers barely defeated a Cleveland team that was not as deep or talented as this year’s Cleveland team, so it hardly would be logical to expect that an older, less dominant Boston team will beat the Cavs this time around. The one X factor, as every Cavs fan certainly knows by now, could possibly be the status of LeBron James’ mysterious elbow injury—but even though the troublesome joint has caused James some discomfort and even temporarily affected his play, overall he has been performing at an extremely high level for weeks despite this problem, so at this point it does not seem that the injury is likely to get worse in the course of normal game action nor does it seem likely that it will seriously impair James’ productivity or efficiency.

Cavaliers and Lebron are eager to start the Playoffs

Lebron James Shooting StarsThis is the first time the Cavaliers will face the Bulls in a playoffs series since the Michael Jordan era. It is also the time to erase a lot of bad memories for Cavaliers’ fans and Cavaliers’players.

Shaquille O’Neal will start at center, his first game since he injured his thumb on Feb 25. He is back 20 pounds lighter and in a much better shape than when he went down with an injury. He is also hungry to fulfill his goal of winning a Championship for the city of Cleveland and “win a ring for the King”.

“It’s a chance for me to do something special, personal-wise, city-wise, LeBron-wise and everybody wise,” Shaq said. “We have a pretty good shot at it. If we go out and do what we’re supposed to do, then we’ll be fine.”

Lebron James is more focused than ever before and ready to release “different monster”. He has been waiting for this day since the early exit last season when the Cavaliers lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference and Lebron stormed out the court with disgust.

“I’ve been waiting personally on this since Game 6 of the Orlando series,” James said. “It kind of hurts for a long time. You kind hold that in for all summer and all regular season to get back to this point. I’ll be happy Saturday when I get the opportunity to release it.”

Last week, James made a speech to his teammates, reminding them of what’s at stake.

“I basically just said this is the time,” he said. “This is what everyone was brought here for. This is what everybody worked hard in the offseason all year long. This is the time now. There’s no time to look backwards. It’s all about straight forward and just the vision of us winning an NBA championship.

“We want to win every series, we want to take every game like it’s our last. But our whole vision is to win an NBA championship and we have to believe it first.”

[polldaddy poll=3063925]

Cavs Will Battle Bulls in the Playoffs for the First Time Since the Michael Jordan Era

The Cleveland Cavaliers began the 2009 playoffs by sweeping the Detroit Pistons, a Central Division rival who they had faced in two competitive playoff series in 2006 and 2007; this year, the Cavs’ postseason journey also starts with a battle against a Central Division foe—the Chicago Bulls, a franchise that tormented the Cavs by eliminating Cleveland from the playoffs five times between 1988 and 1994. Chicago eked out a pair of 3-2 triumphs in 1988 and 1989 but by the end of that era the Bulls were clearly superior, sweeping the Cavs 4-0 in 1993 and beating the Cavs 3-0 in 1994 even though Michael Jordan had become a Birmingham Barons outfielder. For any longtime NBA fan who vividly remembers watching Jordan, Scottie Pippen and company battle against Mark Price, Ron Harper, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance and Craig Ehlo it is hard to believe that more than 15 years have passed since the last time these franchises faced each other in postseason play.

Cleveland and Chicago split their 2009-10 regular season series 2-2 but that is a very misleading statistic; the Bulls’ first win happened during Cleveland’s sixth game of the season when the 3-3 Cavs had not yet found their rhythm and the Bulls’ second win took place last week with LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Delonte West sitting out the whole game and Antawn Jamison on the bench down the stretch for precautionary reasons after he tweaked his ankle: it is quite telling that the Bulls—who desperately needed the victory as they battled the Toronto Raptors for the final playoff spot—struggled to beat the shorthanded Cavs 109-108. Sandwiched between those two losses, the Cavs routed the Bulls in December and then defeated the Bulls in Chicago in March despite being without the services of O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

The reality is that a series between Cleveland’s second unit and Chicago’s first unit would be pretty competitive but a series between Cleveland’s All-Star studded lineup versus a Chicago squad that has the worst record among the league’s 16 playoff teams (41-41) is a serious mismatch; the Cavs have five current or former All-Stars—LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas—four of whom made the squad within the past two years. The Cavs are too big, too talented and too deep for the Bulls.

