We're always terrible in the 3rd quarter.

We were clicking in the 1st half like I hadn't seen us this season: our 65 was the most any team scored on Memphis in a half this season... Problem is, we weren't getting stops, esp in the 2nd quarter, so the Grizzlie's maintained contact.  Memphis shot 52% in the 1st half, even when we were going crazy, and this had me worried... Then we completely fell apart in the 2nd half when they made a run.  We allowed 17 straight points, which is inexcusable.  Hawes and Thompson, respectively, couldn't contain Gasol and Randolph.  We reverted into comeback mode... Kyrie spurred a run and we closed to within a point, but fizzled ... as we so often have.  We're now 6 games out of the 8 seed in the loss column, which is tough... We let one get away tonight, and we need every win we can get. 

Last night is probably going to be typical of The March of Death.  That was a very tough matchup on the road with Andy, Dion, and CJ still out.  Z-Bo Z-boed us in the 3rd quarter big time.  But they should keep their head up.  Losing to a healthy Memphis in Memphis is hard to avoid.  The Cavs played very well last night.  The final score was not indicative of how close that game was.

I am curious why Mike Brown called only one timeout (when Jack went down) in the third despite getting outscored by 18 points in that quarter.

Last night is probably going to be typical of The March of Death.  That was a very tough matchup on the road with Andy, Dion, and CJ still out.  Z-Bo Z-boed us in the 3rd quarter big time.  But they should keep their head up.  Losing to a healthy Memphis in Memphis is hard to avoid.  The Cavs played very well last night.  The final score was not indicative of how close that game was.

 

I was bummed about last night, because it was a winnable game.  But even after we were demolished in the 3rd quarter, we still made a run, and had a chance to win up until that very lucky Mike Conley 24-second buzzer beater that pretty much sealed our fate.  Kyrie went nuts and pulled us to within a point in the last 3 mins: anybody's ballgame. .. I just looked at our March schedule and only Miami, San Antonio and, maybe, Houston are teams I'd say we can't beat.  But teams like Golden State, the Clippers (who we have beaten), Phoenix and Brooklyn (who we beat, also) can be had.  We also have Detroit and the Knicks who I think we SHOULD beat.  Waiters, Andy and CJ may be coming back soon.  It's not going to be easy, but I also don't think it's impossible considering the shakiness of the teams ahead of us.  We also play the Bobcats twice in the last 21, and therefore have the chance to control our own fate with them.  We owe them anyway.

anyone else go to the game tonight?  It was very emotional.  proud of the big guy

scorned, but still in love...?!

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/sports/basketball/some-lovelorn-cleveland-fans-tell-lebron-james-he-can-come-home-again.html?referrer=

scorned, but still in love...?!

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/sports/basketball/some-lovelorn-cleveland-fans-tell-lebron-james-he-can-come-home-again.html?referrer=

 

He supposedly flew in yesterday right before the game from Chicago, but his Instagram posts yesterday were showing up from Fairlawn OH.  He must have been at "home" already.

 

Has anyone else heard the rumor that he wants to put together an allstar team here back in Cleveland--not only with the Cavaliers, but also NBA guys with teenage sons so they can all play together at SVSM?  I, for one, would be all for this arrangement.

^That's a can of worms for this thread.  I'll just say this.  Lebron (and Wade and Bosh) all have player options for next year.  I would be surprised if they did not all exercise those options.  If you believe the rumors, the 'deal' with Savannah was 5 years in Miami and then back home to raise the kids.  This is his fourth year.  Now back to the Cavs....

 

I was very happy for Z last night.  Great turnout and support by the City.  I even saw Joe Thomas there.  It was touching how his Z's father kissed the floor in a show of appreciation for the City and organization which adopted his son at such a young age while he was thousands of miles away.  Z deserved that kind of celebration. 

 

I thought the 'escorts' were a little cheesy, though.  Wayne Embry's speech was also not well prepared or thought out IMO.

 

As for the current state of the team, I'd say these past two were about as close to 'must-wins' as we are going to see the rest of the season.  We just couldn't put together a solid 48 minutes in either.  I don't understand why Dion only played 13 mins last night and why Andy did not play in the second half at all.  I assume Andy's limited PT was due to this being his first game back.... I just hope he didn't re-aggravate anything.

 

Between Deng and Hawes, I am starting to lean strongly towards re-signing Hawes.  He fits nicely with Kyrie and TT in the starting lineup, opening up the inside for both of them.  Deng is surprisingly having a lot more problems changing systems.

 

The game last night was so boring. I thought they might come out strong in the second half, which they did for about 2 minutes, then they proceeded to drain the energy right out of the building. No direction on offense, bad rotations on defense. I'm really starting to think the coach is the problem. There is obvious offensive talent on this team, and its inability to produce quality shots is inexcusable. How can a team with so much young, athletic talent be so boring to watch? Why do our 2nd and 3rd year players seem to be regressing, while our rookies can't even get on the floor? This team needs to be torn down again already. Outside of Kyrie, Waiters, Bennett, and the other players on rookie contracts, I'm not sure anybody needs to come back.

