May 25, 2013

If I’m Chris Grant, my first call is to the Dallas Mavericks

May 22, 2013 by 15 Comments

A report came out just after the draft lottery was completed that the Dallas Mavericks are interested in trading out of their lottery pick. Dallas missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade plus, but want to save the salary cap space that the 13th pick in the draft would get in order to pursue Dwight Howard.

“Multiple sources told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford that the Mavs are likely to trade the pick to help create the cap space necessary to make a run at Dwight Howard in free agency. The 13th overall pick has a cap hold of $1,655,300.” [ESPN Dallas]

The first round draft picks come with a cap hold. That means that any player the Mavericks draft at number 13 would count $1.66 million against the cap. If they were to trade that pick for any pick in the first round, they would have at least an $880K hit against the cap. (The Cavaliers’ 19th pick has a cap hold of $1.22 million.)

However, in the second round they could draft any player they wanted from Europe, keep their draft rights and it wouldn’t count a dime against the cap until they came over to the states to play.

Here’s why that is particularly interesting to the Cavaliers- Cleveland owns the 1st and 3rd picks in the second round. [Read more...]

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NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers will be “vying” for Dwight Howard

May 21, 2013 by 24 Comments

The Cleveland Cavaliers were a buried mention as a potential suitor for Dwight Howard in free agency in an ESPNLosAngeles report yesterday. Cleveland was tossed in after meticulously exploring the merits of Houston and Dallas, so it’s reasonable to assume that the Cavs are going to be tossed into every discussion due the the extraordinary amount of cap space they will have this off-season.

Howard is expected to entertain the free-agency process and hear competing offers from Houston, Dallas and others, multiple sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com. Cleveland and Atlanta are teams that will also be vying for Howard, among other suitors.

If I was making the book in Vegas, I’d say there’s a 80% chance that the Cavaliers talk to Howard or his people this off-season, because you kind of have to when you have the cap space and a player of that caliber is a free agent. The idea that it would get past the talking stage and Howard would come join the Mike Brown-led Cavaliers has to be at 5% or less I would think.

We don’t know exactly how Dwight Howard feels about Mike Brown, but in Howard’s first season with Brown, the coach was fired after only five games. At minimum, it would appear that familiarity or some personal connection would be somewhat unlikely to benefit the Cavaliers should they even truly be in pursuit of the big man.

[Related: Cavalier NBA Draft Film Room: Shabazz Muhammad]

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WFNY Stats & Info: Mavericks closing in on Lakers in West

March 28, 2013 by 2 Comments

The NBA regular season concludes in just 20 days on Wednesday, April 17. Between now and then, boy, there’s going to be a whole lot of exciting back-and-forth action.

Most notably as it relates to the Cavs besides their own draft position, fans should be paying attention to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference playoff race. Back on March 8, I shared an update about how the Lakers were closing in on Utah. But now, there’s a new competitor: Dallas.

Fitted with some gnarly motivational playoff beards, the Mavericks are on a 10-4 tear in March while the rest of the hopeful playoff teams continue their relatively mediocre play.

After a busy Wednesday night in the Association, here’s the most recent look at how the bottom of the West playoff standings play out right now:

Rk Team W L Pct GB Left SRS JH Rt JH Rk JH Odds
6 GSW 41 32 0.562 +3.5 9 0.75 100.8 12 98.8%
7 HOU 39 32 0.549 +2.5 11 3.90 104.1 7 98.4%
8 LAL 37 35 0.514 – 10 1.14 100.8 13 54.5%
9 UTA 36 36 0.500 -1.0 10 -0.17 99.8 18 26.1%
10 DAL 35 36 0.493 -1.5 11 -0.09 100.5 15 19.2%
11 POR 33 38 0.465 -3.5 11 -1.36 100.1 16 3.0%

 

Now, with data through Tuesday’s games, here is a look at these teams’ remaining schedules:

