Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Couldn't stay away forever...

So I had a nice little following at FoxSports blogs (rooster, hoffman, Tom7, and bleedpurplengold) and since Fox Sports changed their site and deleted everyone's posts they effectively killed a nice little community. Anyway, John Krolik does a great job at CavsTheBlog but I'm getting tired of posting my thoughts on these games with no feedback on all these sites. So just for posterity sake, I'm going to start blogging about my team again. Also, the only guys I really loved chatting with about the cavs were Brandon Hoffman of Ballerblogger.com and Rooster. I haven't heard from either in months.

About tonight's win @ Miami

This recent streak of close wins sheds light on a few TRUTHS of the NBA.

1.) As John Krolik said, it's takes luck to win close games. The Cavs have had their share of bounces in these games, and in the utah game, the Jazz had about 7 minor miracles happen in a ROW for them to win a close game. Hollinger talks about this all the time, how winning close games is more a matter of luck and there is almost no correlation between winning close games and being "good" and taht winning games by a LOT (ppg differential) is a much better indicator of future success (being "good")

2.) The luck evens out. The Cavs started out 1-5 in games decided by 3 points and are now 3-5. The Lakers, who were like 6-0 in games decided by a few points, just lost a game at Toronto by a point.

3.) Having a guy like LeBron James can significantly improve a team's "luck". He is by far and away the most complete player in the NBA. People talk about Kobe and how he gets the "most out of his talents." whatever. LeBron wins games with assists (Delonte's 3 over Washington for series/D Jones long-2 for series), Lebron wins game with insane buckets (Shot over Orlando), LeBron wins games with huge game changing dunks (Poster on Garnett), LeBron wins game with steals (tonight), LeBron wins games with blocks (Durant), LeBron wins games by making the correct decision at the correct time and knowing when to be Michael, when to be Magic, and when to be a video-game character.

The reason I say "luck" at the top of that paragraph is because many times LeBron needs a little luck to win games. That shot he hit against Orlando is not a high percentage shot, but the point is there is no one in the NBA that could even jump that high in that situation and still shoot with decent form. No one would give himself that much of a chance to win in that situation with a lankey 6'10" guy blanketing him.


4.) A lot of people say depth is overrated esp in the playoffs because you play your starters more minutes. I firmly disagree despite what any stats say (and I rarely disagree with good stats). If it wasn't for PJ Brown and Sam Cassell, the Cavs would have defeated the Celtics in '08. If it wasn't for Boobie Gibson, the Cavs would have lost to the Pistons in '07. If it wasn't for the Cavs incredibly deep bench this year, they would not have been IN a lot of these games that ended up being close. Having a deep team is invaluable, and it is showing now that the injury bug has bitten the Cavs. Also, guys like Shaq and Z will be fresher than they ever have going into the playoffs this year - that might be very huge. Few people remember that Joe Smith was the 2nd best player on the Cavs in the playoffs last season (he also had the freshest legs from that month off for the buyout)

5.) Winning these games without Mo and Delonte is a very good sign. It's a good thing to be able to win ugly. It's fairly obvious that our team has zero ball movement without those guys playing, yet they have changed their style, and grind-ed out 3 wins against playoff teams. Don't get too caught up in HOW they are winning - they are putting themselves in position to win despite missing 2 of their best 5 players (LBJ, Andy, Mo, Delonte, Shaq in that order).

6.) It's officially time to recognize two things about the Cavs. 1. Mike Brown is a DAMN GOOD coach. It may take him a little longer to make adjustments than some people would like, but for about the 4th straight year, the Cavs are the best defensive team in the NBA despite having very few players KNOWN for their defense.

2. Boobie Gibson will NEVER be an NBA point guard. Ever. NEVER. He has slow lateral movement with the basketball, he plays low to the ground and can't make an entry pass, and he can only pass with his right hand. However, he is the most clutch 3 point shooter since Robert Horry. Seriously, if you had the game on the line, you would rather have boobie taking a 3 than ANYONE in the NBA right now. That is totally invaluable, esp in the playoffs where the game slows down, it becomes a possession battle, and floor spacing and clutch shooting is the key to winning a lot of games. Boobie has also shown to be a MUCH improved defensive player. He slides his feet well, is difficult to post up (just ask Chauncey Billups in 07 or Russell Westbrook 2 nights ago) and has maybe the quickest hands on the team. The Cavs need to contractually recognize what he does well and what he doesn't do well and make changes to the way they use him. I think Mike Brown should be fined $1,000 every time he has Boobie initiate the offense and Boobie should be fined $10,000 every time he throws up one of those floaters in traffic . (only $1,000 if he makes it) This guy is a gamer and it's time the Cavs and Boobie stopped pretending like he has other facets to his game and just let him do what he does better than anyone in the NBA. He's gotta get burn though, even when Mo and Delonte come back. He should not have lost his spot in the rotation. He's leading the NBA in 3 point % and the sample size is large.

