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Should the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers renew talks they had before last February’s trade deadline, Cleveland’s front office should realize even more how necessary it is to surround Lebron James with better shooters.

The Cavs woeful perimeter shooting in the NBA Finals did nothing to compensate for the San Antonio Spurs smothering defense on James, but Bibby could change that. He ranked seventh in the league with 173 three-pointers (36 percent).

Source: Sacramento Bee

“Ferry, get us some help”. That is what I told Danny Ferry when accidentally ran into him when I was walking out of the arena last night. He didn’t look happy at all as well as 20,000+ fans that were starving for a win in their first NBA Finals.

The Cavs died hard, they tried to earn some respect by preventing the Spurs from celebrating on the floor at Quicken Loans Arena. But the Spurs are just too good.

“a team for the ages.” David Stern called the Spurs while presenting the Larry O’Brien trophy. (I left before that, we just couldn’t stay and watch the celebration)

Lebron James did the same thing, “I didn’t want to turn around and look at (the celebration),” he said.

“We just went up against a better team, simple as that,” James said. “Our team has to be 10 times better.”

That is exactly what Danny Ferry need to do during this off season.

 

 

The series will come to Cleveland Tuesday night, the same place where just two weeks ago we saw the Cavs enter a Game 3 down 2-0.

The same place we witnessed the Cavaliers enter Game 3 down 2-0 to the Pistons last year after the Pistons handled the Cavaliers with two big victories in their building.

From last year finals, Miami lost the first two games to Dallas, 90-80, 99-85. Everyone thought they were finished but they went back to Miami and won 4 in a row and they won the title.

In 2005 finals, the Pistons lost game one by 15 and game 2 by 21 points.  But they won game 3, 4 and 6 and lost to the Spurs in game 7.

If you missed last night fourth quarter, then you didn’t see the life the Cavaliers still have. Cleveland outscored San Antonio 30-14 over the final 12 minutes, cutting a deficit that was as large as 29 all the way down to eight behind nine points from Daniel Gibson and eight from James.

So let’s hope there may just be some life left in our Cavaliers.

AM.R. KROPKO
Associated Press Writer  tells us:

 A hand-painted message on the window at Flannery’s Pub says it all: “We Believe.”

Fans have faith in the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are playing the franchise’s first NBA finals. But pub manager Christine Connell also believes dollars and brews are about to flow as fast as a LeBron James slam dunk.
  
The NBA finals are expected to generate millions of dollars for local businesses in a week unlike anything since the city hosted the World Series 10 years ago. The Cavaliers, who lost the opening game of the championship series to the San Antonio Spurs, stay on the road for Sunday’s Game 2 before the series shifts to Cleveland on Tuesday.

“It’s really exciting,” said Connell, whose pub near Quicken Loans Arena was very busy throughout the Cavaliers’ playoff run leading up the finals. “All my staff wants to be here. It’s just fun. We’ve been hoping for it all season. What’s happened has been incredible.”

Connell is gearing up by stocking the pub with beer and food at three times the normal rate, and she’s hoping that will suffice. Game 4 is Thursday and Game 5, if needed, is next weekend.

Her only similar experience was when the Cleveland Indians were in baseball’s World Series in 1995 and 1997.

“I anticipate people just wanting to be in the city, close by, to be part of the excitement,” Connell said.

Meanwhile, some larger venues, like the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center, was close to selling out its 400 rooms, said Chris Tageson, sales director.

“Whenever you have an opposing team in town for something like this, there is a large following, and you can cater to that crowd,” she said.

Tageson said the NBA finals could produce sales at the hotel about $300,000 in excess of what it might otherwise have taken in.

It’s not clear how much hotel business may spill over to Cleveland’s suburbs, but Nanci Haley, general manager of Embassy Suites in Beachwood, is getting ready.

“When downtown hotels start to get sold out, there tends to be a ripple effect,” said Haley, vice president of the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association.

It’s a nice economic boost for civic leaders in Cleveland, which the U.S. Census Bureau ranks as the nation’s most impoverished big city.

