Hey fellow CavFanatics!

I'm writing this to let you know that I was recently fortunate enough to exchange some dialogue with Fred McLeod.  You can find my conversation with him at the following link.

www.curseofcleveland.com

Thanks and GO CAVS!

Kirk

Daniel Gibson, where have you been? And more importantly, don't go anywhere! Boobie lit it up tonight and led the team in scoring as the Cavaliers used an early 22 point lead to coast to an easy victory over the Grizzlies at the Q.

The Cavaliers were once again without Delonte West, who sat out tonight's contest as a precaution after some soreness in his wrist and a four game in five night road trip coming up starting Thursday.  Instead, Tarence Kinsey got the start and filled in admirably.  TK used his slashing ability to rack up 11 points and 3 rebounds in 27 minutes.  Gibson, however, provided the real spark for the wine and gold.  Gibson used a run early in the second quarter with the second unit to increase the Cavalier lead from 11 to 20.  While Boobie hit 3 of 5 treys, I was more impressed with his 5-of-7 from inside the arc.  Gibson's overall field goal percentage has plummeted this season to 39 percent.  While his three point percentage is down, he is still shooting it at a very respectable 37% clip from deep.  Gibson used a couple of long jumpers and a pair of layups to get himself in the scoring column tonight from inside the arc.  Gibson was in danger of seeing his minutes shrink with his struggles and the return of TK and Delonte, but Boobie will be very important on the upcoming road trip, especially if they need to rest West for any of those games.  Here's to Boobie turning his season around, starting tonight.

The Cavaliers got another incredible effort off the bench from J.J. Hickson.  Hickson made a couple of highlight-reel plays tonight, and he got big minutes one game after being entirely out of the rotation for the first three quarters.  In almost 28 minutes, J.J. scored 10 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and sent one amazing block out to halfcourt.  Hickson's other fantastic play was off a missed LBJ mid-range jumper; J.J. was fully extended coming across the front of the rim, and put the ball up and in falling away from the basket.  Coach Mike Brown seemed willing to extend his rotation a little bit tonight considering the opponent.  I still think time will tell if MB extends the healthy rotation from eight to nine or ten.

The Grizzlies are incredibly young, and they make a ton of mistakes as a result.  They don't seem to have a consistent rotation with a new coach in place as Lionel Hollins played 11 players in the first quarter.  There is really no veteran presence on this team, and their starting lineup is inexperienced.  The Grizzlies made only five threes and got to the line only 11 times, making 6 of them.  They do have a bright future with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay as their core.

The free throw disparity was incredible tonight.  Amazingly, the Cavaliers had a decided advantage in a game where Joe Crawford was officiating.  The Cavaliers went to the line 29 times compared to 11 trips for the Grizz.  "Ego Joe" did manage to get his One-a-Day technical foul in there on Anderson Varejao for a pretty light nudge after he had already committed a foul.

This game just had the feeling that it was over at halftime.  The Cavaliers held a 22-point lead at intermission, and they basically coasted through the third, giving back only two points of that lead.  The 20-point advantage was enough for LeBron to sit out his second straight fourth quarter, the ninth of the season.  I'm not saying the Cavaliers did anything wrong, but they just didn't put the exclamation point on this one like they could have.

goes to: Daniel "Boobie" Gibson.  The Gibson of old made an appearance tonight as Boobie shot 8-of-14 from the field and added 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

Team Grade: A

I think this is where the Cavaliers get their A back from the other night.  J.V. rightly took the top grade away from them, but on this coin-flip-esque night, I'm going to make an executive decision to give them the benefit of the doubt in this one.  The Cavaliers owned the boards 42-33, and they had 24 assists on 31 field goals.  Of those 24 assists, LeBron had eight and Mo Williams and Wally Szczerbiak each added six assists.  Only one player, Mo Williams, had over 30 minutes, and the Cavaliers coasted to a 15-point win.  They held the Grizzlies to 20 points or less in the first three quarters.  It was an all-around solid effort.

One final note, J.V. and I were talking the other night about the Cavaliers not making a move and buyout possibilities, and we came up with a pretty reassuring statement.  "Why rob the bank when you have a key to the vault?" This team is well on its way to be the best regular season team in franchise history.  They were so close the last two seasons, and that was with far less help for LBJ.  This team has great chemistry and an amazing advantage at home.  If they can get the best record, I don't see anyone stopping them.  So, we may just look back and be glad the Cavs held onto Wally's contract and did not make any earth-shattering moves to alter their chemistry.