Great win for the Cavs tonight. Little has been made of the fact that Wade missed 2 FT and LeBron sank 2 FT to end the game...if the opposite had happened Skip Bayless would have some extra pep in his step today I'm sure.

Also, that dunk from LeBron past (not over) Wade was nothing spectacular, until you realize LeBron can outrun Wade while dribbling - and Wade is nicknamed "Flash" - goes to show you how fast LeBron is.



LeBron's top 10 dunks of all time, in my opinion.

1.) LeBron with No Regard for KG



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFLOGzsgZbc

Easily the best dunk of LeBron's career. I would argue this is one of the best dunks in the history of the NBA. First of all, it's against one of the best defensive power forward of all time. That power forward also happens to be one of the biggest trash-talkers of all time. It came against one of the best defensive teams of the last decade, and LeBron drove past 3 defenders to even GET to KG. It was during a crucial moment of an intense playoff game, and it really changed the momentum of the game (almost the series: but Rondo's airballs = PJ Brown putbacks = Celtics NBA Champions = We might have to put the Kobe == Jordan talks on hold for 3 weeks). In terms of raw flight, it's not as epic looking as the Dunk on D-Jones - but if you watch slowly, LeBron throws it down while getting shoved in the gut with two hands from KG. Truly an epic dunk. Shamefully, ESPN didn't even include this dunk on its plays of the decade a month back. (They also didn't have Derek Fisher's .3 second shot.) Finally, Kevin Harlen had one of the best calls ever: "OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! LeBron JAMES - WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE!"

Power: 10/10, Altitude: 9/10, Exit through Net: 8/10, Bounce off Floor: 6/10, Poster Factor: 10/10, Relevance to winning: 10/10, Meaningful game: 10/10

Score: 63

2.) Masked Man Makes Innocent Bystander Cower in Fear (or, LeBron Over D Jones)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jUUMCvLPFU

Shaq called this one of the top 5 dunks of all time. He might be right. This a dunk that few NBA players could do in an open gym, and LeBron did it IN-game OVER Damon Jones. The reason this dunk is number 2 is simply the physics of it. LeBron's height, speed, power, and finish is ridiculous. Many players have dunked over people, but he almost jumped over someone that was JUMPING! This reminds me of 2 of LeBron's recent blocks where he jumped over his own teammates to make a block. Anyway, in this insane jam, the ball goes through the hoop so hard it bounces up about 5 feet off the court. The Miami crowd pretty much lost it too. I remember where I was when LeBron threw down this dunk. I wasn't even in Cleveland and the entire bar stood up. This is one dunk where I won't argue if people disagree with me on its rank since: 1.) it was a meaningless game, 2.)it was against Damon Jones, 3.)we lost the game. But I'm putting it here anyway. Also this video is one of the better dunk videos, although there was a longer version of it that shows the Heat at practice the next day and Shaq calling D-Jones from his SUV saying "you aight? You got BAPTIZED last night". At practice reporters are talking to Damon Jones and he says "Shaq's been dunked on too, ya know, oh yeah, he has."


Power: 10/10, Altitude: 10/10, Exit through Net: 10/10, Bounce off Floor: 9/10, Poster Factor: 9/10, Relevance to winning: 2/10, Meaningful game score: 1/10

Score: 51

3.) LeBron Puts a Helmet on 'Sheed


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFl-66WrF_o&feature=related

Boy did LeBron throw down a lot of dunks against the Pistons in '07. They made a commercial out of his dunk past Jason Maxielle (can't find it), and the dunk on Tayshaun Prince came in the midst of LeBron's 25 straight must-score points. But the dunk on Sheed was the best of the bunch. Not only was it at home, but it was against the Cavs single biggest nemesis of the early-LeBron era: Rasheed Wallace. Sheed talked an awful lot of smack - showed a complete lack of respect for the Cavs before, during, and after the series, had plenty of run-ins with Z and Andy, and got tossed out of game 6 after pushing LeBron in the back after he was already out of the play. (Trivia Questions: How many wins did Rasheed predict for the Celtics this season?) LeBron gets lots of poster points for this one, but the exit points were all rather low. It rattled through the hoop but really didn't bounce off the court.


