And then there were 4

Hard to believe that we are down to just four games left in the regular season... and that the playoffs will be starting next weekend! I'm already getting that nervous/sick/excited feeling that only a Cavs fan can feel... a Cavs fan at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncert- sorry, the feeling makes me go all Shawshank. I'm just ready to get these last four games out of the way. The Cavaliers beat the Wizards in ho-hum fashion last night with a 98-86 win (highlights) at the Q. Theu were up by 24 points in the third quarter and the game was never in doubt. The guys are now just two home wins away from equaling the best home NBA record ever. And just one win away from sealing up the #1 spot in the East.

It was great to see Big Ben return to action last night, making his first appearance off the bench in 10 years. We will need all of our bigs ready to go in the postseason and Ben seemed to be his normal self for the most part, after sitting out six weeks with the fractured fibula. And LeBron was able to rest for the entire 4th quarter for the 12th time this season (that would probably scare me if I were a fan of any other team in the playoffs). Five Cavs were in double figures, and three others had at least 7 points to lead a very balanced attack.

LBJ enjoyed another fourth quarter from the bench on Wednesday night

The recipe for the final four games is simple, yet complicated. Avoid injuries, keep everyone from logging too many minutes, but also keep winning in order to claim home court advantage through the Finals. Mike Brown has stated publicly that he won't overtax his team just to get the overall best record. But a little part of him has to be peeking ahead to a possible Game 7 in the Staples Center in June. I'm sure the thought of it makes him cringe as much as it does to me. For that simple reason the team will need to keep the pedal to the floor and just win, starting tomorrow night in Philadelphia. Go Cavs.

Tribe Update: Great start for our Indians, huh? Two games down, two losses, two awful pitching performances. Also, add in some weak hitting for good measure. I'm sort of glad the opener was played while I was at work, and I had the Cavs game to distract me from last night's fun. Let's just hope for some weather that is at least bearable for the home opener tomorrow. Is that really too much to ask?

Back on track

After the Cavaliers' shameful performances on Thursday and Friday nights, which caused me to boycott my own blog, I wasn't sure what to expect yesterday afternoon at the Q. The team was possibly facing their first three-game losing streak of the season, but the guys responded in style with a 101-81 win (highlights) over the Spurs to run their home record to a sparkling 37-1 at the Q. The win drops the magic number to clinch #1 in the East to just 2 and still keeps a one-game lead over the Lakers for #1 overall.

Yesterday's game still featured way too much of Tony Parker waltzing through the lane unchallenged, too reminiscent of the 2007 Finals for my taste. I wish one of our guys at some point would just knock Parker on his ass with a hard foul instead of giving up a layup. But the Cavs did do a great job keeping Ginobili and Duncan in check, with the two of them combining for just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

LBJ & the Cavs had a nice bounce back game Sunday afternoon

Offensively I think it may have been Delonte West's best overall performance of the year. He was aggressive and outstanding, netting 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting. And LeBron was LeBron, with a 38/6/7 line on an efficient 14-of-21 from the field. Add in Mo's 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and the three combined for 82 points on 33-for-51 (65%) shooting. Not many teams can beat the Cavs when they play like that. It was a nice bounce back performance to right the ship before a payback game with the Wizards this Wednesday at the Q. Rumor has it that Ben Wallace will be suiting up for the good guys. Go Cavs.

Tribe Update: Hard to believe Opening Day 2009 is already here. I've neglected to spend much time on the Indians here due the the Cavs' overwhelming success. But the real games get underway in just over three hours from now when the Tribe takes the field in Texas to face the Rangers. So what to expect from the team this year? The good news is, it's an odd year. If recent Tribe history has taught us anything about that, then we should all be happy. 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2009? Let's hope for another postseason appearance. I think it's very likely with this group of guys.

A lot will hinge on the success of our starting rotation. I don't expect Cliff Lee to enjoy the same dominant Cy Young season he had last year. That's just asking too much. But I think he still will be a solid #1 starter this year. I also expect Fausto Carmona to have a nice comeback year after struggling with control problems and injury last year. The rest of the rotation is more of a question mark with Carl Pavano, Anthony Reyes, and Scott Lewis. But there are plenty of options in the minors with Aaron Laffey, David Huff, and hopefully a healthy return of Jake Westbrook, post-All-Star break.

The bullpen should be more reliable with the addition of Kerry Wood and Joe Smith to go along with the dependable options of the two Raffys (Betancourt and Perez) and Jensen Lewis. I expect this to be the major strength of this team this season and a key to their success.