The Cavaliers head to the Lone Star State for a back-to-back with the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.  J.V. will bring you coverage of the Rockets game on Thursday night, and I will be back in action on Friday for the Spurs.

Get PuMped!

Kirk

I'm not sure if it was the LeBron James 3-point third quarter show, the fact that they traded away Mo Williams for virtually nothing, Charlie Villanueva and Richard Jefferson's disappointment in not being traded to the wine and gold, or a pregame team tournament of Super Smash Brothers that sent the Bucks off, but something sure did.  Charlie Villanueva lost his mind, LeBron James lost his consciousness, and the Bucks lost the game.

This was hands-down the hottest that LeBron James has been in his NBA career.  LeBron set a frachise record for points in a quarter with 24 and tied two other team records: most threes made in a quarter (5) and most threes made in a game (8).  LeBron also notched his second highest point total for his career with 55 points on 16-of-29 shooting, including 8-of-11 from behind the arc.  If it weren't for his 15-of-22 shooting from the line, he could have set a new career high.  LeBron hit three ridiculously long treys at the end of the first and second quarters.  Two of those were attempts at two-for-one possessions, and the other was a buzzer-beater that banked in from 35 feet just before the half.  In the third, it got to the point that everyone knew LeBron was bringing it up the court and firing it as soon as he got to the 3-point arc, but it did not matter.  The Bucks had absolutely no answer for LBJ, and the Cavaliers went from down six to up fourteen in that third quarter.

The melee began with an Anderson Varejao offensive rebound.  Charlie Villanueva pulled Andy to the floor by his face, and the Cavaliers, in particular Zydrunas Ilgauskas, didn't take too kindly to that.  Big Z immediately got in Villanueva's face and gave him a slight nudge in the chest.  In turn, C.V. thought it would be a good idea to choke the 7'3" Ilgauskas.  The officials got in between, and one in fact tackled Villanueva out of bounds.  Villanueva was assessed a flagrant two and sent to the showers.  Big Z was assessed a technical for escalating the altercation.  The Bucks' fans were absolutely beside themselves that Z was not tossed as well, but the officials, for once, made the correct call.  Z did not deserve to be ejected for a slight push to the chest of Villanueva; he was simply protecting Varejao.  The NBA is built upon the standards that you can protect your own players.  Z threw no punch, but in turn was choked by Charlie.  J.V. and I thought about this, and we think that Z could face a possible one-game suspension or at least a fine (other than the standard one for a T).  Villanueva will have some alone time as I could see him getting two games a piece for the Varejao throwdown and the Z chokehold.  Kudos to the Cavalier squad as a whole for a) the bench not coming onto the court and receiving automatic suspensions and b) the guys on the court controlling the situation (Mo, Boobie, Z, LeBron, and Andy).

A little more about the officials: they were absolutely atrocious.  The only other referee I dislike more than Monty McCutcheon is Joe Crawford.  McCutcheon has a history of a quick whistle, and I hate the way he interacts with the players.  Despite his crew being a lousy one, McCutcheon refuses to let the players say their side of the story; he just shakes his head like a cranky eight-year-old would.  There were far too many fouls called in tonight's ballgame.  The Bucks were assessed 32 fouls, and the Cavaliers had 30 personal fouls.  Wally Szczerbiak, Varejao, and Z all battled foul trouble for the wine and gold.  For the Bucks, they finished the game without Charlie Villanueva, Charlie Bell, and Francisco Elson, while Richard Jefferson also had 5 fouls midway through the fourth quarter.  I feel that all the ticky-tack fouls called frustrated both sides, and that may have led to the altercation.  I also think the game against Toronto where the officials allowed both sides to be physical also led to the number of fouls for the Cavaliers.  But, so goes the inconsistency of NBA officiating crews.

