Back Where We Started—Cavs vs. Warriors: Game 4
June 12, 2015Bogut: LeBron jumped into cameraman
June 12, 2015The Cavs are in the NBA Finals, and now it’s all tied up. I know it’s scary, but we can get through this together. Hope you’ve had a fun week and can catch up on sleep when you’re dead because it ain’t happening until LeBron and the Cavs are done. With that, here’s your tired, bleary-eyed Friday morning While We’re Waiting…
Optimistic Cavs take after they lose to the Warriors…
I’ve stated numerous times that I hate making predictions and pretending like I know what’s going to happen. I don’t. The Warriors might have unlocked the door and will just walk right through to the trophy ceremony. We all knew that was a possibility at all points heading into the series and in the middle of it, even as the Cavaliers once had a 2-1 advantage. That being said, I think there are some potential reasons for hope remaining as the Cavaliers look to defy the odds and bring home a championship.
1. What’s the outlier? Of all the games we’ve watched in these Finals – including the opening game loss – which Cavaliers performance seems like the one that is unlike the rest? The Cavs played their worst game in so many ways and that included their all-world leader LeBron James.
2. Two days off could be a key to the Cavaliers getting back to their active defense and slow-it-down style. Rest helps everyone, including the Warriors, but the Cavaliers need it more with their shorter rotation and style of play. The Cavs play active, physical defense when they’re at their best with this version of the roster. They were unable to do that on Thursday night and you have to think the overexertion of the previous game – one that put Delly in the hospital – really hampered the Cavaliers’ ability to play they way they wanted to play.
3. The Cavaliers had a chance to win even with how awful they played. The Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter but the Cavs were missing open shots. J.R. Smith was 2-12 (0-8 from three) and missed three shots from behind the line (I think?) in a single possession by the Cavaliers late in the game. The point being that the Cavaliers were poised to make a run and generated the kinds of shots that would have enabled them to cut the lead and pull ahead. They just missed the shots. But there’s some solace in the fact that they were creating the opportunities they wanted to create.
4. The superstars didn’t kill the Cavs. If Steph Curry and Klay Thompson had gone bananas and killed the Cavs, it would be more scary to me. Obviously you don’t want to get beat by role players either, but in terms of the overall danger factor in the series, the Cavaliers will be better off daring Andre Iguodala to beat them. He did a great job on Thursday putting 22 points next to his name in the box score. The Warriors got the almighty W in the end, but Thompson and Curry combined for a pedestrian 31.
In the end, these are just excuses after a loss if they end up getting repeated two more times. I know that none of these four things can be painted to equal a guaranteed Cavaliers victory in the NBA Finals. Still, if you’re looking for hope, I don’t think it’s impossible to find some. The Cavaliers did plenty things right in the first four games of the series and until proven otherwise, this bad game must be considered the outlier. Even in the opening game of the series – also a loss – the Cavaliers looked good and led for the majority of the game before Kyrie got hurt and they fell apart in overtime.
Keep hope alive Cavs fans. This team isn’t done yet. There’s a lot more basketball to be played and LeBron James is still your best player and team leader.
Can’t wait for Ballers on HBO…
I already know a few things about the new show that turns The Rock into a football player turned sports agent in Florida. I know that the show will start with a bang, have an amazing first season, and then slink into some lazy tropes and make us all wish it was a mini-series instead of a TV show. Regardless of my negative prediction, I think the first season or two might be really really fun and I’m looking forward to it.
Also interesting, it appears that Ballers will use real NFL teams and colors, despite not having permission.
“HBO is always mindful of other intellectual property owners, but in this context there is no legal requirement to obtain their consent,” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement issued to PFT on Sunday afternoon. HBO confirmed that the NFL has no involvement in the series.
The NFL initially declined comment, and then reiterated its position after being informed of HBO’s official comment.
What’s this world coming to? What am I going to do with my written “express written consent” from the NFL that I refer to before I post all my Browns game recaps? Oh that’s right, I don’t have one of those letters, nor is there any legal basis for which I might actually need consent to use “descriptions” or “accounts” of the game.
