The Boston Celtics have used their first pick in the 2009 NBA draft to select Michael Jackson F (Neverland).   Hope this works out for them.

Yeah, it’s true….what was reported on for weeks has become a reality.

Shaq is a Cleveland Cavalier.

We got him for Ben Wallace (who was retiring), Sasha Pavlovic (our 8th man on the bench), the Cavs 2nd round draft pick (the 46th pick) and some money (500 thousand dollars).  HELL of a deal!

Think of our inside game now.  A force of a shot-blocker, and a man who averaged 18 points per game last season.  Yes, Shaq’s older, but this is the push for a title NOW.  If we’d pulled this deal off three months ago, we’d be hoisting a Finals trophy right now.  The inability to stop a strong inside game was the only reason we came up short this year.

Congrats, Cavs fans.  You’re back on top again.

———-

Get this….the Cavs are already talking about it possibly being a one-year-only deal with Shaq, then taking his 20 million dollars and moving for Chris Bosh in 2010.  the key in this….NOBODY is talking about using the money for LeBron.  It’s almost as if re-signing LBJ is a done deal.  And considering the moves that Danny Ferry is making for this team, LeBron will stay.  That was the ONLY standard he put on re-upping his contract.  Good job, boys!

The Cleveland Cavaliers may be making a trade very soon, and the deal would be huge.  The Cavs are in talks with Phoenix to trade for Shaquille O’Neal in exchange for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic.  ESPN News has been all over this story today, with a few twists to it.

Executives from both teams are claiming that the deal is “not imminent”, but any long-term talks for trades will eventually find the exact same comments from front-office people.  This trade is the same trade that was being discussed before the trading deadline, and the weaknesses that were exposed by Dwight Howard resurfaced talks with the Suns.

If this trade happens, it will be extraordinary, enough to push Kobe Bryant into a headline-sharing day of events.  Furthermore, it will not harm our salary situation.  Shaq makes 20 million dollars next year, and Wallace and Pavs combine for 19 million next year.

So do you make the deal for a guy who averaged 17.8 points per game this season and give up two bench players?  That’s a no-brainer.  Make the deal.

————–

Additional point #1 - If we make the push and get the championship next year, expect Laker fans to bombard us with “LeBron can’t win a ring without Shaq” taunts, turning the tables on us.

Yeah, who cares.  If this city gets a ring, let the Laker haters say anything they want.

————–

Additional point #2 - If this trade happens, thank former GM Wayne Embry for it.  Embry made the move which brought Danny Ferry to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a player in the 80s.  While here, Ferry made good friends with one of the Cavs’ guards, Steve Kerr.

Their friendship continues strong today, and this trade will have been made easier considering Kerr is now the GM of the Phoenix Suns and Ferry is the Cavs’ GM.

Hell, yeah.

In case you haven’t heard, Louisiana-Monroe beat Alabama in football two years ago.  So did Florida International.

The victories were earned today when Alabama had a large hammer brought down on their heads, as sixteen different Alabama sports were found to be in violation of NCAA rules and regulations, and a massive amount of wins by the Tide have been wiped off the books over the past few years.

Alabama will be forced to vacate 21 football wins that came under the watch of former coach Mike Shula and current coach Nick Saban, the university said in a release.

The football program, which will not lose future scholarships, and the other 15 teams have been put on three years’ probation — the third probation penalty for university athletics in the past decade. Alabama also was ordered to pay a $43,900 fine.

Bama’s probation will last until 2012.

But here’s where I think the NCAA is hiding something….the violations were all in relation to athletes illegally and improperly receiving textbooks for classes.  I believe the infractions are surrounding something far more nefarious.

Ask yourself this - do you REALLY believe that Alabama athletes actually know how to read, let alone use textbooks, let alone go to CLASS?  Need I remind you, the state of Alabama has a failing grade according to the US Chamber Of Commerce.

These kids can barely piss their own pants, let alone decipher what a textbook is used for.  Which leads us to the obvious question;

What is the NCAA hiding?????

Attention, SEC fans who have gotten all pissy on me.  Please read the following;

- The previously posted information is in regards to the educational systems of the states which house SEC colleges.  Yes, I know the educational systems that were being graded are K-12.  This means that your states are home to the worst educated people in the entire country.  THAT was the point to begin with.  The translation is that your states are filled with inbred retarded morons.

- No, you’re not being “banned” or “blocked”.  All comments on The BBC are moderated.  And guess what?  Your comments are not being approved.  It’s my blog, deal with it.

- You lost the war.  Put away the rebel flags.

- Lynard Skynard sucks.

- I don’t care if “your side” is being published on MY site.  I am NOT trying to “hide you” from my readers.  My readers already know you exist.  Want to know HOW we know SEC fans exist?

• You serve us food when we eat in restaurants
• You pump our gas
• We give you a dollar when you hold up cardboard signs on the off-ramp

So you see, we certainly don’t need to know you exist on my blog.  We already have to see you enough.

But congratulations….at least two of your attempts at posting a comment had proper spelling.  The rest of you….well, the aforementioned scientific proof shows that you poor people just weren’t educated right, so ya’ll don’t know yew ain’t spellin’ right.

UPDATE - Please read this post c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y…it discusses the educational systems of each state, and how well the states educate (or don’t educate) their young minds.  It has deep meaning that could possibly explain the stupid, inbred minds which are unable to comprehend simple matters (in other words, southerners).  If you are a fan of the SEC, have somebody read it to you.  Big words are tough.

——————

Going slightly off-topic, but then again, it’s pretty much right on key with The BBC.

This morning, the United States Chamber of Commerce released their findings on the effectiveness of education in each of our glorious states.  They graded each state on several topics related to the respective states’ educational system.

Buckeye fans, show some pride….our state got a “B”.  As for the rest of the country, let’s go to the chart;

Click on the image for a larger view.

