Party Like It’s 1995 — Cavs vs. Hawks Game 4: Behind the Box Score
May 27, 2015The Good Kind of Chaos
May 27, 2015Happy Wednesday, Blawg Pound.
The Cavs are going to the NBA Finals. The Cavs are going to the NBA Finals. The Cavs are going to the NBA Finals. Your top story this morning, Wednesday, May 27: The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to the NBA Finals.
The Cavs are going to the NBA Finals. Stop what you’re doing for a moment and read that sentence real slowly in your head. Say it out loud if you can. I smile a little wider every time I do it, and I hope you will too.
It hasn’t completely hit me yet.1 I’m happy, and I’m excited, but it hasn’t set all the way in. I don’t think it will until the Finals begin on June 4. In the meantime, I’m just happy. I have a dumb smile on my face. I sit in a room that’s a little too warm, yet it feels just right. The TNT postgame show is on TV, though I’m not paying it much mind. I might take a walk outside in a few minutes. I’m not downtown, but I might be close enough to feel it.
It’s the sort of night when we all belong in Cleveland.
Interlude: LeBron saying exactly the right thing
LeBron: "I can't guarantee a win…but we will play our asses off."
— Scott @ WFNY (@WFNYScott) May 27, 2015
I remember the last time the Cavs made the Finals. Sort of. I don’t remember the specifics, but I remember that it happened. I remember a smattering of thoughts and feelings, more disbelief and ecstasy than right now. I remember calling my friend Matt and having a conversation that may not have included a single complete sentence. It was a lot of whatever the young man equivalent of a screeching eight-year-old girl is. We were just amped.
That entire conversation looks silly in retrospect, of course, given how swiftly the San Antonio Spurs dispatched those Cavs in 2007. The Cavs dropped the last two games by four points combined — I don’t remember it being that close — but they were outclassed from the jump. That team was ahead of schedule, but we assumed that more trips to the Finals would follow. They did not. We have a better idea of how precious a Finals trip can be. We have a better idea of how to appreciate it.
Now, the Cavs are staring at a date with the Golden State Warriors,2 by most every measure the best team in basketball. They ranked first in the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They are as healthy as a team can be at this point in the season. Stephen Curry has made credible claims to the titles of best shooter ever — yes, ever — and most beloved player in the league. They have a whole brigade of 6-7 wings to throw at LeBron. Steve Kerr looks to be a whiz of a coach. Any argument for the Cavs begins and ends with LeBron.
Fine. Let’s do it. I don’t know how good this Cavs team actually is, nor how much of their success is a byproduct of the Eastern Conference. I also don’t care. I love this bunch. I’m comfortable with them. I know them. Watching them comfortably end the Hawks’ season imbued me with a strange feeling. It wasn’t quite excitement. It wasn’t quite pride. It was something calmer, something less visceral.
I think it was confidence. I can’t remember feeling like this about — about any Cleveland team, really. This feels different. LeBron, though it still stings a bit to say so, knows how to handle the Finals now. This team has vets. This team is tough. This team has a shot.
That said, I’m not going to bother speculating about the Warriors. They’re a really, really good team. Fine. That’s what the Finals are about, or what they will be about. But not yet.
A lot of moments pass in a moment’s time, but others endure because we choose to make them endure. We hold onto them as best we can, delighting in them until they either slip away or are replaced by another. Some moments, we choose not to forget. This night should and will be one of them.
You might be sick of hearing about Matthew Dellavedova by now. You should be, frankly. I’m not about to do the research to prove this point, but it feels like there’s one thing every game (or every night?) that gets beaten into the ground like some sort of content fodder sacrifice. Young Matthew has been that lamb recently.
But, if you’ll allow, I want to throw in my last two cents on Delly. I’m hesitant to get too heartfelt, lest my thoughts be whittled down to a “take,” but here goes:
I get Delly, for I am Delly. Not literally of course, and not not-literally either; I’m neither Australian nor an NBA player, nor have I spent much time on the St. Mary’s College campus. But deep down, in the basketball sense, I’m just like Matthew Dellavedova, for I was socialized into the game in a similar way as him, or so I imagine.
(Important note: There is nothing worse in this world than remembering the high school glory days. There is also nothing better. In a way. If that makes sense. It should not. I digress.)
What I’m getting at here is that I came up playing the sort of basketball that Delly plays. My high school squad back in the day wasn’t all that skilled. We weren’t all that big. We weren’t all that quick. We weren’t all that anything, really. So we busted our collective bottoms every time we stepped on the court, especially in practice. We had drills in which we were matched up one-on-one to dive after loose balls. We had no-rules rebounding drills. We took masochistic delight in practice-ending suicides. And then we played that way.
