clvlndr

Matthew Dellavedova, who I already liked, rose in stature last night. I couldn't believe Blatt actually had him guarding 6'11" superstar Kevin Durant -- yeah, KD has been hobbled and his minutes limited, but it still seemed like a foolhardy act. Still Delly held his own, as well as handle the ball, switch on pick & rolls and even hit the board. He was hitting 3-pointers with a better accuracy than even K.Love, who nevertheless had a nice game in his own right. And his hawkish D and long-ball were big reasons why we cut OKC's 20-point lead down to 4 in the 4th quarter. It still amazes me that a guy who struggled to make last year's bad roster is now a central piece to this team, ... but Delly certainly is.

No question, the Cavs went after Haywood for his contract. But there's also a 7-foot man involved, too; a man with a championship ring at that. We probably won't use this contract until next summer, at the earliest. So in the meantime, why not use Haywood ... to protect the rim and score ... sometimes? Here's what Amico said yesterday on Haywood and that goofy Waiters for Koufos trade: Comment From Hiram any progress of adding a rim protector?? Sam Amico No progress as far as I can tell, Hiram. . . . The Cavs don't want to push it. They've won 8 in a row. I'd like to see them try Brendan Haywood once in a while, though ----------- Sam Amico I think Dion Waiters looks like a guy who has played for three coaches in three NBA seasons. Figure out how to use him. Trade him for some average big man, and you'll regret it for a long time. http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/talkin-cavs-live-chat-with-sam-amico-lebron-james-kevin-love-kyrie-irving-121014

And now that Republicans have taken over the national and state legislatures, expect the USA fall even further behind.

I thought the Harp building was rehabbed recently, too, and that those newish-looking awnings were indicative of it.

^I like Miller a lot, from a historical perspective and also for the quality person/personality he is. I'm just concerned that he may be shot. It shouldn't take a guy this long (training camp, preseason + 16 season games) to find his sea legs. A rookie perhaps, but not a grizzled vet like Miller. Re Jones, my answer is: if a player can bring you something significant, you find minutes for him. Jones shoots 3 pointers extremely reliably. I also think, when you have a team that has a variety of talents like the Cavs, you have more of a luxury to bring in a 1-dimensional player like Jones. That's why he stuck around in Miami (and was an important piece there) and why LeBron wanted him here.... Of course LeBron wanted Miller here, too... Once upon a time, the Cavs had a guy named Boobie who was valuable off the bench as a reliable 3 point shooter, too, and he was equally 1-dimensional like Jones (he wasn't 6'8" like Jones, though). .... You're right, Jones' 'microwave' traits mean you can shelve him for periods, and bring him in and he'll connect on 3s... Obviously Blatt seems to think we need him, now. ... btw, Sam Amico (in today's live chat), like me, thinks we should be using Haywood more against certain "long" bigs... Yeah I know, with 8 wins in a row, what's there to complain about? Still, we do go through uncomfortable periods when we get pushed around in the paint like last night by Jonas... The night before was rather inexcusable when we had trouble stopping the Brook Lopez-less Nets in the paint. Put Haywood in and see what he can do... Also note: TT is beginning to eat into Andy's minutes, esp in 4th quarters. Must be because Blatt likes Tristan's greater physical play than Andy's. ... This team is starting to look like the deep team we came into the season believing it to be.

I wasn't comparing Jones and Allen. Mr. Shuttlesworth will be inducted into the HOF. Jones will need paid admission. Allen was part of a Big 3 that won a championship and was/is one of the best pure shooters in the history of the game. Jones is a career bench guy. I get that... The issue is context. Our bench needs scorers. It's easy to say, well, we've won 8 in a row, what's the problem? When many of those early wins were struggles where the starters (like No. 23) had to carry the team playing 42-3 minutes/night, while the bench was scoring 5-7 points. So I'm not saying Jones is the 2nd coming of Allen, or even Kyle Korver, but if you are a team that struggling with rotations and bench scoring, why would you Coach's DNP a quality, 6'8" long-distance shooter who can stretch the floor, aid in spacing, etc., etc.?

