1st Round Coming to and End, the King wins his Crown

It's official, as if there was any doubt. LeBron James will be named the 2009-2010 regular season MVP for the 2nd consecutive year., according to NBA.com.


Although that is an amazing achievement and I'm so pumped to be rooting for the MVP 2 years straight, the goal is to win a championship. Any amount of MVP awards aren't going to satisfy the city of Cleveland. Only the championship has that kind of effect. But regardless, AWESOME.

Now it's time for the Cavaliers and LBJ-MVP2 to take care of the Boston Celtics en route to Orlando. Game 1 is tomorrow night at 8pm on TNT. I cannot wait to get back at this dirty team. I wanna see Shaq dunk clean over Kendrick Perkins while Kevin Garnett tries to sneak in an elbow on Anderson Varejao, resulting in his indefinite suspension from the NBA :)

1st Round Outside of Cleveland
The last 3 remaining 1st round matchups are all on tonight, each with a team up 3-2 looking for a close out win.

Wow is all I have to say about the Milwaukee Bucks stealing game 5 in Atlanta against the Hawks. I'm blown away by how they've even won just 1 game against Atlanta, considering how much fire power the Hawks have. I said earlier in this blog that the Bucks were going to lose without question since they lost Andrew Bogut to injury, but now I'm not so sure. Atlanta just doesn't seem hungry enough. Milwaukee will try to close out the series tonight against Atlanta at home, 7pm on ESPN. Atlanta definitely has their work cut out for them. FEAR THE DEER

Next at 9:30pm on ESPN, the LA Lakers will look to finish the series against the OKC Thunder, but they're going to have to do it despite the incredibly energized OKC home crowd. And I'm sure you can only imagine how much more pumped they will all be tonight with they're beloved Thunder facing elimination. After LA dominated the Thunder 111-87 at home, it's going to take a lot of poise and confidence for the Thunder to get back on track tonight, but I personally feel they have a shot at home. We'll see what the Lakers are really made of tonight...

And finally on ESPN at 10pm, the Utah Jazz will look to upset the Denver Nuggets at home. I had picked Denver to advance past Utah initially, but now with their backs against the wall, I really don't think the Nuggets have enough left in them to win 2 straight without team play and coach George Karl. Deron Williams has been playing on another level this postseason so far and Carlos Boozer has been right there with him. I'm going to say that the Utah Jazz will just prove to be too much for Denver tonight, especially playing at the notorious Energy Solutions Arena.

Last night both the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks lost in their matchups, the latter of the two being very surprising in my opinion. I would put Dallas owner Mark Cuban on suicide watch just to be safe. Watch the TNT crew as they send-off Portland and Dallas in Gone Fishin'

Cavs, and others, look for close out

After another dominant performance from LeBron James (triple-double) on Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers are up 3-1 on the Chicago Bulls, and will look to put them away tonight in Cleveland at 8pm on TNT.

There's no doubt in my mind that the Cavs win this game 5 and take the series 4-1. And I also believe that Miami will lose tonight in Boston and be eliminated. It took so much for Miami to win just one game, I can't see them coming back in this series at all. So I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that 2nd round it will be Cleveland vs. Boston. And if that is the case and both Boston and the Cavs win tonight, game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, Cavs/Celtics, would be this Saturday.

Orlando swept the series against the Charlotte Bobcats and are currently waiting to see who they'll face in the semis.


I thought it would be the Atlanta Hawks without a doubt, but the Milwaukee Bucks have come back to win the last two games in the series and tie it up 2-2. I still feel Atlanta will take the series because they have home court advantage and just a more talented roster, but they need to take the playoffs more seriously than they are right now because they need to eventually win a road game somewhere if they want to advance beyond Orlando in the semis.

Oklahoma City shocked everyone but themselves by winning games 3 and 4 in OKC, tying the series against the Lakers at 2-2. I picked them to win this series back before the playoffs started and so far they're making me look like I know what I'm talking about. The series shifts back to Los Angeles tonight for game 5 at 10:30pm, TNT. Kobe Bryant has said this is a "must win" tonight for the Lakers, and it could be really tough for them. OKC and Kevin Durant have confidence now and much more energy than the older Lakers. I for one cannot wait to watch this game. Go OKC!

The Phoenix Suns got back on track at home against the Portland Trail Blazers, taking a 3-2 lead. Brandon Roy returned from surgery to play for the Blazers, but I still feel that Phoenix is just too much for the Blazers to handle. They should seal the deal in game 6, even if it is at the Rose Garden in Portland.

