Finally... a game!!!

It had been 9 days since the last time a Cleveland team played, with the Browns and Indians last suiting up on September 28th. So even though last night's preseason game at the Q didn't really matter, at least it finally gave us something to talk about. And our first look at the new-look Cavaliers. Well, at least the first listen since the game wasn't televised. And by the way, it was damn good to hear Joe Tait's voice again...

Big Ben throws one down vs. Toronto last night

I wouldn't put too much stock in the final score, with the Raptors winning 104-84. How seriously can you take a game in which LeBron played 8 minutes and chipped in one point on three shots from the floor? And keep in mind that Delonte West wasn't even in the building. Overall the starters didn't really play much at all (Mo 26 minutes, Sasha 22 minutes, Ben 20 minutes, Z 22 minutes) with the goal being to keep everyone healthy and rested for the start of the season. So mission accomplished there. Brian Windhorst has the rundown in the PD (how good does that sound?) this morning of all the good and bad from last night's game.

"We looked pretty good at it at times, at other times we looked sloppy," Mike Brown said. "We have to be selective with our tempo, we have to know how to run."

And I also liked this piece from George Thomas at the ABJ (apparently taking over for Mr. Windhorst there) on JJ Hickson's Cavalier debut:

Rookie J.J. Hickson (7 points, 4 rebounds) didn't light things up on the scoreboard, but willingly and enthusiastically played some tenacious defense. His digging one off the floor in the first half led directly to a Cavs basket, but it was in the fourth quarter that he showed what the team saw in during the summer. He stole the ball from Toronto's Will Solomon at the 10:44 mark near midcourt and dashed to the Cavs basket, sealing the deal with a thunderous two-handed dunk that got the crowd roaring.

So it's one preseason game down, seven more to go before the real season starts in just 20 days. Terry Pluto likes what he sees so far with Mo pushing the tempo... And here's an interesting tidbit about the Cavs possibly coming close to acquring Jermaine O'Neal in the offseason. All I can say is thank the sports gods that that didn't happen. He will no doubt be hurt again by January... And finally, what to make of Anderson Varejao this year? One of my favorite Cavalier 'insiders' has a good piece on RealCavsFans.

Tribe Update: We found out yesterday that Travis Hafner's shoulder may need arthroscopic surgery. That's great news considering we are on the hook for $57M over the next four years with him and he's already showing diminishing skills at the plate. Hopefully it is due to the shoulder and it gets corrected, but I'm not holding my breath right now. Paul Hoynes and Sheldon Ocker both give their summaries from Mark Shapiro's state-of-the-team address yesterday. I thought it was interesting to hear him put so much emphasis on acquiring another starter. I'll eventually jot down my thoughts on the 2009 Tribe here as soon as I stop being lazy about it.

Browns Update: I guess it's time to get back into Browns mode again. I will reluctantly play along, this time with lowered expectations. But my patience is obviously wearing thin. Tony Grossi has a scouting report today on the defending Super Bowl champs. I'm just hoping we can somehow keep this game close and not embarrass ourselves in the spotlight. At least Josh Cribbs is feeling good again.

Back home...

To the handful of faithful readers out there, I apologize for the outage this week. I had to travel for work and really didn't have proper computer access to add any good updates. Spending a couple days in Madison, Wisconsin - as nice as it is - made me homesick for Cleveland. Call me crazy, I know. At least I got to miss the Tribe's slide in Boston (I can't stand the effing Red Sox). So we're back below .500 again, but with a chance for redemption this weekend in Chicago. I also got to miss out on the speculation regarding the Browns' brewing QB controversy. But now we know that DA will get the start, with BQ waiting in the wings for his chance to try to keep this sinking ship afloat. And has anyone else heard the Bill Cowher rumors? I briefly heard something on the radio last week about him buying a house in Strongsville. Then I even heard the same when I was in Wisconsin. I love all this speculation (probably based on the same unsubstantiated rumor I heard on the radio). Oh well, back to the grind...

