Tonight's the Night

Some random thoughts about the Cavaliers before tonight's game:

D-Fence!
I heard a caller to the Bruce Drennan Show make a great point yesterday. He was talking about how Mike Brown gets all this credit for building a good defense, when in actuality all you have to do to play good D is decide you want to play good D.

He's right, if you work hard, slide your feet, hustle after loose balls, and get your hands up you are playing good defense. Especially by NBA standards. It doesn't take a genius to say double team their best player, or play man to man, or play zone.

However, on offense is where the CAVS look terrible. They have possible the best offensive weapon in pro basketball with LeBron and his skill set. Yet, no clue how to use him best. I don't know, but I'm not paid to know. Although I know most offenses start with screens, crisp quick passes, and guys cutting to the basket. The CAVS have none of this. They home a pick and roll at the top of the key works and if not they take a jumper 6 seconds into the shot clock with a hand in their face.

Zzzzzzzzzz
I love the big guy. But have you ever noticed that even his shots seem slower than most people's? Not his mechanics, (although they are), but after the ball leaves his hand. He some how defies Newtonian Laws of Physics and his jumpers fall from the sky as though gravity has no effect on them. What the CAVS need to do is bring someone in to study this phenomenon and harness it into some way to travel backwards in time. Perhaps to stop the Ron Harper trade, (Sorry Danny).

Skip-to-my-fool
During the half of Wednesday's game LeBron's, girlfriend who is 8 months pregnant, was carted out of the Quicken Loan Arena on a stretcher. After the game Bron told the media about the loss, “It's just a game.” While this quote may have become cliché in these circumstances it is hardly untrue, or an unneeded reminder.

Skip Bayless, rather showing any sympathy for the situation, decided to compare “Prince James'” heart and competitive streak to Michael Jordan's. I'm paraphrasing here but it went something like this, Jordan wouldn't have been bothered by that, or thought it was just a game. He would have gone out and won the game. All I can say to that is if that's true then Jordan is as big an Nifong, (my new blog-safe word for A-hole), as Bayless.

Media Day
Yesterday the question was asked on every national and local sports program if people really believed the CAVS have what it takes to be a championship team. Based on the fact that they came back home with a chance to close out the series against the Nets and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals, and instead stunk up their home court. Hell, let's face it they couldn't even make the score respectable when the Nets scored 6 4^th quarter points.

My answer: Do I believe this is a Championship team? No not really. Of course that doesn't mean that they couldn't win it all.

Still isn't what the CAVS did pretty much exactly what the Pistons did against Chicago? They have blown 2 chances to end that series after being p 3-0. Where are the questions about Detroit's heart, or Detroit's talent? Just more anti Cleveland media bias.

...Singing Surry with a Fringe on Top in front of Ira!
Ira Newble has been a non-facto for much of this season, yet SI.com reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala wrote a 2 page article about him Why? you ask because of a movement Newble is trying to get started in the NBA. Appears the Miami of Ohio grad has been doing some reading of current events, and has been mortified by what is going on in the Sudan. I don't want to rewrite the article here, but you should read it for yourself. Here's an excerpt:

Since early in 2003, the Sudanese military and its proxy militia, the Janjaweed, have been raping and dismembering and just plain slaughtering the land-tilling, non-Arab villagers. Newble read that some 500,000 Sudanese are dead and another 2.5 million are homeless, and he rubbed his eyes

Newble went on the net to do some of his own research and discovered that China has continually vetoed and UN peace keeping missions to the Sudan because they are in bed with the Janjaweed. They need their oil and many of their other exports.

Newble, knowing that the 2008 Summer Olympics, in which many of the basketball teams will feature prominent NBA players, are to be held in Bejing. He put together a small packet of information to inform his teammates about these goings on and wrote up a statement for them to sign. There is no threat of a boycott of the games but there is a judgment made against China's involvement, or lack there of, in the issue.

Lo and behold guess who hasn't signed it. Damon Jones and or beloved Bron Bron. Both have lucrative shoe deals involving China. Jones with a Chinese manufacturer, and LeBron with a huge Asian Nike marketing campaign. I will give Jones small leeway here, he's a guy not even playing in games and he's got this shoe contract that he has to hold on to, still he has to live with himself. But LeBron has the power to possibly do some real good here, on a global level, but is willing to let finances get in the way. I don't care what his contract says, that's a cop out! People are dying, women are being raped and mutilated, while LeBron gets publicity for riding a bike down Market St. I have a lot of faith in James being a good person, and I know he is young still, but this one is too obvious to ignore. Besides, does he really thing Chinese kids will stop buying his shoes if he signs it? It's not like the Chinese economy can afford to boycott Nike imports.

I will be in attendance at my local Locker Room to watch tonight's game.

Tonight the orange and blue delivers, hard working town hard working team!
CAVS BASKETBALL TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!