Road Warriors

6 in a row, 4 straight on the road...I like it.   The most consecutive road victories for our boys in the 21st century...even better.  And here with a review of last nights victory vs the Bobcats is masug24:

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Ho hum, and the Cavaliers finish January with a six game win streak on the road against a depleted Bobcats.  As fellow contributors noted, it was a big win.

Some interesting facts:  That's four wins in a row on the road... the first time since Z's rookie campaign.  The Akron Assassin finishes the month averaging about 32 ppg, the best scoring month of his career.  Anderson had ten boards last night in 20 minutes and Drew posted another double double in just 26 minutes.

Sasha had a quiet night, but his presence in the starting lineup has been a breath of fresh air since Larry has been nursing his injuries.  I really hope that Brown finds a way to get him minutes when Larry comes back, as Ithink his production hinders on getting consistent minutes.  Oh, and Luke looked like the Oregon Luke in his ten minutes, a rare sight lately. Let's hope someone gets interested and maybe we can dump Luke/Henderson/Ira/Damon... some combination to add a little spice to the backcourt before the deadline.

LeBron was spectacular, of course, and while he won't be in the dunk contest (c'mon man, give us a bone), he put on a helluvah show last night.  An oop from Snow, a touchdown pass turned reverse dunk from Damon Ones, and a couple more for good measure.

All in all, easy win, but important as our starters got to sit for the fourth quarter and rest their legs before a long stretch of tough games.  Also, a rotation idea when Larry gets back.

Starters:  Larry, Sasha, Bron, Drew and Z 
Rotation:  Snow, Damon, Luke/Ira, Marshall, and Anderson

We'd be lacking a bit on defense with the starting lineup this way, but I like Damon coming off the bench at the two guard, since that's his natural position.  Just a thought in case Mike Brown is tech savvy and happens to read our blog.  Otherwise, I'll keep the faith.  Go Cavaliers.

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Go Cavs indeed...

Huge..

So is it the tights or Sasha?  Either way..today was a monsterous victory on national television.  The AK Assassin was simply LeAmazing and it just seems like he always knows when he must take over.  Between his fade away shots from the corner, the block then dunk at the other end to his constantly improving long-range shooting ability...the guy is nuts.  Thank goodness he plays for us. 

In today's game, the first half was rough.  I mean we were playing pretty decent offense, but our defense could not keep up with them.  They were too fast and shooting too well.  But with some halftime adjustments we were able to pull it off.  We played as a team and brought this one home.  Personally, that was one of the better games I witnessed all year.  And Sasha..well good job buddy.  Overall, you played pretty solid ball and you were well deserving of the standing O as you left the game in the final (dragged out) secs.  I think we found our starting 2 guard (for now).  Donyell and Amon still couldn't find there shots, but at least Jerry Walton told the national public how both have had disapointing seasons.  Hopefully, Momma Jones listened in and is gonna have another talk with her son.

Oh and one more thing.  Brent Musburger..come on man.  Get off the mic as you have no place announcing NBA basketball.  First, your comment the other night about how LeBron should be taking the final free throws over Z cause of how much the Cavs organization pay him.  You showed the world right there how little you know.  Today you were ok, but you had Snapper and Jerry backing you up.  Anyways..just go home.

So once again..Sasha or the tights? 

Ya know - who cares..let's just keep winning. 

What do we have here..

Ok folks..so it's that time for the Le-Blog-a-thon coronation.  Now, this pains me to say the winner so to stall I will just give my and Jamie's personal favorite:

LeBronson Pinchot - I mean Karl that was pure genius and you had me seriously cracking up with that one.  For all of you who aren't aware, Bronson Pinchot played Balki Bartokomous on Perfect Strangers.  Quick background on Balki's character:  a sheepherder from the small Mediterranean Greek-like island of Mypos who travels to the United States in search of his relatives.  I mean come on..if that doesn't spell success in American Television well then I have lost faith in the our media.  The show was classic and Balki was so stupid that he honestly ended up being one of the more classic characters of the '80's sitcoms (and that's saying alot).   Here is a link to the intro of the show..classic.