Browns Update: The Browns take on the Bengals in Cincy on Sunday. And thankfully were finally a 1:00 pm start. The good news is if we keep playing like this, we'll have plenty of 1:00pm starts on the schedule next year. One of the more depressing things I did see when I was away from Cleveland is that this will be the fourth time since 1999 that both the Browns and Bengals enter their intrastate rivalry game winless. So four out of the last ten times we've met for the first time in a season, we've both been 0-and-something. Pathetic. But even worse if you're a Bengals fan, because at least we've had the expansion team excuse to lean back on. I really don't know what to expect anymore, especially out of either of these teams. My predictions have been woefully wrong all year, so hopefully I'm wrong again. I'll go with... Bengals 17, Browns 14. But win or lose this Sunday, it's really a win. A true win gets us back on track going into the bye week and some confidence in our preparation for MNF on October 13 vs. the Giants. But a loss probably means the Brady Quinn era will officially begin. And possibly the end of the RAC era (and inevitably more Cowher rumors). So all that should be fun to watch unfold. Although I don't think I'm ready for this franchise to start over again...

Will Sunday be Crennel's farewell?

Other Browns Notes: Tony Grossi talks about Crennel working through the storm... And what is up with our special teams so far? I think most of it comes down to Josh Cribbs playing hurt, although that doesn't explain the terrible punting by Dave Zastudil... At least we now know the Browns aren't eye-gougers. I was really worried about that...

Tribe Update: I won't go into the details of the Tribe losing the last three to the Red Sox. All I can say is F Boston. At least we know that Jhonny Peralta will finally give third base a try this weekend. Hooray!!! Rookie suprirse Scott Lewis will be on the mound for the good guys tonight as they attempt to ruin the postseason plans for the White Sox.

Cavs Update: Only 32 days until the first game! We finally got to hear from Dan Gilbert and Mike Brown in a press conference yesterday. Terry Pluto says that we can count on the Cavs to not disappoint. And I agree 100%. And Brian Windhorst also reports on the opening of camp. Speaking of Brian... I have heard from a very reliable source that he will soon be the Cavs beat writer for the Plain Dealer, following in Terry Pluto's footsteps by leaving the ABJ. If true, this will obviously leave a huge hole for the Beacon Journal, but will be a big plus for Plain Dealer readers. Finally some good Cavs coverage from the PD! It's about time.

I'm digging Coach Brown's new look

Streak ends at five

All good things must eventually come to an end. We knew the Tribe's winning streak couldn't last forever, and it ended at five as the Orioles took them down 6-1 last night at the Prog. The good news is that the Royals continued their losing ways and spared us from last place for another day. The bad news was that another ex-Indian came back to haunt us. This time it was Jeremy Guthrie, our one-time can't-miss prospect that never panned out for us. He went 7 solid innings against his former team last night to win his fourth straight game. I guess we can add Guthrie to the growing list of former Indians that couldn't figure things out here but have gone one to have solid seasons elsewhere (joining Ryan Ludwick, Russell Branyan, Brandon Phillips, Jody Gerut, etc., etc.). And yes those guys really have combined to hit 71 HR's this year...

"I just focused on what I had to do, blocked things out, and the guys got some big hits," said Guthrie, refusing to say he felt that he extracted any revenge on an Indians team that put him on waivers in January 2007.

Anthony Reyes had another decent start for the Indians, who may have just found something in that minor deal with the Cardinals. Reyes went 6 innings, giving up only two earned runs on 96 pitches. The bullpen did not fare so well (again). This time it was Brandon Donnelly's turn to help raise the ERA of the AL's worst bullpen. He entered in the top of the ninth and promptly gave up 5 hits and 4 earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning, turning a manageable 2-1 deficit into a 6-1 hole. The Tribe will look to make it 3 out of 4 from the Orioles tonight when newly-promoted Zach Jackson gets the start.

Reyes had a second straight solid start for the Tribe on Wednesday night

Other Tribe Notes: Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield are set to start rehab assignments soon. And apparently Masa Kobayashi is getting tired. I know the feeling - I'm tired of watching him get lit up on the mound. And Shin-Soo Choo just wants to watch Korea in the Olympics.