Power: 8/10, Altitude: 9/10, Exit through Net: 4/10, Bounce off Floor: 1/10, Poster Factor: 9/10, Relevance to winning: 10/10, Meaningful game score: 9/10

Score: 50

4.) LeBron alley-ooop against "Rival" Wizards


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuhsartyKqw

This is definitely the most underrated of LeBron's dunks. I'm not sure I've ever seen this on one of the LeBron all-time dunks compilation videos. This dunk was SICK. I'm not sure anyone in the NBA would have pulled off this dunk. Gib's pass was way too high and too late, and LeBron somehow leaned back and got high enough to throw it down. Very few times do players cock back their alley oops. LeBron HAD to in order to pull this dunk off. Also came at home against soulja boi and the Cavs "rivals" the Wizards. Ball sort of rattled the rim as it went through, but still hit the deck pretty hard. Also, the way LeBron landed after the dunk made it look awesome in real-time.


Power: 9/10, Altitude: 10/10, Exit through Net: 6/10, Bounce off Floor: 5/10, Poster Factor: 2/10, Relevance to winning: 8/10, Meaningful game score: 9/10

Score: 49

5.) LeBron Over Duncan (Or, the picture beside LeBron's locker)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPmJM5-HSi0&feature=related

This dunk is a tad overrated. Very often it is credited as LeBron's best dunk. First of all, it wasn't a power dunk. (Dwight Howard won a Dunk contest by throwing the ball in the hoop so what do I know) Second, LeBron had like 2 hours to set this dunk up, everyone saw this coming. But at the same time, he's dunking on one of the best power forwards of all time, the call from Hubie Brown is awesome, and the way Duncan falls really makes this dunk great. (Btw, D Wade's dunk on Varejao this season looks 10x better than it was thanks to the way Andy hit the deck like a rag doll and slammed his head AND feet into the padded baseboard. Other than that, it wasn't really one for the ages. JA Adande commented on this. It was an awesome dunk, but it comes with an assist from wild-thing. Also Cavs won both games at Miami...just sayin.) This dunk on Duncan will go down in the memory books, but it was a regular season game, the Cavs got waxed by this team in the Finals, and again, it lost a lot of exit points since LeBron wasn't able to grab the rim and really hammer it through.

Power: 10/10, Altitude: 10/10, Exit through Net: 4/10, Bounce off Floor: 2/10, Poster Factor: 10/10, Relevance to winning: 5/10, Meaningful game score: 6/10

Score: 47

6.) LeBron FT-line (almost) Dunk


and the slow-mo, close-up


This is one of the more underrated dunks. If there was every any doubt that LeBron could dunk from the FT-line, this should put it to rest. Not only is he starting from half-court, but he didn't even need a full extension to dunk it(like the Boobie alley-oop). LeBron stole the ball just behind half-court and only used 1 dribble to dunk - that is riDUNKulous. He takes off about 1 foot inside the line, the dunk is perfectly clean, and his landing is sweet. One of these games, LeBron is going to attempt an in-game FT line dunk. (rare weak call by McLeod/AC)

Power: 8/10, Altitude(hang time): 14/10(come on did u see where he took off from), Exit through Net: 5/10, Bounce off Floor: 5/10, Poster Factor: 6/10, Relevance to winning: 4/10, Meaningful game score: 4/10

Score: 46

7. a, b, c) LeBron May One Day Break a Floorboard With These Hammers


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEunxNkO5-4
"I've never seen anything like that before..." (then you didn't watch Dunk #1)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDwkLIHKYCs&feature=fvw
"JAAAAAAAMMESSSS!! OHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4N1G3gYk7w
"OH. MY. GOODNESS!" (From Jon Barry no less. Note: If Ira "I started on the Cavs and got cut from the Lakers despite Kobe fans insisting he has less talent than LeBron" Newble doesn't hit the ball after it hits the floor it would have gone up higher than the rim)