Great event last night for Z. At the other end of the spectrum was the Cavs' performance. They should apologize to Z. And they should apologize to the fans for going 0-for-March thus far. That's just pathetic.

 

Good thing the Indians have been rocking Spring Training.

Can't we just stay on a perpetual west coast road trip?  After an impressive win in Phx, we go into GS and pull out a gutsy one after falling behind by nearly 20 in the first quarter.  I think that Austin Carr is right..... the Cavs play best when they get out and run.  The slower, half-court pace in the East seems to frustrate them.

C'mon Philly! Lose one more to help hide a stain on the Cavs franchise!

 

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo  2m

76ers have lost 25 in row, 1 shy of Cavaliers single-season losing streak record (set in 2010-2011)

C'mon Philly! Win one more to help hide a stain on the Cavs franchise!

 

I wanted to be all  :? about this, but honestly it's tanking season. It works either way.

 

 

Sorry. That's a mind fart. I meant to write "lose"! I have since modified my e-mail.

After walking out of the Browns-Jets playoff game with the Browns down by 10 with 4 minutes to go, I really shouldn't give up on a game again. BTW for the record I stayed for the whole Indians-Mariners game on my 34th birthday in 2001 when we were down 14-2 in the 7th, even though I wanted to leave but my sister encouraged me to stay. She was with me at the Browns-Jets game too!

 

Yet, I gave up on tonight's Cavs game well before the Cavs scored 10 unanswered points to win, including Dion's buzzer-beater. I shouldn't have. Forgive me Cavs for I have sinned...

 

Sweet win.  Happy for Waiters.  While he isn't/haven't always been perfect, I think he's suffered a ton of unfair grief at the hands of many pundits and fans, who would have dealt the kid at the trade deadline, if they had their way, because (allegedly) he and Kyrie couldn't get along.  I think Kyrie's often the recipient of unjustified deference while Dion's is similarly criticized in similar proportions.  Not saying Kyrie's not an extremely talented young player, but sometimes he plays as though he's been reading his press clippings ... and watching Uncle Drew commercials.

Great shot by Dion, especially considering he was played in excess of 80 minutes these past two nights.  But Delly gets the game ball. 

it was nice to go out and watch the shorthanded cavs put a whipping on the reeling pacers. they really owned them right from the start. i just hope andy is ok, he hurt his shoulder in the second half.

 

the cavs only play one team with a winning record out of the last 8 games and kyrie is expected back this week, so keep hope alive.

^Plus the Cavs get to play the 8th seed (Atlanta) who are only 2.5 games ahead of them.  If they can beat the Hawks it should set the table for an exciting April. 

I'm more worried about catching the Knicks than the Hawks.  I know ATL holds the tie breaker with us, but not sure about NYK.  We split the season series with them

I'm more worried about catching the Knicks than the Hawks.  I know ATL holds the tie breaker with us, but not sure about NYK.  We split the season series with them

 

Agreed. The Cavs are finally playing the way I thought they would this year. But alas it may be too late. If they had Spencer Hawes rather than Andrew Bynum (who'da thought that?) from the start, perhaps this team might have played better. Also I think this team finally started to figure out how to play Mike Brown's defense which requires players to coordinate and communicate with each other rather than play the me-first game. Oh well, there's always next year (the Clevelander's sports motto).

Knicks had as big a win as Cavs yesterday: knocking off Golden State on the road.  But 7 of their final 8 games are vs. current playoff (seed) teams.  Cavs schedule is easier, with only 3 (Eastern: see easier) playoff teams (Atlanta, Charlotte and the Nets again, who just handled us)... Included in there are dogs like Orlando and Milwaukee, who we should handle... We’ve got Detroit too, who although we’ve won the last 2, they’ve been major comeback struggles (including Dion’s amazing, possibly season-saving buzzer-beater last week). Obviously the Hawks game is the best chance to help ourselves and gain a full game on them.

 

We're playing strong now, but there are concerns.  Andy could be gone again, which would really hurt because our bigs  have been generally mediocre-to-bad lately.  Hawes has been up and down and his 3-pt shot, until yesterday, was AWOL.  Tristan Thompson likewise was horrendous until yesterday, and his offensive shortcomings become more glaring with each game... And Zeller has suddenly regressed into a nobody after a season of mostly progress... Tyler is making me seriously regret we didn't deal him instead of Henry Sims for Hawes... and in case you haven't noticed the record-tying (with Cavs) losing 76ers, ... Sims has been made a starter by Brett Brown and has had a double-double most nights including a 18/16 game since... I thought Sims was progressing nicely under Mike Brown up until we dealt him, and I totally disagreed with pundits who said we gave up "nothing" for Hawes... Clark, yes, ... Sims?  definitely not.  Henry's large, athletic, mobile and has an improving 15/18 footer... With his solid Georgetown pedigree, I think Sims is going to have a nice NBA career.

