May 22, 2013

NBA Playoffs Showing Cavaliers How Hard Building a Championship Team Really Is

June 7, 2012 by 75 Comments

Even with Kyrie Irving in place, the Cavaliers still have much work to do

With the NBA Finals drawing near, it’s only natural for fans of teams not currently playing basketball to look on from a distance, wondering what it must take to be one of the teams representing their conference in the Finals.

Make no mistake about it, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a very long way away from getting there. The first key component is in place. Kyrie Irving was everything the Cavaliers were hoping for, and more, in his rookie season, but when you consider the 4 Conference Finalists, it’s clear that much work needs to be done.

In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder have Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden 1 as part of their “Big 3”. The San Antonio Spurs featured Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker.

The Eastern Conference Finals have their own clash of “Big 3s”. The Boston Celtics have the original Big 3 in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Not to mention Rajon Rondo, who is currently better than any of the original Big 3. The Miami Heat have the most infamous Big 3 in the NBA with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. [Read more...]

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  1. if you count Serge Ibaka in that group, they actually have a “Big 4” [back]

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Cavaliers Face NBA’s Top Record, Oklahoma City Thunder

March 9, 2012 by 12 Comments

Westbrook, Harden, and the Thunder present a formidable challenge

It feels good to be back on the winning side again. Now the Cavaliers (14-23, 10th in the East) will try to carry that positive momentum into Oklahoma City where Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and the rest of the Thunder (31-8, 1st in the West) are waiting.

The Thunder have the NBA’s best record, sure, but once again this is matchup for the Cavaliers that I don’t hate. The Thunder are sorely lacking effective frontcourt post players and have been doing a lot of their damage from outside 10 feet of the rim.

In fact, 42.4% of the Thunder’s shot occur inside 10 feet. That’s compared to 49.96% of the Cavaliers’ shots coming inside 10 feet. This is significant because the teams who have been hurting the Cavaliers since Varejao went out with the injury have been teams who abuse the Cavaliers inside.

Obviously, Russell Westbrook thrives on getting to the rim and how Kyrie Irving fares in defending him will be a huge part of this game. But outside Westbrook, the Thunder have a lot of players who play on the wings and shoot outside shots. Kendrick Perkins continues to play subpar basketball with the Thunder and Nick Collison has seen his effectiveness decline the last couple of seasons. [Read more...]

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Big Sunday in the NBA: OKC / Memphis Game 7, Chicago / MIA Game 1

May 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

It all comes down to this. Win or go home.  Who wants it more? 

These cliches and many others like them, while annoying, are to be expected frequently today from television pundits everywhere.  

Whenever Game Seven’s emerge, like today’s when Memphis travels to OKC for a winner moves on tip at 3:30, these are the things people say to describe the event. 

All true though I suppose, and after Memphis forced the issue with a Game 6 win on Friday we should have a good one today as a result. 

Kevin Durant v. Zach Randolph.  Mike Conley v. Russell Westbrook.  Tough, gritty, defense and inside play colliding with an young, emerging team built on star power.  A team originally from Vancouver going head-to-head with a team originally from Seattle for a right to play in the Western Conference Finals.  Should be fun. 

As will the 8pm game in Chicago, when the Bulls and Heat get underway for Game One of the ECF.  Not as cliche-filled of a match-up seeing as how it is only a Game One, but exciting nonetheless. 

I wish it started around 5pm ET though, but oh well.  I wasn’t up at 5 am tweeting about how excited I was for the game tonight like LeBron was this morning, so I should be able to make it to the end.  An end that would certainly produce more storylines should the Bulls somehow pull this one out.     

A primer of sorts on each game after the jump:

[Read more...]

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Cavaliers Unlikely To Counter Celtics Moves?

February 24, 2009 by 30 Comments

Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury

We are officially in the NBA’s “funny season”. That time of the year just after the trade deadline and before the waiver deadline when veteran players on cellar dwellers across the Association try to get their teams to buy out their contracts so they can be free to join another contending team in a last ditch effort to chase a title. Players and teams do this dance every single season to varying degrees of success in terms of the final outcome, and it would stand to reason that the Cleveland Cavaliers would be no exception this year.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Danny Ferry it’s that he doesn’t concern himself too much with convention and popular opinion. Despite Stephen A Smith’s repeated attempts to degrade Ferry as sounding “panicky” on the phone, it’s become quite clear to those of us who follow Ferry’s moves as closely as we do that if there’s one thing Danny Ferry will not do, it’s panic. Every single move Ferry has made in the past 3 years has been measured, calculated, and well thought out. Whatever the Cavaliers do (or don’t do) between now and the March, it’s unlikely it will be reactionary to anything going on elsewhere (and by “elsewhere”, I clearly mean Boston).    [Read more...]

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