Cavaliers Preview #31 – Cavaliers at Lakers
December 25, 2009Cavs 102, Lakers 87: Mo and Shaq Lead Statement Game on Christmas Day
December 26, 2009While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Are the Cavs getting no respect or were the Lakers hoping to spend Christmas Day somewhere else? “Based on the mood of the Lakers Thursday as they got ready to play the Cavs, you could tell they were not approaching this game like their opponents. Kobe Bryant openly said it wasn’t like playing the Celtics on Christmas last year. He downplayed any rivalry he had with LeBron James.” [Brian Windhorst/Cleveland Plain Dealer]
More on this in the recap later, but Mo was a monster last night: “Every Cavs fan already knew it, and now the world does too: as Mo Williams go, so go the Cavaliers. And on Friday, when Mo Williams got a season-high 28 points on only 13 shots (True Shooting % of 78% on the night), the league’s best defense had few answers for the Cavs, even with LeBron James playing at a merely human level for most of the game.” [John Krolik/Cavs: The Blog]
Coach Brown was on his game and the Twin Towers did their job: “You likely read or hear that the Lakers were disinterested, that they didn’t bring their ‘A’ game. You’ll probably hear about the officials as well. Don’t believe it, the Cavaliers earned everything they got and then some. It took Mike Brown just 3:22 to bring Zydrunas Ilgauskas into the game, playing along-side Shaquille O’Neal.” [John Bena/Fear the Sword]
With two major road victories now, the Cavs are shedding their old habit of choking in big games: “The Cavaliers made a statement on Christmas Day. Despite some ups and downs this year, this team is going to be a major force by the time the playoffs begin. When they are focused, they can play with anyone in the league.” [Bob Finnan/News-Herald]
From the other perspective, a Christmas nightmare for those Los Angeles fans: “The Lakers lost their cool — Kobe Bryant seemed edgy and off-kilter the entire game, and Lamar Odom was ejected in the fourth quarter — and their fans followed suit, hurling about 50 promotional foam-finger giveaways on to the court with 4 minutes 4 seconds to play and the Lakers down 18.” [Mike Bresnahan/Los Angeles Times]
“The Lakers show their loss of confidence every time things in the offensive end don’t go their way and it totally affects them on the defensive side. Mo Williams was killing the Lakers all day and part of that is the Lakers defense relaxing on the perimeter. And in the all-important second quarter, the Cavs bench thoroughly dismantled the Lakers bench.” [TNLP]
The plan is shaping up and the Cavs are in a prime situation to come back in the title mix: “LeBron is on to something. Teams need to know what their max is, and usually the championship-caliber teams show it before January. The Cavaliers can bank on victories at Orlando and at the L.A. Lakers, not to mention victories over Dallas and Phoenix. The only gaping hole in their résumé is that opening-night loss to Boston.” [J.A. Adande/ESPN.com]
A Christmas Story courtesy of one of the finest local writers around: “Many years ago, I delivered afternoon newspapers to the houses on my old street, Warrendale Road. The paper I delivered was called The Cleveland Press — don’t go looking for it now. The Cleveland Press died more than 25 years ago. That’s what afternoon papers did in my lifetime. They died.” [Joe Posnanski]
If Notre Dame product Rob Ianello at Akron lives up to the hype at all, things could get very exciting at that new downtown stadium: “Fielding calls from prospective assistants has been just one part of Ianello’s busy life in his first two weeks on the job. He also has been interviewing and hiring part of his staff, talking to recruits and current players, trying to lay the foundation for the 2010 season and dealing with the nuances and logistics of a new environment.” [Tom Gaffney/Akron Beacon Journal]
Is Eric Mangini already out of Cleveland? Only time will tell: “Holmgren’s coaching genes tell him it’s unfair to fire a coach after one season, no matter how disappointing and dysfuncational that season has been. But Holmgren also understands holding on to Eric Mangini for 2010 could mean delaying Holmgren’s own program for rebuilding the Browns by another year.” [Barry Wilner/Yahoo! Sports]
11 Comments
This guy was tweeting his guts out last night trying to fight with everyone. Now read his recap of the Cavs vs. Lakers game. It really makes me appreciate the writing and analysis of the Cavs bloggers we know and read along with what Rick and Rock (Andrew) put together on WFNY.
http://butthegameison.com/blog/16601/recapping-a-full-day-of-christmas-basketball/
Kobe downplayed his rivalry with LeBron because he knows LeBron is better.
