SABR-Toothed Triber: Bunts, Steals, and Acta Oh My
April 9, 2010While We’re Waiting…Tribe in AL East, LeBron Unanimous MVP, NBA Scoring Title, Vickers on His Way Out?
April 10, 2010
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Three games left, this one against the 30-48 Indians Pacers.
These last few games will be a mixed bag – we are not quite sure what to expect. Will LeBron play? Doubtful. What about Antawn Jamison? Not likely, given his foot injury last night. Can Mo Williams keep rolling? Who will step up in the absence of all of the typical scoring options?
Tune in to Fox Sports Ohio, WTAM 1100/AM at 7:30pm tonight to find out!
Follow along in the comments, folks. I’m sure several of us will be on Twitter as well!
Go Cavs!
16 Comments
I’ve been thinking,
Toronto must really hate us.
Lebron’s probably going to play tonight, didn’t play against Chicago which cost us the game.
We injured one of their stars, albeit accidentally.
If they don’t make the playoffs, they would blame us. And if they do make the playoffs they’ll get swept by. . . us.
And they are going to really hate us when Bosh comes here.
For all those who have ripped the Cavs over the past few weeks for not playing with enough energy or dominance against lesser teams, turn on the Boston game, where they are being blown out by the Wizards, and redirect your criticisms accordingly.
I hope Delonte stays chill after getting ejected from this one.
Well Delonte finally blew up… 🙁 Right before the playoffs.
i agree, i hope West will stay calm after getting ejected. I heard the announcer say that he was given the “Pink Slip”. We’ll have to see
sebastian telfair 21points?!
Cavs lost, Again : ( 110 To 114.
Delonte has been my favorite player on the Cavs since we grabbed in ’08 (other than LeBron of course). I was lucky enough to have floor seats for his first or second game for the Cavs and he just seemed so quick and focused. I realize he has his issues, but when he is on the floor he is one of the most valuable assets to the Cavs.
I don’t care what Boston’s doing in my opinion they aren’t one of teams completeing for a championship this year. I’m worried about Cavs giving up all these point on defensive end of floor. I keep saying this team can score if move ball the issue is doesn’t matter how much score if can’t get stops. I’ve watched tons of Orlando Magic games last few weeks and that team is going to be dangerious even without Hedo. They are still playering their starters and they look very sharp. I’m all for resting Lebron I just feel its time stop all this jumping around acting fool crap we’ve had all season do that. Time for Lebron leadership start kicking in demanding more from his teammates on defensive end of floor. The Cavs defense is what’s going win championship while other teams are already in playoff mode you don’t want to starting getting ready on April 17 or 18 you want already be lathered up ready to go.
@TJ: Fair enough to assert that our only serious opponent in the East is Orlando. Yesterday’s action was revealing for several playoff-bound teams, with humiliating losses for Toronto, the Celtics, and Chicago, none of whom rested their starters. However, I don’t agree that LeBron’s leadership has faltered in any way. I don’t see how his sitting around stone-faced is going to help anyone, and the biggest clown on the team, Jamario Moon, had a great game. LeBron loves the game and expresses his joy for it freely. You may not appreciate that, but an important part of his leadership, as I see it, is to maintain a team-first attitude and to support others’ efforts with the enthusiasm of a ticket-paying die-hard fan. He genuinely likes his teammates. That does not mean, however, that he doesn’t take the game seriously or that he doesn’t set a good example.
People can different as to whether LeBron’s style is appropriate or not; but I personally prefer it to, say, Kobe’s stony face and the repeated reports that Kobe has bitched out his teammates. I’m sure that LeBron knows how to tighten the screws when necessary; but he’s not such a prick and not as public about it.
With the playoffs approaching, it’d be tempting to overreact to another loss yesterday. However, keep in mind, we witnessed our bench go toe-to-toe with a resurgent Pacers team for the entire game. We also saw more depth out of the Cavs, with Sebastian Telfair turning in his second straight solid performance. The Cavs’ roster is packed with essentially two full-strength squads.
Orlando is a serious challenge, I’m sure we all agree, and — oh, look! — guess who’s coming up on the schedule? Let’s see if both coaches go at this one full steam.
Granted, he wasn’t doing it against the Magics or the Lakers of the world, but does anyone beside me hope Telfair sees some serious minutes in the playoffs? The guy can CREATE. He could be one hell of a weapon with LeBron.
@MattC: I see what you’re saying–he had a great game–but it appears that Telfair still has a lot of convincing to do if he is to become a real part of the team. I don’t have an opinion at this point, but Windy chimed in with this:
“Telfair is a legit NBA point guard and the Cavs have not had too many of those over the years. He’s valuable to have on a team though not at his salary ($2.7 million next year). It is good that he’s gotten some playing time and will get some more so the Cavs know what they have if injuries bite them at guard in the playoffs. But do not expect him to be a piece in the future.”
So, it looks like it would take an injury for Telfair to see any minutes at all in the playoffs.
@Phil m I don’t believe everything Windhorst writes so if SeaBas can keep it up it would be insane for Brown to stick him on the bench. Obviously the guard rotation will be Mo, Parker and West but that leaves some room for Telfair especially if it means West can shift to SG. The odd man out is Gibson. In two games Telfair has shown more then Gibson has in the last two seasons.
“But do not expect him to be a piece in the future,” is something that could have been said when Telfair was first added but not if you’ve been watching the last couple of games. The one thing to keep in mind is LeBron James hasn’t even played in those games. Noone can tell me LBJ doesn’t wish he’d have been in those two games.
@boogeyman: the most pertinent point is that Mike Brown, and not Windy, is the coach. We’ll know soon enough what his decision will be; in his press comments, he was clearly impressed. It’s surely something to look forward to in the next two games, which may well be played by bench players.
It’s just nice seeing a true point guard out there for once and it really could potentially do wonders when the offense grows stagnant. 2 games is not a great sample size, of course, but still, assuming the guy can dish the rock and create like he has so far, it’d be fun to at least see what he’s got with Shaq and LBJ on the floor.