Well after Friday's disasterous loss to the Celtics--made worse by the fact that KG didn't play and still Boston dominated the Cavs inside, but better by the fact that the home team has now won the last 15 games in the series--the Cavs bounce back with a great win over the Heat. LeBron only with 14 points but a trip-double, and Mo huge again.
I hope the Cavs see that 15 game home streak and realize they HAVE to get home court advantage--if just for the mental edge in the playoffs. Bouncing back like they do (12-1 after a loss, and 13-2 in back-to-back games) is great for this team's confidence.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Bounceback
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Q: Hey Joe...where you gonna run to now?
A: To Cleveland!
It’s fun to be a Cavaliers’ fan these days. After witnessing the team reel off the best win of the season Monday night at Miami, fans got more good news Tuesday as the team signed Joe Smith to a one-year deal.
This was a move that had to be done: Even if Ben Wallace comes back from his broken leg in three weeks as speculated by the PD’s Brian Windhorst, there’s no telling how long it will take for the somewhat creaky big man to get back into game shape. It sounds like Ben will be ready for the playoffs, but Smith adds much-needed depth.
I would even argue that Smith made the most immediate impact of the four players acquired following last year’s mega-trade that changed half the roster. While Delonte, Wally and Ben were struggling to find their roles, Smith was hitting midrange jumpers and playing decent defense on the opposing team’s bigs. He’s that solid veteran that’s a needed piece on any championship-hopeful team.
The one guy that may not be too thrilled about the pickup is JJ Hickson. That’s OK—Hickson has some raw offensive skills and I like his hustle, but this is not a developmental year for a franchise looking to get young players needed experience. This is winning time, and Double J is not ready to bear that burden during the playoffs.
In the intense playoff-type atmosphere of Miami, for example, Hickson received the ball in the paint and probably could have gone up for a dunk. Instead he pump faked, allowing the defense to collapse, and flung up a Tuesday Night Basketball-quality shot-put off the glass. The Cavs just don’t need a 20-year-old with the rookie yips playing important minutes in May.
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Have you had a chance to check out Maurice Clarett’s blog? “The Mind of Maurice Clarett” reads as an almost stream-of-consciousness advice column where the ex-Buckeye philosophizes about life and the mistakes that landed him in the Toledo Correctional Institution.
Clarett has no interest in sharing the lurid day-to-day details of the stony lonesome. Instead, he writes about inspiring others and keeping up his relationship with his young daughter. He also says he’s taking courses through Ohio University while incarcerated.
“I created this site for other reasons,” Clarett says. “There are too many young men and women that need hope and inspiration. To a large degree, prison doesn’t exist to me anymore. I’m mentally removed, on certain levels. My mental sentence expired when I decided to educate myself. I spend all of the hours of my days developing my life’s vision. I don’t have the time to think about prison. I’m just waiting for my physical sentence to expire.”
From what I’ve seen, Clarett’s blog is full of this kind of rhapsodizing, which makes “Mind of Maurice” an interesting if not terribly compelling read. However, while it’s easy to dismiss the words of a guy who screwed up a good thing because of greed and ignorance, it seems Clarett is sincerely trying to better himself while stuck in a bad situation. Check out his blog at mauriceclarett.wordpress.com
Joe the Power Forward
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
If you have 27 minutes to kill and like curse words...
Every single curse word ever yelled at the television during a Cleveland game Sopranos episode...
the sopranos, uncensored. from victor solomon on Vimeo.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Distance makes the heart grow fonder...
On a cold Chicago night when I'm trapped in my office way too long, it seems only Twitter (I'm @Pucky22 if you care!) and Sportacular, the iPhone app, keep me linked to the Cavs.
Would have loved to see LeBron vs. Dwayne Wade tonight...but the highlights did it for me instead! Great comeback and that dunk on O'Neal was amazing as well! 42 points for LBJ vs. 41 for Wade reminds me of the afternoon in Cleveland a couple years ago when I was lucky enough to watch a similar shootout from the last row at the top of the Q!
I guess the only way to celebrate is via haiku!
Watching 24 now...
Following Cavs on Twitter
Yay! Hash tag #Cavs win!
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