Oh also, before I move on to the winner (yes I am stalling)..  So I went on a family trip to LA when I was about 11 and I was so excited just to walk down the street and see movie star after movie star.  You know..you're a kid.  So anyways the whole vacation went by and I didn't see anyone famous thus not having any cool stories for the kids at school.  And that sucked.  So at the end of the trip we were driving to the hotel for the final time to pack up and who do I see....freakin Balki Bartokomous.  I mean are you serious...Balki.  I had to go back and say I saw Balki..man.  Well whatever..it was hysterical and even at that age I could appreciate how absurd that was. 

So Karl - thanks man..I really appreciated the laugh.  And I will be sending out an appropriate prize for ya. 


So now the winner...well folks most of you know this guy too well and you were all just hoping he wouldn't bring it home.  For everyone else..just imagine the kid who wins every fantasy league and brags about it along the way..  Yea, he's that obnoxious.  So anyways...the name chosen by our Cavs Insider and myself is none other than:

**The Akron Assasin**

So thankyou Paul for adding to the King's current collection of nicknames.  This one hits home while stating that LeKing is simply a bad-ass. 

That's it folks.  Thankyou to everyone who participated and I really appreciate the overall response.  I'd also like to thank the Cavs for being awesome and hopefully one day LeBron will take us to the promise land so we can live out our dreams of finally seeing Cleveland win a championship. 

Bam..

Sorry guys (and gals) for the lack of updates, but been very busy for the past few days.  But in true LeBlog spirit, one of the main contributers, paulev7, has a review from last night.  Also, we now have a winner of the Le-Blog-a-thon which I will post later.  Here you go and I will provide an update later on all fronts:

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Last night the Cavs took on the Pacers, with LeBron sporting some tighty-whities (ok, just white tights).  I think these tights have a purpose- they compress the muscles, thereby sending extra blood to LBJ's ailing need.  But man, they look ridiculous. 

On to the game.  Early on, LBJ was playing the passer, as he had 4 early assists.  But he was cold from the field, save for a monster slam off a Sasha steal and bounce pass assists.  The Cavs and the Pacers went back and forth the rest of the half though.  Neither team could pull away and the game was low scoring- playing into the hands of the Pacers.  The Pacers were also cold from the field, but doing a great job on the offensive boards.

In the second half, though, the Cavs started to pull away.  Not only were we making shots, but they were missing and not being as proficient on the offensive boards.  Everyone was chipping in- Sasha, Drew, Z, Damon, and Donyell.  By the end of the third, we had the lead out to 25.  We brought in the bench, and the Pacers trimmed it a bit.  Remembering a few weeks earlier when the Pacers brought back a 22 point lead, Coach Brown brought in the starters to finish the game off before extensive bench minutes. 

Random thoughts-

- Sahsa is playing well at both ends.  Making jumpers, going to the hoops, and playing good perimeter D.

- Damon Jones is not settling for threes anymore, and is getting inside for some shorter shots.  That will be huge- one cannot be a three point guy alone.

- Alan Henderson continues to play well.  He D's up very well and is active on the glass. 

- Donyell must make a point of not shooting 3's outside the flow of the offense.  He does that sometimes, but he must be patient.

over8a1ed

So am I missing something here?   While everyone in the sports world has recently decided to go out and buy a Lower Merion high school jersey, I think we have to take a step back.  I am clueless as to why he is getting praise for completely hogging the ball from his teammates.   Phil Jackson has to be ashamed of himself today and I would hope Stern sits him down.  In my opinion, the Lakers franchise has hit rock bottom allowing this punk to take that many shots.

I mean think about how easily LeBron could score that many points right now given the state of our team.  Think...Newble, Henderson, Sasha have recently been starters.  If this wasn't the time for LeBron to top Wilt, well then I must be nuts.