The batting order should also be fine with the addition of Mark DeRosa at third base and an everyday outfield that now includes Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo. We know what to expect from Grady Sizemore, Victory Martinez, and Jhonny Peralta. Asdrubal Cabrera seems to have found his stroke again after struggling mightily last year. Kelly Shoppach should get more at-bats after last season's success and the ability to move Victor Martinez to first base when needed. Ryan Garko has had a hot spring and should also get plenty of at-bats. The one true question mark is Travis Hafner. How will his shoulder hold up? Will his timing be back? And most importantly, will the power return? If so, then this offense could really put up big numbers this season.

I honestly don't know what to expect. For fun I'll make a prediction. I think this team will go somewhere around 89-73 and it will be just good enough to win the Central. And if we get into the postseason, there's no telling what will happen from there. Hopefully we're in for a fun summer.

Happy New Year

Happy 2009 Cleveland! Is this the year that we finally win a title so I can end this torturous blog? Only time will tell, but we sure do deserve it after all the heartache we've been through...

The Cavs started the new year off in style on Friday night with a 117-92 thrashing (highlights) of the Bulls at the Q to run their perfect home record to 17-0. And it sure was fun to watch old friend Larry Hughes up to his same old tricks with a 1-for-9 shooting performance for the Bulls. It had to be fun for Ben Wallace to counter that effort with 13 points and 9 rebounds against his former team. And LeBron notched his first triple-double of the year with a 16/10/11 masterpiece. So it looked like the Cavs had regained their focus in the wake of Z's newfound ankle injury that will sideline him for up to a month, right?

Not so fast. The Cavs followed that up with an ugly 80-77 loss to the Wizards in Washington yesterday afternoon. I won't bore you with box scores or highlights from this one. Yes, the officiating was pretty bad and the Cavs seemed to be on the wrong end of a lot of those calls. But LeBron's travel at the end of the game was not one of those bad calls. I don't even know how that is up for debate. Bottom line is that the Cavs mailed this one in as an easy victory and then woke up when it was too late to be able to pull it out. How else can you explain a 14-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter? Or being outrebounded 52-35? Or combining to miss 9 free throws and shoot 39.4% from the floor? Just a complete lack of focus all the way around in this one. Hopefully they are more prepared at home Wednesday night vs. the Bobcats and aren't looking ahead to Friday night vs. the Celtics. At least the Celtics did us a favor yesterday by also losing by 12 to the Knicks. That makes four losses in six games for the mighty Celtics...

A great test

Last night's game vs. the Rockets at the Q gave us another chance to see just how good these Cavaliers are. They answered the call with a decisive 99-90 victory (highlights) to push their home record to 14-0 and their latest winning streak to four games. Again, the formula was solid defense and timely offense in a tough, physical matchup.

At one point in the fourth quarter the Cavs pushed their lead to 14 points, but some hot outside shooting and non-stop calls in Houston's favor (Yao Ming had 12 free throws in the 4th quarter alone) got the Rockets right back into the game. That point was the first time in a while that the Cavs have really been tested at home, clinging to a two-point lead with 5:34 remaining. But Boobie Gibson stepped up with two huge threes, Anderson Varejao hit a running hook shot, and Mo Williams buried two dagger shots down the stretch. And LeBron capped things off with a highlight-reel rejection of Yao to whip the home crowd into a frenzy.

LBJ and Mo again led the way for the Cavs

Houston is a much better team than I thought going into this one. Their defense forced the Cavs off balance at times, but the coaching staff made some nice adjustments in the second half. Make no mistake about it - this was a quality win over a quality opponent. The going should get easier over the next couple weeks for the Cavs, starting tomorrow night against the Wizards and old friend DeShawn Stevenson. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas night in the Q watching him get schooled by the King yet again...

Game 4 Thoughts

Tonight's game is the biggest one at the Q since Game 6 vs. Detroit last year. Yes, I'm excluding the Finals from consideration because I think the team was just happy to be there and not really ready to face the Spurs. So as I sit here and prepare myself mentally for what I expect to be an exhausting game, here are my thoughts:

1. LeBron HAS to start making shots. I don't think it's physically possible for him to stay sub-30% for the entire series. He is just too good a player, no matter what the Celtics try defensively.
2. Ray Allen also HAS to start making shots. He is now 1-11 from 3-point range in the series. He has made things a lot easier on Wally Szczerbiak by missing open looks. And if he wants to continue, who am I to stop him?
3. Ben Wallace HAS to play. He is listed as day-to-day with the inner ear infection and allergy problems and I fully expect him to play. In my previous post, I outlined why he is so important to this team. And even if Garnett is shooting 59% for the series, I shudder to think where we'd be without Big Ben on him.
4. The Cavaliers need to play with the same step-on-their-throats mentality that they displayed on Saturday. I expect the Celtics to be more focused and determined at the start of this one. But if the Cavs can still get them down early, it might be very demoralizing for them.
5. The fans need to bring it just like on Saturday. The Q was as rowdy as I've seen it in a long time for Game 3. I'm hoping for the same type of atmosphere tonight. But it will largely be up to the players to set the tone early on and the crowd will follow.