Rk Team Left P/L H/R P: H/R L: H/R W Pct JH Avg SRS Avg
6 GSW 9 3/6 6/3 2/1 4/2 0.497 100.4 0.5
7 HOU 11 5/6 5/6 2/3 3/3 0.480 99.2 -0.8
8 LAL 10 6/4 6/4 4/2 2/2 0.539 101.4 1.3
9 UTA 10 5/5 6/4 3/2 3/2 0.527 101.4 1.1
10 DAL 11 6/5 6/5 4/2 2/3 0.506 100.2 0.2
11 POR 11 8/3 7/4 5/3 2/1 0.586 103.0 2.8

 

Key: JH stands for John Hollinger’s ratings, rankings and playoff odds at ESPN. SRS is a standardized ranking system built around an average of 0.0. P/L is playoffs and lottery teams, while H/R is home and road games.

Both Golden State and Houston appear to be playoff locks with only a few weeks left. Thus, after all the positioning thus far, it appears these next four teams are battling only for the No. 8 spot.

With Wednesday’s win, the Lakers actually jumped from about 42% playoff odds to over 54%. That’s also because every other team besides Utah (win) and Dallas (didn’t play) lost last night. But it shows how the Lakers’ progress had been stagnant over the last few weeks.

In terms of remaining schedules, Dallas and Utah are both at a slight advantage over the Lakers. The Jazz play the fewest remaining playoff teams (5), while the Mavericks have the easiest opponent winning percentage, Hollinger rating and SRS rating by a slight margin.

Portland’s blowout loss Wednesday against Brooklyn (they trailed 46-17 just 14 minutes into the game) probably ended its playoff hopes. The Trail Blazers also have a brutal schedule left — facing eight playoff teams in their 11 remaining games.

[Related: The Boots: NBA Draft Lottery, John Wall and winning streaks]

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Cavs blow halftime lead, fall to Mavs 96-86

March 16, 2013 by 3 Comments

Zeller and CrowderYou didn’t expect Dirk Nowitzki to miss all of ‘em, did you?

The Big German finished with just 13 points on 6-17 shooting, but his final two buckets sealed the game as Dallas came back to beat the Cavaliers 96-86. The Cavaliers led by an many as eleven points and held a 48-36 advantage at halftime, but turnovers, stagnant offense and horrendous defense doomed the Cavaliers in the second half. Eleven of the Cavaliers’ eighteen turnovers came in the second half and Dallas scored 58 points after halftime

Dion Waiters paced Cleveland with 21 points (9-19 FG) and Shaun Livingston finished 13 points, six assists and five rebounds as the Cavs fell to 22-43. Rodrigue Beaubois led Dallas with 18 points and was one of three bench players to score in double figures for the Mavericks, who climbed to 31-34 for 10th in the West (three games behind the Lakers for the eight and final playoff spot).

While the Cavs ended the game poorly, this wasn’t the prettiest of starts either. Sure, they held an early lead (six minutes in they had a 13-4 lead) but Dallas wouldn’t hit double digits until there was just under four minutes left in the first period. In the second quarter, the Cavs had a good six minute stretch where they made a single basket. This is to be expected; without Kyrie Irving’s playmaking ability, the Cavs are going to suffer scoring droughts, especially against a well coached team like the Mavericks. [Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting… Browns battle Cowboys in Dallas

November 18, 2012 by 3 Comments

While 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.

Strategies for the Browns to implement moving forward, beginning with today’s game: “Run the Ball More on 3rd Down: When I did my midseason review for the Browns’ offense, I talked about the disparity with the playcalling on third down compared to the rest of the division. Cleveland runs the ball on 3rd-and-1 only 50 percent of the time, when that figure should be closer to 75 percent. They rarely run on 3rd-and-2. Cleveland needs to establish the ground game in these type of situations, and I’m praying that is a strategy the coaching staff worked on during the bye week.” [Chris Pokorny/Dawgs By Nature]

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Odd facts about the Cowboys and Browns, brought to you by a Dallas blog: “The last time these two teams met was in 2008 in Cleveland. The Cowboys are only starting 4 players from that last encounter (Romo, Witten, Ratliff, and Ware), while the Browns are starting two (Joe Thomas and D’Qwell Jackson).” [Steven Mullenax/The Landry Hat]

