Go Crazy Cleveland! Go Crazy!

 If there is one bright spot in a Cleveland sports fan's life in 2011, it will be that they beat LeBron once and getting Derrick Williams in June.  I find insignificant for the Miami Heat, and I thought the issues with LBJ/Cleveland got petty by the middle of this season. It is still awesome to beat your favorite enemy.

-Charlie.

How 'Bout Them Cavs?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have finally ended that record setting losing streak that made them the NBA's "lovable losers" in 2010-2011. They beat Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime 126-119 at the Q.

That was their first victory in 26 games, and their first victory in 53 days. Some of those losses were close. Some were downright ugly (see the 112-57 loss against the Lakers). The thing a lot of people don't realize is that the Cavs had a 10 game losing streak going, then they beat the Knicks, in overtime, then they proceeded to lose 26 in a row. Add up the numbers, and they've lost 36 of their last 37 games.

They just haven't been the same since that devastating loss against Miami in which, LeBron James put up 38 points in his anticipated return to Chernobyl, err Cleveland. Not that they're any good to begin with, but they've been absolutely putrid.

Jamison is the Cavs leading scorer with 17.6 PPG.

Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison aren't any good and Anderson Varejão should not be a starter on an NBA team. It's pretty obvious now the kind of value "King James" had with those guys. They're essentially the same squad minus one of the best all-around players of all-time. Everyone knew it but hoped it wouldn't be this bad after the way LeBron and he P.R. staff handled the departure.

This season is clearly considered a wash by now in Cleveland and they are just vying for the top spot in the lottery this year. This is not that unlike the '02-'03 season where there was speculation of them throwing games just to win the LeBron sweepstakes when he went pro. The Cavs could use a good, young PG (Kyrie Irving?)

-Mitch

Ending the LeBron-Cleveland Feud

The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered one of the worst losses in NBA history.  They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 112-57 last night. For those non-math majors out there, that is a 55 point loss. That is like Duke playing UW-Eau Claire type of scoring right there, although that might be giving the Blugolds some credit.  Obviously, players like Mo Williams and Antwan Jamison are embarrassed.  But to put the cherry on top, their most famous former player LeBron James tweeted his thoughts...  

Crazy. Karma is a b****.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!

I never said LeBron should have stayed in Cleveland and try to bring that city a title. Personally, I wanted New York, but that's just. I didn't like how he was an asshole about the whole ordeal.  LeBron's horrible PR decision is the reason why people hate him with more venom this season. LeBron wants people to know he hates Cleveland and never will forgive them for burning his jerseys, blocking out Jay-Z songs, etc.. But honestly, I am fed up with both of them.  This is like a weak rap beef comparable to Soulja Boy and Gucci Mane with LBJ and the city of Cleveland.  Each sides needs to give it up.  We understand you hate each other, but let's move on.

This isn't the WWE where we have a long feud resulting in a title fight, then another one, and then a final grudge match in a steel cage. This is the NBA.  Both sides need to stop being bitches. Unless someone throws a punch in a game, this is a meaningless squabble.  I do like LeBron is in FU mode because that's the type of player he needs to be this season. The killer instict is back, now let's see if he can do it in the playoffs.

-Charlie.

Ted Williams Goes From Homeless, To Working For The Cavs

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This is like the 3rd video that I've watched of him and each time, all I can do is smile. You can't tell me what GOD won't do. I promise this world can AND WILL chew you up, spit you out and walk all over you....but there is always hope. We might not see it, but it can get better. I'm so happy for Mr. Williams and I wish him all the luck in the world. I love the Cavs again for giving him this opportunity (I was upset with them for talking sh*t about Lebron).

Bye Bye Cavs Hello Heat

Cleveland Cavalier Owner, Dan Gilbson Goes Psycho On LeBron

Well damn!! The owner of LeBron's old team (Cleveland Cavaliers) slick lost his mind after hearing that LeBron chose Miami over Cleveland. I'm sure a lot of people thought he would have stayed with Cleveland because of "loyalty" and the $128 million 6 year deal they offered him. But nope, he's headed to Miami for $99 million (give or take a little) on a 5 year deal. After you read this letter from the Cav's owner, one might also think that LeBron was trying to rid himself of a slick psychopath. Check MORE DISH to read the letter.

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight.

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his “decision” unlike anything ever “witnessed” in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

You can take it to the bank.

If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our “motivation” to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.

Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.

Sorry, but that’s simply not how it works.

This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown “chosen one” sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And “who” we would want them to grow-up to become.

But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called “curse” on Cleveland, Ohio.

The self-declared former “King” will be taking the “curse” with him down south. And until he does “right” by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.

Just watch.

Sleep well, Cleveland.

Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day….

I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:

DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue….