Now, how did the Big Ten states do in comparison to states which hold SEC schools???

No further comment is necessary at this point, is it???

OK, one more comment, if you have a friend who is a fan of the SEC, please send this to them.  But when you send it to them, do one of the following.

• A) Call them after you send it to them, so you can read the bigger words to them and they’ll understand it better
• B) Send it to them through the link called “Redneck Translator” so it’s written in their native language

Yes, I believe we now have scientific proof that the SEC is indeed filled with southern inbred morons who can’t read or write up to the speed of an average American citizen.  The United States Chamber Of Commerce has given us that proof.

Yeah, I’ve been avoiding writing this because I was just too irritated, but the time has come to sit down and begin planning for the ‘09-’10 Cavaliers season (and beyond).

Frankly, the discussion about Game 6 has been played out already.  We had our runs at it and Orlando just had everything working for them (including getting the calls when Anderson Varejao touches Howard’s back, but not when LeBron gets tackled on his way to the basket).  But whose fault is it?  It’s everybody’s fault.  Nobody had a full game Saturday night and as a result, everybody has the summer off.

Now for the good news.

After his brief hiatus from the media, LeBron James stepped forward and discussed his satisfaction with the Cleveland Cavaliers, including their front office and the direction of the team. Contrary to popular belief, LeBron has NEVER said that he wanted to leave this city (that’s the product of a frenzied media and several thousand internet trolls).  What he DID say was that he wanted to stay in Cleveland as long as the Cavaliers continue building towards success and keep him happy.

Monday’s press conference with LeBron brought some sighs of relief to a city.

“I’m great. I feel great about this situation that’s going on.  You want to continue to get better, that’s all you can ask. We got better and I feel this team will be better next season. You don’t want to take a step backward. I think we went forward from the Boston series last year.  Hopefully we can go forward next year.”

Upon being immediately deluged with claims of LeBron going to New York after the Eastern Finals loss, this was a welcome sound for Cavalier fans worldwide.

Now, LeBron did NOT say he was going to re-sign with the Cavs, but this was a STRONG step towards that inevitable conclusion.  The facts are laid out before him, he knows it, and everybody with half a brain knows it too.

The Cavaliers are the only team that can offer him everything he wants and needs, and his family is here.  No major city, especially one that is in a rebuilding phase of it’s own, can give him anything more except money…..and the Cavaliers just got a HUGE infusion of cash to offer James.  The news of a Chinese investment group offering to buy 15% of the Cavs will all but seal the deal to keep LBJ in wine and gold.  With that move, LeBron can successfully market himself, his shoes, his jerseys, and anything else he wants to a billion chinese people who are starved for NBA stars.  The Chinese government doesn’t allow an open and free market as much as we do, but with part-ownership in the team, expect to see Hu Jintao open the gates for anything with LeBron’s name on it.

But that won’t happen if LeBron leaves the Cavs….because the Chinese ownership is NOT of LeBron, it’s of the Cavs.  Sucks to be you, Knicks.

Here’s our current money situation, seen through the eyes of an optimist like me;

• Currently, LeBron makes 14.4 million dollars, and he’ll want to sign for more before the next season begins.  We can lock him up for a long-term deal at around 20 million a year plus bonuses that do not count towards the salary cap.
• Wally Szczerbiak has played his last game as a Cavalier.  His contract is up, and we will not sign him again….making 13.8 million per year to be a bench player is not what we want or need.  We loved you, Wally….but sorry.
• Joe Smith’s contract is also up, but he’s making 1.2 million.  Give him more if he needs it, he’s a big part of this team’s chemistry and he’s inexpensive to boot.  If he wants to break the bank though, we’ll have to let him go.
• Ben Wallace is talking retirement and he might want a buyout of his final year.  Hell, we KNOW he’ll want a buyout.  Anything we spend on the buyout also does not count towards the salary cap, so we should offer him that and wish him well.  It’ll add to our coffers, as Ben was making nearly 15 million this year.  Again, Ben…we loved you, thanks for your dedication and spirit.
• Anderson Varejao will be looking for more money.  Again.  His current 5.8 million dollar contract is not going to be enough to keep him, and we’re going to have to up that to 9 or 10 million per season.  There’s very little question about that right now, especially with the possibility of losing Wallace and Smith.  Also, Z’s age doesn’t make anybody comfortable in C-town.

This all adds up to good fortune for the Cavs.  We’ll have to add 10-12 million a year to LeBron, Smith and Varejao’s contracts, but we save about 19 million with the losses of Wally and Big Ben.  That leaves us with 7-9 million dollars left to grab a strong player to add to LeBron’s arsenal, and that’s only if we want to keep the same salary as 2008-09.  We can go over the limit and pay a luxury tax to the NBA since we have that money to spend (hello, China!).

Translation - relax, Cavs fans.  LeBron will stay, and with the mastermind known as Danny Ferry at the helm, we will get everything we need and start fresh again in October.

I’ve been to six Cavalier games this year, and have watched 70+ more.  At this point, I’ve feel like I’ve reached the point that I can tell what LeBron’s going to do by his body language at the top of the key.

Last weekend, I went to Game 2 with my brother and his wife and daughter.  At the time, I believed that I witnessed the greatest moment in Cleveland sports history.  I still believe that, but I’ve now come to the realization that I also saw something much, much worse.

I saw a team playing scared.  For the first time this season, I saw the Cavaliers playing like they were afraid to lose.  I didn’t like it one little bit, but I didn’t fully recognize I had seen that until last night.

Many of us believed that if we lost Game 2, our season was over.  No way would we come back from that 2-0 deficit with two games in Orlando upcoming.  But the game was not at all an elimination contest….it just felt like one.