Interesting note: The Cavaliers are 5-2 in Game 4's in the LBJ era, with their only losses coming in Washington in 2006 and vs. the Spurs in last year's Finals. Boston has also lost 7 games in a row overall at the Q.

Game 4 usually brings out the best in the Cavs - will LBJ return to form?

3 Times is a Charm

Who's laughing now? LeBron took the high road during his postgame interview session, but you can bet this one tasted good as the Cavs closed out the Wizards' season for a third straight year, winning 105-88 in Game 6 in front of the D.C. faithful. After all the booing and the "overrated" nonsense, you know LeBron enjoyed this one. He was incredible tonight, posting his third career playoff triple double with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists.

Keys to the game from my view:

• Wally Szczerbiak came out hot and didn't stop firing. He finished with 26 points, going 6-13(!) from behind the arc.
• Boobie Gibson was also hot tonight, chipping in 22 points of his own.
• LeBron was an animal on both ends of the court tonight. He willed his team to this win with his leadership by example.
• Overall the team was much more focused and prepared for this one, compared to Game 5. Hopefully this great performance can carry over into Round 2. I think Mike Brown deserves some credit for the team really being ready to play tonight.

On a personal note, this night worked out perfectly for me. My wife and I decided to skip going to the Tribe game and stay home to watch Game 6. Luckily for us, the game was rained out so we didn't miss a thing. We got to see the Cavs lay a beatdown on Washington and we still get to go to the make-up game later this summer. And to cap things off, the Atlanta Hawks stunned the Boston Celtics in their Game 6 to force a Game 7 on Sunday. Now, instead of the Cavs having to fly to Boston for a game on Sunday, they can rest up until Tuesday when their next series starts. Maybe the sports gods really don't hate Cleveland sports... ehhh, what am I saying? It's been 44 years of pain and agony. But with LeBron, there's always a chance to end the pain... stay tuned.

Have a nice summer jackass...

...this man officially owns you.

Wasted Opportunity

I tried to wait as long as I could before jotting down my thoughts after last night's loss. I didn't want to react too quickly so I thought about if for a while. And the funny thing is, I think I'm even more pissed now than I was watching it unfold last night at the Q. All I know is that with 1:47 left in the 4th quarter and the Cavs up 87-82, I turned to my buddy and said, "It's over." Maybe that was the kiss of death the Cavaliers needed. And yes, I am superstitious about that kind of stuff, as dumb as that probably sounds. I have no explanation for that loss last night.

I wish I could tell you why the Cavaliers came out with absolutely no energy in the first half. Or how we were miraculously down only two points at halftime. I wish I could tell you why the Wizards were able to get about 8,000 offensive rebounds in the second half. Or why the Cavs made the mystifying decision to launch multiple three-pointers with the lead in the final 1:30. I just don't have any answers. I also don't know how that ball didn't go down on LeBron's final drive. Or how a foul wasn't called there. I didn't even see the replay, this is just my view from far above in Section 222. But it should have never come down to that play anyway. We had so many chances to put that team away.

Now my enduring vision of Game 5 is a delirious DeShawn Stevenson skipping toward the visitors' tunnel and gleefully launching his jersey into the stands amid the boos cascading down on him. And he was loving every second of it. Please, just shoot me now. The whole scene was sickening.

At least the Tribe won last night behind Cliff Lee's solid pitching and some life from their bats. Although Lee's 27-inning scoreless streak did finally come to an end, he is now 5-0 with a 0.95 ERA. I'd be happier about it if I didn't have visions of DeShawn Stevenson still dancing in my head. Ugh.

Apparently, he likes 14-year-old girls and playoff road wins

It Ends Tonight

Well, actually I'm hoping two things end tonight:

1) The Tribe's three-game losing skid that has come on the heels of a five-game winning streak
2) The Washington Wizards' season

The Tribe offense was asleep again for most of last night's game. Grady Sizemore made a much-needed appearance after missing the last two games and provided two doubles and scored our only two runs. Fausto looked pretty solid, going 6-2/3 and only giving up one earned run. But our bullpen (Rafael Betancourt in particular) looked terrible in the ninth, surrendering 5 runs to end all doubt in a 2-2 tie. My hopes for a .500 April went up in smoke as well. I'd like to blame the cold weather for the cold start, but it hasn't even been that cold. Here's to hoping that turning the page on the calender will help heat up the bats. Our new stud Cliff Lee takes his Nintendo-like numbers to the mound tonight to end a long April for our Tribe. Keep it going Cliff!