Cavs Update: Now onto the big news of the day yesterday. The more I think about it, I just love the trade for Mo Williams. I liked it when I heard about it yesterday, but I love it now. The fact that Ferry pulled this off without having to use our two biggest tradeable assets (Varejao and Szczerbiak) really shows how hard he must have had to work to get this done. Now we still have their expiring deals, along with Eric Snow's $7M, to package in another deal before the deadline in February. I still think that we will work to get another big man, especially given the loss of Joe Smith. It will really come down to how ready rookie J.J. Hickson is to step into the rotation. And it will be interesting to see where this trade leaves Delonte West in his contract negotiations...

Some trade reactions from around the web:

• Bill Livingston of the Plain Dealer
• Bud Shaw of the Plain Dealer
• Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal (more on him in a moment)
• Cavs GM Danny Ferry
• John Hollinger of espn.com
• Marty Burns of SI.com
• Damon Jones (and yes, this finally puts my mohawk tribute site to rest)
• Mo Williams himself on WKNR yesterday evening
  

And my favorite piece from yesterday's trade comes from Henry Abbott's Truehoop blog, where he gives some background on Brian Windhorst breaking the news of the trade. It's good to have you back Windy :)

After 55 days in the hospital, dealing with all manner of health trouble that I'll let him tell you about if he's so inclined, today was the day that he got to go home for the first time.

Would you believe he actually dictated this story over the phone, from the car, on the way home from the hospital?

Most sportswriters never get to have a "Willis Reed" moment, but Brian has certainly had his.

Also, as expected this morning, Team USA exacted some revenge on Greece in game #3 of their Olympic run. The Americans won 92-63, with LeBron James chipping in 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks.

Browns Update: Nothing big today, just some news of a rough practice yesterday. I can't wait till we can start hitting other teams, instead of each other. The real season is now only 24 days away if you can believe it...

Some good news to report

Most of you are probably aware that Brian Windhorst (a.k.a. the best Cavs writer on the planet) has been fighting through a tough illness. Well, today there was an update from Brian himself that should make all of his fans feel much better:

"I've been coherent for about a week and read a lot of messages from this site [his CarePages.com site here]. Those messages and postings have been very uplifting, especially during this difficult time.

I was moved from ICU the other day and have started my full-scale rehab. My doctors are very confident that I can make a full recovery in a couple months.

I look forward to speaking with many of you in the near future, getting back to covering the Cavs and returning to the business of life.

Thanks again for all your prayers, well wishes and good thoughts. It has meant a lot to me and my family."

Source

Welcome to Cleveland JJ

With the 19th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select... JJ Hickson? OK, so I admit it, Ferry threw a curveball at us with that one, but that does NOT mean it's a bad choice. The more I read and saw of this kid last night, the more I like him. Maybe I'm just talking myself into the pick. But I'll defer to the 'experts' to analyze this since I'm certainly not qualified.

The draft reviews are streaming in and it seems like we are getting some favorable marks from ESPN and SI.com. However, sportsline.com and nbadraft.net are not big on JJ. Locally, Bill Livingston, MSB, and David Lee Morgan weigh in on the newest Cavalier. Who knows how it will turn out, but I'm not jumping off a building this morning. I think Hickson will be just fine wearing the wine and gold uniform. And I'm excited that we finally have a guy that likes to dunk the ball and isn't named LeBron. Since he wasn't in New York last night and you may be curious to hear from him directly, here's a phone interview with Hickson courtesy of cavs.com.

Is Hickson ready to rock the rim at the Q?

Windhorst Update: Of course his analysis was missed last night, but more importantly, it sounds like his condition may be improving.