What about the way that last year’s 41-41 Bulls pushed the then-defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics to seven games in the first round? There are several important differences to keep in mind: (1) The Celtics’ frontcourt was severely depleted compared to the unit they deployed during their championship season, as Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe were out due to injuries while James Posey and P.J. Brown were no longer members of the team; (2) the Bulls received significant contributions from Ben Gordon (a team-high 24.3 ppg versus Boston in the playoffs) and John Salmons (18.1 ppg versus Boston in the playoffs), neither of whom are on the roster now; (3) the Celtics had trouble dealing with the Bulls’ youth and athleticism but this year’s Cavs can counter by either going small to nullify those advantages or else by using big lineups to overpower the Bulls in the paint.

The Bulls’ best player is 2009 Rookie of the Year/2010 All-Star Derrick Rose, a dynamic and explosive point guard. Rose led the Bulls in scoring (20.8 ppg) and assists (6.0 apg) this season and he performed extremely well down the stretch, averaging 25.4 ppg and 7.0 apg as Chicago went 6-2 in April to overtake Toronto in the standings. However, he is not a three point threat (16-60, .267) and his midrange jumper is improving but is not yet a consistent weapon; think of Rose as a much smaller and less deadly version of LeBron James circa 2007: Rose is great in the open court and a powerful finisher at the hoop but Cleveland’s defense is designed to wall off the paint, deny middle penetration and force the opposing team to make contested jump shots. Rose averaged 17.0 ppg on .438 field goal shooting (well below his overall field goal percentage of .489) in three games versus Cleveland this season.

The Bulls’ second leading scorer is Luol Deng (17.6 ppg), an injury prone small forward who seemingly had a breakout season in 2006-07 but has been regressing ever since; injuries kept Deng out of the Boston series last year but even if he plays well he cannot make up for the scoring that Gordon and Salmons provided. The Bulls struggle offensively because they have no postup game and because Rose is the only player they have who can consistently create a shot for himself or his teammates. The combination of Chicago’s offensive woes and Cleveland’s strong defense means that it will be difficult for the Bulls to score 85 points per game in this series.

Joakim Noah (10.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg) could be an X factor for the Bulls because of his frenetic style of play but the Cavs can wear him down early in the game by posting up O’Neal and then later on they can counter with their own energy guys, Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson.

There are only two possible concerns for the Cavs about this series (other than the obvious, namely an injury to LeBron James): (1) Shaquille O’Neal has been out of the lineup since February 25 and the only times that the Cavaliers have struggled this season (not counting the de facto practice games that they have played for the past week or so) have been when the rotation underwent significant changes (first at the very start of the season when the Cavs adjusted to having two new starters and then again right after the Jamison trade); (2) all of the “resting” that the Cavs have been doing recently means that some players will have to get readjusted to going back to their normal amount of minutes/shot attempts. It had originally been suggested that O’Neal might not return until the Conference Finals, so the Cavs are actually fortunate that they can get the adjustment period out of the way against an inferior opponent that likely is not equipped to exploit any slight slippage that the Cavs may experience in game one.

The Cavs certainly enjoy enough matchup advantages to be able to sweep the Bulls but keep in mind that there have only been seven 4-0 sweeps in the NBA playoffs in the past four years. The Cavs have authored three of them (Washington in 2007, Detroit and Atlanta in 2009) and been on the wrong end of one of them (San Antonio in the 2007 NBA Finals). I expect the Cavs to sweep the Bulls but would not be shocked if the Bulls win in Chicago to extend the series to five games.

Usher Comments on Lebron to New York Rumors

UsheratMusicChoice.JPGR&B singer USHER, stopped by Music Choice to promote his new album “Raymond vs. Raymond” and spent some time talking about his “other job” as part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Rarely do team owners comment on players, which make this sound bite even more appealing.

When asked about fan speculation about LeBron James signing with NY Knicks, USHER commented:

There have been conversations about Bron coming to(uh) NY.

And (uh) I guess just is heavy speculation until it becomes a reality or not.

I will say this much.

We do have orange and blue jerseys in Cleveland and he likes wearing them.

So I think were cool right now.