And then there's the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs, both up 3-1 on their higher seeded oppenents. I don't think anyone saw Utah taking this lead without AK47 and Memhet Okur, but they've been the harder working team and have shown the Nuggets what unselfish basketball looks like. And the Spurs look to close out the series tonight at 9:30pm on NBATV against the Mavericks. I thought the Mavericks and Spurs would definitely battle it out, but I expected the series to be tied 2-2 going into game 5, not 3-1 Spurs. If the Spurs close out Dallas tonight, it will be a huge failure for the Mavericks and their owner Mark Cuban might literally explode on the court.

NBA Playoffs Around the League

Yes, it's true, the playoffs do exist outside of Cleveland, so I'll update you all on what's happening in the other 7 first round series.

Orlando/Charlotte(2-0)
The Orlando Magic have basically dominated this series so far, which is really disappointing to see. I love the combo of Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson in Charlotte, but they need others like Boris Diaw and Raymond Felton to step it up and score if they want to have a chance of making this thing competitive. That and they need to not average around 20 turnovers a game...

The Magic are raining down 3's on the Bobcats, surprise surprise, and the Bobcats just haven't found an answer yet. They seem to be containing Dwight Howard scoring wise so far, but he's showing why he was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year for the 2nd consecutive season. This is a bad matchup for the Bobcats because they are basically a driving team, getting most of their offense from guys cutting to the basket, but as soon as they get there, Howard is waiting for them. The Bobcats also have very poor perimeter shooting, something Orlando has an abundance of.

They play today at 2pm in Charlotte so I hope they can turn things around because I want to see Orlando gone.

Phoenix/Portland (2-1)
Portland surprised everyone by winning game 1 in Phoenix behind Marcus Camby and Andre Miller, but that excitement didn't last very long for them. The Suns woke up and realized they were in the playoffs. That combined with Portland having the most injuries to their players I've ever seen in my life means that this series is over. Suns will win the next 2 games and finish 4-1.

Boston/Miami (3-0)
Disappointing. I was so excited for this series initially, but it's been awful. Dwyane Wade has been great, but he got literally no help from his teammates in the first 2 games, losing game 2 by like 30 points. The Celtics didn't even have Kevin Garnett that night due to his suspension and they STILL got destroyed.

Last night when the series shifted to Miami, I thought the Heat might have a chance to take a game at home, but Paul Pierce thought differently. With the game tied and around 5 seconds left in the 4th, Boston inbounded the ball to Pierce, he dribbled to his favorite mid-range shooting spot on the court, pulled up in the defender's face and knocked down the game winner as time expired. This series is over. Boston in 4.

Los Angeles/Oklahoma City (2-1)
The Thunder looked good against the Lakers in both games 1 and 2, but sloppiness and inexperience seemed to be too much for them to handle and just couldn't close out against the Champs in LA.

But the series shifted to OKC on Thursday night for the first playoff game in the Thunder's couple year history in Oklahoma. It was also the night where Thunder headcoach Scott Brooks received the Coach of the Year award for his team's amazing turnaround from last season.

The crowd was INSANE. Take a look for yourself:



And that crowd, along with the youth and clutch shooting of the Thunder were too much for Kobe and the aging Lakers to handle. OKC took game 3 and made it a 2-1 series. I cannot wait for game 4 in Oklahoma.

Spurs/Mavericks (2-1)
I knew this series would be good, but I didn't expect San Antonio to be playing this well against such a stacked Dallas Mavericks team. After losing game 1 in Dallas, the Spurs flipped a switch and took both games 2 and 3. I honestly have no idea what the outcome of this series will be because Dallas is definitely not going to just give up and San Antonio is on a hot streak. We'll see how this one plays out.

Atlanta/Milwaukee (2-0)
No Bogut in Milwaukee, no 2nd round in Milwaukee. Simple as that.

The Hawks have outplayed the Bucks in each game at home and I just can't see any scenario where Milwaukee gets back in this series without Andrew Bogut. The Bucks might get a win in Milwaukee in either game 3 or 4, but that's all I can see happening.