More importantly, the Cavaliers are at the Q tonight to end the Wizards' season. I'll be in attendance and I can't wait. I have a feeling this will be a very rowdy crowd tonight to greet the knuckleheads from the nation's capital. And speaking of knuckleheads, DeShawn Stevenson has now decided that Michael Vick is a solid role model. Honestly, nothing surprises me about this guy anymore. Please, let's just put him out of his misery tonight. And let's keep LeBron healthy in the process.

As if he wasn't public enemy #1 already... now DeShawn is a proud Mike Vick fan

They just keep talking

I know at this point I shouldn't be surprised that the Wizards are still talking - but I am. And annoying as it is, I'm actually glad they just can't seem to shut up. Any thoughts of the Cavaliers being unmotivated for Game 5 have gone out the window as Brenda Haywood and Gilbert Arenas keep flapping their gums.

Here are my favorites from Monday:

(Brenda on LeBron) "Awww," Haywood said, in a whiny, high-pitched voice to mock James. "They are trying to hurt me. I mean come on man, this is the playoffs," Haywood said following Monday's practice. "He wears 23, he wants to be Michael Jordan, I can respect that, he's a great player. You saw what Mike went through. Mike got fouled way worse than this. No one is trying to hurt him, everybody is trying to play basketball, trying to play tough. Play basketball and leave it alone."

(Gilbert Arenas on the series) "It's never over until it's over," said Gilbert Arenas, playing with a bone bruise in his knee. "They said there are eight teams that have done it [come back from 3-1]. We are going to be the ninth."

Now I really can't wait for Game 5. Time for these guys to start their summer vacation, courtesy of the Cavaliers. It should be a rowdy crowd down at the Q to welcome these clowns back into town. The only downer is that the geniuses in the league office decided to make this a 6:00 pm start to accommodate the Hawks/Celtics at 8:00 pm. And by the way, nice job by the Celtics last night. I guess those 65 wins during the regular season aren't helping much now. I would love nothing more than for them to lose to the Hawks (a 37-win team), but for selfish reasons I want the Cavaliers to oust them from the postseason.

"If you can't beat 'em, just keep talkin' trash"

The Pictures Tell the Story

I thought this series of pictures was a good way to sum up Game 4. And probably a good way to sum up the series. The Wizards headhunting, LeBron responding, and ultimately, the Cavaliers winning:

Game 4 to the Good Guys

Wow, what a Game 4 on Sunday afternoon in Washington D.C. Thankfully the Cavaliers came away with the huge win after LeBron found Delonte West for a corner three with 5.4 seconds left to give the Cavs a 100-97 win. This game had a little bit of everything, including another flagrant foul by the Wizards. This time DeShawn Stevenson took a free swipe at the King's head on a layup attempt. I'm amazed at the way LeBron doesn't flip out and want to kill these knuckleheads. But that play did seem to energize the Cavaliers and propel them to a 10-point lead at halftime.

Overall the Cavs shot only 41% from the field, but the difference today was from three-point land. They shot 46% (13-28) from downtown and made the Wizards pay for continually trying to trap LeBron.

Keys to the game from my viewpoint:

• The Cavs destroyed the Wizards on the glass (51-31) and really did them in on offensive rebounds (18-6).
• Three-point shooting was also a huge advantage, with us outscoring them 39-21 from beyond the arc.
• LeBron's energy and assertiveness on offense was way up compared to Game 3. Tonight he went for 34-12-7. Sounds overrated to you too right?
• Delonte West was huge for the Cavaliers, giving them 21 points in 38 minutes on the floor.

So now we head home with the series firmly in our grasp 3 games to 1. Let's end this thing on Wednesday night at home and send these clowns on a long summer vacation AGAIN.

Delonte's clinching three had my living room jumping

Tribe & Royals Washed Out

Wednesday night's game in Kansas City was rained out after a two-hour delay. Even Mother Nature doesn't want the Tribe to capitalize on the momentum that started in Tuesday's 15-1 drubbing. A doubleheader has been scheduled for 6:10pm on Thursday, with Fausto Carmona starting Game 1 and Cliff Lee starting Game 2. This means a long and likely late night of sports for me and Mrs. Chief:

6:10-8:00 - Tribe vs. Royals, Game 1
8:00-10:30 - Cavs smacking around the Wizards in Game 3
10:30-12:30? - Tribe vs. Royals, Game 2

The doubleheader on Thursday also means that there will have to be another shake-up in the Indians' pitching rotation. We already know that Jeremy Sowers will take Jake Westbrook's spot on Saturday vs. the Yankees. But now Fausto Carmona won't be able to go on Monday since he is pitching on Thursday. So look for Aaron Laffey to be called up for Monday's start. I'll be back later today for a Cavaliers/Wizards Game 3 update...

