The NBA Playoffs: A Battle of Matchups

May 4, 2011 By 2 Comments
derrick-rose-carlos-boozer

The NBA playoffs are now heating up. The first round is long gone, and we’ve seen some amazing basketball up to this point from both conferences.

Whether it was watching the Grizzlies stun the might Spurs, or watching the Hawks take out Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic in the East. Then there was domination from teams like Boston, Oklahoma City, and Miami.

Yes, these NBA Playoffs have been great, and are sure to get better.

But there is one thing that I have realized over the past few seasons: the NBA Playoffs are not about who finished with the best record during the regular season. The NBA Playoffs have continued to show me that no matter if you’re an 8th seeded team or the best-seeded team, there is always the opportunity for you to advance.

And why is that? Simply: because the NBA Playoffs are a battle of matchups.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: bulls, cavs, Hawks, lakers, Magic, matchups, mavs, NBA, playoffs, seeding, seeds, Spurs, Thunder, warriors

LeBron Accepts His Role As A Villain

December 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
biggest nba superstar

The King did it.

LeBron James returned back to his Cleveland throne, and in stellar fashion, dropping 38 points in 30 minutes, including a 24-point 3rd quarter, as he wiped out the Cavaliers. He ignored each and every boo he heard, ignored the t-shirts, signs and hate from everywhere. And he did it all with a few smiles, chuckles, jumpers in front of the Cavs bench, and sideline celebrations.

Yes, LeBron has passed the toughest emotional hurdle he’ll have this season.

But what now? He didn’t curse back at the Cavs fans, he didn’t flip the bird to anyone. He let his game speak, and it spoke louder than ever. But what exactly did his game say?

It said: he is accepting his role as one of the most hated and loathed players in the NBA. He has accepted his role, as the villain.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: 23, 6, cavaliers, cavs, Chris Bosh, Cleveland, Dwyane Wade, fans, Heat, lebron james, Miami, Mo Williams, NBA, return, South Beach, the decision

The Anticipation Is Over: LeBron Returns Home

December 1, 2010 By 7 Comments
lebron-james-cleveland

The time has arrived. The Miami Heat, and the small forward who bears # 6, will arrive into Cleveland for the first, and only time this season.

Though the Heat’s season has been somewhat of a disappointment, with coach Erik Spoelstra having his job on the line, Wade and LeBron not being on the same page, and the injury bug looming, we still find  someway to hype this up. And with much reason…

The Ohio-native returns; the King of Akron is about to have a not-so-homecoming party. Not in wine and gold, but in red and black.

LeBron James, is returning to Cleveland.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavaliers, cavs, Chris Bosh, Cleveland, Dwyane Wade, erick spoelstra, Heat, lebron james, Miami, NBA, return, South Beach

LeBron James Goes to Miami: We Were All Witnesses

July 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

News broke folks.

LeBron James is now going to my home in South Florida.

More precisely, Miami.

Does that do anything for me? No. Without a doubt.

I’ve been a Cavs fan since I can remember, but this one goes down as a defining moment in sports history, and it has two sides, the beautiful, and the ugly.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: 2010, akron, bosh, cavs, Cleveland, Dan Gilbert, espn, fans, free agency, Heat, lebron james, Miami, NBA, ohio, pat riley, the decision, wade

Could Byron Scott Ultimately Bring Chris Paul to Cleveland?

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment
byron-scott-cavs-coach

Thursday morning ESPN reported that Byron Scott will be named the Cleveland Cavaliers new head coach.

Scott is a former NBA player who played a key role on the Lakers for three championship seasons (’85, ’87, ’88). He was around great players like Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most of his career.

He also has coaching experience, having coached the New Jersey Nets to two NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. The Nets lost both of those series because the Lakers (2002) and the Spurs (2003) were far superior then his Nets teams.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: bryon scott, cavs, NBA

Who’s Going Where? Predictions for the Top 5 NBA Free Agents

June 30, 2010 By 8 Comments

LeBron James. Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh. Joe Johnson. Amar’e Stoudemire.