Last night, the Cavs actually DID play in an elimination game, and they returned to their smooth form of basketball.  They were looking like the same team I had watched all year long, and as a fan, they made me feel better about our chances.  Looking back, I can’t recall a single moment where I was genuinely scared that my teams’ season was about to end.  The Cavaliers were scared, and neither was I.

I think that’s really bad news if you’re an Orlando fan.  The Magic had the Cavs in a bad position and the Cavs may have now taken themselves off the hook.  Cleveland is 75-19 on the year and there’s a good reason for that.  They’re a damn good basketball team and they know how to put away teams.

Now that the Cavs are playing the way they want to again, I expect to see more solid performances tomorrow night.  No more being scared, no more fear.

But….if you need more encouragement, I have a great stat for you.

The Cavaliers dropped two straight games last week, the third time this year that the wine and gold lost two in a row.

The only other times we lost back-to-back, we responded with five straight wins.

That’s bad news for Orlando….and possibly the Western Conference champion in the first two games of the Finals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally figured out how to beat Orlando last night.

A swarming perimeter defense and keeping Dwight Howard off the glass were both key elements early and late as the Cavaliers won by double-digits 112-102 Thursday night.

Oh, and getting a triple-double from a guy named LeBron.  That was big too.  James had 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists and played like an unstoppable force in the 4th quarter.  Also, LeBron had a statistic worthy of the Hall of Fame on this night….he had a hand in the Cavaliers final 32 points of the game, either by scoring or assisting on every basket down the stretch.

But the key stat of the night has gone unnoticed by the major media outlets this morning….the Cavaliers started off strong and they finished strong.

• Over the first 6 minutes of the game, the Cavaliers shot 10-of-11 from the field (91 percent), outscoring Orlando 26-8.
• Over the final 6 minutes of the game, they shot 7-of-10 from the field (70 percent), outscoring Orlando 23-12.

Put those 6-minute spans together and you have a quarter of basketball that Cleveland won by a score of 49-20, while shooting 81 percent from the floor.  They also shot 11-of-12 free throws in that same span.  Now THAT’S what I call starting strong and finishing strong.

Equally as impressive was how the Cavaliers showed no signs of pressure in their first elimination game.  They looked cool and relaxed all night long, even when the Magic were making their runs.  The only slight image of folding was a few bad turnovers in the second quarter, but they quickly shut that down and played strong down the stretch.

Meanwhile, Orlando cracked under the pressure several times, especially Stan Van Gundy.  His frequent outbursts cost him another technical foul, and it seemed to leak over into the Magic players, who began freaking out over every call against them.

With the loss, the pressure falls fully on the shoulders of the Orlando Magic.  They return home for Game 6 of the series, and while they are not facing elimination yet, this is absolutely a “must-win” game for them.  It’s their final home game of the Eastern Conference Finals, and if they do not succeed here, they have to go back to Cleveland for Game 7……and no team wants that.

Game 6 tips off at 830 Saturday night.  Folks, we’ve got ourselves a series again.

Yesterday, I posted my thoughts about how the Cavaliers can win this series, and it included badgering Dwight Howard to get him his 7th technical foul and an automatic one-game suspension.

Then the NBA decided to protect one of its’ stars.

The NBA rescinded Howard’s 6th technical foul (one which he clearly deserved) by stating that his taunting of a player wasn’t worthy of the foul. In this case, the NBA was not officiating the game properly. If J.J. Hickson had done that to a Magic player, or if any other 10th-to-12th man had done that, the NBA would have wasted no time on it whatsoever. But because it was Howard, they protected their money-maker.

Either way, it doesn’t matter tonight, unless you want to badger him into two technicals.

I was listening to Michael Reghi yesterday, and he’s got the best take on the rest of this series. Always the realist, Reghi says that we have three one-game seasons left. Tonight’s game is our season. If we win, we get another game. And then another if we win again.

It sounds reasonable. Do NOT think that we have to win three in a row because we are NOT playing three games tonight.

When a team makes the NFL playoffs, they don’t get all crazy, thinking they have to win three straight games. They focus on the first game and they do NOT prepare for the next one until they’ve won. That’s the example we fans need to follow, because it’s exactly what the players and coaches are doing now.

Tonight, I’ll be at the game again. I’m 5-0 this year at Cavs games, so let’s see if that can continue. Of course, the Cavs are 38-3 when I don’t go to home games, so the odds are good either way….but I’m going just to be safe.

Yeah, it’s bleak right now. We’ve played well enough to win but are still down 3-1. Is it over? Hell no. Here’s why.

1) We’re playing at home Thursday night in Game 5. Say what you will about the past week of basketball, but there is no house in the NBA that is tougher to win in than Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers, in front of a raucous crowd, will do what they need to do at home. That crowd will not let them down and I do not expect the wine and gold to disappoint. Win a big game at home in Game 5, and we’re at a 3-2 series deficit.

2) Along the way in Game 5, we need to do one more thing as we get that victory. Irritate Dwight Howard. Anderson Varejao is great at that and he’ll be at peak performance tomorrow. Get under Howard’s skin just enough and he’ll get another technical foul, which would be his 7th of the playoffs. On his 7th foul, he gets an automatic suspension for the next game.

3) Game 6 without Dwight Howard? Do you think Orlando would have won a single game without him. It’s a perfect scenario for Orlando’s final home game in this series (and any other)….no big man in the middle. It would disrupt their offensive flow and allow us to defend the perimeter without having to give Z help on the inside. No Dwight Howard, and I see a Cavalier victory. That makes the series 3-3.

4) See point #1. We’d be at home for Game 7 and freshly rejuvenated. Victory at home? Yes, I see that happening too.

OK, it’s not really THAT easy, but it could be. We HAVE to come out strong tomorrow night and we HAVE to get under D12s skin. Do that, and we can see our path to The Finals more clearly. Fail, and we become another Cleveland story.

