Awesome road win last night against the Timberpuppies. ESPN and the NBA channel were trying to play up the highlights as a battle between #1 picks Rubio (10 points) vs Irving (14 points). Advantage: Irving.

Kind of crazy to think we are one blown layup away from being 5-2.

 

Another chase down block by Kyrie was nice to see... especially since he was recovering on defense following a turnover.

 

Jamison's trade value is on the upswing.  I really hope he can keep this up until the All-Star break.  If he does, we will get some good value for him from a contender in need of some instant bench scoring.

 

I am really, truly loving the way Alonzo Gee is approaching this season.  Coach Scott is getting everything out of that guy.  He is almost like a wing-version of Andy in terms of always getting his hand on the ball and being in the right spot.

Irving may have scored 14 points, but again he missed a lot of shots and had something like half a dozen turnovers.  If anyone was trying to play up last night's game as a Kyrie-Ricky matchup, they had to have been disappointed. 

Low expectations of the Cavs was based on the belief that Irving would be a good-to-very-good point guard... Turns out, he's better than that, he's a budding star, maybe super star, already.

Irving had 7 turnovers. However 3 came in garbage time. Let's not get carried away. He's (Irving) playing much better than anyone expected or should expect out of a 19 year old who played 11 collegiate games. He certainly has the potential to become a superstar.

They've played above expectations, and I'm stoked about it.  But this week is going to be brutal.

After watching the Cavs play the Pacers, and then seeing what Miami did to the Pacers this week sans Wade, I am A OK with the Cavs losing more than winning if it means another lottery pick. But they are exciting to watch right now, and I like that. The bench is into the games and these guys are really supporting each other.

 

Also its nice to see the ball getting passed around and not watching somebody dribble for 20 seconds each possession.

I think the part I like most about this team is that they are having fun playing. It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. Unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way. But it's great to see it when it does.

Irving had 7 turnovers. However 3 came in garbage time. Let's not get carried away. He's (Irving) playing much better than anyone expected or should expect out of a 19 year old who played 11 collegiate games. He certainly has the potential to become a superstar.

 

Didn't say he was a star, but has star potential.  It's obvious that his relative ease in taking the reigns and QBing a pro team have surprised a lot of people.  Many star PGs today had a considerably bumpier start than Kyrie.

The kid plays with the ball on a string.  Easily one of the best ballhandlers in the league already at 19.  FYI, I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 of his turnovers are the result of his teammates not being prepared for or anticipating his passes.  He also is not afraid to take a risk.  I would like to see something between a 3/1 and 2/1 turnover to assist ratio out of him his first few years, eventually evolving into a 4/1 ratio in his prime.

They really need one more draft lottery selection to go to the next level. They are basically playing without a legitimate center.

Irving may have scored 14 points, but again he missed a lot of shots and had something like half a dozen turnovers.  If anyone was trying to play up last night's game as a Kyrie-Ricky matchup, they had to have been disappointed. 

There is absolutely nothing disappointing about Irving.  I know it's stupid to make these kind of comparisons, and the talent levels are obviously pretty far apart, but anybody doubting Kyrie right now should take a short walk over to basketballreference.com and compare LeBron's per 36 rookie stats to Kyrie's.  yep.

Interesting thing about Kyrie is that he's grabbing a good number of rebounds as well. He's playing PG effectively and also not afraid to get into the mix defensively.

Ugly game especially on offense tonight. But I was impressed by the cavs' defense for most of the game. Also, Kyrie had a couple of drives to the hoop that few other pgs could have made. He seems to be adjusting to the taller NBA trees at the rim.

I would like to see something between a 3/1 and 2/1 turnover to assist ratio out of him his first few years, eventually evolving into a 4/1 ratio in his prime.

 

I hope you mean "assist to turnover ratio"! :P

d'oh!

Ugly game especially on offense tonight. But I was impressed by the cavs' defense for most of the game. Also, Kyrie had a couple of drives to the hoop that few other pgs could have made. He seems to be adjusting to the taller NBA trees at the rim.

 

Portland did a good job keeping the Cavs out of the paint, and since our outside shots weren't falling (especially the 3-pointers!) we didn't stand a chance in that game.