Game tickets, food and retail sales at Quicken Loans Arena are projected to top $4 million for each game, said Tamera Brown, a spokeswoman for the Greater Cleveland Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The city is optimistic that finals-related revenue at hotels will reach $2.5 million per game, and sales at the city’s restaurants and retail shops may reach about $2 million per game, said Virginia Carlson, deputy director for research, outreach and marketing in Cleveland’s Economic Development Department.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum also hoped be among the venues boosting sales by having staff members make surprise greetings of travelers arriving at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, in particular flights from San Antonio.

The city’s economic benefit is likely to be even better if the Cavaliers become NBA champs.

Bill Anderson, director of planning and research for the Miami Convention Bureau, said the economic impact of the NBA finals is much more than game sales. He remembers a downtown parade celebrating the Miami Heat’s championship last year.

“There were probably close to 900,000 people who came out for the victory parade, which was a very hot day,” he said.

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA have teamed up with PACE, a leader in digital 3D, to offer the “Cavaliers 3D HD Experience” presented by FSN Ohio, the first-ever live game of The Finals in 3D HD. The groundbreaking free Watch Party for Cavaliers fans will take place at Quicken Loans Arena for Game 2 of The Finals between the Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, June 10th at 9 p.m. ET.

Throughout the Cavaliers playoff road games, watch parties at Quicken Loans Arena have become almost as exciting as a real home game as over 10,000 fans celebrated Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at The Q when LeBron James led the Cavs to victory over the Pistons in historic double overtime fashion.

The Cavaliers and FSN Ohio will provide fans with special 3D HD viewing glasses (as long as supplies last) to watch Game 2 live. Fans will see the most captivating and immersive image available in video today, with a unique depth of field perspective never seen before in sports broadcasting. FSN broadcasters Jeff Phelps and Austin Carr will do the game’s play-by-play action for fans watching in The Q.

Four special 3D HD screens, each 40 feet by 23 feet, will be utilized in The Q to provide all fans with a positive viewing experience. High-tech projectors, powered by DLP technology from Texas Instruments, will light up the screens. In the AT&T Center, four of PACE’s specially designed Sports Fusion 3D HD camera systems will be utilized to capture all of the action on the court. Each 3D HD camera is designed with two HD cameras that work together to create one visual experience.

“This is a great way to say thanks to our fans for all their support during the Cavaliers run to The Finals,” said Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. “This groundbreaking 3D HD event will provide our fans with a new way to experience the excitement of watching the game and make them feel like they are sitting courtside in the AT&T Center in San Antonio for the game.”

“The NBA is always exploring new and innovative ways for fans to consume our game,” said Steve Hellmuth, Senior Vice President of Operations and Technology, NBA. “After the success of our 3D HD viewing parties during NBA All-Star, we are excited that the Cavaliers and owner Dan Gilbert now want to provide their fans with this unique opportunity to view The Finals.”

“As the television home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, FSN Ohio is proud to present this unprecedented 3D HD television experience to Cavaliers fans,” said Steve Liverani, FSN Ohio senior vice president and general manager. “We salute Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers for making this event possible.”

The Q is the place to be for Cavs fans of all ages to experience the excitement of watching the Cavaliers’ first appearance in The Finals together. In addition to interactive games, contests, prizes and concessions, the Cavaliers game entertainment troupe—the Cavalier Girls, Moondog, Scream Team, and in-arena hosts Ahmaad and Nicole—will all be on hand to give the Watch Party the home court magic that will be felt from Cleveland to the Lone Star State!

During NBA All-Star in Las Vegas, the NBA featured the first-ever live sports event in 3D HD with viewing parties for NBA All-Star Saturday Night and the 56th NBA All-Star Star Game. The special viewing parties were held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and were open to a special invite-only list of NBA partners and guests. Now, for the first time ever, the doors will open for free to all fans in Cleveland to experience this revolutionary viewing experience while watching the Cavaliers take on the Spurs in Game 2 of The Finals 2007.