^You MUST find consistent minutes for Jones. Shooters don't grow on trees, which is why GMs are genuflecting to woo 39-year-old Ray Allen out of retirement. With our bench's struggles to score, we would be nuts not to consistently get a shooter like Jones in the lineup... I'm really glad Delly is back, but Delly is a 2 and Jones is a 3, who could spell LeBron.

Btw Hts, I'm not hating on Miller just based on the season. I was desperately trying to body-language his 3-pointers in during preseason too, but they were clanking left and right. Even more damning for Miller was the fact that, when he did get in, he'd go for 24 minutes taking 1 or 2 shots. Sorry, he's a big boy and I just can't always default to blaming the offense for not setting him up or getting him the ball... Jones on the other hand, came in ice cold after 16 games of sitting and, well, you see what he's done.

We'll see. I've liked Miller's career and his upbeat attitude. He's a real team guy. And yes he had a fine game against Milwaukee where his 3-point shot seemed to lift us out of the doldrums, then he got a bunch a rebounds and even amazingly blocked Giannis Antetokounmpo's shot. Then he got concussed in NY. The problem is that, in 15 games, aside from the 1 game I cited, Miller hasn't showed us anything. There's a lot of evidence he just may be out of gas. Good guy, but ... Honestly, I don't really care about Jones' "reputation" for being a poor defensive guy, or that he's one dimensional, or that he was losing minutes under Spolestra in successive seasons. History is nice -- all the "impact" player Miller is, and his high basketball IQ is great to talk about, but to date, he hasn't shown any of that here, save the aforementioned Bucks' game... I'm interested in NOW not history or reputation. How is Miller fitting into this rotation and what is he contributing... NOW? ... Others have noted that Dion Waiters was called upon to be a catch 'n shoot guy (which in my opinion really limits his talents) on this particular team, James Jones' 1 dimension is CRITICAL for a team whose bench has shown an inability to score. Yes, we've only seen Jones for really 2 games when his minutes really meant something. Sorry, but that's enough for me. Enough for me after watching game-in-and-game-out a bench scoring 5 to 7 points and being the worst in the league point-wise. When Jones came in and immediately and effortlessly pumped in those 3s against both Toronto and the Nets, you could instantly feel the opponents scrambling to cover him, and you also saw both Tristan and Dion start to get to the rim; both these guys had been struggling. BTW, I also saw Haywood immediately come in an swat a shot in junk time last night, just as he swatted away 3 in the 4th against Orlando. I also saw Haywood fluidly get to the hole for a nice slam, too. You and others make Haywood seem as creaky and useless as Andrew Bynum when, in reality, he appears to be far more useful. Again, I keep stressing that neither Jones nor Haywood are All Stars or ready for the HOF. But I maintain it's foolish to leave useful tools in the tool belt when your team has issues... I like a lot of things Blatt has done with this team, esp on D and esp with Kyrie. But unlike you, I'm not going to put my full faith in him when there have been obvious needs on the bench to prop up the starters, and guys like Jones and Haywood have been Coach's DNP's for most of this young season and we've been struggling... Makes no sense. David Blatt is not the Gospel and, just because he's not playing certain guys doesn't mean they can't play. I think that, after 17 games of sitting on the bench, James Jones has proven this. I think Haywood could be another.

I guess Tim Loehmann speaks really quickly if he ordered the gun dropped, deduced danger and, then, killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice all in the space of 2 seconds. And why would Tamir go for his gun, in defense, when he knows it's a toy. Was this young kid of 12 engaging in Suicide by Cop. I seriously doubt it.

What a beat down... Since James Jones (finally) has been inserted into the rotation, the bench is suddenly no longer a problem. With a 3 pointer that pure, you must have him in the lineup. The floor spacing Jones demands is opening it up for the other bench guys, and they are responding.

^I forgot about that one. It was classic and hilarious. It's definitely an oldie as LeBron was a smooth-face kid back then... All those NBA legends got face time in that bit, even Jerry West... I miss Bernie Mack. Funny man.

6 in a row! Cavs are really rounding into shape and are ahead of schedule compared to Miami 4 years ago. LeBron is clearly point-forward now, which has its pluses and minuses -- the big plus, of course, is that Kyrie can create more off the ball while defenses are keying on James and, if the results of the last couple games are an example (esp New York), it's working just fine. Glad also to finally see Blatt get James Jones into the lineup (as in meaningful minutes) and hope he becomes a permanent fixture in the rotations. IIRC Jones' second trey in the 2nd quarter put us up by 13 and forced Dwayne Casey to call a timeout. Jones is a weapon that had been rusting away in Blatt's holster; now we really need him. I know JJ has defensive issues, but you simply cannot ignore the reliable, long range firepower he brings, esp with a bench that has had difficulty scoring.

