Home sweet home. Well, for one night anyway. In front of a 42-inch big screen on opening night in the NBA. Let's go ahead and try to read too much into it ...• You can't tell me the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't going to come knocking for Stephen Jackson at some point. Looks like LeBron James is going to need some more help.
Hard as this is to say, it doesn't seem like Shaquille O'Neal can even be your No. 2 option. Apparently, the Cavs are reluctant to give up Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Jackson because Cleveland doesn't want to get smaller.
Then again, Jackson would make the Cavaliers tougher, and he would give them someone other than James who can make a play. Besides, the Warriors have Ronny Turiaf to sweeten the deal if need be.
• With all due respect to Dallas owner Mark Cuban, this year's version of the Mavs isn't better than that team that went to the Finals in 2006. The reason: it was the pre-exposed Dirk Nowitzki in 2006.
Back then, the belief was that a team with Nowitzki as its best player could win it all. But now we know better. And far as anyone can tell, Nowitzki is still Dallas' best player, a healthy Josh Howard or not.
Look, Nowitzki is a wonderful player. But after watching the Mavericks falter against the Heat in '06, then get dismantled by the Warriors in the first round the following season, it seems apparent the Mavericks aren't going to win a title (which is the only way they can be better, right?) until Nowitzki becomes his team's second-best player.
• Didn't really notice the officiating on opening night, did you? Oh, that's right. The big boys were back.
• Gilbert Arenas sure looked good in the opener, but Caron Butler might be the most important piece on that team. He's the Wizard most likely to do things other than score to help his team win.And, yes, I say that even on a night he took 17 shots and had just one assist. By the way, Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld is the early leader in the Executive of the Year Award chase.
• Pretty troubling sequence from the L.A. Clippers at the end of the first quarter against the Lakers, when they already were down 13. Baron Davis rushed a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining -- just for the sake of a 2-for-1 -- and missed badly. Davis missed so badly that the ball rebounded long to the opposite-of-shy Ricky Davis.
Time to get a good one, right? Exactly. Ricky Davis then proceeded to immediately launch another 3-pointer instead of running down the clock. Banked it home.
• Houston coach Rick Adelman had to be thinking Warriors -- tonight's Rockets opponent -- down the stretch of their loss to Portland.
Interesting Adelman wasn't even considering coming back with Shane Battier, Trevor Ariza and Luis Scola after some of his subs got Houston back within four of Portland with a couple minutes left.
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hmmmm....yes it's a long season and yes everyone can count on the ups and downs....and yet....one wonders what happeded to the Cavs with their new big kid...the Big Ass...ist...as he calls himself...once again, it looks like the Suns misfit scenario...that while he adds he also subtracts...The Big Ego is suited much better to an offense where He is the deal and things go through him...he doesn't fare as well when someone else is the deal or the collective offense is the deal...so...we'll see what happens but it has to be embarrassing to have made a lot of talk about the ring and then lose your home opener to a team that appears to be your major competition for access to the ring round. Yes the Cavs will get better...and so will the Celtics...
GO GREEN HAHAH
People seem to forget that the Celtics started 27-2 last year and would have easily cruised to the best NBA record -- if not for losing KG. As it is, they ended up with only three less wins than the Lakers, even though KG missed 26 games. The point is -- you never know what is going to happen. "If" the Celtics stay healthy, they will easily end up better than Cleveland -- mainly because of much better balance. As Barkley said last night, Orlando is a bigger challenge to Boston than Cleveland. I think Sports Ilustrated was right on the money in predicting a Boston/LA finals.
Skipper Jack can`t guard Paul Gasol, so he isn`t the top trade priority for Cleveland. Shaq was an all star last year, proving once again, when the Big Assist moves his feet, good things happen for his team. Slashers like Wade and James benefit from a 60% field goal shooter drawing triple coverage down low, allowing them to use their speed without the ball to beat two guys, instead of with the ball trying to beat five. Last night was a reminder of what went wrong last season with that, LeBron and the Jordanaire Jr. approach. Home court loss to a championship contender should remind everyone not to continue to repeat last season, to seek a new blend with the new personnel. Shaq doesn`t have to score every time he touches the ball, has always been a willing passer. Coach will need to sit him out games in back to back situations to keep him fresh, as Phoenix did, but Shaq played better last reason than he had for a couple, it was the rest of the Suns who, due to injury and age, not primarily due to Shaq adjusting to the, were not as good. If Jackson were available for one year at the veteran minimum, he would be a valuable bonus to the Cavs, but several years at several millions a year would be a huge waste of money.
Boston looked like they were in midseason form, Cleveland looked like they did'nt know where to go. It was'nt just Shaq, the whole team looked confused. Mike Brown is a terrible coach who seems to be scared to tell Lebron what to do. MVP's are great but Lebron will have to sacrifice some numbers, give up the ball and get everyone involved to beat good teams like the Celts.
Way to hit the nail, FLOW. Mike Brown coach of the year? HAHAHA. I almost pissed myself last year when he was named that. Most coaches of the year CERTAINLY allow the assistant coach to draw up plays, and those plays only consist of giving LeBron the ball and having his teammates GTFOTW. =P
SVG was Coach of the Year. Hell, I'd even give it to Doc Rivers over Mike Brown.
ANYWAY . . . the Cavs probably won't make it past the second round in the playoffs and LBJ will be a Knick alongside Nate Robinson and Chris Bosh.
But, of course, all speculation.
FLOW, you are right that he needs to "give up the ball" but a lot of people don't really understand what that means, because they are looking at his high assists. I think that on many occasions, his high assist total is a NEGATIVE statistic for his team. It means that the ball is always in his hands. If he's not taking a shot, then he's the one passing the ball. He's such a great player, he will continue to lead the Cavs to a ton of wins. But when they come up against the elite teams, this style of play is going to kill the Cavs. The coach could easily correct this, but he's probably afraid that LeBron will cry and pout.
Case in point: Tonight LeBron and Mo Williams (point guard) each played 39 minutes. LeBron had 12 assists and Williams had 2 assists. The result: a ten point loss to Toronto. LeBron's 12 assists might look good in his stat line, but it was actually a bad thing. The point guard wasn't getting the assists because LeBron was hogging the ball. He needs to play more without the ball.
Last year, Phoenix decided to let Shaq play hard the games he was in, and sit out a game against a lesser opponent in a back to back. Brown put him in 28 minutes last night against Boston, 24 tonight against Toronto. Early in a season, best policy, generally, is let the guys get comfy on court, let them get to know each other, especially since most teams, wierdly?, don`t work on offense in training camp. These Cavs don`t know each other! And it shows in the lost column. No shows in the won column. No one else should be facetious like the New York press. James should not be facetious enough to consider going there. But the Cavs are not off to a good start. Maybe too tight, knowing each loss is a nail in the franchise`s coffin. Toronto is better this season, with the addition of Turk, but not 10 points better than the Cavs better. Shaq should have been head cheerleader tonight, but when he IS on court, the ball should go thru him down low, regardless who then shoots. They are still playing like James is playing a one on one street ball pick up game, with no teammates on the court. That just won`t get the job done. Maybe the assist calling the plays needs to be replaced with someone who has heard of this crazy fad called five on five. Might catch on someday.