I actually forgot I had videotaped this.  In all the excitement, my mind was racing and I somehow got my camera out to record the scene at Quicken Loans Arena after LeBron hit his game-winning three-pointer.

Something that people at home might not know…..the basket wasn’t declared official for about two minutes after it went through the rim.  While the Cavs were celebrating, the referees went to the scorer’s table and were immediately surrounded by people.  They checked the video to see if it was a good basket, and there were many coaches and players jostling for position to see the video screen.

For about 60 seconds, there was a mass of movement, and then everybody got still for a second.  Two of the Cavs players jumped in the air and raised their arms, and the crowd erupted again.  The basket was declared good.

Mo Williams took the P.A. microphone and addressed the crowd, clearly emotional from the big win.  While my video doesn’t capture any clear sound of Mo, it’s a moment that I’m glad I captured.

One note on the video….notice that the scoreboard still reads 95-93 when Mo gets the mike.  The scoreboard operator hadn’t yet changed the score (even though the board also flashes the “CAVS WIN” logo).

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did;

By now you’ve seen it several hundred times.  LeBron James burying a buzzer-beating three-point shot to win Game 2 and save the Cavaliers season.

The BBC and many others have quickly labeled it as “The Greatest Moment In Cleveland Sports History”. But is it truly? I’ve spent 36 hours, since the shot went through the rim, debating that very topic. Frankly, I can’t find another moment that would top it.

Yes, I do believe that Cie Grant wrapping his arms around Ken Dorsey and forcing an incomplete pass to win the 2003 Fiesta Bowl (and the National Championship) for Ohio State to be the best moment I have ever experienced in sports….but that’s not Cleveland sports. It’s Ohio State, and many Clevelanders adopt OSU as their second home, yet that moment is not a Cleveland moment.

So, can you find a better moment in Cleveland history? Here’s a few of my personal favorites;

• Bernie Kosar hitting Webster Slaughter deep down the left sideline against the New York Jets late in a 1987 playoff game. The Jets led by 10 points with just over 2 minutes left, and the Browns won in 2OT, 23-20.
• Albert Belle slugging a game-tying home run in the 11th inning of Game 1 of the 1995 American League Divisional Playoffs, then flexing his muscles at the Red Sox dugout after Boston stole the bat, claiming it was corked (it wasn’t).
• The Cavaliers dominating the first five minutes of the 4th quarter of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit, forcing Rasheed Wallace to lose his mind and get ejected on his way to defeat.  The Cavs went on to win the game and the Eastern Conference.
• Omar Vizquel hitting a bases-loaded triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, tying the Seattle Mariners after trailing the game 14-2.
• A last-second shot by Damon Jones beats the Washington Wizards in overtime of Game 6 in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, 114-113.  Just before Jones’ winner, Gilbert Arenas was at the line with a 1-point lead and a chance to make it 3.  LeBron James snuck up behind him and said “if you miss these, you know who’s hitting the game winner”.  Arenas missed both free throws.

All of these moments are legendary in Cleveland.  But do any of them really top what we saw two nights ago?

To be truthful, that hasn’t fully been determined yet.  If the Cavs go on to win the series and the Finals, yes.  Without a doubt.  But as was the case with most great moments, they were wiped away when the corresponding Cleveland team failed in the goal to win a title.

If LeBron James wants his moment to live forever the way it should, he needs 7 more wins to do it.

Tonight, Mr. James, you can defend your moment.  Beat the Magic and continue that goal.

This video pretty much epitomizes exactly what the entire state of Ohio went through from 11:30 to 11:32 last night.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4201858

That’s an on-air reaction to The Shot.  Although I am kinda pissed at Leon Bibb for throwing in the towel so quickly, it is true that he was merely voicing what a lot of us were thinking……

terrorist fist jab - CAVS Nation

I’m still in shock.

I was in Section 220 at The Q Friday night, and I can’t believe what I saw.  It may be the single greatest play in Cleveland sports history.

LeBron James buries a three-pointer as the buzzer sounds, and the Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 96-95 in amazing fashion.

In one second, this blog went from writing a diatribe about “what the hell were the f-ing refs doing out there” to  a joyous “oh my God I can’t believe how happy I am” celebration.  An entire city goes from suicide watch to thunderous pride.  A season is saved, a championship still within grasp.

To me personally, that shot created a new reality, one in which the definition of a word is realized deep within the soul.

I’d worn my “Witness” t-shirt since 2004 when I bought it.  I’d used the word before to describe watching LeBron James play.  But tonight, I feel the essence of the word with every fiber of my being.  I was there to see that shot.  Walking back to my car, I spoke of the significance of the shot and explained to my 12-year-old niece that when she’s 40 years old, they’ll still be showing that basket on highlight reels coast-to-coast.  Gatorade will have it in commercials.

I was there and I can’t believe I saw it.

I witnessed greatness tonight.  I think it’s going to take some time for that to settle in.

That’s all there is to say.

Oh, and I’ll be there with a sign that reads “Barkley loves fishsticks”.

Tonight at 830, we can get back to business. The Cleveland Cavaliers will take the floor in the Eastern Conference Finals against Orlando, and it’s not a moment too soon.

In the last 24 days, the Cavaliers have only played four games, and the concern is that they are not battle-tested enough for Game 1. “Shake off the rust” has been an overused phrase on Cleveland talk shows (and Orlando, and Los Angeles, and the drunk tank where Charles Barkley resides on alternate Friday nights).

Yes, it’s a concern…will the Cavaliers be ready for Game One?

Frankly, I’m not worried at all, and you know this if you read The BBC. To me, Orlando has a much bigger concern on their hands….are they worn out from playing two long and harsh playoff rounds?

Here’s a quick look at the amount of minutes the starting 5 has logged so far this postseason;

Howard is only two minutes away from doubling the minutes that Z has played, but that’s the one matchup that doesn’t matter.  Z needs that rest and Dwight Howard does not.