KJP, given the extreme freight bottleneck and choke point at that lakefront rail junction a few miles east of North Coast Harbor, that has caused routinely horrifically late Amtrak service (including 2 early morning westbound Capitol Limiteds into Cleveland), is there any serious discussion of rerouting east-west freight runs to the Belt Line to the south along Brookpark Road? I would hope there would be given the recent complaints about these routinely late Amtrak runs that, IIRC, has been highlighted at the Federal level. Getting these noisy, rumbling freights off the lakefront, of course, would have a positive impact on Downtown and the Lakeshore development-wise, while also making the NCTC more viable I would think. Cleveland's "hub" status for Amtrak doesn't seem feasible with current freight congestion through the North Coast Harbor which, in turn, would not bode well for NCTC's prospects, no?

Last night was the definition of an ugly win. We struggled against one of the worst teams in the league whose superstar had his worst game, scoring-wise, in 2 season. But Amare Stoudamire and Quincy Acy had their way inside (and thankfully we got an assist from Derek Fisher by yanking pain-in-the-ass Sam Dalembert late with 5 fouls) ... until the 4th quarter. But the bottom line is, we won. LeBron was really below his standards -- missing shots, missing FTs and sloppy TOs, but I guess it really says something when a guy can "stink" with a stat line of 19 pts, 12 assists and 5 rebounds -- eek, hide the children! Even though I sometimes pout that LeBron isn't the LeBron of old, he still has the ability to "rescue" us, as he did last night and the 4th quarter -- yes, Kyrie was spectacular, but LeBron chose to run the point and feed Irving's hot hand. I firmly believe we'd be at least 5 games below .500 if 23 wasn't on the roster. Thompson was God-awful last night and Marion, not a lot better. ... ugly, but a win... At 10-7 we're ahead of the 2010 Heat's schedule (9-8). And we still haven't experienced the full Love Effect. The bench is still a mess, only 10 points, but hopefully Delly's return will put some things in order. Too bad about MM's concussion. After his nice performance vs. Milwaukee the other night, I was so hoping that we'd be seeing a semblance of the old Miller. Tonight I'm wary of the Raptors even without DeRozan. Hopefully we'll have figured out how to slow Lou Williams, at least a little bit.

^^$3,600/month for a 2 BR? ... Yes, Martha, downtown Cleveland has indeed arrived.

^This is excellent. Let's hope C-Bus keeps the pressure on for airport rail.

^I lean toward Manziel even though his body of work at the pro level, even in preseason, rates and "Incomplete." Also, yes, the overall winning record for the Browns have been the best under Hoyer, even though he has yet to complete a full season. But the fact is, Hoyer has been showings some very destructive tendencies under pressure these last 2 weeks. While the 44-second drive last week was a thing of beauty, Hoyer put us/him behind the 8-Ball with 2 consecutive late INTs which gave the lowly Falcons the late lead and nearly the victory. The INT that got him benched was inexcusable; it was right into triple coverage... Manziel just seems to have some intangibles, esp his ability to run and pickup yardage when stuff breaks down. And even though it was College, he's a proven winner at a major program. I guess the best approach is for Pettine to start Hoyer and see how he does. I'd have a very short hook though, and if he's missing open guys like he's prone to do, and esp if he throws picks, I'd bench him for Johnny Football.

I'm mystified by this answer. Obviously as the numbers you cite show, the bench as currently constituted by Blatt, is horrible statistically. We know how bad they were during the recent slump and they still aren't getting it done even during the recent winning run. I would think you would look at other guys to boost these bench numbers to give the starters some cushion as they are, obviousy, shouldering practically the entire load. And what's even more puzzling is a guy like James Jones is proven, and was an important support figure in Miami's success in it's 4-straight finals run. He's got a sweet 3-point stroke that stretches the floor. And he's a SF who can spell LeBron. Also, we keep crying about a rim-protector, but we've got a healthy 7-foot Haywood sitting around with a towel around his neck; and again I point out, he blocked 3 shots in 6 minutes during the 4th quarter vs. Orlando the other night. I'm not saying Haywood's the answer at the 5, but if you are currently struggling defensively at that position and are shopping for a 5, why not use him? Yeah, it may not be "broke" in terms of winning lately, but it is broke when you look at the bench's numbers. And if LeBron or one of the other Big 3 falters we're going to lose games again, esp against the upper echelon teams... I still don't get Blatt.