Dan Gilbert

Righhhhhhhhhht... dude gets the extreme side eye and I'm gonna need them to buff up security whenever Cleveland and Miami meet on the court.  This dude sounds all kinds of crazy, seriously!  Anywho, we don't have to worry about Deranged Dan getting at "KING JAMES" (he keeps the name) right now because he flew into Miami last night, with Savannah at his side of course.

I just love to see them together ;)

Pics: Getty Images

Tom Izzo Saying No To Cavs

Tom Izzo turned down the Cleveland Cavaliers off to come coach for them next you. He turned down a 5 year $6 million contact to stay at Michigan State. The Cavs made it hard for Izzo because he would have doubled his pay. I think its really two reasons why Tom Izzo turned down the Cavs off. One is because he doesn't know what LeBron James is going to do, is he coming back of is he headed some where else. Second i mean look at the college coaches in the pass that have gone from college to the NBA, the track record is not to good. I believe other then Larry Brown college coach haven't been successful making that jump. So why leave a place where I'm sure he can coach for another 10 years to go to a place where if he has one or two bad season he can get fired. Now I'm going to throw something out there to you all. I heard that LeBron James was all for Tom Izzo as the Cavs head coach so many think LeBron will be back next year but i also heard that Tom Izzo wanted to talk to LeBron before he decided to take the offer. So does this mean Lebron is out? Well I'll talk about that in a future blog. Thanks for reading once again.

Remember to follow me at twitter.com/AgentEJohnson

The Darko Domino

The Memphis Grizzlies have announced the signing of Darko Milicic to a 3 year, $21 million contract. (According to Ric Bucher) The ramifications of this deal however, go far beyond the Grizzlies lineup. The signing of Darko also has a profound impact on the futures of both Anderson Varejao and Mikki Moore.

Varejao: It has been well documented in the past few weeks that the Grizzlies were seeking an athletic big man to pair with Pau Gasol, and their pursuit of free agents such as Anderson Varejao and Andres Nocioni arguably drove up the asking price for those players. With the signing of Darko however, the Grizzlies will no longer be out there to sign Varejao to an offer sheet. What this likely means is that Varejao will end up staying in Cleveland at a much lower price than he would have received if the Grizzlies had signed him to an offer sheet. Many people had speculated that if the Grizzlies signed Varejao to a contract too far above the mid level exception that the luxury tax wary Cavs would be faced with an extremely difficult choice; either let Varejao leave and focus on signing Sasha Pavlovic, or match the offer sheet and risk going over the luxury tax. The signing of Darko eliminates that difficult quandry alltogether.

Moore: The other player that is affected by the signing of Darko is New Jersey's free agent center Mikki Moore. According to reports Moore has rejected a 3 year, $10 million offer from the Nets and was set to meet this week with Golden State, Chicago, and Memphis. Now that Memphis is out of the running Moore could find it extremely difficult to find much more than the $10 million the Nets have on the table. And if he isn't able to find it, New Jersey may no longer be an option as the Nets have already made contact with Jamaal Magloire. Moore now finds himself in an extremely difficult spot, as he is 31 years old and has had very little playing time or success before this past season. If he has burned bridges with the Nets could quickly realize that not many teams are willing to pay big for an aging and unproven player.

How Much Does A Draft Pick Cost?

If you have been watching the NBA Finals (yes, all three of you) it is pretty obvious that the Cavs have some holes in their roster. They could certainly use a true point guard, as well as a second scoring option that can create their own shot. Alas, the Cavs don't have any draft picks in the upcoming draft so they will have to use other means to fill the holes in their roster. Or do they? According to a report in the Akron-Beacon Journal the Cavs might be looking to pull off a very interesting move in order to pick up a draft pick:

"Even though the Cavs don't have draft picks in the upcoming NBA Draft on June 28, they still are going through all their normal scouting work and will be scheduling workouts in the coming days. Assistant General Manager Chris Grant, who runs the team's draft, attended the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando, Fla., during the Eastern Conference finals.

Multiple teams have extra first- and second-round picks. Grant said the Cavs might have the green light to buy a pick for as much as $3 million, but it would depend on who's available during different points in the draft. The Cavs might look to sign undrafted players to nonguaranteed contracts."

Straight cash for a pick? Interesting. Now, there are a number of teams with multiple picks, but the team that is most intriguing in this scenario is the Phoenix Suns, who own the 24th and 29th picks. It has been well documented that the Suns are going to be facing luxury tax problems next season, and that they may be looking to draft some international players with those two picks that they can stash overseas instead of paying out on two new guaranteed contracts next season. So what if the Cavs came calling at pick #24 with a $3 million offer? Not only would the Suns avoid the guaranteed contract that pick would bring, but they would also get a few million extra to go towards paying off their luxury tax penalty. The Cavs of course, could be tempted to make such an offer if a PG prospect such as Javaris Crittenton were to fall that far. It is food for thought by any stretch.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Jeremy for this tip. The Suns actually did the same thing last year, selling the rights to the #27 pick (Sergio Rodriguez) for...you guessed it, exactly $3 million.