Without a doubt, those are the five names we will be hearing about most (if you’re not sick of them already) as soon as midnight strikes on good ‘ol July 1st.

Why?

Well, simply put, because each and everyone one of these players will not have an NBA team, will be in search of one, and will be in high demand.

Some might team up, some might go solo (again), others might make a trio, and could some go to Europe (okay, probably not). But heck, no one knows, especially when those so called “sources” are claiming that there are meetings being held in Miami, Chicago, via Skype, at LeBron’s house, and anywhere else you can imagine.

Whatever happens though, one thing is for sure: it will indeed change the course of the NBA’s future.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: 2010, amar'e stoudemire, bulls, cavs, Chris Bosh, Clippers, Dwyane Wade, free agency, free agents, Heat, joe johnson, Knicks, lebron james, NBA, nets, raptors, summer, summit, Suns

Potential Tom Izzo-Cavaliers Marriage on the Line Today

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s everywhere you look.

Whether on mainstream ESPN, or internet media outlets, or your local radio shows, the topic that is trending on Twitter - and is sadly overshadowing the NBA Finals – is Tom Izzo, LeBron, and the Cavs.

It was reported first by Brian Windhorst of the Plain Dealer that Izzo is the Cavs’ top choice, but even then things seemed like a long shot. As the weeks passed though, more insiders began shedding light, breaking some news, and getting the story.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavs, chris grant, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, lebron james, Michigan State, NBA, Tom Izzo

What Happened? A Die-Hard Looks Back at the Awful End to the Cavs’ 2010 Season

May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

[Editor's note: This article was sent to me about a week ago, in the immediate aftermath of the Cavs' epic collapse against the Boston Celtics. In the heat of all the LeBron free agency talk, I overlooked posting it.

While going through my email this morning I happened upon the article once more. I think it is almost more insightful and appropriate now, a week later, when we still don't really have any more of an explanation for the Cavs' terrible play against Boston than we had a week ago.]

———-

I come from Buffalo, a town known for its “almost but not quite” teams.  We long for a champion, and for that reason I have come to love watching the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James.

Why?

Because they play with a love of the game, and have a team mentality that has propelled them to the top of the league two years in a row.  LeBron deservedly won MVP two years in a row, the team was the top seed this year, and they had made all the necessary tweaks and additions to win the NBA title this year.

Or so we all thought.

So, what happened?

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavs, Cleveland Cavaliers, lebron james, mike brown, NBA Playoffs

Legacy of LeBron Takes a Huge Hit

May 15, 2010 By 10 Comments
lebron-james-face

For the first time in my life, LeBron James finally seemed human.

Maybe it was his elbow. Maybe it was because, as ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said, “…he looked like he had his bags packed already…”, or maybe it was just because the King clamped up at the time the light shined on him most.

Whichever conspiracy theory you may want to believe, there is one simple fact:

LeBron did not shine in his biggest moment.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavaliers, cavs, Cleveland, lebron james, NBA

Adrian Wojnarowski Nails LeBron’s Failings and the Meaning of Game 6

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you only read one article about LeBron James and the epic collapse he has guided his Cavaliers to the verge of, make it this one by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. (And if you have time for two, then please read this one. But not before Wojnarowski’s.)

I’d like to excerpt the whole thing, but I won’t. Here’s a small piece of whet your appetite:

Most of all, James is forever selling something of himself – an ideal, an image, a possibility. Something nebulous, something promised. He’s chasing a global platform, the bright, blinking billion-dollar fortune, and he’s largely gotten the natural order of things backward.

Stop strutting, stop preening, stop stomping away as an ungracious winner, a sore loser, and win something, LeBron.

Win something now.

Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavs, lebron james, NBA

MSF Top 10 List: Reactions to the “Quicken Groans LeBracle”

May 12, 2010 By 12 Comments
quicken-groans-lebracle

There is only one way to accurately describe what happened last night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland:

WTF?