And finally...
Utah/Denver (2-1)
Wow. Utah has been playing so hard these past 2 games it's unbelievable. They lost Mehmet Okur in game 1 in Denver and I thought the series was essentially over. They were already without AK47 so it just seemed impossible for them to stop the offense of Denver. But Boozer and Deron Williams had another opinion. They've taken 2 games straight, 1 in Denver and 1 in Utah. Denver just can't find an answer for the Jazz's energy. Foul trouble for Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony have also really hurt them the past 2 games.

I still don't know who wins this series, but I would have to think Denver comes back and at least makes it interesting. I highly doubt that Utah takes game 4 and goes up 3-1, even at the Energy Solutions Arena.

Tough Loss in Game 3

The Cavs lost by 2 on Thursday night in Chicago. The score of the game makes it sound a lot more competitive throughout than it actually was.

The Cavs were down by 20 for a majority of the 2nd half, but they went on a huge run to cut the lead down to 2 with just seconds left in the game. Anthony Parker had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but it was a half court heave so I don't blame him for missing, even though it was REALLY close to banking in.

I guess we got a little bit of our own medicine in Chicago as well as chants of "Cleveland Sucks" erupted throughout the game in response to our "Noah Sucks" chants from Monday's game 2 in Cleveland. My blood boiled every time I heard that chant Thursday night. And then when the fans started chanting "MVP" for Derrick Rose at the free throw line? I mean come on, Chicago fans know better than anyone what an MVP looks like and Derrick Rose is not one of them. LeBron James on the other hand...

Anyway, the Cavs will have a chance to bounce back in Chicago tomorrow afternoon as they look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Shaq has been ditching the media the past few days, possibly out of embarrasement for his awful game 2 and 3 performances, or possibly out of anger for not getting playing time in 4th quarters. Regardless, he needs to step it up and be a factor because the past 2 games he's been a liability offensively AND defensively. That cannot be the case. LeBron actually called for JJ Hickson to get more time in game 4 and for Shaq to pick up his play. It's a concern.

Now if I were coach of the Cavs (we probably wouldn't make the playoffs), but I might bring Hickson back into the starting lineup with Antawn Jamison because that group has speed and athleticism, as well as chemistry. I would bring Shaq off the bench late in the 1st quarter and run him through the middle of the 2nd quarter, rotating big men around him (JJ, Twan, Varejao), then bring Z in at center to finish the half. Start JJ and Twan in the 3rd quarter, rotate Varejao and Shaq in sporadically and not necessarily together. Then by that point, decide who has the hot hand in the 4th and go with that big while playing Varejao most of the 4th quarter as well. Just my thoughts...

Noah Sucks! Noah Sucks! Noah Sucks!

Yeah,there he is on draft day... Pathetic. Joakim Noah on Cleveland:

"I don’t know about Cleveland, man, there is nothing going on. It’s bad, man."

"You like it? You think Cleveland is cool? I've never heard anyone say, 'I'm going to Cleveland on vacation.'"

As I'm sure all of you are aware by now, Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah has been talking a lot of trash on the city of Cleveland. Not smart considering us Clevelanders are a devoted group of people and will NEVER forget when someone bashes our city. This was evident in game 2 of the Cavs/Bulls series Monday night in Cleveland. I was at that game and every time Noah touched the ball he was booed. Chants of "Noah Sucks!" started up later in the game. Noah just needs to focus on playing the game and less about taking shots at Cleveland because last time I checked, the playoffs are about winning games in order to advance, and the Bulls haven't won any...
Below is a video I took of Noah at the free throw line while the Noah Sucks chant gets going:

NBA Playoffs opening weekend: sights, sounds, and analysis

Such great basketball the past two days.

Of course, my Cleveland Cavaliers took game 1 of the series at home against the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were never really in it, but made it somewhat competitive towards the end. LeBron "MVP" James put a stop to that though and put the game away from some clutch baskets down the stretch.

The best part about Cavs/Bulls game 1 in my opinion is that it wasn't ALL LeBron. He had a great game, but he had a lot of help, namely from Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, and SHAQ! Mo and Antawn each put up around 15-20 points and added great assist and rebounding numbers respectively on excellent shooting percentage. Shaq came back from injury looking better than ever, creating a lot of problems for Chicago centers Joakim Noah and Brad Miller. And Noah just couldn't "out-Varejao" Anderson Varejao, as the Wild Thing grabbed double digit rebounds off the bench.

Cavs/Bulls game 2 is tonight at 8pm in Cleveland, TNT.