Again, we weren’t great. But we played hard, and we had a hell of a time doing it. I still look back on those days fondly because of the respect that I have for everyone who showed up to that gym every day after class, and I look at Matthew Dellavedova the same way. He’s a touch reckless at times, but I’m on board with that.
Alternate theory: Try-hard white guy + Midwestern city = Folk hero. Just look at John Kuhn in Green Bay.
I was going to include some other stuff here today, but the whole idea just seemed silly once the Cavs game went how it went. Right now, this is what matters. Enjoy it, gang. It’s one of those things that only a Northeast Ohioan can truly appreciate.
So is this:
30 Comments
June 2, 2007, the night we beat the Pistons to make it to the Finals. I was at Panini’s Coventry, and my buddy and I just chanted “We’re going to the ‘ship!” probably until we lost our voices.
And thanks for slowing me down a little, Will. I think because the job isn’t done yet, and because I’m a Cleveland sports fan, I wasn’t ready to celebrate (more than I obviously did, because I definitely celebrated). But I need to take a step back and truly celebrate where we are now, appreciate what’s been accomplished so far, and do so for the next week. June 4th may not get here soon enough, but you know what, it can take it’s time. I’ll just be basking in the moment until it arrives.
The Cavs did in the Eastern Conference playoffs what many of us expected them to do. Except, they did it w/o Kevin Love for two series and w/o the real Kyrie Irving for at least one.
Nice, Will.
Here’s my early take on the presumptive Warriors-Cavs Finals. I don’t think the Cavs will win; GS is simply deeper and way healthier and, on top of all that, peaking and confident. But then there’s this: they’re going to be facing the best Cavs, tough-minded and armed with the league alpha, battle-hardened and at the peak of his powers. Flip it around to the opponent’s perspective and when they watch the tape they have to be worried. Worried about LeBron and how Tristan’s playing and how unafraid the entire roster is carrying itself. Defensively the Cavs remind me a little of the Knicks after Pat Riley took over, like they’d been hypnotized into crazy defensive robots. And Golden State hasn’t faced that level of defensive resistance from the Clippers or Houston.
I think the Warriors will win but only if they don’t crack. If they crack just a little the Cavs look ready to walk right through them.
Golden State has more talent because they are healthy. They are playing well and they are about to go against the battle hardened and bloodied Cavs. I look at this series a lot like the Hawks series. Hawks were healthy and talented, but they also didn’t have any real challenges all season. They also didn’t have much playoff experience. I think the Warriors have to be the favorites on Paper just like “Clubber” Lang, but I would put my money on the Cavs because you never want to bet against Rocky Balboa – the angry underdog who gets tougher the more you hit him. You can almost write the script at this point – GS comes out playing well and dazzles the National media with a great game 1. Game 2 starts with the Cavs giving up an early lead, and then it happens – JR hits a 3, LeBron power drives to the hole, or Kyrie slips and slides a high floater or the glass and next thing you know its a 12-4 run by the Cavs and they win game 2 on the road. Going into game 3 GS is starting to wonder what happened. Game 3 starts and all of a sudden the Warriors realize they are trying to punch a steel reinforced concrete wall. 3 games later, the Cavs are holding the trophy and Clubber Lang is still trying to figure out who was punching him and how he ended up on the mat.
So Kevin Love is our Mickey?
Um…I heard/read a lot of people doubting the Cavaliers the entire way they just slipped in “but I want them to win and hope they win.” Dennis Maniloff is offender #1 and I like the Dman but from the start of the playoffs other then first round he’s doubted the Cavaliers and quite frankly been pretty harsh on David Blatt. The word arrogant was used many times by Dennis to describe Blatt and I think that was unfair especially after TNT played that “mic’d up” exchange between Blatt and LBJ where Blatt completely humbled himself by thanking LBJ for coming home and doing what he has done.
As you all know by now I don’t forget. I’ll throw another name out there. Bruce Drennan. This guy verbally assaulted LeBron James for years after he left and now, just like the first time, LBJ is like a son. It’s pretty sad when you think about it but maybe this is why I don’t watch these sports related talk shows as much anymore. Probably why I don’t listen to sports radio hardly at all in Cleveland.
Bold prediction: Cavs take care of business the way the Buckeyes did.