As for the rest…..do you really think that 30-year-old Hedo Turkoglu is going to be able to handle LeBron James even if they were equally rested?  How about when the old man has played 3 and 3/4 more FULL games than the MVP?  That’s a whole lot of fatigue that’s about to set in for Turkoglu.

Also, the young and energetic Varejao has seen LESS than half of the court time as Rashard Lewis.  Tired legs are gonna get ya.

Yes, it’ll be a war early on and I expect to see a close game….but when the 4th quarter is on and old man Turkoglu is weary, he is NOT going to be able to handle LeBron.  If the game is close, there’s going to be a lot of late fouling, with the hopes of keeping James out of the paint and on the free-throw line.

Should be fun.

There are two teams in the NBA that have a winning record against the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. Both of them are still alive. I’m fine with that, I want to take them both apart during this drive for the trophy.

Tonight, the Orlando Magic earned their shot to be humiliated on National TV. They buried the Boston Celtics in the 4th quarter of Game 7 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals starting Wednesday night in Cleveland. A 5-point game was blown wide open as the Magic won 101-82, and it truly was a beautiful sight watching an empty Boston Garden* as the clock wound down.

I’d been harping on it for about a week, and it finally bit Boston in the ass….they were tired. Paul Pierce looked like he did two years ago, helpless to do anything in a losing cause. Ray Allen dragged his feet late in the game, after being worn out all night by JJ Redick. Incidentally, that’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever written about a Boston player.

The Magic have made a lifelong career of underachieving in the postseason, but they won in a place that very few people believed they could win a Game 7. Frankly, there’s a place that Orlando hardly EVER wins a Game 7…it’s called the NBA. But tonight, they stood tall against a Boston team that looked like they had no reason to win. They didn’t want it. When you have Brian Scalabrine shooting 22-footers and Stephon Marbury handling the ball at the point, you’ve run out of ideas.

So here comes Orlando. They won 2 of 3 games against Cleveland this season, and both games in Florida were BIG Magic wins. That will be the rallying cry for all Magic fans. What they did in the regular season in those two games mean everything. The other 80 games mean nothing.

They’ll have two days rest before they have to come knocking at Quicken Loans Arena, and Game 1 will be a BIG test for Orlando. If they have a shot at knocking off the Cavs, it’s after a 9-day layover for Cleveland. If the Cavs get off with a big Game 1, it’s going to tell a lot for the rest of the series.

Here’s the biggest keys to the series for the Cavaliers to beat Orlando.

1) Dwight Howard is going to clean up the boards. But when he gets the ball in rotation, force him to stay 6 feet outside of the rim. He’s awful when he has to take 8-footers and will miss 2/3rds of them. Use Z to body him out and Varejao to drive him crazy.

2) Despite having a huge inside presence, Orlando can only beat us with three-pointers. Don’t let Turkoglu and Lewis bury us with wide-open 24-footers.

3) Orlando is not capable of stopping LeBron James. James averaged 30 points per game, and nearly had triple-doubles in all three regular-season contests. Obviously, everything runs through him.

4) Pressure, pressure, pressure. If you force this team to make multiple mistakes in a row, Stan Van Gundy will panic and make unnecessary changes. The higher his voice gets, the funnier it will be for Cavs fans. Also, his state of panic tends to piss off his players. They’ll fold right along with him.

And here’s the best news Cavs fans could have….Charles Barkley just said “I think the Orlando Magic will beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.” Kenny Smith is now mocking him, saying “in basketball?” Nobody’s dared to ask him if he’s drunk yet. Chris Webber just said that “if both teams had the same NBA I.Q., I’d go with the Magic. But both teams do not have the same NBA I.Q.”

When Chris Webber picks an Ohio team to win, you know there’s a good reason for him to do it.

* - or whatever the hell they call that decrepit basketball shithole these days.

Dammit, I forgot to publish this yesterday.

It’s officially been 2,001 days since Michigan beat Ohio State in football.

Yesterday I posted a quick blurb about the Cavaliers and their fresh legs, but I think I need to go into a little bit more detail now.

A lot has been made about the Cavs potential for being “rusty” going into the next round of the playoffs, especially since they so quickly dispatched the Atlanta Hawks.  I’m not buying it for a second.

These same people (Jon Barry, Charles Barkley, anonymous Cavs-haters online) told us that Atlanta would bite us hard in Game 1 because the Hawks had momentum, and the Cavaliers had been sitting around doing nothing for 9 days.  I thought it was a bullshit argument then, and it’s a bullshit argument now.

For starters, it’s insulting to believe that the Cavs are “doing nothing” right now.  Do you honestly think that the players are feasting on potato chips on the couch, watching Dr. Phil reruns?  No, they’re practicing, watching game film on both Orlando and Boston, and fine-tuning their game (and dammit, they’d better be shooting free throws a LOT).

But the exercise they are completing today is enough to keep the body and mind motivated, but not to exhaust it.  The same cannot be said about our next opponent, whoever it may be.

Tomorrow night, the Celtics and Magic will take the floor in Orlando for Game 6.  Both teams are battered by a consistent string of long, intense games and they’ll have at least one more to endure before the Eastern Conference Finals begins.  The Celtics, short-handed already, had to maneuver a minefield against Chicago (which included 7 overtimes), and the Magic, despite what their fans will tell you, had a rough go against Philadelphia until the Sixers realized they suck in Game 6.

This has led to a massive overage in minutes played.

Here’s the total number of minutes played by the starting fives for Orlando and Boston;

And meanwhile, how many minutes have the Cavaliers’ logged in the playoffs?

The three top Celtic players will be over 500 minutes by the end of Game 6, and if Orlando somehow pulls out a series win, they’ll have their three best players with at least 400-450 minutes.