Around the NBA
The Nuggets, Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, Hawks, Magic, Blazers, and Mavericks all took game 1 of their series. All of these teams have homecourt advantage except for the Blazers. I did not see them winning that game 1 at all, especially without their star player Brandon Roy. Everyone else stepped up, especially former Cavalier PG Andre Miller, tying his career high playoff point total in Phoenix last night.

Stephen Jackson, SF for the Charlotte Bobcats, suffered a hyper-extended knee after getting inadvertently hit by teammate Gerald Wallace in last night's Bobcats/Magic game 1. He returned for the 2nd half and attacked the rim hard, so the injury may not be too serious, but it may stiffen up on him with inactivity so we'll see how it effects him for game 2. For Charlotte to have any chance of beating Orlando, they need Captain Jack.

Utah Jazz forward Mehmet Okur tore his achilles tendon during game 1 of the Jazz/Nuggets series and will be out for 3-6 months, obviously now out for the rest of the playoffs. VERY disappointing for Utah, and for me because he's one of my favorite players. The Money Man will come back strong next year.

Kevin Garnett was suspended by the League for game 2 of the Miami/Boston series for throwing an elbow at Miami forward Quentin Richardson's head during a fight in game 1. Here's a video segment from the TNT crew showing both the Garnett-Richardson fight and the Okur injury:



And finally, here's a picture of Los Angeles Laker's forward Ron Artest and his new hair-do and facial hair. He looks disgusting...

GET PUMPED!

Follow me on Twitter!

Hey everyone,

With the playoffs in sight, make sure to check out my Twitter page and follow me because I'll be giving out in-game updates and analysis (biased most likely), but analysis nonetheless. http://twitter.com/1CenterCourt

YES! PLAYOFFFFS!!!! Bring it on Chicago...

It's official. The NBA regular season 09-10 is now over after last night's wrap up of games. LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN!

So it's not the Raptors and familiar foe Hedo Turkoglu that we'll be seeing first round this year, or any round for that matter haha, but Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls (oooooh, scaaarrrry). Chicago won out their last few games and closed the door on Toronto, just barely making it into that 8th and final playoff spot, only to have their celebration cut short by the 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers. Oh, too bad, so sad Chicago :( The first game will be THIS SATURDAY at 3PM on ABC in C-Town. CANNOT WAIT!

In all honesty though, I think I would have rather faced Toronto because they are much softer and barely ever play defense. Chicago on the other hand is pretty gritty and won't just lay down and let the Cavs walk all over them. Maybe we sweep them, maybe it goes 5 or 6 games, but what's certain is that no amount of Derrick Rose or Joakim Noah can stop the Cavs and the new and improved Shaq-Diesel.

The playoff matchups per conference go as follows:

Eastern Conference
(1)Cleveland vs. (8)Chicago
(2)Orlando vs. (7)Charlotte
(3)Atlanta vs. (6)Milwaukee
(4)Boston vs. (5)Miami - I REALLY want to see this series play out

Western Conference
(1)Los Angeles vs. (8)Oklahoma City
(2)Dallas vs. (7)San Antonio
(3)Phoenix vs. (6)Portland
(4)Denver vs. (5)Utah
All of these West matchups are unreal and could honestly go either way, so there may be an upset alert on the horizon out West

You can check NBA.com for a complete schedule for all of this weekend's playoff action.

Lets go CAVS!!

Nuff Said

Alright so tonight, currently, as we speak, the Cavs are playing Eastern Conference opponent the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta for the Cavs' season finale. Exciting! Oh wait, no one's playing... This game is just a minor delay before the real playing begins this weekend for the playoffs.

The Cavs are getting beat pretty bad right now in the 4th quarter, but even so, the loss will mean nothing to us, but what do you think this JJ Hickson dunk means to Atlanta's Joe Smith?



Nuff Said.

Charles Barkley makes his "Expert" Pick

Charles "the Chuckster" Barkley has picked the Cavaliers to win the championship this year. He makes the claim that no team in the East can challenge us besides Orlando, but even so he still feels we advance to the Finals. And when we get there, according to Barkley, we'll most likely face a banged of Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers, who won't be able to stay alive against the Cavs. Here's the link to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2010-04-13-2113757571_x.htm

I like that he's giving the Cavs props, but at the same time, I don't like when the Cavs are the favorites and I think we'd just do better going into the post-season with an underdog mentality so that they stay focused and don't get any senes of entitlement.