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the three letters above represent the same WTF number of shots LeBron James made last night.

Really, WTF doesn’t even describe last night’s game. Cleveland and LeBron pretty much rolled over, on their home floor, in a must win game, in a performance that even the Atlanta Hawks would have considered soft.

Every sports news outlet from Bristol to Bangkok will be dissecting LeBron’s poor play last night and assessing what it may or may not mean for his future in Cleveland. I thought I’d throw my two cents in as well, although with a little bit of a difference perspective.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: boston celtics, brady quinn, cavs, Cleveland, Cleveland Cavaliers, cleveland fans, cuyahoga river, Javier Vazquez, John Calipari, Kevin Garnett, lebron james, mike brown, Mo Williams, NBA Playoffs, ozzie guillen, shaquille o'neal, tim tebow, worldwide wes

Some Music Video Entertainment For Your Cavs-Celtics Off Day

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
mo-williams-gooseneck

The Cavs lost to Rajon F’ing Rondo and the Celtics yesterday, knotting their best of seven series at two games a piece.

Game 5 will be in Cleveland on Tuesday night, with two potential sweeps occurring this evening if Orlando and the Lakers take care of business. (For the record, I think Orlando does but LA doesn’t.)

Cleveland fans probably won’t want to watch Orlando play tonight because the dirty little secret of this year’s playoffs (that probably isn’t a secret anymore) is that the Magic are probably better than they were last year.

No, they don’t have Hedo anymore, but they do have Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter. And while the Cavs have Shaq and Antawn Jamison, even the most ardent Cavs supporter has to be at least a little worried about how up and down the team has played during the playoffs.

So instead of watching basketball tonight, here are a few music videos I was sent this morning that I suggest Cavs fans watch. Hopefully the power of the Gooseneck can help the Cavs come out on Fire Tuesday night.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavs, gooseneck, music videos, NBA

Report: LeBron’s Elbow “Way Worse Than is Generally Known”

May 6, 2010 By 17 Comments
lebron-james-elbow-injury-update

Well, if you haven’t heard about it yet, then you’ve been either living in a rock, don’t have internet or cable, or just have been too busy to notice that the latest NBA buzz is surrounding the great LeBron James.

More specifically, the buzz is about LeBron’s elbow, and the possibility that the injury may be “way worse” than anyone realizes or than the Cavs will let on. (More on that in a bit.)

To clarify, LeBron James has been playing with what was originally deemed a minor elbow issue, but ever since the Cavaliers met up with the Bulls in the first round, LeBron’s elbow has gotten more aggravated, leading to a great deal of worry in Cleveland.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavs, injury, lebron james, NBA, NBA Playoffs

The Tale of the Injury: Kobe and LeBron

April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
kobe-bryant-injury-update

Injuries.

They are one word in sports that we never look forward to…not even if this is a Yanks/Sox series and Derek Jeter just tore his achilles tendon sliding home. No sports fan will ever want to see injuries, even if it’s too a player on a rival team.

Why, you might ask?

Well it’s simply because we don’t get to see the leagues, the games, and the stars at 100% if guys get injured. If they get injured, for example, we don’t get to see the full ankle-breaking ability Adrian Peterson shows us, we never get to see if the Lakers would’ve swept the Celtics without Kareem, and we’ll never get to see if Ryan Howard can beat the single season HR record.

That’s the tale of the injury. And why do I bring this up as an NBA writer? Because the game’s only two non-human athletes are injured: Kobe and LeBron.

What does this mean for the NBA? How did they happen? How will this affect the teams? You are about to find out!

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: cavs, injury, kobe bryant, lakers, lebron james, NBA, playoffs

LeBron Punishes one of MJ’s Rims!

April 25, 2010 By 1 Comment
lebron-dunk-bulls

Yes! You heard it right!

LeBron James simply destroyed, annihilated, punished, the rim in the house that THE great Michael Jordan built.

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: bulls, cavs, lebron james, NBA
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