As for Pierce and Allen…..these are guys in their 30s, and they’ll have posted over 500 minutes each.  That is GOING to hurt them by the time they have to visit Cleveland.

Which leads me to my next point - mileage.  These teams have been on the road a LOT and that too wears a team out.  The Cavs have had it easy in that category too;

• The Cavaliers began the playoffs at home, went to Detroit for Games 3 and 4, then returned home after the series.  They stayed at home for Games 1 and 2, traveled to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4, then came home after the series.
• The Celtics started off at home, went to Chicago for Games 3 and 4, went home for Game 5, to Chicago for Game 6, then back home for Game 7.  They stayed home for Games 1 and 2, then traveled to Orlando for Games 3 and 4.  they came home for Game 5 and then went to Orlando for Game 6.
• The Magic started off at home, then went to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4, back to Orlando for Game 5, then on to Philly for Game 6.  They returned home after their Game 6 win.  They then traveled to Boston for Games 1 and 2, back to Orlando for 3 and 4, on to Boston for Game 5, and have come home for Game 6.

Using Google Directions for mileage stats, I came up with the following numbers

• 167 miles from Cleveland to Detroit
• 708 miles from Cleveland to Atlanta
• 982 miles from Boston to Chicago
• 1,294 miles from Boston to Orlando
• 992 miles from Orlando to Philadelphia

Adding up the number of trips each team has had to take, here’s the total mileage that everybody has had to log;

• Cleveland Cavaliers - 1,750 total miles
• Boston Celtics - 7,810 total miles
• Orlando Magic - 9,144 total miles

Those are NOT small differences.  If you’ve ever traveled long distance, you know like I do that it does not shake off easily.  These teams have put in a LOT of traveling and that too will wear on them as the playoffs expand.

Yes, it’s true that these stats might not matter in the end, because for 48 minutes players can shake off anything.  But it’s yet another example in a long laundry list that points towards the Cleveland Cavaliers becoming the 2009 Eastern Conference Champions.

The first point in that list being, of course, that the Cavs are a superior team.

Top three key players for each team, and their total playoff minutes played…..

BOSTON
Ray Allen - 442 minutes played
Paul Pierce - 437 minutes played
Rajon Rondo - 472 minutes played

ORLANDO
Dwight Howard - 340 minutes played
Hedo Turkoglu - 372 minutes played
Rashard Lewis - 400 minutes played

CLEVELAND
LeBron James - 314 minutes played
Mo Williams - 287 minutes played
Delonte West - 322 minutes played

….and those six players on Boston and Orlando will HAVE to play at least two more games, while the Cavaliers rest up.

The Boston Top 3 players will have OVER 500 minutes each.
The Orlando Top 3 players will have 400-450 minutes each.

Cleveland’s Top 3 players will have nearly HALF those minutes, and they’re in the mid-20s each.

Fresh legs, everybody. Fresh legs.

The front page of your local sports page probably has a nice picture of LeBron James today, doing something that you’ll never do ever.  It probably has a headline about a blowout win and most of the story is about LBJ and how he took over another game and it was unbelieveable.

Yeah, The BBC did it last night too.  So did every other onlite site that I frequent.

On further review, the Cavaliers didn’t quite look so good last night.

Yes, it’s nice to know that LeBron can take over a game when he has to, but this is NOT the team of two years ago where LeBron needs to do that.  We’ve got five All-Stars on the team and, despite being very young, enough playoff experience to make James Worthy go “DAAAAAAAAMN”.  This is a team that should still extend leads with their star resting on the bench, but last night they couldn’t do much without him.

And that’s not good.

• Ben Wallace was out of sync and never got his defense going.
• Wally Szczerbiak missed four wide-open shots and gave the Hawks the ball under their own basket on a turnover
• Mo Williams couldn’t find the net with any regularity (5-13 shooting, 1-6 from long range)
• Daniel Gibson still can’t find his shot, and has put out an APB for it.  Police have been led to a secure location in the year 2007

Fortunately, this team is led by two factors….LeBron, and defense.  Both were outstanding as usual.  Holding the Hawks (who played their best game of the round) to 82 points is no small feat.  Their interior defense was unstoppable and they did exactly what they wanted to do, which was to force Josh Smith into shooting anything from more than 10 feet away from the rim.  When Smith begins to do that, he doesn’t know how to stop, short of several fans emerging from the stands to tackle him.

I don’t like to look for the bad in games like that…..I prefer to appreciate the winning while we have it, because any Cleveland fan can tell you about how it’ll end in a heartbeat.  But I think that it’s crucial to get better as the playoffs linger, because the opposition will most certainly get better as we advance.  While Atlanta is no pushover (ask Boston from their title season), winning by 15 should be thrilling….but it isn’t.

Call it Playstation Syndrome.  You play on rookie level for so long, and you get used to winning games by huge margins, then you get really upset with yourself when you “only” win by a mere double-digit margin.

The good news is that we played our worst game of the NBA Playoffs, and Atlanta played their best.  And we won by 15.  On the road.

Thanks to LeBron James.

Let’s look at this in the “big picture”…..having a guy that can and will do that when needed is not exactly a bad thing to have on your team.  There’s a reason that fans of the rest of the NBA troll our cavaliers, and it’s not because they DON’T want LeBron James on their team too.

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I actually didn’t see the end of the Dallas-Denver game until it was on Sportscenter, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion on it.

If you have a foul to give, don’t pat the guy on the butt just before he shoots it and hope for the call.  TELL the ref you’re going to do it, then WRAP the guy up until the whistle STOPS blowing.

Yes, the ref failed to make the call.  Yes, he admitted it through the NBA.  But Mark Cuban and Josh Howard running around throwing temper tantrums and crying midcourt isn’t the answer.  Playing the game like you’re supposed to IS the answer.    It’s Carmelo freaking Anthony.  He wilts at the first sign of physical defense.  HIT the guy and then you don’t HAVE to rely on a whistle.