LeBron absolutely carried the team in the first three quarters offensively, but the real reason the Cavaliers took control in the third quarter was their defense.  They drew several offensive fouls, and most of them were thanks to Mo Williams and Tarence Kinsey's fantastic defense and their ability to stay in front of their man.  Mo also had two key steals early in that third for layups that gave the Cavaliers some mo-mentum.  The Cavaliers in fact only took 2 minutes to close the six-point defecit at the outset of the second half.  TK did a fantastic job tonight once again as Wally battled foul trouble and Boobie struggled to score and defend, although Gibson had some key hustle plays in the fourth before leaving with yet another aggravation of his toe injury.  Let's hope Boobie can find a way to stay in the game despite this nagging injury.  I firmly believe that once Delonte West returns, that Tarence Kinsey will return to the bench and start to take minutes away from Daniel Gibson.  Tarence Kinsey defends well, and he is a nice slasher and change of pace that LeBron likes to find slicing to the basket.  TK played 27 minutes tonight and finished with 7 points and 2 rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, LeBron sat for the first two and a half minutes, and Z and Mo each hit key baskets during that time to keep the Cavaliers in a good position.  Z, after escaping ejection, hit a huge corner three and pulled down three one-armed rebounds.  He finished with 11 points and 6 boards, but the intangibles were there tonight for the man in the middle.  Mo had a nice game as well, totalling 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting, 6 assists, and 4 steals.  LeBron did a nice job of still finding his teammates despite his hot shooting streak.  I get on LeBron a lot for poor shot selection, but his shots tonight were justifiable, and he did not have a one-track mind when he had the ball in his hands.

Game ball goes to: LeBron James, with 55 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists.  LeBron carried the team's offense for 3 quarters, and did some excellent facilitating in the second half.

Team Grade: B+

This is one of the most memorable games of the season thus far for several reasons.  LeBron's scoring output and the Z-Villanueva melee are the obvious reasons, but the Cavaliers survived incredibly scalding shooting from the Bucks in the first half (58 percent).  They locked it down on defense in the third with a combination of charges taken, defensive stops, and hustle.  The fight in the fourth really riled them up, and I had a feeling it was going to do exactly that.  This is one of those games that bonds a team.  The Cavaliers are a close-knit group, and Z sticking up for his fellow Cavalier just solidifies that even more.

The reason for the B+ is the lack of interior defense in the first half and the 18 turnovers.  The Bucks had more than 40 points in the paint, and Charlie Villanueva had a fantastic game with 26 points and 13 boards before heading to the exits prematurely.  The Cavaliers were sloppy with the ball early on, and the Bucks were able to expose some of the Cavaliers interior struggles by out-rebounding them 39-33.

The Cavaliers have a big game against the second-place team in the Central Division, the Detroit Pistons, Sunday night at the Q.  This game would go a long way in the Cavaliers burying the Pistons' hopes at winning the division. With a loss, the Pistons would drop to .500 and trail the wine and gold by 16 games and be all but out of the Central race.  The Cavaliers need to make a statement on Sunday, and we'll see if they will have any of the following for that contest: Daniel Gibson (toe), Delonte West (wrist), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (suspension).  I am making J.V. earn his paycheck as he will be giving you insight on the Cavaliers-Pistons showdown in the Q.

Get PuMped!

Kirk

Pacers 96, Cavaliers 95

Well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.  At least, that’s what the officials tonight thought as two lobs going to the basket in the final second of the game drew fouls and gave the Cavaliers the tie and then broke it with Danny Granger sinking the game winning free throw.

Officials aren’t supposed to decide the game, and they definitely did tonight.  However, I do not disagree with either of the calls.  Granger definitely held LeBron as he cut to the hole then jumped into him and got him with the body as James was airborne.  At the other end, LeBron gave Granger a similar bump and it drew the same whistle.  If you call one, in my opinion, you have to call the other.  It’s a shame that the Cavaliers didn’t see it coming, however, because J.V. sure did.  He called that one before it happened, and you have to give Jim O’Brein credit for forcing the officials to make the call.  The Cavaliers needed to protect the cylinder and force a jump shot for the win.  Instead, Granger went to the line with two shots at the W.

Mike Brown was absolutely furious after the game tonight.  I’m pretty sure he can count on writing a check to the NBA in the next week as he flat-out called out the official who made the foul call on James with 0.2 to go.  I applaud MB for voicing his disgust, and he brings up a good point about the official having it predetermined that he was going to make a call there.  Brown also thought LeBron went straight up and knocked the ball away.  For me, I’m still not sure, it’s a 50-50 call and we didn’t win the coin flip on this one.