Mike Brown Is Not A Good Coach

If you had a friend that was drunk you would probably try to convince him not to drive, right?

And if your friend was about to smash a Ferrari, you would probably try a little harder to stop him than if he were trying to drive a Yugo, right?

Well, Mike Brown is about to smash the LeBron Ferrari into a wall. Honestly, if you have been watching the Cavs this postseason it is obvious that Brown has no imagination on offense. Running a pick and roll every play or hoping that Pavlovic or James makes a huge drive at some point is not an offense. Granted, Brown has greatly improved the Cavs defense since he arrived last season. Kudos to him for that. He does not however, have the chops to be the coach of a championship team. Granted, the Spurs vastly outman the Cavs in all ways except for small forward, but the fighting chance the Cavs may have had against them solely based on LeBron's sublime talent goes out the window as soon as you realize that Brown is the man calling the shots. He is a great defensive coach, and that is exactly what he should be: a defensive assistant coach somewhere, helping a contender stiffen their D.

Brown has indeed seen Cleveland improve under his guidance. The season before he became head coach the Cavs were 42-40. In both of Brown's seasons the Cavs have been 50-32. The problem though, is that I don't think that Brown can really take that much credit for the improvement. Consider that Paul Silas improved the Cavs by 18 wins in LeBron's first season, and was on pace to win 44 games in the season he was fired, which would have been a 9 game improvement over the previous year. Point being, Silas already had the train moving in the right direction, and Mike Brown has merely jumped on and since brought the momentum to a screeching halt. It also helps that Brown and the Cavs have been the beneficiary of LeBron's natural progression as a star player, as well as the addition of Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Daniel Gibson, and Donyell Marshall to replace the likes of Lucious Harris, Robert Traylor, Jeff McInnis, and Jiri Welsch. Let's think about that for a second. You take what was essentially a 44 win team that was starting Jeff McInnis and Ira Newble, let LeBron marinate for two more years, and swap nearly half of your ten man rotation for better players, and you are only 6 games better? Seriously, just look at the top ten Cavs in 2004-2005 as compared to this season, in order of minutes per game:

2004-2005:
LeBron James
Jeff McInnis
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Drew Gooden
Ira Newble
Eric Snow
Robert Traylor
Anderson Varejao
Lucious Harris
Aleksandar Pavlovic

2006-2007:
LeBron James
Larry Hughes
Drew Gooden
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Anderson Varejao
Eric Snow
Aleksandar Pavlovic
Damon Jones
Donyell Marshall
Daniel Gibson

You are telling me that Mike Brown should be applauded for taking that vastly improved roster, plus a more mature LeBron, Gooden, and Varejao, to a meager six game improvement over two seasons? And don't give me that crap about improved playoff performance this season: the Cavs beat a JV Wizards team, a downright bad Nets team, and a tired Pistons team (on the strength of one of the greatest performances of all time) on their way to the finals. Lets put it this way: if the Bulls had been the 2 seed instead of the Cavs (which they could have been if they had not choked on the last night of the regular season) the Bulls would likely be the Eastern Conference team in the finals, and the Cavs would have probably been shown the door by the Heat in the first round. So is this team really that much better since Mike Brown came? Nope.



Now, Mike Brown did have a way to fix things, to make the Spurs series more competitive. He could have made the gutsy call and inserted Daniel Gibson into the starting lineup. It was almost sad seeing Larry Hughes against the Spurs last night, having Tony Parker and Manu blow past him with ease. Say what you will about how admirable Hughes' actions are, playing through pain and all, but the truth is that he is a liability on the court right now and if Brown keeps insisting upon leaving him on the floor then Tony Parker is going to keep abusing him on his way to 25 PPG and a Finals MVP award. It's that simple. Brown could stop this of course, or at least try to, if he put Gibson in and rode him for 35 minutes a night. In watching the game last night, yes, Gibson did get beat a few times by Tony and Manu, but not nearly as often nor as easily as Hughes. Gibson also had four steals and countless hustle plays on the defensive end, and oh yeah, there is that little factor of him being the Cavs leading scorer the past two games, and having only 6 turnovers in the past six games.

So if Gibson is so hot on both ends of the court, why won't Brown play him? The answer is simple: Brown his covering his own butt on this one. Everyone expects the Spurs to win this series in four or five games. So Brown is more concerned about not being second-guessed for playing a 2nd round rookie than actually winning, for fear that if that rookie falters Brown will be crucified for leaving a high priced player like Hughes on the bench. That is what this all comes down to, and that is truly why the Cavs have no chance. No chance in this series, and no chance to improve beyond a 50 win, slightly above average team as long as Brown is coaching the team.