Tribe Update: The slumpbuster was at it again last night (and no, that has nothing to do with Mark Grace). I'm talking about Cliff Lee, who just stops losing streaks this season. Last night was the fourth 3-game losing skid that Lee has personally ended, to go along with a 7-gamer as well. He is still firmly on course to be the AL starter at the All-Star Game in a couple of weeks with his improbable 11-1 record and 2.34 ERA. Lee added 11 strikeouts to his already impressive resumé last night. The Tribe avoided the sweep with a 4-1 victory over the Giants. The team will continue interleague play tonight against the Reds with CC Sabathia on the mound and me in attendance. Maybe my last chance to see the big guy in person in a Tribe uniform? We'll find out soon...

Edit: I just realized that the Tribe is currently tied for last place in the Central thanks to Kansas City's five-game winning streak. Yes, I've been avoiding even glancing at the standings for a while now. This is the first time the Indians have been in last place this late in the season since 1993 - when they were still in the AL East and the Central didn't exist. Wow, what a year!

Draft Day

The 2008 NBA Draft is upon us tonight at 7:00pm from Madison Square Garden in NYC. But before I get to that, here are a couple updates on our friend Brian Windhorst from the ABJ and another blog. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

This swap (thankfully we didn't end up with Jermaine O'Neal and his injury problems) and these deals already went down yesterday, and I expect some more dealing before the day is over. And hopefully we're finally at the merciful end of all these mock drafts - this version now has us taking Robin Lopez from Stanford, which doesn't exactly excite me. But then again, what do I know? I'm still mostly leaning towards picking CDR (I also loved the Luke Jackson and DaJuan Wagner picks, so keep that in mind). Mary Schmitt-Boyer still thinks the Cavs are thinking trade. And the great Terry Pluto tells us what Mike Brown is thinking today. Nine hours and counting...

In Ferry and Brown we trust?

Tribe Update: Since it is my duty to report on them I will - but only briefly. Yesterday was another yawner as the Indians dropped their third straight game and second in a row at home to the Giants, 4-1. It looks like the offense is going back into the toilet, mustering only one run and four hits off the disaster that is Barry Zito (keep in mind he was 2-11 with a 6.52 ERA prior to this start). Not surprisingly, he had his best outing of the year against our lineup. And you'll be shocked to learn that Rafael Betancourt gave up another late 'insurance' run, this time a home run to right off the bat of some guy named John Bowker. Can't wait to go to the game tomorrow night and watch Brandon Phillips have some more fun against his former team! (Yes, that was sarcasm.) The Tribe looks to avoid the sweep tonight when Cliff Lee takes the mound.

Get Well Soon Windy!

Before I delve into anything else today, I wanted to take a moment to wish Brian Windhorst (by far the best Cavs writer in the world) a speedy recovery. I had been wondering about the lack of updates on his blog recently, and yesterday TrueHoop confirmed that he is pretty sick. Then I read this this morning and realized how serious his situation really is. BW, you're in our thoughts and prayers and we're pulling for you!!!

I was really looking forward to seeing what Brian had to say about tomorrow night's draft. There are a lot of different directions the Cavs can take over the next 24 hours or so. I'm sure there will be some trade opportunities out there so it will be interesting to see how everything plays out. Although Danny Ferry says don't expect any major changes. Mary Schmitt-Boyer answers some Cavalier draft day questions. And here's a decent overview of the current Cavaliers as they stand the day before the draft.

Tribe Update: The Indians lost another one last night to old friend Omar Vizquel and the San Francisco Giants, 3-2. More of the same problems for the Tribe - quiet bats and bad bullpen work. I have no statistical evidence to back up this claim (really I'm too lazy to dig for it right now), but I swear our bullpen leads the league in giving up 'insurance' runs late in games. It seems like every time either of the Raffys or Masa Kobayashi come in for the 7th inning or later with a one-run lead it always ends up getting worse. Then our anemic offense really has no chance at a comeback. Truly depressing.

Tribe fans still love #13

The Indians and Giants will be at it again tonight with the ridiculously overpaid Barry Zito (see why I'm advocating a Sabathia trade?) going against Jeremy Sowers. Also, Larry Dolan supports Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro.

Let's Get It On!