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Looking at some other keys to victory for Cleveland today: “Get to the flat footed Romo early. Each Browns’ defensive lineman must step up to another level this week. Find a way to get to Romo and force him to make the consistent bad decisions he has been making all year long. Romo leads the entire league with 13 interceptions. The Browns’ secondary should be licking their chops as one of Romo’s duck passes are sure to float their way. A turnover through the air will increase Cleveland’s chances of pulling off the upset.” [Ryan Ruiz/Rant Sports]

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Starting to dream about the draft and waxing sentimental about the future already in Cavalier land: “Still though, I feel this team’s parts are greater than the whole. Prior to this season, Kyrie and Tristan played around 500 minutes together; Andy and Kyrie, only 23 games. Varejao and Tristan shared the court for 47 minutes last year, and Dion Waiters is a rookie. Other than the Kyrie to Varejao pick-and-roll, the team barely looks like they run an offense, making it amazing that heading into last night’s game, Cleveland’s starters owned the best plus/minus in the league. I can not wait for two years from now, when this group forms a well-oiled machine.” [Kevin Hetrick/Cavs: The Blog]

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This Cavaliers storyline is likely the most contentious in town these days. Take that Browns! “Trade the Wild Thing. Varejao as an All Star, I’d love it. Would I love a playoff run? Of course. Who wouldn’t? But getting into the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed does this team nothing. The Cavs need another lottery pick, and honestly, they probably need more than that. They have no bench, and aside from Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, anyone on this team should be able to be had for the right price.” [Nick Mancini/Stepien Rules]

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What an odd, odd finish against the Badgers, but the Buckeyes finished it off somehow: “With no shot to play for the Big Ten championship, a BCS bowl game or any bowl game, Ohio State’s most ambitious goal was to go undefeated, even though that seemed pretty improbable before the season started. The Buckeyes are one game from finishing that task. Despite giving up a game-tying touchdown with eight seconds left in regulation to Wisconsin, Ohio State stayed focused and scored on the first possession of overtime, then held to get the 21-14 win.” [Frank Schwab/Dr. Saturday]

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Tony Lastoria looks at a number of possible Indians targets in free agency, and this former Tribe guy certainly intrigues me too: “Jeremy Guthrie, SP: The Indians lost Guthrie to the Orioles over five years ago on waivers, and it is a decision that probably haunts the Indians to this day as he has turned into a solid middle-to-backed rotation starter. He has been durable and averaged close to 200 innings over the last five seasons, and his consistency with his numbers and health should be attractive to the Indians. He will probably command a two year deal for $12-16M.” [Tony Lastoria/Indians Prospect Insider]

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Cavaliers resume play this weekend to host Dallas Mavericks and visit Philadelphia 76ers

November 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

After three full days with no Cavaliers basketball, the team returns to action tonight at 7 p.m. for its first home game in two weeks against the Dallas Mavericks. Then, less than 24 hours later, Cleveland hits the road to take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night at 6 p.m.

Coming off a 1-5 road trip, it should be a huge relief for the Cavaliers to finally play against at the Q this evening. But, the competition doesn’t get significantly easier as these two opponents both figure to be better than Cleveland at contend for the playoffs in their respective conferences.

However, both teams have some notable changes since the Cavs last played each in the 2011-12 season. Let’s go into bullet-point format to share some of these key storylines about the Mavs, 76ers and the Cavs:

– This current Dallas team hardly resembles the one that won the NBA Finals in 2010-11, let alone even the one that failed to make the playoffs last season. [Read more...]

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Tyler Zeller to return Saturday; Luke Haragondy out for six weeks

November 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Cavaliers announced injury updates on Friday for two bench forwards, per Cavs.com:

“Cavaliers forward/center Tyler Zeller has been cleared to resume play with a protective mask. (fractured left orbital bone and concussion)

Cavaliers forward Luke Harangody had a successful arthroscopic procedure on his right knee this morning at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health after experiencing a continued period of soreness and swelling. Harangody is expected to be OUT for approximately six weeks. His status will be updated as appropriate.”