Here is the video (courtesy of Music Choice):

Cavs Use Balanced Attack to Tame Raptors

Seven players scored in double figures–including all five starters–as the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to a league-best 61-17 record with a 113-101 win over the Toronto Raptors. Antawn Jamison scored a team-high 20 points and LeBron James added 19 points, 13 assists and six rebounds. James helped the Cavs set a season-high in assists (38) and six of his dimes resulted in layups or dunks as the Cavs outscored the Raptors 62-38 in the paint. Former Raptor Anthony Parker authored his best game of the season, setting a season high in points (18) and matching his season-highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (six). Parker also led the Cavs with three steals. Mo Williams dropped in eight first quarter points as the Cavs took a 35-26 lead after the first 12 minutes and he finished with 14 points and a season-high 12 assists. The Raptors had serious problems matching up with Williams one on one and when they trapped him he made excellent feeds to his teammates for wide open shots (on one first quarter possession, Andrea Bargnani went to double Williams on the left baseline and Williams slipped a pass right by Bargnani to a cutting Jamison for an easy layup). J.J. Hickson contributed 10 points and seven rebounds as the starting center, while Jawad Williams (13 points) and Anderson Varejao (10 points) made nice contributions off of the bench. Varejao looked very good in his return to action after missing four games due to a hamstring injury. The Cavs are so deep and versatile it is easy to forget that they were without the services of starting center Shaquille O’Neal and key reserve Delonte West, who missed the game due to back spasms; West’s absence was purely a precautionary measure and indications are that he could have played if absolutely necessary. Daniel Gibson–who ranks second in the league in three point field goal percentage–was officially listed as DNP-CD (Did Not Play–Coach’s Decision) only because the Cavs already had the maximum of three players on the inactive list (O’Neal, West and Sebastian Telfair) but in fact he was scratched due to a foot injury; after the game, Coach Mike Brown noted that Gibson was dressed in his warmup gear–not a uniform–and thus was not available (some media members asked Brown why Gibson did not enter the game even in the last minute with the Cavs up by double figures, a question that either indicates keen concern about Gibson or a tendency to nitpick Brown’s decision making even as he guides his team to the best record in the NBA).

Jarrett Jack led the Raptors with 23 points and six assists. The Raptors suffered a major setback when Jamison inadvertently elbowed All-Star Chris Bosh in the face a little over two minutes into the game. Bosh crumpled to the floor, bleeding profusely, and he had to be helped off of the court; he was later taken to the Cleveland Clinic, where it was determined that he has a broken nose and a facial fracture. Watching the game in person, I did not see what happened live because I was following the ball on that particular play but as soon as I saw the replay I said that Bosh probably has a broken nose and may very well have a concussion as well (we later found out that he was given a CT scan at the Clinic). The Raptors hung tough even without Bosh but then in the third quarter starting small forward Antoine Wright left the game with an ankle injury and the Cavs led by double digits for most of the remainder of the contest. Amir Johnson had a strong game off of the bench (16 points on 7-8 shooting, 10 rebounds) but the Raptors could not overcome their poor defense and lack of size.

For a stretch of a little over two minutes in the second quarter the Cavs used an interesting “big” lineup consisting of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, Antawn Jamison, Jawad Williams and LeBron James: each of those players is at least 6-8 and none is traditionally considered a guard, though James was nominally the point guard and Williams was nominally the shooting guard. The lineup possibilities and potential mismatches that the Cavs can create are really amazing–and will only increase when O’Neal and West are available: not only can the Cavs use multiple effective “big” lineups but the Cavs can potentially go “small” with Hickson or Varejao at center surrounded by four perimeter players. After the game, Jack spoke about how difficult it is to try to defend LeBron James while also keeping an eye on the other Cavs: “We changed up our coverages a little bit in the second half. I thought we contained him as best you could do. They still have other guys who are capable players. You can’t sleep on those guys. Mo Williams is obviously an All-Star and Anthony Parker has shown he is a very capable perimeter scorer. We’ve got to guard them with the same intensity and respect as we do LeBron or anybody else. You’ve go to kind of pick your poison when you’re playing against the Cavs. If you’re going to stop LeBron, obviously that’s going to leave some people open for some looks.” James shot just 5-13 from the field, so it is true that the Raptors did about as well against him as is possible–but the other Cavs shot 42-71 (.592); in the 2008 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics essentially swarmed Kobe Bryant and dared anyone else to beat them, a strategy that other teams are starting to use against the Lakers as well–but that approach toward James will not work against a Cleveland team that is stocked with productive big men, excellent slashers and deadly three point shooters. As Jack said, “pick your poison”: in addition to the Cavs’ huge points in the paint advantage they also shot 8-20 (.400) on three pointers–8-18 if you take out James’ two long range misses. James’ brilliance as a playmaker is threefold: he has impeccable court vision, he is strong enough to make passes from distances that would daunt most other players and his passes are uncannily catchable; the latter trait is an intangible that cannot be quantified but what I mean is that James is able to throw the ball hard enough to elude defenders yet soft enough that the recipient can catch the ball and accurately enough that it is possible to immediately shoot without having to “reload” or make any kind of adjustment. Rarely do you see James throw a pass that lands at someone’s feet, takes someone off of his sweet spot or forces a cutter to slow down/change direction.