Just remember: Jordan never made "the leap" until Doug Collins left and Phil Jackson came to town.

Paparazzo: LeBron is Awkward

Do you remeber when you were at that weird stage in development, when you just didn't know what to do with yourself? For example, if someone took a picture of you, you would always do the same dumb thing, over and over again, as a reflex? Or is it just me that has 87,000 pictures from high school where I am making the exact same facial expression in every single one of them? Well, at least I know one person feels my pain: LeBron James, and his seeming obsession with the number four.

LeBron Does The Powerade Commercial...For Real

Remember that Powerade commercial a couple years back where they made it look like LeBron was draining 90 foot jumpers? Well...



And here is the Powerade commercial if you don't remember.

Which Way to the Finals?

Throughout the post-season, LeBron and Company have done enough to put away the Wizards and Nets, but now it's time for them to step up. Last season, the overconfident Detroit Pistons, led by the ever obnoxious Rasheed Wallace, allowed the Cavs to snatch a game away from them in a series that many media outlets declared should have been a sweep. Then Rasheed worked his magic, opening his loud mouth to declare that the Cavs wouldn't win any more games in the series. Obviously this is really stupid...remember how Greg Oden threw down on Joey Dorsey, after Dorsey talked trash? So the Cavs won another game...oh yea they won one more, too. In games 6 and 7 there was Detroit, on the brink of elimination, when the Cavs collapsed, bringing more woe to Cleveland...as if we need any more of it.

If I was rational, I would say the Cavs are going to lose this series, too. But I'm a Cleveland sports fan, and obviously not rational.

So without further ado, I present THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS' KEYS TO REACHING THE NBA FINALS!

Get physical!: After watching the Cavs fail to retaliate against Mikki Moore's hard foul against Sacha Pavlovic in the Nets-Cavs series, I came to realize just how "buddy-buddy" the NBA can be. I don't care if you're friends with an opponent, LeBron. This is the playoffs...retaliate...foul them hard. Same goes for the rest of the Cavs. EVERYONE must play physical, from Daniel Gibson to Damon Jones. Yesterday, the Pistons announced they had a big, bad hurting awaiting LeBron whenever he tries to drive to the basket. Fine...Zydrunas should hear that and elbow Rasheed Wallace in the head (kind of like what Wallace did to Ilgauskus last year, which required the Cavs center to have multiple stitches).

Find a killer instinct: If the Cavs go up in the series, they MUST put the nail the coffin. After watching Game Six of the Nets series, it seems they learned their lesson from last year, as the Cavs drained three after three to put the Nets away by sixteen. However, the Cavs cannot just live and die by the three. Too often some of the Cavs *cough* Larry Hughes *cough* have a tendency to clang jumper after jumper off of the rim, when they're obviously cold. In the past two games, Hughes was a revolting 4-23 from the field and 2-5 from the line, while averaging 3.5 assists. The whole idea of playing Hughes at point was to cut down on his trigger-happy tendencies...Mike Brown has to pound this into Larry's head again. So instead of continually shooting wild jumpers the Cavs must......

DRIVE!!! DRIVE INSIDE, DRIVE INSIDE, DRIVE INSIDE!: Everytime I see someone throwing up a ton of low-percentage shots, I want to vomit. Bang it inside to Z or Drew Gooden. Even Anderson Varejao could throw in the occasional basket if they get it to him inside. Of course, this would require the Cavs to actually get physical...and they had better be against the Pistons. Mike Brown could also use LeBron and Hughes to make slashing cuts to the basket. Who knows, maybe it'd even cut down on Hughes jacking up random jumpers. Drives could be ugly, but at least they don't produce rim-clanging nausea.

Defend the pick and roll!: In the Nets two wins, they ran the pick and roll with impunity. It was disgusting...over and over and over. The main culprit: Drew Gooden. He let Mikki Moore (on his 7th different NBA team in 9 years) blow by him again and again. Gooden better learn how to play better defense for the Pistons, or else it's going to be a long series.

Crash the Boards: The Cavs did a terrific job out-rebounding the less physical Nets in the first couple games of the series, but then went soft. They can't afford to go soft against the nasty Pistons. Once again, the big men HAVE TO get physical, crashing the boards and fighting for every loose ball.

Point guard?: Uhh...what's that? The Cavs need to find a permanent solution in the offseason at point guard. Eric Snow can be a great defender, but is simply not an offensive threat. The Larry Hughes "band-aid" isn't really working, as he still attempts to operate as more of a shooting guard. Mike Brown could take a risk, and attempt to play Daniel Gibson at PG for longer spurts in the game, as he performed well in Game 6 against the Nets.

If the Cavaliers can play up to their potential, and play with intensity, they have a decent shot at winning what could be a long and brutal series.