Obviously, Zeller’s return, which was expected most of the week, is big news as the Cavs face the Dallas Mavericks back at home on Saturday. He was averaging 18.5 minutes per game as one of the team’s most effective (cough cough) bench players through the first four games.

Harangody, on the other hand, likely will not play again in 2012. He has been bothered by the same knee issue dating back to last month. The 24-year-old former Notre Dame star last appeared in a game during the preseason on Oct. 15.

[Related: Trading Anderson Varejao Still Doesn’t Make Sense for the Cavaliers]

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NBA News: Mavericks suspend guard Delonte West

October 16, 2012 by 5 Comments

Allegedly stemming from an “outburst in the locker room,” the Dallas Mavericks have reportedly suspended former Cavalier guard Delonte West for conduct detrimental to the team.

West, as Cavalier fans may recall, was given an excused absence from the team following a preseason locker room outburst back in 2009. He has had a long-running history of mental illness, and was arrested on weapons charges around the same timeframe, ultimately being suspended for 10 games.

West tweeted later on Monday: “Sorry moma…” and “I showed off on ur birthday again…”

The Mavericks have not said when the eight-year veteran will be back with the team.

[Related: Video: Delonte West Gives Wet Willie, Gets Technical Foul]

(Source: ESPN Dallas)

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Report: Cavs Have Placed Bid for Luis Scola

July 15, 2012 by 13 Comments

According to Fox 8′s John Telich, the Cleveland Cavaliers have submitted a bid on the waiver wires for recently amnesty-waived Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that the Cavs and Dallas Mavericks would be the two leading contenders for Scola’s services. The 32-year-old forward has averaged 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds during his five-year NBA career, entirely with Houston.

On Saturday, Fox Sports Ohio’s Sam Amico tweeted that a move likely will not be made officially until Monday, when it will be 48 hours since Scola was waived.

He’s set to make slightly over $30 million over the next three seasons. The team that places the highest sealed-envelope bid will win the claim for Scola and pay that portion of his salary for the 2012-13 schedule.

[Related: Cleveland Cavs Notes: Kyrie Irving’s Injury, Luis Scola, Andrew Bynum, Start of Summer League]

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NBA Free Agency Rumor: Cavs Reportedly Interested in Luis Scola

July 12, 2012 by 32 Comments

No one exactly knows what the Houston Rockets are up to these days with their constant roster moves. Regardless, with today’s news of their upcoming amnesty move on F Luis Scola, the Cleveland Cavaliers are already linked to have some interest.

ProBasketballDraft cited a source on Twitter that both the Cavs and Dallas Mavericks have some early interest in the 32-year-old Argentine forward. Scola was slotted to make $9.4 million this coming season, as a part of the three years and $30.7 million left on his contract.

With the Cavs no longer linked to Kris Humphries in the Dwight Howard mega-trade, this is a connection that definitely makes some sense. Scola has averaged 14.5 points and 7.7 rebounds in his five-year NBA career, building a reputation as a dependable low-post scoring presence and rebounder. He’s not likely ever going to make an All-Star team, but he’s a solid veteran that could fit in nicely with the Cleveland frontcourt.

Per the amnesty waiver process, teams must may sealed bids to the Rockets for his services. The highest bid will pay that portion of Scola’s salary for this coming season. The official announcement on Scola’s release is expected in the coming days.

[Related: Report: Cavs discussing sign and trade of Antawn Jamison]

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Sources: Dallas pick Tyler Zeller headed to Cavaliers

June 28, 2012 by 59 Comments

According to pretty much everyone on Twitter and ESPN, the Cavaliers have acquired Tyler Zeller, the 17th pick in the NBA draft in exchange for the 24, 33, and 34th picks that the Cavaliers had remaining.

It seems a little bit strange to me that Dallas would want those picks. I understand they didn’t want to take on more salary. Our own TD suggests that they can draft European players who won’t need roster spots immediately.