In his postgame standup, Coach Brown offered a concise and very accurate description of his team’s play: “It was a good offensive game and just an OK defensive game. We did some good things defensively but we still have to continue to work on our weak side. Our weak side awareness is not great. They did a good job of exploiting us in pick and rolls to a certain degree. We have got to do a better job with that knowing that this team likes to spread you out and just play pick and roll after pick and roll after pick and roll.” Both before and after the contest, Brown indicated that he has no specific, concrete plans in terms of resting his players prior to the playoffs but that he considers the season’s final games to be “high-level practices.” Basically, the Cavs want to find some way to keep their key players healthy while also maintaining sharpness at both ends of the court.

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Notes From Courtside:

During Coach Brown’s pregame standup I asked him about various lineups that he could possibly use during the upcoming playoffs:

Friedman: “When Shaq returns you have the possibility of putting a lineup out there of five players who have made the All-Star team at various times in their careers: Shaq, Z, Jamison, LeBron and Mo Williams. Have you given that any thought and how likely is it that we could see a lineup like that in which everyone has made the All-Star team at some point in their career?”

Brown: “Who was the fifth one?”

Friedman: “Mo Williams.”

Brown: “Mo, Shaq…”

Friedman: “Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a two-time All-Star, plus LeBron and Jamison; you have five players who have made the All-Star team and four of them made it within the past two years. You could theoretically put a lineup out there of five All-Stars (once Shaq returns). Have you given that any thought and how likely is it that we could see that particular combination of players on the court at the same time?”

Brown: “I haven’t given it any thought. Could it happen? Yes but I haven’t given it any thought at all.”

It was a big deal when four Pistons made the All-Star team in 2006–matching the 1998 Lakers, the 1983 76ers, three Celtics teams (1953, 1962, 1975) and the 1962 Lakers–but if the possibility of putting four teammates on the court at the same time in the midseason classic is exciting then what can be said about the possibility of putting five All-Stars on the court at the same time in the playoffs or even the NBA Finals? Granted, Ilgauskas is not an All-Star caliber player right now but he is still a skillful 7-3 center who can rebound, pick and pop and post up, while the other four Cavs in question each made the All-Star team at least as recently as 2008. I understand that Coach Brown may be more concerned about individual matchups than the theoretical possibility of putting five All-Stars on the court at the same time but the fact that he has this lineup combination at his disposal speaks to just how deep the Cavs are. Offhand (I have not researched this completely), these are the only teams that I can only think of that not only had five All-Stars but had four players who had each made the All-Star team very recently: various incarnations of Bill Russell’s Celtics in the 1960s, the 1982 and 1983 L.A. Lakers (other Laker squads from that era don’t qualify because Norm Nixon–and then Jamaal Wilkes–departed prior to James Worthy becoming an All-Star) and the 1988 Celtics (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge each made the All-Star team at least once while they were Celtic teammates). It would be a stretch to include Boston’s 1986 championship team, because Danny Ainge did not make the All-Star team until 1988, while Bill Walton had not been an All-Star since 1978 (an eight year span compared to Ilgauskas’ five year span); Walton had not been a full-time starting center since 1984, while just last year Ilgauskas was the starting center for a Cleveland team that posted the best record in the NBA. Former All-Star Scott Wedman did play a big role for the 1986 Celtics, but he made his only All-Star appearance 10 years earlier, so he was much further removed from being an All-Star than any of the Cavs’ All-Star veterans are.

Friedman: “You had to go about a month with a small lineup without Shaq and Z. Did it surprise you a little bit how well the team was able to rebound with an undersized lineup?”

Brown: “Yes it did. It’s not only that, but even having J.J. (Hickson) playing the center position it is a little surprising that we would be able to be that effective (against bigger players). We kind of did it by committee; Anderson played some center, too. It was good to see guys step up and fill that void.”

Friedman: “Do you think that kind of lineup can be successful in a playoff series or when two teams really lock in on each other in a playoff series do you think that another team might be able to better exploit you going small so that a small lineup would not be quite as successful in the playoffs?”