 

^Sims is much more physically limited than Tyler.  And I'm not so sure Tyler wouldn't be putting up similar numbers if given the same opportunity for the Sixers.  Inflated stated on horrible teams are routine in the NBA.  Don't get me wrong.... I'm no big fan of Tyler, but I do think he has a much higher ceiling than Sims.

^Maybe... fact is, Sims has been steadier than Tyler in the last 10 or so games.  Only time will tell, but Zeller's drop off in the last week or so has been steep, and at this crucial part of the season... and he's ending his 2nd year where you thought he'd be more consistent.

^Has Philly even come within 10 points of winning any of those games?  Do you remember when Ricky Davis averaged 20/5/5 for the Cavs?

^No, until Detroit Saturday... and Kyrie's been averaging 22 PPG for us for the last 2 years, and where have the Cavs' been record-wise?

I didn't allege any automatic correlation.  I was simply pointing out that you have to be careful to laud good stats on horrible teams.  I think we can safely say that, if both were available, the trade market would be a wee bit stronger for Kyrie than it would be for Sims.  When playing in the same system under the same conditions, Sims' stats were no better than Tyler's

Inflated stated on horrible teams are routine in the NBA. 

 

Somewhere, Ricky Davis is nodding in agreement.

Cavs have now won 5 of their last 6 and are 15-12 since Grant was fired.  The team is finally starting to play like I thought they could/would at the beginning of the year.  Just 2 games back for the final playoff spot, with a matchup against Atlanta on Friday.  The problem is that the NY Knicks are scorching hot and are tied with Atlanta for the final spot after trouncing Brooklyn last night.  The Knicks remaining schedule is filled with playoff teams, but only one of those games (Miami) is against an elite team.  The remaining games, I believe, are against the likes of Washington, Toronto (Lowry just got hurt), Brooklyn (again), and some other more middle of the road teams.  I don't like our chances of closing the gap with the Knicks, but I'll certainly enjoy my team playing meaningful games in the last few weeks of the season.

I actually do like our chances against the Knicks considering their remaining schedule. But I will say I was pretty shocked had badly they beat down Brooklyn.

 

The key is tomorrow's Cavs game against Atlanta. If the Hawks lose it, they're done. If the Cavs lose it, they're done -- there's simply too much ground to make up in the games remaining. I just don't want the Cavs to end up in a tie with the Knicks or we'll lose out on tie-breakers. I think we'll have to win-out to finish one game ahead of the Knicks. Can they?

simple for cavs...win out and close. Tough task?  Sure.  But the teams we are playing suck and if you are going to make the playoffs you have to beat these teams.  Highly likely that the knicks lose at least 2 games.  They play brooklyn late, and im sure brooklyn would love to punk the knicks from the playoffs.

If the Cavs win-out and the Knicks lose two, Cavs stay home for the playoffs. Knicks have to lose at least three for the Cavs to have a chance......

 

New York Knicks are 33-43

Wizards

Heat

Raptors

Bulls

Nets

Raptors

 

Cleveland Cavaliers 31-45

Hawks

Bobcats

Pistons

Bucks

Celtics

Nets

They hold the tiebreaker?

They hold the tiebreaker?

 

The Knicks do, yes.

No matter how much fight they have, Atlanta sucks now so I think the Hawks are pretty much also rans and that the fight is going to be between us and New York. 

 

Of our last opponents, the Bobcats worry me the most.  We haven't figured out this team all year, including the 2 preseason losses against them.  We lost 2 games to them when Al Jefferson was on the injured list and, now that he’s playing, he pushes us around and scores like the monster big that he's become... First, we need Kyrie to man-up and, for once, shut down that pesky Kemba Walker who always seems to best Irving when we play Charlotte.  Secondly, our bigs need to toughen up.  Big physical teams (like Chicago, Detroit, SA, etc.) push our big men around way too much.  I love Hawes' offensive game, but he needs to toughen up and use that huge 7'1" frame of his under the hoop -- remember when small forward Michael Kidd-Gilcrhist blocked Hawes dunk last game?  can't have that.  And we positively MUST have Andy in the lineup to have any shot at all.  He’s our lone big who is consistently a tough defender.  Without Andy, I think we lose to Charlotte, Detroit and possibly Brooklyn.  And if that happens… see ya next year Cavs.

 

They hold the tiebreaker?

 

The Knicks do, yes.