The continuing theme this season has been we go as Jamison shoots.  When he doesn't shoot well, we lose.  When he does, we win.  Goes to show how much improved this team could be with a legitimate first option on offense, not one that is 5 years past his prime.

 

But you gotta give Portland its due.  They are back to being in the NBA elite, less than one year after their best player and borderline superstar, Brandon Roy, abruptly retired due to injury.  Acquiring Gerald Wallace was a very underrated move last season.  I always wanted that guy on the Cavs.  He is exactly the type of 'scrapper' Portland needed.  Right now, they are my pick to come out of the West (I put them just a bit ahead of OKC).

 

Along those lines, Portland could very well be another suitor for Andy and I think Nicholas Batum might be an intriguing enough prospect to get us interested.  Oden won't be back this year, if ever at all.  Camby is old as dirt..... but not as old as his backup, Kurt Thomas.

Ugly game especially on offense tonight. But I was impressed by the cavs' defense for most of the game. Also, Kyrie had a couple of drives to the hoop that few other pgs could have made. He seems to be adjusting to the taller NBA trees at the rim.

 

Portland did a good job keeping the Cavs out of the paint, and since our outside shots weren't falling (especially the 3-pointers!) we didn't stand a chance in that game.

 

The Cavs actually had one of their best nights in the paint against the Blazers, getting 46 points from close-in for the game.  They just couldn't get any 3s to drop, and Portland figured out their d.

Portland figures out that it is best to get out on the break after we clunked our 3's and not let us set up in our D

Portland figures out that it is best to get out on the break after we clunked our 3's and not let us set up in our D

 

Especially when it's Gerald Wallace running the floor and Omri Casspi clunking the 3.

Wallace was halfway down the floor before Casspi even released the ball.  Of course, I could probably make it halfway down the court if I had all the time it takes Omri to release his shot :/

Wallace was halfway down the floor before Casspi even released the ball.  Of course, I could probably make it halfway down the court if I had all the time it takes Omri to release his shot :/

 

And all the time it takes him to get back.

 

The real problem is that Casspi needs to either hit the shot, or we should be able to grab a rebound once in a while 5 on 4 (since no one was dropping back for defensive balance).

 

Also, not only does it take forever for Casspi to release the ball, he shoots from so low that I think I could block his shot.

We're a donut hole in the middle besides Varejao... Glad to see the Cavs finally take the wraps off of Erden; we DESPERATELY need help at center.  Andy's awesome, but is having to shoulder way too much of the load, and he's really out of position, anyway -- he's a 4 not a 5, as we know.  Plus Hollins is a joke and we've already seen Samardo's quick stiff-star-stiff arc; he's REALLY irritating me; 1st with that stupid passport goof which kept him out of Toronto where we urgently needed help against Bargnani who, twice now has killed us (can you believe Toronto's 3-5, with 2 of their 3 wins coming against us?).  Since then Samuels has been clueless -- he comes in last night and, in limited mins, turns the ball over 5 times, before Byron yanked his fat ass -- now we see why he was undrafted out of Louisville... All the more making it glaring why we need Semih...  Erden's a 7-footer who came with some positive buzz when we got him from Boston (considerably more than Luke).  I'm anxious to see what this kid can do.

Casspi plays like a dead person, so stiff it isn't even funny not to mention his shot is horrible :\. I have no idea why Austin Carr is always labeling Jamison as the "jump shooter" when he's obviously not. He'll make an occasional shot here and there but in no way, shape, or form is he a jump shooter, too inconsistant for that. I was getting irritated how he kept saying we need to find a way to get Jamison some shots, really ? c'mon now :-D. Do you see how many shots it takes him to get his points, all he does is shoot and say fk the defensive end with an occassional shocking rebound. Semardo is irritating me too, he forces almost everything he does (overplays his role to the extreme) but he does have some upside at times. The layups Irving makes is crazy :O, once he improves his shooting this kid will be scarey good. TT is playing suprisingly good, one year under his belt (build up bulkiness) he will be hard to handle around the rim especially if he develops a little jumper and better free throw shooting. All in all this team is exciting to watch and looking forward to the nxt couple of years of CAVS BASKETBALL, GOOOOO CAVS !

I would not trade Andy, there is no way you can get back what he's really worth to this team.