Brown: “It depends on which teams we play. If we are playing a smaller, quicker team then we could have some success (with a small lineup) but if our starting center is J.J. and he has to match up in a seven game series with Dwight (Howard) I don’t know–not to say that he can’t or he can.”

In other words, even though some fans on message boards seem to think that the Cavs should go small all the time and just bench Ilgauskas–or even Shaq–the reality is that a small lineup is a nice change of pace option for Coach Brown to have in his back pocket but not something that can serve as the primary lineup option, particularly against teams that have dominant big men.

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It is still unclear when exactly O’Neal will return; he has not yet been cleared for contact and Coach Brown said before the game that if O’Neal cannot come back soon then he sees little benefit in rushing O’Neal back just to play one regular season game for the sake of continuity; if the scenario plays out in that fashion it seems as though Coach Brown would prefer to just give O’Neal a little more rest and reinsert him in the lineup when the playoffs begin. It seems like the only things that could derail a championship run by Cleveland are more injuries and/or a lack of continuity created by bringing back O’Neal in the middle of the playoffs. Three of the Cavs’ 17 losses this season came in the first six games when the team was still adjusting to the arrival of offseason additions O’Neal, Parker and Jamario Moon (plus the uncertain status of Delonte West); for various reasons, key rotation players did not play together during the preseason so the team had to figure things out on the fly once the season began. Similarly, the Cavs dropped three straight games after acquiring Jamison but rallied to go 18-3 since that time despite O’Neal, Ilgauskas, West and Varejao missing games during that run. Near the end of his pregame standup, I asked Coach Brown about the challenge of potentially bringing O’Neal back in the middle of the playoffs: “Obviously, you guys have not lost that many games this year but some of the losses have come in clumps–at the start of the year when you had to adjust because you had new players and then you lost some games right after acquiring Antawn Jamison. How concerned are you if Shaq is coming back in the middle of a playoff series or in the middle of the playoffs? Obviously, there is not really time in the playoffs to lose a game because of having to adjust. Are you a little bit concerned that this is the one thing that could be a problem for this team in the playoffs?”

Coach Brown replied, “Yes, I am concerned but we had a chance to play with Shaq and we kind of have a good feel for that. In the other two situations, in the first case early in the year we had not really had a chance to play with Shaq yet and in the second one late in the year we had not had a chance to play with Antawn. We had a feeling out process with two new players in new situations. Now at least we have had a chance to play with Shaq, so hopefully it is not as difficult a transition as the other two times were.”

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Cavs forward Jamario Moon received the fifth annual Austin Carr Good Guy Award, an honor bestowed by the Cleveland chapter of the Pro Basketball Writers Association to “recognize a Cavaliers player who is cooperative and understanding of the media, the community and the public.”

Cleveland PBWA Chapter President Bob Finnan said of Moon, “Win or lose, Jamario remains the same. He’s always accommodating and engaging in the locker room. Very seldom does he not have a big smile on his face. He’s added to the Cavs’ culture.”

Austin Carr starred at Notre Dame before the Cavs made him the number one overall selection in the 1971 NBA Draft. Carr currently serves as a Cavs television analyst for FOX Sports Ohio and also works for the team as the Director of Community and Business Development.

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The Cavs posted the best record in the NBA in 2008-09 (66-16) and they have already clinched the best record in the league this season as well. The last team to have the outright best record in the NBA in back to back seasons was the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls, who did so in 1995-96 and 1996-97. In 1997-98, the Bulls tied with the Utah Jazz for the best record and the following season–the lockout shortened 50 game 1999 campaign–the Jazz tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the best record. Since then, the L.A. Lakers (2000), the Spurs (2001, 2003 [tied with the Mavericks]), the Sacramento Kings (2002), the Dallas Mavericks (2003 [tied with the Spurs], 2007), the Indiana Pacers (2004), the Phoenix Suns (2005), the Detroit Pistons (2006) and the Boston Celtics (2008) posted the best single season records prior to Cleveland’s recent two year dominance.

With Big Z Back in the Fold, Cavs Prepare for Championship Run

IlgauskasThe Cleveland Cavaliers have lapped the field in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the 2010 NBA Playoffs; the Cavs have just nine games remaining—six of which will be played at home—and currently are ahead of the L.A. Lakers by three games in the loss column. The Cavs lead the Orlando Magic by six games in the loss column. I thought that playing “small ball” for a month without Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas might cost the Cavs some wins but the Cavs went 11-1 from February 25 to March 21 to all but clinch having the league’s best record for the second year in a row; the Lakers went 9-3 during that time, while the Magic went 11-2. It says a lot about the Cavs’ depth that despite being without their top two centers for a month they actually pulled further away from both the Lakers and the Magic.