“15 For the Finals” to Focus on Opening ABC Telecast

The 2007 NBA Finals, featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James and the San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan, will tip off Thursday at 9 p.m. ET with an unprecedented multimedia initiative offering the start of the game across 15 ABC and ESPN platforms – including the complete game on ABC, ABC HD, ESPN Radio and ESPN International.  

The multi-platform, cross-promotional presentation will include ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2, ESPN2 HD, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPN.com, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile Properties all providing coverage of The Finals from 9 p.m. through the first few minutes of the game. 

At that point, all viewers will be advised to tune to the ABC Television Network for the remainder of the game. The domestic ESPN outlets will return to regularly scheduled programming. “Using all the ESPN distribution firepower we can muster to focus on the opening of the NBA Finals on ABC is a great way to showcase this event,” said George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports.

NBA Commissioner David Stern added:  “We are gratified that the Walt Disney Company has the ability to place such tremendous promotion behind our Finals on ABC. We’re appreciative to ABC, its affiliates and ESPN for this enormous display of support.”

Each game of the best-of-seven NBA Finals will be broadcast in high definition on ABC, with coverage starting at 8:30 p.m. with the OnStar NBA Countdown pre-game show.   Mike Breen will call The Finals with analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and reporters Stuart Scott and Michele Tafoya.  Dan Patrick will host the pre-game show, originating from the site of the game, with analysts Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon and guest analyst Grant Hill.  Mike Tirico will describe the game on ESPN Radio with analyst Hubie Brown and reporters Ric Bucher and Lisa Salters.

All telecasts of The Finals on ABC will include SkyCam, which will provide aerial views of the action, and FreezeCam, which will have the ability to capture a play, zoom in on a particular image and allow the commentators to better analyze that moment. Coverage will include an updated version of the Emmy Award-winning “Hall of Fame” opening segment, which features some of the most memorable players and moments in Finals history and “The Finals in Harmony,” a celebration of many of the players, teams and moments from The Finals through the voice and performance of Steve Sidwell and the Hollywood Film Chorale.

Mark Naymik writes for Cleveland.Com: In Cleveland’s version of the Gospel of the Chosen One, it is fitting that an Ohio preacher have a role. 
Gov. Ted Strickland bears witness to the beauty of the giant LeBron James banner, which he vowed will stay put.
Gov. Ted Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, pledged Wednesday to fight for believers’ right to bear witness to a well-known symbol of sports marketing: the 120-foot-high banner of Cavaliers superstar LeBron James that hangs from a downtown building across from the Quicken Loans Arena.

Citing an ongoing state effort to remove the Nike-sponsored sign, whose size and proximity to a federal road put it at odds with state and federal regulations, Strickland performed a sidewalk miracle: He turned the sign into “commercial art.”
Standing across the street from the banner, which declares “We are all witnesses,” he cracked a wide smile, turned and said, “You cannot look upon that incredible display there and not embrace the concept of it being a work of art.”

Strickland said that federal anti-billboard regulations make an exception in urban areas for commercial art.

But the Ohio Department of Transportation argued in an April 2 letter to the sign company that erected the banner, which bears the Nike logo, that it was nothing more than a giant corporate advertising device.

The banner was approved as an art mural by the city’s planning commission two years ago. Strickland said the state’s actions were triggered by a complaint from a federal highway official in town for a convention last year. But Strickland ordered ODOT on Wednesday to back off.

“We are determined to make sure this city has the opportunity to continue to enjoy this beautify display of commercial art,” he said.

Strickland disputed the notion that declaring the banner art will give Nike a special benefit.

“This is not about Nike,” he said. “This is about Cleveland.”

Nike quickly became a disciple of Strickland.

“We are pleased to hear that Governor Strickland is a witness like the millions of Ohio citizens and basketball fans worldwide,” the shoe company said in a statement Wednesday.

Nike said the banner complied with city codes, and it is “confident that the Governor will convert any non-believers.”

If Strickland can’t save the sign, he promised to appeal to a higher power: Ohio’s congressional delegation.