I gave those dunks a long title, not as long as http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/ but long enough. (TWSS)
There are 3 dunks here. All of them are very similar: they were regular season dunks, and were the kind of dunks that only LeBron throws down. He goes right, elevates, and throws down an Akron-Hammer. His take-off is sometimes short (cept for the Chicago one), but his power is unmatched. I've seen various writers/bloggers refer to it as a "fffwwwoooomp" sound like the ball is being shot out of a cannon. This is a dunk that looks kinda average in slow mo, but in real-time it is just ferocious. Recently, LeBron has done this against Phoenix, Chicago, and Portland. The signature to this dunk is that the ball hits the floor at a million miles an hour. If Bo Jackson played basketball, this is how he would dunk every-time. (These HAVE to hurt his hands right?)

Avg stats:
Power: 10/10, Altitude: 5/10 (chicago one is easily 10/10), Exit through Net: 9/10, Bounce off Floor: 10/10, Poster Factor: 3/10, Relevance to winning: 4/10, Meaningful game score: 4/10

Score: 45

8.) LeBron's Dunk on Jermaine O'Neal



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtfmnJR-ddc

Ah, another diamond in the rough. Brian Windhorst described this dunk as follows: “I am not sure whether the dunk LeBron had with 47 seconds left translated to television. It was one of the most vicious throwdowns I have ever seen in person. He got so much momentum going when he turned the corner and his adrenaline was pumping so intensely that I think his head got above the rim. There was a dunk in Philly a couple years ago that was close and a dunk in Charlotte during his second season when he got crazy high off the ground that seem to relate to me. Plus his slam over Rasheed Wallace in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007 that I believe was the turning point in the series.” This dunk gets high marks for power, poster, and being a crunch-time bucket in a big regular season game. It didn't have the aftershock-effect points of going through the net or hitting the court hard (never actually hit the floor).

Power: 9/10, Altitude: 9/10, Exit through Net: 2/10, Bounce off Floor: 0/10, Poster Factor: 8/10, Relevance to winning: 9/10, Meaningful game score: 6/10

Score: 43

9.) LeBron Dunk Over Suns


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhDfeycYRYM

This one was tough to find, but I vividly remember it. January 29, 2006. No team dominated the Cavs in the early LeBron era quite like the Phoenix Suns. This game was the rare exception. LeBron finished with 44/11/7 including a chase down block of one of the fastest players in the NBA and then outran all 9 players on the court to finish a dunk through 3 Suns. The dunk itself was above-average, but the entire play was very indicative of how LeBron can change a game. He does this sort of thing on a nightly basis now, but this one will always be the most memorable to me. Also, if you can guess who the Cavs 2nd leading scorer this game was, (guess right now....) Ok if you guessed Sasha Pavlovic you win! Sasha really had a nice 2006-2007 campaign. The first half of the season LeBron had dead legs and Sasha posted career highs in almost everything. You know the rest of the story, Bill Simmons wrote a column saying LeBron would turn into Martina Hingis (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070220), and LeBron put the league on notice the 2nd half of the season, en route to his 48-special and a trip to the Finals. Simmons has now claimed online twice, and in his book that his article was the reason for LeBron's resurgence. From his book: "The Cleveland Fans took great pleasure in rubbing this section in my face a few months later. After the All-Star Game, he ripped off 33 PPG over his next 10 games and everything was fine. I'd like to think my biting comments were partially responsible - I mean, that column did lead ESPN.com, What, you don't think Lebron has the internet and email? You don't think he had time to plow through a 6,600 word feature? Just humor me." I was one of those fans at the time, and even went out of my way to send Bill this picture I had made for him. (still waiting on a response)

Power: 7/10, Altitude: 3/10, Exit through Net: 4/10, Bounce off Floor: 5/10, Poster Factor: 5/10, Relevance to winning: 9/10, Meaningful game score: 7/10

Score: 40

10a.) LeBron Does Dallas (twice)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqD-JoDgKao (On Diop)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmko73RC4u0 (On Stackhouse)

The Dunk on Diop is really #10a, the Stackhouse dunk was a "throw-in". Also, the TNT-crew linked them after the game, showing both dunks, 2 different years. But let's talk about the dunk on one of the best shot-blockers in the league, former ex-Cavalier and only player in the history of professional sports to have a silent "DE" in their name. When I told my ex-girlfriend that the D was silent she started calling him "DEE-Sagana EEE-op" Anyway, LeBron blows by Josh Howard, goes baseline, jumps, and looks like he's going to get blocked or draw a foul from Diop who rotates. Only, LeBron hangs in the air, brings the ball up, drops it down, flies to the left of Diop, brings it back up, and throws down a backboard-rattling two-handed slam.