Gearing up for the Playoffs

So it's been a few a days since my last post, but it's time to get back to business for the Cavs and Shaq, and for the other 15 teams moving into the playoffs.

The Cavs have lost their last 3 games, but does it really matter? Not in my opinion. LeBron and others were held out all 3 games and some of the normal starters like Mo and Jamison were held out during the 4th quarters, so it's really no surprise we haven't won these games. But it's actually kind of encouraging because we've only lost those last 3 games by a margin of about 3 to 8 points, so that's saying a lot that we are hanging in with teams EVEN without LeBron, Shaq, and guys like Anthony Parker, Mo, and Antawn down the stretch. And with one game left in the regular season tomorrow in Atlanta, it's still not certain whether LeBron or Shaq will play. Shaq has been cleared to play by team doctors and has participated in practice, but it's unclear yet as to whether Mike Brown will want to play him tomorrow night, and also if he will play him with LeBron or keep him out until this weekend.

The NBA Playoffs start this Saturday and Sunday, but the schedule hasn't been released yet since there's still one more day of games to be played tomorrow. And in tomorrow's action, we could see a couple different shifts in playoff seeding out West and we'll see whether Chicago or Toronto will make the 8th seed in the East and face the Cavs in the 1st round. From what I've heard, the schedule of games will be released sometime this Thursday, and man do I hope Cleveland plays on Saturday because I CANNOT WAIT for these playoffs to start!

And after today's practice at the Cleveland Clinic Courts, Antawn Jamison spoke to the media about how ready he feels for the playoffs. He says how he's feeling good, is impressed with Shaq's ability to stay in shape over his time out due to the thumb surgery (Shaq's lost 20 pounds!), and how hungry he is for a championship and how he loves being in Cleveland because not only is he driven for the trophy but all his teammates and all the fans have the same passion as he does. You can check it out for yourself below.

On the Same Page & Around the NBA

So last night's Cavs game vs. the Raptors was amazing to watch if you were rooting for Cleveland....not so much if your heart is in Toronto...

Cleveland won 113-101 at The Q (1 Center Court), and never really feared losing this game for two reasons:
1.) Chris Bosh went down early in the 1st quarter after an accidental elbow to the face from Antawn Jamison. According to Brian Windhorst, Bosh fractured both his nose and upper jaw and would likely be out a long while. Check out the video below to see what happened..



And then right before the end of the half, Antoine Wright tweaked his ankle and didn't return for the 2nd half. So in a season where Toronto's Hedo Turkoglu experiment clearly hasn't worked out, the Raptors barely hanging on to make the 8th seed in the playoffs, hoping to entice Bosh to re-sign in Toronto this summer (as he'll be a free agent at the end of the season), things couldn't get any worse for Raptor fans...

And reason 2.) The Cavs were passing the ball and making shots all night long. They played one of the best team-games I've seen them play in the whole LeBron James era. They racked up a season-high assist total of 38, one assist shy of the arena record of 39 I believe. Mo Williams and LeBron each had double-doubles with double digit assists last night, 14 pts/12 ast and 19 pts/13 ast respectively. Everyone was just on the same page, right in time for the playoffs to start!

One thing I thought was a little odd though was Mike Brown's decision to keep Daniel Gibson on the bench when the game had essentially been decided early in the 4th quarter. I guess Coach wanted to play a smaller, more "playoff-like" rotation last night, but in my opinion, Gibson is really getting the shaft and I feel bad because he is definitely talented, not to mention a fan favorite.

Around the NBA

So last night in Utah, the Thunder and Jazz played an amazing OT game with Kevin Durant scoring 45 pts and Deron Williams scoring 42 pts. But all good things must come to an end, and the Thunder definitely found out the hard way.
Oklahoma City lost by 1 point (140-139), but the way in which they lost was awful. Durant had 1.8 seconds left on the clock, down by 1 point, and caught the ball looking to take a 3 pointer for the win, but he was clobbered by CJ Miles instead, obviously missing the shot. So to the free throw line we go...wait? NO FOUL? WHATTTT??? See for yourself...