Monday, Monday

I will spend a very brief amount of time recapping the Tribe's Sunday loss before moving on to much more important business... again, the offense was shut down by a fairly unknown pitcher. And again the bullpen unraveled with 2 outs and nobody on late in the game. I don't know how to fix what's wrong with this team but I hope it happens fast. After Thursday and Friday I thought maybe we were fighting our way out of the slump. But with the poor efforts on Saturday and Sunday, that now makes 12 losses in the past 16 games. Incredibly depressing. Thankfully they have an off-day today so I can put my entire focus on the Cavaliers and Game 2.

Playing the Wizards in the postseason is always a fun time. You get all the trash-talking from their players (who have never won a thing), the whining from their fans (LeTravel, etc.), but most enjoyably for me, you get the inane ramblings from their beat writers in the Washington papers. Here is a gem of a story from some guy named Tom Knott who writes for the Washington Times. This is my favorite part:

"LeBron James should be suspended from Game 2 after being unable to control his inner bully yesterday.

James deposited an elbow in the face of Andray Blatche with 11 seconds left in the first quarter. He then twice threatened to drop an elbow on Brendan Haywood, first to his groin region and then to his face, after the two became tangled near the end of the first half.

Players from both teams rushed to aid James and Haywood, and not surprisingly, referees Bob Delaney, David Jones and Scott Foster decided the Wizards were the principal instigators.

See how that works? James threatens Haywood's capacity to sire children, and it is considered bad form on Haywood's part to have a reaction to it. "

Possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. I can't wait to read more of this guy's babbling and excuses after we go up 2-0 tonight. A win tonight would also make it 8 straight over Washington in the playoffs.

My view of Game 1's ending after LeBron hurt Tom Knott's feelings

One down, 15 to go

To win an NBA title you need to win 16 games. That's a lot of games. I'm just going to take them one at a time this year. That's not to say that I expect us to win a title this year (I honestly don't). But we have LeBron and I guess anything is possible with him. It's been a long strange year for the Cavaliers with the contract situations (Varejao and Pavlovic), all the injuries (basically everyone on the roster), the big trade, the rise of other teams in the East, etc., etc.

But I can't help but think that teams expect us to just roll over in the playoffs. I think many of them are looking past us and forgetting that we have the best player in the league (possibly ever) on our roster. The Wizards called us out and got what they asked for in Game 1 - a beatdown. It wasn't easy by any stretch, but the Cavaliers won the way they usually do. They kept it tight until the fourth, played solid D down the stretch, and executed on offense by relying heavily on LBJ. I say if it ain't broke then don't try to fix it.

LeBron was outstanding today, especially in the 2nd half. He actually started the game 0-4 from the field but finished making 12 of his final 15, for 32 points. DeShawn Stevenson (3 points) might think he's overrated, but I actually think he is underrated. It was a fun game to be at and a nice way to open this year's postseason. Z also had a big day with 22 points and 11 boards. And I thought Delonte West played very nicely, finishing with 16 points and 5 assists. He didn't have a great shooting night, but was all over both ends of the court. Let's hope for more of the same from the wine & gold in Game 2 on Monday night.



*I did take some pictures with my phone, but of course I left my cord at work. Oh well.

The Tribe did play this afternoon too, but it was pretty much a snoozer. The highlights from what I saw:

• some kid pitcher named Blackburn shut us down for 7-2/3 scoreless innings
• we grounded into 4 inning-ending double plays
• David Dellucci lost two pop flies in the roof of the Metrodome
• we were shutout for the first time this year

Hopefully we can take the rubber match tomorrow to finish up a solid sports weekend. Of course, Paul Byrd is pitching so that may be asking for a lot...

Time to Rise Up (Again)

In about 2 1/2 hours the Cavaliers will be tipping off the 2008 postseason down at the Q. I will be at the game with my trusty camera phone taking in all the action. Hopefully when I return we will be up 1-0 and talking about how LeBron owns DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas. I know this team is better than the Wizards, but it's just tough to know what to expect out of these guys. I can't remember the last time I went to a playoff game in the LeBron era and really didn't know what to expect. I guess we'll find out soon, but I'm hoping for the best...