Either way, you can add Zeller to the haul for the Cavs it appears. Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and now Tyler Zeller appear to be Chris Grant’s best bet at building a core in his first two available years to give it a shot.

(Update: The league has confirmed the reported deal. The Cavaliers end up with Zeller with the Mavericks receiving Jared Cunningham, Bernard James and Jae Crowder.)

[Related: 2012 NBA Draft: Cleveland Cavaliers Select Dion Waiters, SG, Syracuse]

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NBA Playoffs: Contention Windows And Team Evolution

June 9, 2012 by 4 Comments

With tonight’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals just hours away, we have two teams, remarkably different in makeup. One might as well have been penciled into this series back in July 2010, and the other was too old, their contention window not just shut but sealed and painted over. But, when the ball is tossed up in American Airlines Arena tonight, the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat will square off for the right to play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. It got me thinking a lot about the endless, often mindless chatter on ESPN and TNT about contention windows and breaking up teams from the armchair GMs.

I’ll focus on three cases that defy this reasoning: the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, and Dallas Mavericks. I’m not saying that teams haven’t overstayed their welcome with a given setup, but often times, the coaches and GMs have a better feel for when there’s time for a change in the chemistry and personnel of a team than the general public.

The Celtics won their title back in 2008, in the first year of the “Big Three’s” run, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen (both acquired via trade) joined the incumbent Paul Pierce and brought the title to Boston. It was a team built for the now, and even though they followed the title up with three 50+ win seasons, one more trip to the Finals in 2010, and made it to the second round or further each of those seasons, it wasn’t good enough in the eyes of many. Last season was supposed to be the end of Boston’s run after their loss to these Miami Heat in five games in the East Semis. Garnett and Allen were 35 at the end of the season, and Pierce was 33. Rajon Rondo rose to the level of an elite point guard in this league, but the thought process of some was to blow up this team and start over. This year, the Celtics won 39 of 66 and coasted to a #4 seed. But, in doing so, the window opened for them the minute that Derrick Rose went down in a heap. Rondo continued to improve his game in all facets, the acquisition of Brandon Bass to play an undersized center role proved to be an excellent one, and the spread out format of the playoffs has allowed Ray Allen to heal from injury and the old legs of the Celtics to avoid extreme fatigue. So much of it truly is the Celtics know what it takes, and they’ve been there before. [Read more...]

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Video: Delonte West Gives a “Wet Willie,” Gets a Technical Foul

April 17, 2012 by 20 Comments

Following a bizarre stretch of play that involved an unprovoked swing of the arm from Delonte West in the vicinity of Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward, the former Cavalier shooting guard was handed a technical foul for the only “wet willie” administered in recent in-game NBA history.

The referees missed the moist poke of the ear, but later conferred over video replay to hand West the technical foul. West, who later joked that he was merely attempting to get some lint out of the Butler product’s ear, said that the move was a “battlefield” moment.

“We’re two warriors, man, we’re out there battling on the battlefield,” said West. “I forgot, the NBA is a gentleman’s game so we’ve got to fight and scrap and do it nicely. Everything is left on the court, though. That’s what it is.

“I wasn’t frustrated. Like I said, you get caught up in the game, in the motion, it’s physical and you just get caught in the moment some times,” West said. “But like I say, you leave things where they’re at and you get on to the next play.”

When a reporter allegedly asked if the move could be dubbed a “West Willie,” the Mavericks guard reportedly couldn’t back from cracking a smile.

[Related: Delonte West Offers Delonte West-like Quotes at Dallas Zoo]

(Source: ESPN)

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Delonte West Expresses Appreciation For Cleveland

February 5, 2012 by 11 Comments

The Dallas Mavericks’ visit to the Q last night meant the return of Delonte West. Along with West, the Dallas visit also led to a re-hash of their NBA Finals win over public enemy number one in Cleveland. The former Cavalier guard is talking to the media these days, and expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the Cleveland fans and the Cavalier organization, along with owner Dan Gilbert.