The NBA officially released this statement today regarding the foul(?): "On the final play of last night’s Oklahoma City-Utah game, the officials missed a foul committed by the Jazz’s C.J. Miles on the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during a three-point shot attempt.”
So a mistake was made by the officials that ended up deciding the game. Man I hate referees, except for when they favor LeBron ;)

And then just to give you a quick update on what the playoff standings in each conference currently look like right now with just a few games left in the regular season:

East
1. Cavaliers
2. Magic
3. Hawks
4. Celtics
5. Milwaukee
6. Miami
7. Charlotte
8. Toronto

West
1. Lakers
2. Jazz
3. Mavericks
4. Suns
5. Nuggets
6. Spurs
7. Thunder
8. Trail Blazers
Each team in the West, by the way, is roughly separated by just one game in the standings or are tied for their seeding, so look for this to change day-to-day.

We Lose, But We Win

Wow, what a crazy Easter afternoon game between the Celtics and Cavs yesterday in Boston. May I just say that I hate when the Cavs play in Boston because all the Celtics up their trash talking and pretend like they're not withering away right in front of everyone. And even though we lost (117-113), this game was fun to watch at parts, very fun.

The Cavs trailed by 15 points at halftime yesterday and eventually fell behind by as many as 22 points before snapping out of it....literally. Mike Brown and Mo Williams snapped over a no-call from the ref where Mo was clearly being grabbed and held back by his arm by Tony Allen, resulting in a wide open Rajon Rondo layup. Because of the reaction from Williams and Coach Brown over how ridiculous the no-call was, Mo wound up with a technical foul and Coach Brown got ejected. The officiating was so poor throughout the whole game, mainly in Boston's favor, but just in general I thought that most of the calls yesterday on either team were horrible. This is something Mike Brown obviously brought up in his post game interview.

But after the departure of Brown, the Cavs turned up their intensity and actually came back to take the lead late in the 4th quarter behind a sickening effort from LeBron James (42 points). The Celtics ultimately won, but blowing a 22 point lead can't make them feel good about themselves even if they did win, because remember, we didn't even have Varejao playing let alone Shaq-Diesel.

Kevin Garnett was talking trash to LBJ the entire 4th quarter, and you could see that LeBron was not pleased. This resulted in LeBron saying after the game, "We don't like them and they don't like us." Scary words for Boston fans, because if we do meet in the playoffs, which it seems LeBron is hoping we do, he will be doing everything in his power to make sure Boston doesn't advance. "We all know the playoffs are where it's at," said LeBron. It could get ugly...



But even though we lost yesterday, so did the LA Lakers, which means now that no matter how you roll the dice, the Cavs will end the season with the best record in the NBA and will have homecourt advanatage throughout the entire postseason. So we could lose our last 5 games and roll into the playoffs on a 6 game losing streak, and we will STILL have the best record and homecourt advantage. And with Boston desperately needing wins in the final stretch before the playoffs, wanting to prove themselves against the elite teams in the league, barely winning after blowing a huge lead can't make them feel too good.

Score: Cleveland 1, Boston 0.

Varejao is Off the Charts! (HILARIOUS)

My friend Steve sent me a link today to a website with a hilarious post about Anderson Varejao in it. We all know how wild and energetic Varejao is on the court, but this website makes the case that he's not always off the charts energetic, and to prove it, Varejao's enthusiasm in different situations has been charted...
Enjoy the link, because this is HILARIOUS!

http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/?p=26501

Free Throws...

So the Cavs recently, and really all year, have been struggling from the free throw line and it's really becoming a problem.

In the playoffs, the level of competition is much higher and margin for error is much, much smaller. So making free throws could mean either winning or losing games. Antawn Jamison is probably shooting around 20% from the line since he's come to Cleveland. I don't understand why he can't hit these, or anyone on the team for that matter. No one is making free throws consistently. We may be good for stretches of games, but we need to be solid at all times if we want to win it all this year.

Last night, we missed a ridiculous amount of free throws, which essentially gave the Milwaukee Bucks a chance to win the game. Had we made 85%, or just 80% of our free throws last night we would have been sitting on a 10 point lead in the remaining seconds of the game. Instead, we were getting sent to the line to try and make free throws to put the game out of reach, obviously not something as easy as it may sound for the Cavs.

Instead of laughing and joking about a big close-out 4th quarter, we were chasing guys off the 3 point line and watching Ilyasova and Salmons draining wide open 3's, and when I say wide open, I mean literally no one even on that part of the court. We basically won the game because LeBron bailed everyone out with a great steal to seal the win, but we all know that can't be that case every time down the stretch.

We have to clean this up because even though we are winning despite our free throw trouble and defensive lapses, it probably won't cut it in the playoffs. I have faith that the Cavs will right this situation in time for the playoffs, but it's definitely no joke.