One thing that scares me: this physical style will always spell doom for the Lakers. But the referees and David Stern might really want to go Kobe-happy in the playoffs.
Funny how Kobe’s kidney-shot didn’t make the SportsCenter reel. But those two “non-calls” made it.
Craig, that article is actually infuriating. What an idiot!
Fixing a game IN FAVOR of the Cavs? LeBron showing how overrated he was? Kobe was spectacular?
My favorite line: “LeBron shot 13 free throws even though he wasn’t fouled.”
Thanks for linking me!
I just read the article, Craig. And I do remember him picking fights with other tweeters. That article is absolutely horrible. Even if I put on L.A.-colored glasses, it was clear that Kobe Bryant was NOT getting into the paint at ease… and he was very, very, very FAR from efficient. 32 shots in 35 points. And LeBron, while he wasn’t exactly awesome, played much, much better than Kobe did, despite the seven turnovers.
@jack, i noticed the same thing from the worldwide leader.
fortunately, windhorst tweeted a link for us. the steamroll is at 0:39 seconds in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNM28C0XNF0
Windy also says that even though the Cavs aren’t saying anything publicly, many of the Wine and Gold believe Kobe did it on purpose. I am sure they will just file that one away for later.
Mo was talking a lot in the second half. He was noticeably irritated with the Lakers players during the second half.
ESPN and NBA TV were saying how important this game was to Cleveland. It was a must win in terms of showing their progress. The hidden meaning behind this of course was that after they lost they’d be put in their place. SURPRISE that the story today isn’t how the Cavs showed they’re contenders.
On another note how about that awesome elbow Garnett connected on Howard.
No doubt Kobe ran into Mo purposely.
The telling part of the Kobe collision is how he nonchalantly walked away. He wasn’t running for a play, so typically a player will at least acknowledge that they ran into someone else.
From the Windy article:
“Those three [teams that the cavs beat on this road trip] are a combined 37-9 at home this season.”
Wow. Remember, the cavs showed last year that beating up on the bad teams doesn’t mean anything in the playoffs. Now they’re beating up on the good teams, I’ll take it.
@Craig, that article is horrible. Blaming the refs in a 15 point loss is beyond laughable. All the bloggers here make excuse free posts and instead focus on the reasons. That’s what makes this a great site.
Guys I’ve come to realize there is no point following the national media aside from PTI and maybe Chris Broussard and John Hollinger. We got WFNY and all the local media at least. If it isn’t LA or Boston or New York then they could care less. I’m sick of ESPN and their “analysts”. Why Van Gundy even calls a game makes no sense considering he never won anything.
Concerning the Refs and fouls, cheap-shots, etc:
I KNEW what the LA fans were gonna blame for the loss. I was right. @Craig, God that recap was BAD. Not even proofread well, eesh.
I was curious how level-headed our own CLE media, and WFNY would be. Most just laid out the facts, like the total fouls called on each team, and let the facts speak for themselves.
But I was MOST curious what non-biased media outside LA and CLE would say.
Philly Daily News: “Cavs Beat Lakers, Hands Down”
Taiwan News: “The Cleveland Cavaliers outclassed the Los Angeles Lakers 102-87 in Friday’s clash of NBA divisional leaders, leaving Lakers fans to litter the court in frustration.”
Chicgao Tribute: “Despite that bit of surreality in response to the officiating of a physical game, the Cavaliers were hands-down better than the defending champions in a 102-87 victory.”
SLAM: “It’s the pathetic display of a kid who didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas. Boo-hoo! The Lakers tanked it, Mommy!”
Some of the headlines in general were very amusing:
“Unhappy Fans Give Lakers Their Fingers”
“Blowout leaves fans foaming”