Comments on: “We still hate Cleveland”

By: kevin s.

kevin s. — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:45:32 +0000

“Wally is okay, but they still don’t have ONE shooter I’m afraid of.”

Wally shoots better than 40% from three, and has been putting them up since he has joined the LeBrons.

By: Sauce1977

Sauce1977 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:32:41 +0000

I can hate Ben!

By: Bloomen

Bloomen — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:57:21 +0000

I’m not worried about the Lebrons at all.

Drew Gooden really hurt us with crucial points and kick-backs to bron. Now they have Ben…so, I’ll take his 7 points and 40% free throws against Gooden’s double doubles.

The best pickup for them was Delonte West, and we all know what Chauncey does to undersized PGs…(i.e. Jameer Nelson). Wally is okay, but they still don’t have ONE shooter I’m afraid of.

Last year, we played flat and were out-coached. I sincerely doubt either of those things are going to be repeated.

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:14:34 +0000

So, I’ve done a little research and calculated our starting lineups average age and mpg over the last 7 seasons(including this season… which is every season we’ve finished with 50+ wins) I found some interesting facts.

- We won our title with the youngest lineup(26.6) during that stretch.
- presently we have our fielding our oldest starting lineup(30.6) during that stretch
- Our best record(64-18) came when we fielded our 3rd youngest team(28.6), but second highest mpg(35.36)
- Our finals loss(game seven, if you remember) came when we played our highest mpg(36.3)… and fielded our second youngest team(27.6)

I don’t know exactly what this all means, but younger and less mpg seems to be better. Here’s the stats so you guys can examine them:

Year Record Age MPG Final standing
07-08 43-16 30.6 32.54 ????
06-07 53-29 29.8 34.32 ECF loss
05-06 64-18 28.6 35.36 ECF loss
04-05 54-28 27.6 36.30 Finals loss
03-04 54-28 26.6 34.42 Championship
02-03 50-32 29.6 31.54 ECF loss
01-02 50-32 29.8 31.94 ECSF loss

By: D_Town_Fan_In_Chi_Town

D_Town_Fan_In_Chi_Town — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:59:18 +0000

I know the sentiment is that we don’t want to face the LeBron’s in the second round, but lets face it, if the stones are to win it all, they will have to beat a western conference team. Take for exapmle the Lakers, they may very well have a series against Denver, one against Dallas, then one against San Antonio. Any team that makes it through the west will be challenged every step of the way.

When we sit around hoping for the path of least resistence we will witness another playoff streak where the team plays with complacency, which has defeated us the past two years.

By: Rob G

Rob G — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:49:24 +0000

I don’t wanna think about last year. I drank whisky for the first time in ages after that game. I got so sick offa booze and tears… Then I had to teach a class where one of the texts was on Jordan… ugh.

By: JesseC

JesseC — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:20:09 +0000

I am a huge fan of the “KTSOOH” defense on LeBron. I was so mad last year in the playoffs when Sheed, Dyess, and Tayshaun wouldn’t challenge his drives because they were scared of being dunked on. I kept begging for Flip to put in Maxiel (or even DD) just to put a hard “KTSOOH” foul on his ass. When I realized Flip wasn’t going to change anything about the failing defense I began praying to the heavens above that I could somehow be subbed in for one play to put LBJ on his ass before being ejected. Bad Boy style. Just typing this and rehashing the memories are making me furious! We should have signed Lambieer instead Ratliff for this reason alone.

By: jay uno

jay uno — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:04:19 +0000

i would love not seeing the cleveland lebrons in the playoffs at all, because of the fact that nobody on our team can guard this guy.. seriously, i love tayshaun, but lebron is physically to strong for him … who else can guard a sf jarvis hayes? i mean, come on.. walter? we will never know.
that was the reason for all these shawn marion trade rumors

marion and bruce bowen are the only guys capable of guarding him

if we face cleveland, it would be the best to knock the sh** out of him … max, amir and theo should do this

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:00:47 +0000

Ohad - I will say he is better than I gave him credit for. yes, he was probably their second best player. But man there’s such a drop. We’ll see if he can keep up his stats when people aren’t triple or quadruple teaming one of his teammates. I say, at best, he’s an average 3rd option on a good team… or a very bad second option on a bad team.

By: Mr. T

Mr. T — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:53:25 +0000

Fel,

I almost had my bagel come out of my nose when I read your comment. Comedy is all about timing and as I was scrolling down the page, I only saw your first line….bite of bagel….look up and see “for me to poop on”…bagel tries to escape through my nose. Nicely played.

Onto the serious business, I would prefer we beat Cleavland on our way to the Finals. We had to put MJ in his place a few years in a row, I see no reason not to do the same with norBeL. His sense of entitlement for foul calls is only rivaled by Kobe or any of the Spurs or MJ at any point in his career.

I think Hermann will be a valuable defensive presence come playoff time. He is a spaz on defense, but could throw someone off their game for a bit.

The reality of the situation is that we will go as far as our starting five is going to take us, especially Sheed and Tayshaun. If Sheed stays focused, doesn’t whine about calls (that applies for all of them, pretty much) and gets a little mad, we can be dangerous. The bench will feed off Sheed. Playing the bench now with a few of the starters mixed in sometimes is the right way to do it.

By: Fel

Fel — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:31:05 +0000

Cleveland is a good team. For me to Poop on.

By: Garrett

Garrett — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:36:25 +0000

This is OT, but DAY-UM:

This Chris Webber debacle in the Bay is becoming almost comical. C-Webb started again last night in Golden State’s win over Portland, but disappeared after the first few minutes. Seriously, he only played 8 minutes all night. We’re at a point where Austin Croshere is clearly a better player than Webber, and the team is visibly worse when he’s on the floor. We can’t think of a reason why the Warriors shouldn’t pull the plug …

From Dime Magazine’s Smack today.

By: Ohad

Ohad — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:27:50 +0000

Brad - l’m ignoring his mouth and watching his double-doubles. i might be wrong statistically here but still… he plays better and more stable than Z and got half the recognition for it. plus unlike varejao he doesn’t flip flop every time sheed comes next to him

By: UTEP2STEP

UTEP2STEP — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:43:02 +0000

We might see Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals. Lebron is the only player in the league who can flat out carry a team in a series. Sorry, Kobe. That finals team may have been the worst roster to ever reach a Championship Series. This year the Cavs have been DECIMATED by injuries and they’re still going to make a run at winning 50 games. Maybe it’s just a reflection of the Eastern conference but any team that draws Cleveland will have their hands full with LBJ. The guy is a walking triple double.
It’s pretty likely the Pistons will get to the finals again but I’d rather go through Boston. Free Walter!!!!!

By: Diablo

Diablo — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:20:51 +0000

I’m tired of trying to dodge bullets in playoffs, I will be happy if we face a challenge in the first round for once, maybe that will prevent us from going into a complacency slump deep in the playoffs (particularly in the ECF). I think this team is already becoming better than the teams we had the past 2 years and I think we are a better team than the Cavs, Celtics, and Bulls and need to start proving it instead of playing down to their level.