Some commentators have suggested that the Cavs are actually better off without O’Neal and/or Ilgauskas. That is ridiculous. The “small ball” lineup can be very effective versus certain teams throughout a game and it can be a nice change of pace for limited periods of time even versus big teams but it is not a recipe to win 16 playoff games and claim the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The only way that the Cavs will consider this season to be a success if is they win the championship and in order to do that they will likely have to defeat both the Magic and the Lakers in the playoffs; “small ball” will not get the job done against either of those teams.

Now that the Cavs have re-signed Ilgauskas they have the top six players from their 2009 team that posted the best record in the NBA and won eight straight playoff games en route to a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals; in the 10 man rotation, this year’s Cavs replaced (listed in order of mpg) Ben Wallace, Wally Szczcerbiak, Joe Smith and Sasha Pavlovic with Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker,  Shaquille O’Neal (who is on schedule to return during the playoffs) and J.J. Hickson (who was on the roster last season but not a major member of the rotation). The Cavs are so deep now that Jamario Moon—a two year starter for playoff teams in Toronto—currently ranks 11th on the team in mpg, while Leon Powe—a major rotation player for the 2008 NBA Champion Boston Celtics—is a nice frontcourt insurance policy who ranks 13th on the team in mpg.

Ilgauskas came off of the bench in his first two games since rejoining the Cavs. He has started just six times in 55 games this season. His numbers in those two games—and for this season in general—are underwhelming but statistics rarely tell the complete story about anything that is as dynamic and fluid as an NBA basketball game. Ilgauskas opens up the court offensively because when he spots up the opposing center has to come out of the paint. Also, when Ilgauskas plays down low his length enables him to be a very effective offensive rebounder; although his offensive rebounds per game average dropped from 2.4 last season to 1.7 this season that is largely a function of reduced playing time: on a per minute basis his numbers in that category have remained steady (3.2 in 2008-09, 3.0 in 2009-10). Ilgauskas’ lack of mobility defensively is well noted but anyone who has played basketball at any level should be able to understand that as a 7-3 presence in the paint Ilgauskas has a certain impact just by properly positioning himself.

Coach Mike Brown likes pairing Ilgauskas with Anderson Varejao on the second unit because Ilgauskas’ outside shooting touch provides a nice counterpoint to Varejao’s mobility. Keep in mind that those two players started for Cleveland’s 66 win team last season, so Cleveland’s bench has more talent and experience than the starting units deployed by many NBA teams. J.J. Hickson plays with good energy as a starter and Coach Brown can always juggle those players’ minutes during a given game based on matchups, foul trouble and so forth; as the cliché states, it is more important who finishes than who starts, a point that has been exemplified by Manu Ginobili and Lamar Odom on recent championship teams.

Several of the Cavs’ losses this season came in clusters right after personnel changes: the Cavs started 3-3 as Brown dealt with the Delonte West situation and adjusted to having a new rotation after the offseason acquisitions of O’Neal, Parker and Moon. Then the Cavs won 40 of their next 48 games before dropping three straight right after acquiring Jamison in exchange for Ilgauskas. The Cavs bounced back to capture 12 of their next 13 games before going 1-1 since Ilgauskas returned. It likely will not take the Cavs very long to regain their stride once again, though it will be interesting to see what lineups Coach Brown uses down the stretch: he certainly wants the Cavs to clinch homecourt advantage and develop some rotation continuity heading into the playoffs but once homecourt advantage is clinched he probably will reduce the minutes of LeBron James and some other key players.

However, Coach Brown’s final major personnel adjustment of this season will be his most important and could possibly take place in the pressure packed environment of the Eastern Conference Finals: the Cavs simply cannot afford to lose a game or two while getting used to having O’Neal back on the court, so when the “Big Bill Cartwright” returns both he and his teammates will have to be very focused on performing within their designated roles, walking that fine line between not trying to do too much but also not deferring too much to others. The nature of that kind of challenge should not be underestimated—just look at what happened to the Magic during last year’s NBA Finals when they tried to bring back All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson—but the Cavs really seem to be on a mission this season: they have not only consistently pounded the weaker teams but they have gone 6-2 versus top Eastern contenders Orlando, Boston and Atlanta plus 2-0 versus the Lakers.