I was frankly surprised they cut Price to begin with. He was impressive in preseason.

^Good stuff. NOT&L, IIRC was the interurban line to Akron... Imagine today hopping an RTA Rapid at Tower City for, say, a 45 min sprint into downtown Akron; and to think the Vans were that close -- perhaps just 1 - 5 years away, as you note... Well the good news is that Ohio transit funding has gotten so bad added to the growing desire of Millennials to live in downtown Cleveland, and transit friendly nabes like Ohio City, U. Circle/Little Italy and Shaker Sq, that officials are squealing louder about the funding crisis-- even Joe Calabrese. The bad news is I'd feel more optimistic about getting better transit funding if Ohio voters, earlier this month, hadn't decided to double down on the anti-transit Republicans who have created and perpetuated this mess to begin with.

^It still bothers me that Blatt won't play guys like Haywood and James Jones; even in blowouts like last night's Pacers game. And no reporters are asking why. I'm not convinced these guys can't contribute simply because Blatt refuses to play them.

^^When they speak of horse-power, they mean the real thing... The country was entering a critical juncture passenger train and transit wise during this period. America decided to allow railroads to remain free enterprises where it seems other Western countries had their railroads under state ownership, much like we treat our highways today. As with the national defense, primary & secondary education and even the postal service (which is shaky now) America, these countries determined that their railroads were too central to the health-and well being of their economies to turn them over to the free markets as did we. While we romanticize the interurban era, it was brief and one doomed to fail from the start. Interurban companies were building up in the 1890s and early 1900s but usually by lower budget companies, or companies where rail was a sideline, as with electric companies. As in Cleveland, these interurban trains were forced to enter the CBD over crowded, slow streetcar tracks. Those interurbans that did move freight did so with short-haul deliveries which, of course, were no match for the railroads, which stuck with long-distant passenger travel except in only a few large cities where they developed commuter rail (and in more moderate metro areas, like Cleveland and Pittsburgh, there were only about 1 or 2 commuter rail lines run be the railroad... So as we saw in Cleveland, even when urban automobile commuting was still new in the 1920s, the interurban companies, 1-by-1, folded up like a cheap suit. So extreme that, even when the Van Sweringens were offering high-speed entry over their new Rapid Transit lines, these companies were too weak to participate -- and the Vans were really tapped out building what would become Tower City extend connections to these faltering companies (which is why only the existing Shaker Line the grade-separated downtown entry was initially designed for, got built during the interurban era. We would have a totally different, and far better, rail transit and passenger rail network, both regionally and nationally, had the US not decided to leave railroads totally to the whims of free markets where, of course, they were and are going to focus solely on freight rail which is the most profitable. Even our admirable, though still way underfunded Amtrak, takes second fiddle over tracks where, outside of the small Northeast Corridor, are not owned by them.

These shutdowns I can live with. Replacing those ancient Woodhill tunnels is a massive job that's long needed to be done. As for the replacement shuttle confusion, I'm not surprised. I hate the way RTA runs its shuttles. The last time I rode one, years ago to the CIFF, the replacement shuttle bus system was horribly organized. Driver's didn't know the correct route and/or barely knew their schedules. They never called stops which, given the fact that passengers may not be/probably aren't familiar with the non-station bus surroundings, is inexcusable. Buses either didn't show up at their appointed time or were bunched up much like HL buses are, today. Driver training, regardless the mode, is historically not an RTA strong suit, and with these replacement shuttles, it's in spades... Maybe things are better now, but from some of the comments I read and hear, ... not much. When shuttles are in force, I either skip going downtown entirely ... or, ugh, drive.

^awesome photos, esp the first one of Shaker Square -- I love the angle which, to me, is an idyllic vision urbanized America.