If you need the refs to make a call, MAKE them make the call.  That way, no cameramen will get hurt by your owner on his way to a fine and a lawsuit.

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Some really crappy news out of Houston with Yao Ming’s broken foot.  I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like the guy and he was the Rockets’ last hope for beating the Lakers.  At least now Ron Artest can have something new to finish off his usual sentence of “we’d have won if not for (blank).”

I didn’t think the Rockets could knock off L.A. four times in a series, but now there’s no chance of it at all.

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Game 4 of the Magic-Celtics series is at 8pm tonight in Orlando.  The Magic could go up 3-1 if Boston plays like they have since early March.  The Celtics have no fire and no solid gameplan, and Doc Rivers is being exposed as a hack.  And when Stan Van Gundy is looking like the superior coach in a series, you’re got a REALLY shitty coach on the other team.

I’d like to see Boston win tonight and tie the series up at 2-2.  I’d also like to see Boston pull the whole thing out.  I want this for one reason - I want revenge on Boston for last season.

Prior to tonight’s game, I said the following to my friends and family;

“If the Cavaliers are going to lose a game in this series, it’ll be tonight.  I don’t think they will lose, but if any game will go against us, this is it.”

I honestly thought that Atlanta would come out energized and ready, and their fans are always loud.  This team was desperate for a win, and their injuries were healing up for them (hint to ABC - if the players are starting in the game, don’t list them in the stats as “injured players”).  They were ripe for a big win.  Plus, this is the team that took three games from Boston in Philips Arena last year.  The Hawks feel comfortable at home.

Atlanta’s defensive scheme from the get-go was to double-team LeBron James whenever possible and force him to pass it off.  Make the rest of the Cavs hit their shots.

The plan didn’t quite work out as well as expected, as the Cavaliers won 97-82.

The Hawks did double-team James, but the Cavs first three baskets were all on assists by James, giving Cleveland a fast 6-1 lead.  The open man was hitting his shots and Atlanta quickly switched defense.  That didn’t work out so well either.

LeBron changed his plan and started driving to the rim.  When Atlanta backed off to play a more prevent defense, James took long jumpshots, all of which led to him scoring 11 of the final 16 points of the quarter.

Basically, nothing worked out for the Hawks in their gameplan.

Even the fans, who have a tradition of standing up and cheering until the first Hawk FG is made, couldn’t do anything right.  They sat down long before Mike Bibby hit a jumper nearly four minutes into the game.

LeBron ended up doing it all for Cleveland, scoring 47 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 8 assists.  He added a blocked shot and a steal, and only had one turnover.  It was another game in which you never doubted why he was named the MVP.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do. Everyone says to double him, but he hit about eight or nine shots where we couldn’t even get double-teams to him, they were way beyond the three-point line.”
- Atlanta Head Coach Mike Woodson

There just wasn’t any way to stop him.  He never slowed down.

• 1st quarter - 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assist
• 2nd quarter - 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
• 3rd quarter - 12 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists
• 4th quarter - 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

Atlanta made three strong runs at Cleveland, but never quite had enough to put the game away as the wine and gold always had an answer for any Hawk rally.  The Cavs took the lead for good with 2 minutes left in the third quarter and the wheels seemed to come off Atlanta’s wagon.  Zaza Pachulia (yes, thats his real name) argued a call and shoved Anderson Varejao, earning himself an early shower and Josh Smith decided he was the only player wearing a home jersey and began shooting from everywhere (fans eventually started booing his misses, and Head Coach Mike Woodson pleaded with his young star to drive the ball and stop taking jumpers.  He didn’t).

Now with a 3-0 lead, a lead that no team has ever overcome in the NBA Playoffs, the Cavaliers look to close out the series Monday night in Atlanta, a city that has to be truly demoralized.

The Cavs are now the first team in NBA history to win 7 straight playoff games by a double-digit margin.

Some other amazing statistics;

• They are only allowing opponents to score 78.7 points per game
• They are averaging a 17.7-point win per game
• LeBron is averaging 33.7 points per game
• The Cavs are holding their opponents to 40.2 percent shooting in the playoffs (Atlanta allows 46.2, Boston 45.2, Orlando 45.0)

Game 4 tipoff is scheduled for 7pm.

Haftime, and the Cavs are in a battle.  The Hawks are playing their best game of the playoffs and trail Cleveland by 1 point.

But of course, the story is LeBron James.  He’s been burying shots that no other NBA player should even attempt.  Another 30-footer, three-pointers with defense in his face, driving through triple-teams, etc etc etc.

Thus far, he’s got 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. 

But it’s the Atlanta fans that are firing him up.  They boo him for touching the ball, and he silences them.  then they boo him, and he silences them.  Again and again and again.

Just take the lesson, Hawk fans.  You’re making it worse.

Yesterday, my brother and I were getting ready to go to the game, having a bite to eat at Winking Lizard (I barely could eat….nasty stomach pains all week), when his friend (a Bulls fan) sent him a text message;

“Today is the 20th Anniversary of ‘The Shot’.  Think they’ll have a ceremony?”

My brother’s reply was simple;

“Fuck you”

Of course, with the way the Cavaliers are playing in 2009, nobody in town is really thinking about that shot unless they’re being reminded of it by somebody whose team isn’t playing anymore.  But this morning, I got to thinking about it.  I did some research and came up with a very strange coincidence.

The only real box score I could come up with had the game starting at 7pm.  My personal memory had put the game at 330pm (I was covering that game as the Cavaliers beat reporter for a now-defunct Cleveland newspaper), but it appears I’ve been overruled.  That box score also says the game took 2 hours and 12 minutes to play.

If this box score is correct, then “The Shot” took place around 9:16pm that fateful night (I give about four minutes for tipoff, there wasn’t often a very lengthy pre-game show on TV back then.