Tonight, the rumble in Beantown begins. The Cavaliers look to knock off the heavily-favored Celtics in what I expect to be a hard-fought, tough series for both teams. As I sit here thinking about tonight's game I have the same nervous feeling I had going into last year's Eastern Conference Finals. On one hand, I'm nervous about this Cavs team playing on the road in a hostile environment. But on the other hand, I'm excited to see if they can build on their Game 6 victory on the road in Washington. And of course, I'm always looking forward to seeing what LeBron has up his sleeve in the playoffs. He has always saved an extra gear for the Celtics, probably stemming from his personal rivalry with Paul Pierce over the last few years. And don't discount the fact that the Cavs have had to listen to the entire national media fawn over these Celtics all year long, basically handing them a free pass to the ECF vs. the Pistons. The Cavaliers are the defending Eastern Conference champs and I expect them to defend that title viciously starting tonight.

My Cavalier keys to the series:

1. The LeBron Factor: If he brings it like he did in Game 6 on both ends of the floor in this series, look out Celtics. It's hard to believe a 23-year-old can be that good (and is still improving).
2. Our shooters: If our outside threats can consistently knock down shots from the perimeter we will be nearly impossible to beat. One of the biggest factors of this series simply comes down to Gibson, Szczerbiak, and West hitting their open shots. We know the defense will be tilted towards LeBron at all times and he will find them for open looks.
3. Establishing a low-post game: The Cavaliers often forget about Zydrunas Ilguaskas in their offensive sets. He has a big advantage on offense over Kendrick Perkins and this is one area the Cavs can use to their advantage. I also think they should look to post up Szczerbiak when Ray Allen is guarding him. This can get Wally going offensively and could get Allen into foul trouble. And of course I'm always a proponent of getting LeBron to post up on certain possessions.
4. Stealing a win in the Garden: It sounds simple enough, but the Cavs have struggled all year on the road. They were 2-2 vs. the Celtics this year, with both losses coming in Boston (although LeBron missed one of those games). And Boston likes to pressure the ball, which could force turnovers early. Our ballhandlers needs to stay under control and composed which can be tough on the road. But if we can steal one in Boston I think we win the series.
5. Keep the games close, win in the end: This has been the Cavaliers' formula for success ever since Mike Brown took over the head coaching reigns. I think it especially holds true in this series. If they keep the games close with good defense, LeBron will be there to close things out. And I don't think this Celtics team has what it takes to dig out close games. Pierce likes to put his head down and try to get bailed out by the whistle on drives to the hoop. And KG tends to start short-arming shots late. Keep the games close and "win in the end" (for all you Teen Wolf fans out there).

For a more detailed series breakdown, check out what our favorite Cavs beat writer Brian Windhorst thinks of this series. I also went behind enemy lines today to see what Boston writers were saying. I was actually pleasantly surprised by what Bob Ryan had to say and by this piece by Michael Vega. It's refreshing when the other team's writers aren't completely delusional or writing with personal agendas. Speaking of Tom Knott, he just can't let go of his idiotic theory that the NBA hates the Wizards and pampers LeBron. For the record, during the series the Cavs were called for 139 fouls, the Wizards 137. And the Cavs shot 175 free throws, to the Wizards' 174 (thanks again to Mr. Windhorst for that great info). Go Cavs!!!

This guy always brings out LBJ's best

Tuesday Tribe Update:
The Tribe decided to give us all a break yesterday and had an off day. Hopefully they put together a game plan for how to wake up the offense for the series in New York. They also officially cut ties with Jason Michaels in favor of Ben Francisco (the loud clapping and cheering you might hear outside your window is coming from the entire Tribe fanbase).

Obligatory Browns Update:
Lost in the shuffle of my weekend of Cavalier and Tribe following, I forgot to mention that Phil Savage was given a 3-year contract extension to remain VP & GM of the Cleveland Browns. Kudos to Randy Lerner and the entire Browns organization for getting this done. Phil has successfully lifted the 'woe-is-me' attitude that hung over this franchise (as he correctly predicted, yet is still no small miracle). It's great to have hope in this team again.