Links To The Present: March 18, 2010
2010-03-18
“We’ve got to figure out a way to be not as flat,” Brown said. “Obviously you don’t want that to happen, but this is a long season. For us to be able to get the win is good.” [Brian Windhorst’s Game Recap]
“We’ve got to start hanging some banners up there,” James said. “Just got to.” [Brian Windhorst’s Beat Blog]
“Rudoy said Ilgauskas has been working out extensively 3-4 times per week in Manhattan’s Chinatown area.” [George M. Thomas on Z’s Return]
“The 7-footer had another great game Sunday, scoring 23 points with six rebounds in a Russian Superleague contest. He’s averaging 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and shooting 72 percent in the Superleague games.” [Brian Windhorst on Sasha Kaun]
“It’s evident that all of the players have bought into Stan Van Gundy’s grand design and accepted their roles. If this process continues and the specifics are perfected then, at the very least, the Magic will square off against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals — and could easily give the cocky Cavs a run for their money.” [Charley Rosen on the Magic]
Cavs on top of the Fanhouse Power Rankings.
“And then there’s LeBron James who, if you want to get technical about it, beat everyone to the punch on this one. James put his Cleveland on the map, raised its profile around globe; he’s not just bigger than Cleveland, he’s past markets themselves. Yet there’s no reason to believe he’d be willing to do this for any city other than his hometown.” [Bethlehem Shoals re-examining “small-market”]
You can’t vote for Z to play alongside LeBron in the new NBA Jam. We need to start a petition…
Tom Haberstroh looks at the value of assists: “Interestingly, although most three-pointers are assisted (81 percent) according to 82games.com, the effect of a pass is smallest (+3.7 percent) compared to the others.” By this measure, LeBron’s assists appear devalued since so many of his potential assists are 3 point attempts.
Tweak out your browser with a Cavs Theme!
Fun Tweets:
“Just saw Shaq. He’s looking quite fit and aerodynamic, too…shaved off goatee.” [Brian Windhorst]
“da only thing missin is shaqalicious. happy shaq break http://bit.ly/shaqbreak” [The Real Shaq]
“LeBron James is about to beat Kobe Bryant’s record as youngest to score 15,000 points by a mere two years.” [hoopshype]
“Better hands- Hickson or Braylon Edwards?” [Rick @ WFNY]
I was specifically thinking of the St. Marys vs. Richmond game. I turn it on and Richmon is up 1…next thing I know, its like a 13 point game and Richmond has yet to call a timeout. When the coach finally calls a timeout, they show the number remaining and he had 4 more left. So, he had all his timeouts and just chose to watch his team go down by a ton. Don’t get it.
OU baby, live 30 minutes from Athens and have partied there many a time…good times on the block tonight I’m sure.
Thats funny that you would say that Rich because I felt coaches were being way to loose with their timeouts (at least in the games I saw)…
Ok…March Madness is back!!Great day. Terrible coaching + bad FT shooting + huge shots = fantastic basketball. On the terrible coaching part…I don’t know how many games I watched where a team was down 3-6 points..and in the next 5 minutes that deficit would grow to something around 15-16…and the coaches just refused to let go of one of their 4 remaining timeouts. Seriously coach, who cares how many you have saved for that last 2 minutes when your down 18. CALL TIMEOUT. On a side note, I’d like to see more coaches call timeout when their offense is struggling.… Read more »
On the Cavs Theme page, scroll down a bit to the part with the Cavaliers Toolbar. I think it might need updating.
Cavaliers sign Devin Brown? No thanks.
I don’t think Cavs fans need to try and explain away that assist stat. Virtually every time a new stat or way of interpreting numbers comes out, its overwhelmingly positive about Lebron. Lets not get greedy and turn the ones that dont elevate him to the absolute highest level into pro Lebron stats as well. Otherwise we aren’t any better than Kobe fans : p
Oh and @Tom Pestak, you said: “Varejao as a finisher in the post is Jamison-esque.” Nah… I think Jamison is Varejao-esque : )
The thing that strikes me as odd about the Haberstroh article is that it doesn’t really answer the question in a way that is bottom line useful. The okay, so 2-point shots are improved more by an assist, according to his numbers, which I think y’all question for valid reasons, but they are still worse shots than 3 pointers, especially assisted three pointers. If you account for the extra point by multiplying three point percentage by 1.5, the eFG% on assisted threes is 56.8, which is a full 11% higher than the percentage for assisted 2 point shots, it’s obvious… Read more »
Orlando has said repeatedly that they will beat the Cavs in the playoffs and get the “respect” they deserve. Melo said that if it wasn’t for back to backs his team would be undefeated. In a game earlier this year, nuggets were down at half-time and Melo said “we’ll win this game” and they ended up losing by 20. I’m not a huge fan of all of Boobie’s 3 point poses. He learned them from Damon Jones. (Who was hilarious when he did them) Boobie definitely tries to play with “swag” which can be annoying since he’s not that good,… Read more »
I actually don’t think Orlando is cocky. Boston, yes…trash talking non-stop is fairly cocky, cause there is only so much you can say before getting to the heart of the talking which is “I’m better than you.” Now, there are plenty of ways to say that, but that’s usually what trash-talking boils down to. Denver is probably percieved as cocky because of J.R. Smith…which is understandeable. However, we have a cavalier who does the same thing that J.R. does that really bothers me, Boobie. Both leave their hand up forever and start walking back down the court after hitting a… Read more »
Rich – Rosen used to be Skip Bayless-esque when it came to all things LeBron/Cavs. I don’t think the Cavs are cocky. They are nothing compared to Boston, Orlando, or Denver. Those 3 teams are cocky! He probably gave them that label because they dance around and have fun with each other. But they don’t try to show up the other team. They are respectful to their opponents on the court and off the court. It’s OK that teams don’t like the Cavs camaraderie but there is no way the Cavs do that stuff out of cockiness – they just… Read more »
I really am losing my patience for Charley Rosen. The cocky Cavs. Why are the cavs cocky? HAs anyone on the Cavs come out and said that they expect to be handed the Trophy? Or…are they cocky because Charley Rosen still thinks it’s 1968 and teams aren’t allowed to actually have fun.
Yeah it’s a long comment, I try to keep my “thought” associated with certain links very short. I definitely wanted to say something about the Haberstroh article but I decided against anything long-winded IN LTTP so I just figured I’d fire away in the comments section. It’s a good topic for debate.
Tom, let’s allow the author to do the writing and us readers should just stick to commenting.
On the Haberstroh article: When I first saw that the value of an assisted 3 point attempt was barely any higher than the value of an unassisted 3 point attempt, I couldn’t quite believe it. As someone who has played the game of basketball at the pick-up level, I can assure you that being squared up and ready to fire away is much easier than shooting off the dribble, especially from the 3 point line. And I’ve read plenty of article from analysts touting the prowess of guys like Steve Nash and LeBron James who shoot the vast majority of… Read more »