 

For now.  That could change.  The two teams split the season series.  I believe the second tie breaker is conference record, where the Knicks have the lead at the moment

 

EDIT - the Knicks have a relatively sizeable 3 game lead in conference records.  It's one of those things where we are actually going to get punished for being the better team against the waaaaaaaaay better conference (The West)

First, we need Kyrie to man-up and, for once, shut down that pesky Kemba Walker who always seems to best Irving when we play Charlotte.

 

Kyrie and Kemba entered the league in the same year.  Kemba was older and more experienced, of course, coming into the league having spents three years at UConn.  He is indeed pesky and one helluva scorer.... which is why he was a top 10 pick despite falling short of 6 feet tall.  Kyrie has not had his best games against Charlotte this year, but I'm not convinced that is because of Kemba.  When you take their stats from the Cavs vs. Bobcats games since those two came into the league, here is what you get

 

Kyrie - 18.8ppg 6.1apg 3.5rpg 47%fg

Kemba - 14.5ppg 5.5apg 2.6rpg 37%fg

 

The Cavs are 5-4 in those games.  That doesn't seem like Kemba is getting the best of him in head-to-head matchups.  I'll concede that if you isolate this year, Kemba's stats are better and Charlotte has won all three games.  But I'll go ahead and say that 3 games is an awfully small sample size to make that judgment.

^This year is what I'm talking about.  We're 0-3 vs. Charlotte, including 0-2 in preseason, and Kemba has been outplaying Kyrie. 

I might've taken "always" a little too literally.  But you can't look at preseason.  That means shite.  The record is also misleading because it is a team sport and the last game, for example, it was Big Al, not Kemba, who killed us.  "Outplaying" is a strong term.  They've been fairly even.... with Kyrie closer to Kemba than Kemba has been to Kyrie in the two prior years.  Kemba played better the first game and third games and Kyrie probably played better in the second game.

The Cavs look awful tonight.  Go Tribe.

Cavs are WATCHING this game just like me. They are watching their own season come to an end, right before their very eyes. And Kyrie doesn't seem all that interested.

 

I post this with a proviso: that Windhorse didn't want to be in Cleveland either and couldn't wait to ride LeBron's coattails to plasticsurgeryland....

 

Brian Windhorst: Kyrie Irving doesn’t want to be in Cleveland, that should impact contract extension talks

Kurt Helin Apr 4, 2014, 6:52 PM EDT

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/04/brian-windhorst-kyrie-irving-doesnt-want-to-be-in-cleveland-hat-should-impact-contract-extension-talks/

 

Hello Lottery!!  After 2 weeks of solid play, we went right back to the dysfunctional crap that got us to this predicament in the first place.  You could tell Brown was really frustrated and chewed out Kyrie early in the 4th. Hawes started out awful, but was sensational in the 3rd as Kyrie an  Dion, who came out smoking, looked totally clueless.  Brown pulled them both midway through the period... Luol Deng looks like he's on the cusp of retirement.

 

... So the prospects of ending this season on a happy note just disappeared.  If any of this stuff Brian Windhorst is reporting is true, we've got major issues to face with Kyrie this summer.  If he balks at the max deal, we may need to move him.  He's young, but I'm surprised and disappointed how apparently moody he is without first having proven anything -- other than looking great All Star weekend...

... Oh, and Tristan Thompson was worst than bad tonight at both ends.  We seriously need to upgrade at the 4.  It may turn out that Thompson was Grant's worst Lottery pick, even worse than Bennett, who has more upside that Thompson and who, after a (hopefully) injury-free summer training period, may turn out to be a nice ballplayer.  Tristan usually tries hard, but just has no natural offensive skill or rhythm.  And he was porous on defense.  He's really been exposed of late.

The only thing Kyrie seems to care about is his "brand." That's all. He's never won at any level, so he has no idea what he's missing out on and no idea how to lift others around him to play winning basketball. What a waste of time he's been.

I'm wondering whether the Windhorst report on Kyrie destroyed our locker-room morale.  Something was totally out of whack because we've been playing at such a high level until tonight.  We made the woeful Hawks look like they're heading to the Finals, which they obviously aren't .. You have to wonder...

 

 

BTW Waiters outscored Kyrie 23-13 in must-win game. Yep, our "franchise player" scored 13 points in a crucial game.

 

And defense? Nada!!

^Kyrie was clearly sulking, or something.  This kid's just too cute by half for my taste.

This game was comparable to the Cavs' loss to the 4-man Lakers in January...

 

... Oh yeah, and the Wizard's edged out the Knicks.  Had we won, we'd be in the driver's seat given the remaining schedule.

This game was comparable to the Cavs' loss to the 4-man Lakers in January...

 

... Oh yeah, and the Wizard's edged out the Knicks.  Had we won, we'd be in the driver's seat given the remaining schedule.

 

Yep. Love that killer instinct on this team. NOT