Fast forward to the same exact moment 20 years later….last night.

This is what happened at 9:16pm last night;

I KNOW! Weird!

The only real difference is that LeBron acted like he’d been there before, and Jordan went into hysterics like he’d just gotten his first boner. That, and LeBron’s shot was 20 feet further out than Jordan’s.

Heading into the second-round series with Atlanta, a lot was said about the Cavaliers’ potential for being rusty.  An 8-day layover between games was bound to hurt, and with the Hawks coming off their longer series, it was possible that momentum would carry Atlanta to a victory in Game 1 or even Game 2.

• Game 1 - Cavs win by 27
• Game 2 - Cavs win by 20

There goes that theory.

Rather than showing any signs of rust, the Cavaliers instead returned to their desire and thirst for victory.  Along the way, they got some much-needed rest than no other NBA team has been able to see thus far.

The Cavs dispatched Detroit in four games, and it looks like Atlanta may be headed to the same fate, with a slight chance at having to return north to be eliminated in 5 games.  Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, Boston and Orlando both had hard-fought longer battles in the first round, and are going toe-to-toe for their second-round matchup.

This brings me to my point.  The Cavaliers are going to be VERY well rested when the tougher opponents come knocking.  In about 7-10 days, we’re going to be facing the Celtics or the Magic in the Eastern Finals.  By that time, will either team have enough left in their tanks to keep up with LeBron James and Company?

Obviously, the shooting guard position for Orlando is rested, since it changed hands four games ago with the injury to Courtney Lee.  He’s scheduled to return tonight and he’ll be well-rested.  But by the looks of this chart, he’s the ONLY player on either Orlando or Boston’s starting rosters that will be fresh for the third round.

ALL of the starting five Celtic players have played over 300 minutes this postseason….and two of those players are in their 30s.  Two Magic players are over 300 minutes thus far, and their ages are 29 and 30.

Meanwhile, you have LeBron James, the strongest player in the league and only 24 years old…and he’s played a grand total of 187 minutes.  The old man of the club, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, has played the least amount of minutes at 166.  If we get the Magic, that will be useful against a strength like Howard.  If we get Boston, we’ll use Z to pound it inside and force foul trouble on the weaker Boston interior defense.

Right now, these numbers are just that….numbers.  But if the Cavs sweep this series and Boston-Orlando goes 6 or 7 games, it will put a serious strain on our ECF opponent.  LeBron, Delonte and Mo will have the strength left to play all 48 minutes.  But there’s no way that Pierce, Allen, Alston, or Turkaglu will be able to keep up with that.  It’ll lead to tired legs in the 4th quarter, and I think you know who usually takes over in the 4th quarter.

Keep a close eye on the rest of the second-round games.  It’ll be interesting to see how much the Magic and Celtics will take out of each other on their way to Cleveland.

You kids have fun and play nice.  The entire staff of The BBC is headed to Quicken Loans Arena for Game 2 tonight!

Rumor is that Al Horford will not play tonight after re-aggravating his ankle injury Tuesday night.  I would like to think this gives us a better chance to win, but I didn’t really think we had ANY chance of losing, with or without Horford.

Yeah, I’m cocky.  Going 71-16 will do that to a guy.

From our home office in Chavez Ravine

10. Barry Bonds was seen sucking the sweat off of Manny’s used do-rags

9.  Cut off a throw from the ball girl to a kid in the first row

8.  Decided that Manny being Manny just wasn’t good enough

7.  His dealer complained that Manny showed up 6 days late to pick up his order

6.  Brian McNamee has some of his DNA

5.  Dropped his needle in the wastebasket and stood there looking at it for 30 seconds before jogging away

4.  Dodger GM Ned Colletti said “That’s just Manny being A-Rod”

3.  He said that he “doesn’t want to talk about the past.”

2.  Thought about playing in Japan so other players would stop laughing at the size of his penis

1.  He was suspended for 50 games by MLB.

The MVP of the league wasted no time showing his fans why he was given the award for the NBA’s best player.  Then his team wasted no time showing the Atlanta Hawks where the exit is.

A mere 15 seconds into tonight’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, LeBron James was sending his first slam-dunk through the rim.  It was a strong start to an even stronger night.  James would finish with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in his first game with the official title of MVP.

The Hawks looked strong early on, burying 7 of their first 9 shots to take a 15-10 lead, but that was the end of their fun.  From that moment on, the Cavaliers clamped down on defense and held the Hawks to 38 percent shooting for the rest of the night.  They were equally as miserable from the free throw line, shooting 50 percent on 9-of-18 shots.

An Anderson Varejao tip shot with 3:33 to play in the first quarter gave the Cavs a 19-17 lead which they would never relinquish.  The lead grew to 12 points in the second quarter, and as the second half wore on, the lead only grew larger.

Mo Williams paced the non-MVP Cavaliers with 21 points, and Delonte West added 13 points and 9 assists.

The defense for Cleveland was their strongest asset tonight, holding Atlanta to only 28 points after halftime and forcing 17 total turnovers.

But what is especially scary about this team’s performance is that their big men were a complete non-factor, and yet we still won by a huge margin.

• Zydrunas Ilgauskas was 2-for-9 shooting for 7 points and had no defensive rebounds
• Anderson Varejao was 2-for-8 shooting for only 4 points, but grabbed 9 boards
• Joe Smith missed all four shots he took
• Ben Wallace scored on his only attempt, a slam-dunk

When your four big men combine for 23 percent shooting (5 for 22) and grab a total of only 17 rebounds in 89 minutes of action, you do NOT expect to win by 27 points.  And yet, that’s exactly what happened.

This team is scary good, and they are perfecting their game at the right time.  From what I saw tonight, I see only one team that can beat the Cavaliers in the playoffs.

Themselves.