Timely podcasting…
We’ve done some good podcasts lately, but because the Cavs are entrenched in a playoff battle, it’s a little bit different. The way playoff series go, every podcast we’ve done of late has a shelf life that’s much shorter than the ones we normally do. Even in the heart of Browns season, a podcast about Sunday’s Browns game that gets posted on Monday will have a shelf life of at least three or four days. The podcast that Dave and Andrew did last night about the Cavs, which I posted this morning, had a useful life of about 13 hours. That’s a far more compressed useful life than what we’re used to with our normal podcasts.
Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Having one of our teams involved in the ultimate stage of the season and expiring podcasts is a small price to pay. Plus, if the Cavs somehow find a way to pull it off, the resulting podcasts will live forever.
R.I.P. Dusty Rhodes…
Look, I’m not a wrestling fan anymore. I had a podcast conversation about it with Will Gibson earlier this year, but I’m not a fan anymore. That being said, I was a fan and I see the value of having been a fan. I spoke to Will about my love of my first PPV when we ordered WWF’s “Tuesday in Texas.” I think I also told Will about the real emotional toll it took on me when I thought Earthquake might have squashed Jake the Snake Roberts’ pet Damien. Granted, I knew the WWF wasn’t reality back in 1992, but watch the clip again and see how the WWF cut away in subsequent highlight shows as if the on-screen action was too gruesome to show again. That presentation worked on me and I was – at least for a point in time – completely taken with pro wrestling. That included the amazing historical wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes, who passed away at age 69 yesterday.
Rhodes was a bit before my time, but his legacy was that of giving some of the best promos in the history of wrestling. The promos that I enjoyed as a kid and even back into college with The Rock probably never would have been what they had become without The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes putting his imprint on the sports entertainment business.
Your weekly moment of soccer zen…
As a nice follow-up to last week’s Neymar controversy where it was considered rude to flick the ball in a certain way, how about this nifty little flip that was used to get out of the corner against three defenders in order to create a scoring chance. The chance was thwarted by the goalkeeper, but it seems like a perfectly acceptable move that served a purpose even as it clowned three defenders. Also interesting that these are younger players playing in the under-20 World Cup. Maybe the tide is turning against some of the more traditional unwritten rules by the younger generation. Pretty nifty flip, regardless.
Ray Flanagan and the Authorities with Decider…
I podcasted for Scene Magazine this week with a young up-and-comer named Ray Flanagan. I also shared him with you a couple weeks ago from his first album, but he’s got new material. The new material is pretty killer. He’s not re-inventing the musical landscape or anything. It’s pretty straight forward rock, but the feel of this album is energetic, the vocals are really powerful and strong and the playing feels like it’s happening in the same room with you when you’re listening to it. I like a few of the tracks, but the album opener is as good as any to share. It’s called Decider and you can see Ray and his band this Saturday at the Beachland Tavern. Brent Kirby will be playing on the bill as well, so it’s a can’t-miss kind of musical evening.
7 Comments
I’m going to start a GoFundMe to pay Stipe to choke out Steven A, and cover his bail.
Who’s with me.
Please take Bayless out too. He was Tweeting his hatred of LBJ as soon as the game ended. Funny thing is he wasn’t so mouthy when that joke of a show was here in Cleveland.
The American Dream was one of my first wrestling favorites. I loved watching him as a kid on Saturday mornings along with Rick Flair and his fellow horseman. Ricky Steamboat. The Junkyard Dog. Nikita Koloff. R.I.P. Dusty and thank you for the memories.
Speaking of wrestling only fitting Rick Flair as well as Dolph Ziggler and The Miz were at the Cavs game the way LBJ was beaten and bloodied!
Bayless is just a troll. You can see his act coming a mile away.
Steven A is a certified through-and-through arsehole.
I’ll check out “Ballers” I’m a fan of the other Rock!
I detest both but I did watch some of their horrible show this week but only because it was from Cleveland. Not today.
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