Hts121

The Warriors should be the favorites. They won 73 games and have home court advantage. I take no issue with most people picking the Warriors. They aren't disrespecting the Cavs by doing so. From an objective standpoint, I would probably have to pick the Warriors as well. But it's far from a foregone conclusion that they win it. Mark my words that the winning team will run into a bit of luck, as is the case in most championship 7 game series. One reason I preferred to play OKC, other than home court, was due to concerns with matchups. JR would've guarded Westbrook and Kyrie would have been on Roberson. But with GSW, I'm not sure you can put Kyrie on Klay, who has a good back down game when you try and check him with smaller guards. There also is the question of how you guard their frontcourt. I would probably put TT on Green and KLove on Bogut. While putting TT on Green will pull him away from the basket, KLove is the better defensive rebounder anyway. I suspect we are going to see a lot of LeBron at the 4 this series, which will probably translate to less minutes for each of TT, KLove and Frye.

I'm just glad there is a game 7. Another 48 minutes of basketball for whoever we are gonna face in the Finals. Plenty of opportunity to twist an ankle or do something that will get someone suspended

Not knocking that lineup at all, but you have to consider the context. Lue has subbed out LeBron in the 1st quarter in order to reinsert him when that lineup and the other teams BENCH players are in the game, or the other teams starters are running out of gas. If that was our best lineup, that would be our starting and finishing lineup. It isn't, and for a reason. Certainly there will be some games when one lineup outperforms another, but to call it our "best" lineup is silly. I'm not saying either that your best lineup is always going to be your starting lineup. It matters much more who finishes the games and who plays the crunch time minutes. Blatt often used Delly and TT at the finish, even though those players were not starters. Lue seems more likely to stay with the hot hand, within reason.

Not happy about that, but I'd much rather see developers focus their efforts on the sea of lots between W.3rd and W.6th. Filling in the holes outside of that area is a distant second on my wish list.

Sad to report to that Grind Burger in Highland Heights has closed. I had anticipated this, as there were never many people dining there. Too bad. I loved eating at that place. It was one of my vices I had to act once a month or so. I think it would have done better in a different, more heavily trafficked location. You can't put a place like that right next to a gym and tanning salon and expect much success, I suppose.

nm

I actually think EC is a bigger albatross around Cleveland's (and Cleveland Hts's) neck as a separate entity. It holds back UC's potential and definitely has a negative impact on several CH neighborhoods. I am sure EC has a ton of debt, but I'm not sure whether or not those debts would pass to Cleveland with a merger. Anyone know?

BTW, last night was the THIRD straight game Lue decided to sit KLove for the entire fourth quarter ;)

OKC is definitely peaking at the right time, but they are still very vulnerable. What concerns me is their versatility. We have seen them use a lineup with KD at the 3, and Adams and Kanter both on the floor at the 4 and 5. They can upsize that lineup even more because Ibaka can guard some 3's and KD can play the 2. They've also had a lot of success going 'small', with KD at the 4 and Ibaka at center, with a 3-guard lineup of Westbrook, Roberson, and Waiters. They have the ability to matchup with just about any lineup we throw at them. All that said, LeBron has absolutely owned OKC.

^Is that a joke?

Wow. I never realized how not fun Cleveland is. I need to move to Pittsburgh, where it is twice as fun..... objectively speaking, of course

Not sure how I got that title, but I'll take it ;). I think it's a different game if we simply hit our shots. 13-41 from 3 point range and, in particular, the cold start, doomed us. We're in a bit of a funk. A cool off was inevitable after shooting the lights out vs. Atlanta. I'm just glad it didn't happen in the Finals. I'm still very confident. I think we win in 6, although Game 6 will be tough. Toronto plays inspired basketball in front of its home crowd.

He's going to pay all $80 of the fine? How generous of him :). What's ironic is that Jones' fine would have been exponentially more if he had NOT been suspended. Probably around $25,000. Since he was suspended for one game, his fine is one game check, which I heard is about $80 given his end of year signing and that they calculate the game check based on the 82 game season.

Live by the 3, die by the 3

OKC is starting to scare me more than GS

^^Different stages of the cities life cycles / boom times. If you did the same map for Cleveland for the first half of the 20th Century, or Cincy probably going well back into the 1800's, the density would blow away any City being built up in modern times. I'm not sure where Cincy is, as it seems that city preserved more of its bones than Cleveland, but Cleveland is basically restarting the cycle now. Most development in the City is occurring in downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods, with a few outlying area (such as University Circle and Gordon Square). The growth pattern will be different this time, as it truly will be infill as opposed to build out. It will never reach the same density level it once was, but it also has the advantage (at least IMO) of not having a bunch of steady, suburban style neighborhoods standing in the way of its urban planning for the next century.

I wasn't commenting at all on growth patterns. Just the numbers. Cleveland MSA's growth areas are certainly in the outlying counties. It's a consequence of past choices made during the City's boom time, which Columbus would be wise to consider presently.

I did some rough calculations a year or so ago and came up with the following for Cleveland: If the City were regionalized to include the following Cuyahoga County municipalities - Parma, Lakewood, Euclid, Cleveland Hts, Garfield Heights, Shaker Hts, Maple Hts, S. Euclid, Parma Hts, Rocky River, Mayfield Hts, Brook Park, East Cleveland, Fairview Park, Lyndhurst, Warrensville Hts, Beachwood, Seven Hills, Brooklyn, and Richmond Hts - the total population would be (approx.) 902,000 over a land mass of 207 sq. miles. A little more compact and denser than Columbus, but not by all that wide of a margin. In pockets, those disparities grow. I'm not all that familiar with Columbus, but I always thought it was more evenly dispersed. Cleveland has large swaths of areas where virtually nobody lives (e.g. the industrial valley, the metroparks, midtown :()

^Warriors and Thunder are changing time zones. That might have something to do with it. They also had less rest than the Cavs between series. I actually like that the 3 day hiatus bumps our series ahead of theirs.

Really looking forward to beach weather this summer. I feel like the clean up at Edgewater has added a whole new layer of options for my family on the weekends. Kids are always down for going to the beach and not having to trek all the way out to Headlands makes it much easier for us.

Pistons were a combined 1-5 vs. Atlanta and Toronto this year. They were swept by the Hawks. They also finished behind both in the standings and, specifically, 12 games behind the Raptors. Of course nobody "knows" because they didn't play each other in the playoffs, but every objective measurable we have to go on says the Hawks and Raptors are better teams. I'd agree that Detroit is on the rise, but they are still missing a few pieces before they will be true contenders. Until then, they are stuck in mediocrity and if they continue to slip into the playoffs as a lower seed (i.e. out of the draft lottery), there they will stay in all likelihood.

I definitely wouldn't say 'best team' (Atlanta and Toronto would beat Detroit in a series), but I might entertain the thought that the Pistons were the toughest matchup for the Cavs, especially if Toronto doesn't have Jonas V. Atlanta just doesn't match up well at all with the Cavs, sort of like the first era LeBron teams had trouble matching up with Boston and Orlando.

Is this all in one phase?

Secretaries used to have to type letters on typewriters and send them out by mail or fax. Now, their bosses are directly communicating through email 75%-85% of the time.

Three of the most storied franchises in the league - Philadelphia, LAL, and Boston - are now set to select 1, 2, 3 in the NBA draft. Even with Boston getting their pick via trade (Nets for Garnett and Pierce), its amazing how the landscape of the league has changed with globalization. There's really not much left to the notion of a 'big market team'..... maybe a little extra on a shoe deal, but that's about it.