Sorry about the rant there, but I know I am not the only one who thinks this is absurd so I did a little searchin of the net.  This article from Real GM, while purely fiction, was the first online publication to backlash against this overhyped feat.  Graham Flashner wrote this article at 3:30am last night and it's awesome.  Enough sarcasm to make the Onion proud. Here's a bit:

"In an unprecedented move that Phil Jackson hopes will get L.A. into the playoffs, the team has announced that Kobe will be taking every shot of every game, as long as he’s on the floor, for the remainder of the season. The new scheme, dubbed the “Bryangle” offense, comes on the heels of Bryant’s 81-point explosion against Toronto. It will mean that no Laker will be allowed to shoot except under special circumstances... “I’m real excited,” Bryant confided. “It’s what I’ve always dreamed.”

Honestly, I'd choose our 'star' any day of the week...

Well thank goodness

Around 1am on Friday night I was ready to change the format of this blog from an ohio sports haven into a counseling center for all of us.  You could call the loss to the Baron Davis-less Golden State sad, upsetting, or whatever explicative you wanted, but overall our team hit rock bottom.  But then about 24 hours later came...the tights. 

I wasn't able to watch on Saturday, but given this blog is a group effort one of the big contributors, masug24, had this to say about the game:

It's gotta be the tights.  I cringed when I saw him walk onto the floor wearing the trendy black leggings, but dry legs did wonders.  Finally, the Cavs looked like a good basketball team... granted, we beat the struggling Jazz, but it felt good to get a win.  Michael Reghi was right when he said that Bron's performance was "Jordan-esque".  Bron knew they were in a must-win situation, so he took matters into his own hands.  Maybe he can't consistently hit game winners yet, but he sure can take over a ballgame when he needs to.

Nice to see 'Yell blow up for the first time in a while... and to see Damon taking and making high percentage shots.  Maybe he'll start to realize that on this team, he is not an asset in the starting lineup, but brings a lot off the bench.  Sasha as a starter was an interesting decision that paid off.  His shot looks confident, as does his on-ball defense.  He just needs to have more confidence handling the ball.


So LeBron scored 50+ as he'd swore he would never do again.  But you know what..this team needs it.  He is our leader (both on and off the court) and i think 51 was what he had to do.  Once again, thankyou.  So now you have a few days to regroup, keep workin in those tights, and takin care of your momma. 


Whew..also given the tights are now in play, the Le-Blog-a-thon is open for another day then I am sending along the names.  Go Cavs!!

I don't know what to say

I thought I was just gonna go sleep this one off, but honestly I am still so pissed.  That was pathetic.  LeBron once again opted on the final shot this time to a guy who just missed two free throws.  I don't know what to say.  I think I agree with sugknight and his comments in the previous post about tonight's game...LeChoke might have to be his temporary nickname.  And 8 of 15 from the line..that is pathetic.  I could be wrong but most if not all of those misses were off the front iron (minus his final FT attempt at a victory).  LeBron not only needs to improve his shot from the line, but has to realize this is really his team and he NEEDS to take those final clutch shots.  I think we might have found a weakness (for now).  This is a facet of his game that can easy be corrected by something called confidence.  I mean you exude confidence all game and now you can't take the final shot.  We aren't gonna expect a game winner every night, but you at least have to try. 

Another thing that was honestly just sad was our starting line-up of Newble, Henderson, and Snow.  I mean I feel like this team has currently hit rock bottom.  Granted Gooden will be back soon, but the team is all over the place.  Donyell won't take a 2 pointer, Damon just sux, Luke plays then he doesn't.  Bad, bad news.  We are in exactly the same spot as last year in terms of no help, but there was NO excuse this year.  We paid the dough, got the guys, and everything should be ok.  Man this sux.  Normally, I like to let a loss sink in before commenting, but tonight was just too painful to let simmer.