Via Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer:

“I don’t consider them fans, I consider them my friends,” West said. “We had such a close bond. It’s good to see the same faces. And that speaks to what Cleveland sports is about. Even though the things that went on.”

Delonte also talked about his new team, and how it compares to his time in Cleveland.

“It’s just a great atmosphere. Like Cleveland, it’s just another one of those owners [in Mark Cuban] that just gets it.”

As for Dirk Nowitzki, Bill Livingston discussed the warm reception he and the Mavericks received after their NBA Finals win over LeBron James and the Miami Heat. Dirk:

“When you’re caught up in the Finals, you really don’t know about these things…I think this whole city and this whole region were hurt by the way LeBron left.”

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Box Score: Cavaliers 91, Mavericks 88

February 4, 2012 by 8 Comments

The Cavaliers defeated the defending NBA Champions on Saturday night, beating the Dallas Mavericks 91-88. A huge third quarter for Byron Scott’s club was difference, as Cleveland stormed out of the locker room to take the lead. Kyrie Irving led the Cleveland comeback, scoring a team-high 20 points while dishing seven assists. Antawn Jamison added 19 points and Anderson Varejao continued his incredible streak of play, grabbing 17 rebounds and adding 17 points. It was a huge win for the Cavs, and a solid bounce back effort from the loss in Orlando on Friday.

Starters Pos Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
D. West G 28:17 4-7 0-0 3-3 -10 0 1 7 4 3 0 0 1 11
V. Carter G 16:20 2-4 0-0 0-0 -12 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 4
B. Haywood C 19:26 4-4 0-0 2-5 -5 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 2 10
D. Nowitzki F 35:13 9-15 2-2 4-5 -2 1 8 3 5 0 2 0 1 24
S. Marion F 31:24 1-5 0-0 2-2 -16 1 6 0 3 0 1 1 3 4
Bench Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Totals 32-67 6-13 18-27 4 39 22 21 6 8 3 16 88
Percentages .478 .462 .667 Team Rebounds: 12
J. Terry 34:18 5-14 4-8 3-3 +4 0 4 3 4 0 0 0 1 17
B. Wright 28:34 5-9 0-1 1-3 +2 2 8 0 1 0 4 1 5 11
L. Odom 26:12 2-7 0-2 3-6 +19 0 5 3 1 0 0 1 2 7
R. Beaubois 20:16 0-2 0-0 0-0 +5 0 2 5 2 2 1 0 0 0
B. Cardinal DNP – Coach’s Decision
Y. Jianlian DNP – Coach’s Decision
D. Jones DNP – Coach’s Decision
I. Mahinmi DNP – Coach’s Decision
Starters Pos Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
K. Irving G 35:57 9-17 1-3 1-1 +11 1 4 7 1 2 0 1 0 20
M. Thompson G 19:33 2-6 2-4 0-0 +15 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 6
A. Varejao C 33:19 8-13 0-0 1-2 +16 7 17 3 3 0 0 2 2 17
A. Jamison F 33:26 6-18 0-3 7-9 +21 3 9 4 1 3 0 1 1 19
O. Casspi F 29:12 4-10 1-4 0-0 +2 2 2 1 1 4 2 1 3 9
Bench Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts
Totals 37-93 6-23 11-15 17 46 27 9 12 3 8 18 91
Percentages .398 .261 .733 Team Rebounds: 7
A. Gee 30:19 5-12 1-4 1-1 -11 2 4 2 2 2 0 1 2 12
R. Sessions 28:59 2-11 1-3 1-2 -8 1 2 8 0 0 0 1 2 6
L. Harangody 14:34 0-4 0-2 0-0 -18 0 5 0 0 1 1 1 3 0
R. Hollins 8:45 1-2 0-0 0-0 -7 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
S. Erden 5:56 0-0 0-0 0-0 -6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C. Eyenga DNP – Coach’s Decision
S. Samuels DNP – Coach’s Decision

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From Schadenfreude with Miami to Empathy with Dallas

June 15, 2011 by 17 Comments

People have been throwing the term schadenfreude around an awful lot these past couple days. And sure, deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others is generally a poor quality to carry.  But while yesterday was a day for those who felt particularly scorned by LeBron last summer to partake in a little schadenfreude, today is a day for a different emotion. Today is a day for empathy.