 

Trade

Jamison for anything lol √

Anthony Parker even tho I like him, he deserves to playing for a contending team given his age √

Sessions idk, depends on what you can get back for him

boobie no wayyy

Casspi trade back to SAC for nothing in return :-D jk but he really needs to improve

I made the argument earlier that Andy makes too much money to keep around a rebuilding squad, but then I thought better of the Cavs' situation.  It's hard to find someone as reliable as Varejao is on defense.  I wouldn't normally want to invest that money in a "4th best" type player, but by next year our three best players could conceivably all be on rookie contracts.  That would give the Cavs a lot of flexibility to keep Andy until Kyrie and Tristan come out of their rookie deals.

Great game tonight against Phoenix, and Kyrie was awesome with 26 points. That dance he did getting to the layup was sick. It better be somewhere in the Top Ten plays on Sportscenter!

This kids ball handling skills are sick :-O, there's no doubt in my mind that we made the right decision in drafting him with the first overal pick :). Did you see how nice his shot was looking aswell ? If or when he develops that, he will be dangerous. The layups he makes at times leaves me dazed :-D

Screw ESPN! It didn't make the top 10. I'll bet they didn't even bother looking at the highlights from the Cavs game.

Kyrie Irving shows why he was the number one overall pick

 

Better quality version here:

http://www.nba.com/video/games/suns/2012/01/12/0021100157_cle_phx_play3.nba

Enhancing the comment I made a few days ago, in Kyrie, we may be watching a budding SUPERstar before our eyes... He literally saved and won the game -- we were slowly sliding into oblivion in Phoenix last night - down 6-9 points and struggling -- when he came back into the game in the 2nd quarter (Ramon has slipped a bit lately), and totally turned it around w/ 12 straight points... Toward then end of the game, when victory was still in doubt - I don't know about you -- but I wanted the ball in Kyrie's hands, waiting for him to do something exciting; big... and he did -- He drilled a dime to (someone, I forget) that all but sealed victory -- of course Boobie absolutely sealed it with a trey.  I never thought I'd be this pumped in anticpating Cavs' games on TV, but each evening they're on FS-Ohio is like a mini holiday in my house (sorry, the GF has to become the equivalent of a sports widow -- although, happily, she's getting into it)... I want the Cavs to win, of course, but when they lose, I'm not at all upset (well, I was a little, when we almost stole that Indy game a few weeks ago)... The strike actually worked to my/our benefit, because they play at least every other night, and often consecutive nights.... This season aside, it's all about the future with this kid (and with Tristan and our quality coach, too)... and that future looks very bright right now.

 

GO CAVS!!!!

Kyrie is playing better than anyone could have expected.... but I will say that teams are going to start playing him to 'go left' in the near future.  He will have to adjust, which I'm sure he will.  The one thing that I have been most pleasantly suprised about is his outside shooting.  The biggest dissapointment (although not surprising) is that he is not in 'NBA game-shape'

^You're right, he get's tired out too much for a 19-year-old.  I think that p.o.'d Byron a bit, but he seems to be keeping his minutes down as a result, at least for now.  I also agree that now there is a significant Kyrie buzz spreading around the league, teams/players are going to adjust to him... Kyrie's developing a long-range game will keep them off balance...

 

We showed considerable toughness on the D-end against the Lakers last night... We were dead in the water, 18 down at halftime, 19 down, early in the 3rd... we battled back with great D and nearly caught 'em in the 4th.  Gee did a really nice job cooling off Kobe (he'd had 60 the way he was shooting if it wasn't for Alonzo).  We could have stolen the game if we could have hit key shots down the stretch and not turned the ball over so much; LA was fit to be had... Oh well, it was just another step on the comeback trail for this franchise.  Last year's team probably been torched for another 50-55 point loss. 

 

Erden's not showing much of anything but a few good D-ups.  He can't score to save his life... Samardo, now, is so far down on Byron's bench, he's in the locker room.

I was hoping for at least 2 wins on this road trip and we got it. But I thought the second win would come against Charlotte on Monday, so I'm hoping they can exceed my expectations with 3 wins.

I couldn't be happier with how this road trip turned out. A 3-4 record at this stage of the team's development, and coming home with a 6-6 record is pretty impressive. And in two of their road losses this season, against the Pacers and Lakers, they could have pulled out wins against those winning teams. No team in the league has had fewer home games so far than the Cavs, and they are 6-6. Remarkable.