There were some other questionable play calls or execution issues tonight.  The Cavaliers got the ball back with about 37 seconds to go.  They took too much time getting their bucket on a dump down from James to Wally Szczerbiak.  As a result, the Pacers had the shot clock turned off, and they could use it all.  T.J. Ford hit a jumper over Mo Williams with 0.8 seconds, and I feel that Mo needed to close out on that shot a little better.  The Cavaliers haven’t had as many close game as some other teams, and perhaps they need a few more of these for practice heading into the postseason.

The wine and gold really struggled the whole way tonight.  Their pick-and-roll and one-on-one defense was lacking as several of the Pacers’ role players, including Troy Murphy, Travis Diener, and T.J. Ford, had good offensive nights.  Murphy hung around the three-point arc and was given the open three on multiple occasions.  He responded by hitting 4-of-5 from deep on his way to 18 points and 15 rebounds.  Diener gave the Pacers a spark in the second half hitting several ridiculous shots for his 13 points including 3 treys.  T.J. Ford broke down Mo Williams one-on-one repeatedly in the fourth and got to the line and finished most of the time.  Ford had 15 points.

For the most part, the Cavaliers and LeBron James held Danny Granger in check as Granger had 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting.  Granger is playing hurt, but he was still able to make his presence known.

As for the Cavalier offense, it was all LeBron in the first half.  James went into intermission with 28 points on 10-of-12 shooting as the Pacers were powerless to stop him.  The rest of the team, however, was ice cold.  In fact, they were a combined 6-for-31 for the remaining 15 points.  The Cavaliers had only 4 assists in the first 24 minutes as it was a lot of first look shots and one-on-one basketball.  Newly-added All-Star Mo Williams stepped it up in the second half as he finished the game with 15 points after scoring only 2 points in the first half.  Mo’s outside shot was not falling, but he was able to get to the lane and make some things happen.  Then, LeBron took over again in the fourth and finished with 47 points on 15-of-21 shooting and 13-of-14 from the line.  An incredibly efficient shooting night for James, but Williams and Z were the only two other Cavaliers in double digits with 15 and 10 points respectively.

I’m done sugar-coating it: Daniel Gibson is playing flat-out awful right now! He is on this team because of his shooting ability and, in particular, his three-point shooting.  When he doesn’t knock down his shots, he is an absolute liability on the defensive end.  He gets abused by bigger shooting guards and point guards, and he gets beat to the basket by the smaller guards.  He can’t stay in front of anyone as evidenced by his 5 fouls tonight in 26 minutes.  He shot 2-of-7 and 2-of-4 from behind the arc, but he made his last two shots to save his stats a bit.  Boobie has to step it up, especially with Sasha, Delonte, and Tarence Kinsey all out right now.

Game ball goes to: LeBron James.  How can you not give it to 23 tonight?  He poured in an unselfish 47 points on a mega efficient 15-of-21 shooting.  He added 7 rebounds and 4 assists.  He also held Granger in check for most of the contest.  LBJ just needed a little more scoring help tonight, and he didn’t get it.

Team Grade: C-

The Cavaliers lose their first back-to-back games of the season because they didn’t come out with enough energy on the road against a Pacers squad who has beaten the likes of Orlando, Boston, the Lakers, and now Cleveland on their home floor.  They surrendered 11 three-pointers tonight and the rest of the team (minus LeBron) shot a dismal 33 percent (19-for-57).  They also had 15 turnovers, above their average on the season.

The Cavaliers have one more shot to turn it around before the All-Star break tomorrow night against the Suns at the Q.  The frontcourt of Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal is likely to give the Cavaliers some trouble, but they will have to man up if they hope to avoid a three-game slide heading into the break.

Get PuMped!

Kirk

Lakers 101, Cavaliers 91

Kobe Bryant battled flu-like symptoms today, but it was the Cavaliers’ lack of defense, rebounding, and flat-out effort that made me sick to my stomach.  Lamar Odom poured in a season high in points and rebounds by hanging around the basket and picking up garbage.  The Cavaliers simply didn’t want to get their hands dirty this afternoon.