Keep thinking that I’m sure Chicago and Atlanta did as well. Golden State is a great team but here’s the thing for as good as The Splash Brothers are their frontcourt is weak. Who will guard LBJ Green? That means Barnes has to deal with TT? And the Warriors bench isn’t that formidable not by a mile. I look at the WCF and it’s all run and gun wide open there are no dog fights, no battling and Curry has had to play minimal defense. Lets see if he can hit all these shots when he has to play a complete game and is bodied up. I’d let him know I was there the entire game.
I was thinking about this last night. I might consider a lineup change. I might go back to JR starting so that a taller man can start on Thompson and force him to play d. That allows Shump to come off the bench and relieve KI verse Curry. Then you bring in Delly and move Shump to SG. Also maybe we see LBJ at the 2 spot verse skinny Thompson. Bring JJ in to play the 3. TT at 4 and Moz at 5. Lets see how many shots are knocked down against that unit of the Cavaliers.
In the words of that great broadcaster Reggie Miller, “I LIKE IT!”
The complete domination of the East was incredible to see and honestly they were a Rose buzzer beater away from winning that series in 5. Anyone catch the press conference with LeBron, JR and Thompson? You can just see these guys love playing together unlike past teams. Credit to Griffin for revamping the roster at the start of the season and in January and credit to Blatt for putting it together.
But I thought LBJ was the GM and head coach??? Sorry, hAd to write it since I’m reminded of all the great coverage of this Eastern Conference Champion called the Cleveland Cavaliers! For me it just underscores just how great LeBron James is on and off the court.
I watched a replay of SVSM’s HS championship LBJ’s senior season and it was amazing to see small glimpses of what would become a superstar career. Including being the hub of the wheel that allows it to work.
Adrian no?
How about the FBI taking on FIFA! I’ve never been more interested in soccer.
I forgot to mention LeBron’s insane stats so far in the playoffs. It’s incredible to watch.
The corrupt verse the corrupt can it be a draw?
True.
That would be the NCAA vs FIFA. FBI isn’t in the same league with those two.
I 2007 I was happy they made it to the finals, and wasn’t all that worried when we got swept. Although, I did not remember losing the last two so close. I would have guessed the margin over 8 for every game.
This year, I was just happy with them making the Finals. The West is too strong, the East too weak, blah blah blah. After last night I want more. I keep telling myself to remember this if things do not work out. It is hard to say if it is emotion, or homerism, but I think we have a legit shot.
I attempted to listen to sports radio this morning, thinking it would be a celebration. NOPE. The narrative I heard when I tuned in was “Will David Blatt get any credit and if he doesn’t, will he step down out of self-respect”. I quickly turned it back off.
I must admit, I’m not enjoying last night’s win and EC title much at all. I should, I know: it’s the journey, not the destination, live in the now, etc. But all I can think about are the two huge what ifs.
What if Kevin Love isn’t mugged by the Celtics? What if Kyrie was healthy?
With the buzz saw that is the Dubs our inevitable opponent, I’m finding it difficult to get too hyped. They have absolutely been the best team in the league this season. At full strength, I think we’d still have an absolute battle on our hands, but I’d have room for optimism. But as we are? I think the best case scenario for us is taking the series six games. This would of course mean watching another team celebrate a title on our floor, which seems so very Cleveland.
Sorry to be the wet blanket. If it helps, this is very much how I felt about the Buckeyes chances going into the CFB Playoffs, and that turned out reasonably well. Desperately hoping to be so wrong once again.
I wish I could be surprised that’s just ridiculous. Step down out of self-respect? This is when I call into question the true sports IQ of this supposed great town. To me it sounds like these people watch/believe everything they read nationally. It’s a shame.
It’s all bad fortunately I don’t pay much attention to European football.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-fkSYDtUY
also think all the three’s Curry can hit, JR can counter alot of those. If curry hits 6 threes and JR hits 4 and delly hits a couple and KI hits a couple, we could easialy out shoot these guys. they have two great shooter the cavs have 5 really good shooters. i also think that and TT and Moz give us a huge advantage on the boards. i think we have a great chance
One more…don’t let the Clevelander ruin the journey win or lose this has been an amazing journey. And it’s not over. Believe man, believe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWn0OCs0h-E
How about this dude for Cavs in draft?
http://www.sbnation.com/2015/5/27/8474249/kristaps-porzingis-nba-draft-2015-scouting-report
LOL
Somebody please talk Joe Tait out of retirement.
I can’t stand the thought of him not being part of this.
lol
http://streamable.com/ckas
The worst part is that it wasn’t the callers. It was the host who was “just posing the question”.