I really got into the 4th quarter there

Kyrie is something special.  Dude can take over a game. 

Kyrie, WOOOOOOOOOOOOW! Can dude finish at the rim or what :-o. I'm really loving this team, one more lottery pic a FA pickup and we will be back in title contention in a couple years. Kyrie looks like he's getting more comfortable with his shot too which will only help his driving to the lane abilities.

Well..... that was a bummer. That looked like the Cavs of last year. A home and we lost to Golden State. Maybe we ought to send them back out on the road again!

^Typical "trap" game.  For whatever reason, when NBA teams return from a long road trip, they lay an egg at home.  This is not just the Cavs.

 

On to some good news.  Although this is probably nothing more than a figurehead job...... welcome HOME Big Z!!!!

 

Cleveland Cavaliers name Zydrunas Ilgauskas special assistant to the general manager

 

"I will always think of Cleveland as my home," Ilgauskas said

 

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2012/01/cleveland_cavaliers_name_ilgau.html

 

So he got the Dwight job ;)

To be honest, I really couldn't care less about big Z now a days so I don't know what to make of that :-D

Safe bet that your feelings are not shared by the great majority of the sports fans in this City. 

Was Z our last starting center (or was it Shaq)? We have two power forwards in our starting five now, and I thought we had that last year, too. I have to admit I didn't pay much attention to who was starting for the Cavs last year, what with all the injuries and the poor performance. I guess Shaq was our last center, but he was here only for that one-season cup of coffee. I'll always think of Z as one of the Cavs' three best centers -- Nate Thurmond, Brad Daugherty and Z.

At the Cavs game and we are getting blownnnnn outttttttttttt. Hate that f'n Noah. I am ready to fight him right now. Bleh

Unfrickingbelieveable ...  20+ would've been bad but I'd be OK with it.  Jeebus.

I saw how the start of the game was going and didn't bother watching the rest. Sad thing is we really needed to win that previous home game against Golden State because this is going to be a rough stretch against some tough teams.

Safe bet that your feelings are not shared by the great majority of the sports fans in this City. 

 

I agree with him.  I'm not sure why people in this city love Z.  We gave him chance after chance even though he repeatedly proved he was a very mediocre player and injury prone, and then he bolted to follow his buddy Lebron to Miami.

Safe bet that your feelings are not shared by the great majority of the sports fans in this City. 

 

I agree with him.  I'm not sure why people in this city love Z.  We gave him chance after chance even though he repeatedly proved he was a very mediocre player and injury prone, and then he bolted to follow his buddy Lebron to Miami.

 

Because he played on absolute crap teams for years and never asked to be traded or bad- mouthed the city. He Just went about his job, even if it was at mediocre level. He even came back with a good attitude after being traded and coming back mid-season.

Safe bet that your feelings are not shared by the great majority of the sports fans in this City. 

 

I agree with him.  I'm not sure why people in this city love Z.  We gave him chance after chance even though he repeatedly proved he was a very mediocre player and injury prone, and then he bolted to follow his buddy Lebron to Miami.

 

Mediocre player?  He is the franchise leader in minutes played, rebounds, and blocks.  He was an All-Star more than once.  And, as much as he got criticized for it while he was here, how is that interior defense looking since he left?  Sure... he wasn't the best at dealing with guards who got past our perimeter defense but he never got abused under the basket by other big men (DHoward excepted) like we are seeing this season.  He might not have been the most athletic (who is at 7'3?) but he was tough as they come and NEVER backed down.

 

After years of playing here, he was completely used by mgt in the Jamison trade, in the middle of what was a championship run.  He understood that it is part of the business, but it had to hurt.  That is, of course, not even mentioning the Mike Brown debacle when he didn't play him in the game he was prepared to become our all-time leader in games played.

 

And he absolutely did NOT "bolt" for Miami.  The Cavs had no interest in bringing him back last year as we were going into re-build mode.

 

I never understood why so many people did NOT like him.  I can remember people screaming from the rooftops to trade him for Jamal Magloire in LBJ's younger years.  Yeah.... that would have worked out well for us. :|