The defensive rebounding in this game was downright disgusting.  The Lakers had 12 offensive rebounds, including 7 from Lamar Odom.  Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas failed to check Odom and Gasol out, and the Lakers destroyed them inside.  Ben Wallace seemed to be a non-factor in this one, playing only 17 minutes finishing with 2 points and 4 boards.

The Cavaliers took a ten-point lead into halftime largely because of their three-point shooting.  Their defense was not up to par, but they were executing on the offensive end so it didn’t hurt them nearly as much.  In the second half, the Lakers came out right away with an 11-0 run that knocked the Cavaliers square on their behinds.

Lamar Odom was absolutely dynamite today, racking up 28 points and 17 rebounds.  In the third quarter, it seemed like he was everywhere.  He had 15 points and 10 rebounds IN THE THIRD QUARTER.  Lamar Odom is a great talent, but he has no business rebounding that well in a given quarter against our frontline.  The big boys just didn’t bring it on the defensive end tonight.  With Bynum out, Odom stepped up in a big way, and he is capable of doing that for the rest of the season.

Sasha Pavlovic injured himself as the first quarter expired, and he did not return.  It appears that Pavlovic sprained his ankle yet again, and it places the Cavaliers in an incredibly tough spot again for the next several games if Pavlovic cannot go.  Delonte West is going to start practice after the All-Star break, so he will be out for at least two more games, and with Tarence Kinsey still M.I.A., the Cavaliers have to go to Wally Szczerbiak for big minutes at shooting guard, and Daniel Gibson is their only capable bench guard.

Did you notice I haven’t mentioned LeBron James yet?  That’s because he took a backseat today, and sometimes it is okay for him to defer to his teammates.  Today, however, was not one of those days.  LeBron was a frigid 5-of-20 from the field and missed 4 of his 8 foul shots today.  He did have 8 rebounds and 12 assists, but he didn’t try to take it to the basket nearly as much as he should have.  Granted, the officials weren’t giving him many calls and he wasn’t hitting his free throws, but his penetration opens up so many good looks for Mo, Boobie, and Wally.  Mo had 17 points in the first half, but finished with only 19 points.  Mo’s been having strong second halves lately, but tonight his poor second half combined with LeBron’s poor shooting display did the Cavaliers in.

The Lakers, even without Bynum, are still the deepest team in the league hands down.  At the start of the fourth quarter, the Lakers actually extended their lead while Odom and Bryant sat.  The Cavaliers had their starting group on the floor and actually lost ground.  Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, and Trevor Ariza all played big minutes for LA tonight.

With our frontcourt healthy, I was alarmed how we handled the Lakers big men minus Andrew Bynum.  I think it is a stretch to think Odom will perform like this over an extended period of time, but he is certainly capable of hurting you on a given night.  Still, Danny Ferry has to be concerned at the trouble we’ve had in matching up against the Lakers.  I’ve been thrilled with the recent play of Wally Szczerbiak, who is showing his versatility and shooting the ball as well as he has ever done since joining the Cavaliers.  But, I still think that when the Cavaliers are healthy, Pavlovic and West can give them most of what Wally can.  The Cavaliers need an experienced frontcourt presence who can defend, rebound, and provide a little bit of scoring.  As the trade deadline nears, I think reality checks like today could make Ferry’s decision for him.

Game ball goes to: Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  Z’s presence made all the difference in the first half.  He had 12 of his 22 points in the first quarter as the Cavs worked hard to establish him early.  Unfortunately, they went away from that in the second half, and they struggled.  Z also pulled down 9 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, and blocked 2 shots.  Z had issues with guarding Gasol, but improved as the game went on, and Pau only finished with 12 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

Team Grade: D+

The Cavaliers showed they have the tools to compete with the Lakers in the first half, but they phoned it in after halftime, and they didn’t bring the intensity required to beat a great team such as the Lakers, even at home.  They were even on the battle of the boards, but they lost this game in the third quarter with a flat first few minutes.  The Cavaliers only had 9 turnovers, but they only made 12-of-19 from the line.

The Cavaliers have two remaining games before the break.  First up is the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis on Tuesday.  The Cavaliers remain first in the East after the Celtics loss to the Spurs today, and they need to refocus after this disappointing display.

Get PuMped!

Kirk