Power: 8/10, Altitude(hang time): 9/10, Exit through Net: 4/10, Bounce off Floor: 4/10, Poster Factor: 7/10, Relevance to winning: 3/10, Meaningful game score: 4/10

Score: 38

10b.) LeBron Climbs Delonte


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ_x_RKUY3s

I love D West. I'm not sure he recovered from this dunk until he was traded to the Cavs - that sort of freed him from his poster demons. (Damon Jones never recovered) This dunk is sick because it's a true posterization, and LeBron basically lands on Delonte. And man does Delonte look helpless in this video. I give him props for not trying to run away like D Jones, but geez, maybe he should have tried. The other great thing about this dunk is that Eric Snow was in FRONT OF Delonte when he passed it BACK to LeBron. Not sure if E Snow just didn't trust his layup (he did spent a lot of time with David Wesley) or if he was just being a good teammate. He made the right decision. These days, E Snow is at the NBA TV studios, and Delonte's the one putting people on posters.
"BLOCK THIS!"

Eerie Piano Music That I had Finally forgotten until now...

Power: 8/10, Altitude(hang time): 9/10, Exit through Net: 6/10, Bounce off Floor: 2/10, Poster Factor: 9/10, Relevance to winning: 2/10, Meaningful game score: 2/10

Score: 38

Honorable Mentions

The one that would certainly be on here is an open-court tomahawk dunk LeBron threw down in the midst of the Cavs getting beat down against the Pistons. I'm 99% sure it was this game: http://espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=260412008 but I can't find the video for it anywhere. I remember the game was in Detroit and the Cavs got dominated. I also remember that this was a time when most of LeBron's dunks were his high-flying cock-it-back-in-the-air and tomahawk it dunks. This one in particular I remember because LeBron was pissed, he took off a little further away and he cocked it back twice as far as he ever has, I mean he brought it back like even with his hip behind his back and just crushed it. Don't know if I'll ever see it again, but I remember exactly where I was when I saw it. UPDATE! I FOUND IT!!!!



LeBron's dunk over Barbosa where many claimed his head was clearly above the rim was pretty fantastic. It was sort of a poster to, but because of the camera angle, you can't get a perception of how high or fast he was going, although he does seem to have some insane hang-time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS3BKrel84U

Number 16 on this compilation is insane. It's one of LeBron's early dunks. I'll always remember this one because of the trajectory of the ball. It's goes through the hoop at an angle and STILL hits the ground like a superball and bounces into the cameras. It's like the resistance from the net wasn't even there. He gets up pretty high too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjIo3379A0o

Sick And-1 against Utah
I love this video for a couple reasons. 1.) Michael Reghi's "Flight #23 line" which must be copyrighted because I don't think McLeod has ever said it. 2.) I'm so glad Z shaves his head now. 3.) LeBron has almost doubled in size in the last 4 years and hasn't lost any speed or hops, 4.) The Jazz have really had the same players for a long time. Anyway, I highly doubt anyone in the NBA could manage to take off from where LeBron does, get fouled by 2 people, and still throw down a dunk while off balance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUhzRlzBx5k

Number 9 on that same compilation video (you should just watch the whole thing) is pretty slick. LeBron does goes through the legs with the dribble without switching hands, goes baseline and throws down a jack hammer dunk against the Knicks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjIo3379A0o

LeBron's through-the-legs St. V dunk


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMn4cDxUjAk
I didn't really get on board the LeBron bandwagon until his senior year. It was my first year in college and I realized that we had a legit shot at landing him. I still remember exactly where I was and who I was with when the Cavs won the lottery. I yelled so loud when Detroit came up number 2 that my RA came down the hall to see what was 'wrong'. Everyone in Cleveland won the lottery that day.


OK, I spent way to long working on this. If no one ever reads this, I'll show it to my kids some day.