Far too often empathy is confused with sympathy. Today I am not feeling sorry for anyone. In fact, quite the opposite. Today, I am sharing in the vicarious joy of Dallas fans. My empathetic joy comes from reading all the articles, blog posts, comments, etc on all the Dallas related media today. [Read more...]

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A Tale of Two Decisions

June 13, 2011 by 49 Comments

It had to cross his mind. If it didn’t hit him last night, it surely will today as he reads all the articles about Dirk Nowitzki’s persistence and what it meant for him to finally win an NBA Championship, the franchise’s first, in the city where he was drafted only city he has ever played in.

It’s simply hard to believe that in his most austere moment of isolated clarity, buried deep in his insecurities somewhere, that LeBron James didn’t allow his mind to drift even briefly to thoughts of what might have been. [Read more...]

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Dan Gilbert (and Cleveland) Hoping For One More From Dallas

June 10, 2011 by 21 Comments

Somewhere Dan Gilbert is likely putting the final touches on a gift basket for Mark Cuban. Perhaps a few vouchers for free Fatheads are being included, maybe a case or two of Great Lakes’ Dortmunder Gold, a bottle of the finest Riesling that he owns, and a particularly passionate thank you note, written in comic sans, of course.

The last time Dan Gilbert put so much emotion into a letter, it was the now infamous Decision night letter he sent out to Cleveland fans. It was in that letter that Gilbert made his bold guarantee that the Cavaliers would win a Championship before LeBron does.

If only Gilbert were a Hollywood producer rather than an NBA owner. [Read more...]

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Cleveland cannot lose in the NBA Finals, it’s impossible

June 4, 2011 by 15 Comments

I refuse to go through the emotions of losing an NBA Finals that my team isn’t even playing in.   This wasn’t always the case, but after the Bulls were eliminated by the Miami Heat I recognized the error in my application of fandom, and tapped out.

As the postseason began, I was certainly rooting for the Sixers to beat the Heat up some.  I never thought Philly had a chance to actually go the distance, but I just hoped they’d land enough shots to leave Miami vulnerable for the next round. 

Boston was waiting, and I was completely confident that the Celtics would be the Kelly Pavlik to Miami’s Jermain Taylor.

That didn’t happen though.  So I then begrudgedly shifted my temporary allegiance over to Chicago.  I didn’t believe D-Rose and the Bulls had a chance to eliminate Miami heading in, but I was desperate after Boston lost the one time I wanted them to win. 

I considered then that jumping off this rooting against another team train might be the best idea, and all of sudden Game One of the ECF happened.  

I convinced myself all over again that Miami was fatally flawed.  I was confident that the teamwork personified by Coach Thib’s crew would outlast any amount of individual talent on the other side. [Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting…Cavs Should Stand Pat, Camp Colt, West Coast Offense Primer

May 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

While 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.

Your NBA Finals t-shirt courtesy of Darren Rovell.
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Avoiding a knee-jerk trade: “The 2011-12 season is when the embers stir, and Cavs fans should be able to envision what might be. There will be no playoff push this season, but there should be a palpable future.

It is imperative for Dan Gilbert to understand this. He was justifiably elated when the Cavaliers snagged the number one pick in the NBA Lottery, but one worries he might allow that elation to consume him, skipping past the “new beginning” of which he spoke and forcing roster moves that favor minor, short-term successes. This week, Memphis rejected a trade proposal in which the Cavs offered the number four selection in the 2011 draft and a Rudy Gay-sized chunk of their trade exception in exchange for the Grizzlies’ injured star. Andre Iguodala’s name keeps floating around in unsubstantiated trade rumors; presumably the Cavs would offer or have already offered Philadelphia the same type of deal. These whispers sketch an unsettling picture: I sense Gilbert’s giddy tentacles creeping into the frame and meddling with the Cavaliers’ future.” [Colin McGowan/Cavs:TheBlog]

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