Cavs at Bulls Thursday, March 6th, 7pm FSN, TNT, WTAM

[blade0849]

Its amazing some people prefer failure of their team so they can be proven right in a statement. Very sad.

Luckily for us, he is well off the mark.

This is Cleveland dude. Failure and heartbreak is the trademark of the city.

 

[Splitz]

This is Cleveland dude. Failure and heartbreak is the trademark of the city.

I would still rather fail in the finals then meet our demise in the second or third round.

 

[_amon _ones]

For Blade's benefit, I'll repost this here, because obviously he doesn't get it...he can keep on revelling in his thoughts of failure and so on...he sounds like one of those Boston fans who used to not know how to deal with success. I would much rather have a chance (and the Cavs have a much better chance than Blade gives them credit for) than be stuck in the failures of the Indians and Cavs of my childhood. Apparently basketball players attempting to learn a complicated scheme that has taken over 2 years to learn effectively should be immediately picked up by 4 new players in 7 games...with 3 starters out, 1 with the death of a family member weighing on his mind, 1 with a brand new baby, an obviously hobbled reserve pushed into starting, while on the tail game of a road back-to-back...so yeah, they should obviously be blowing everybody out by 20+ points a game.

I thought most Piston fans were much better basketball-educated than most casual fans, but apparently not. Sure the Pistons, Celtics, and Cavs are the class of the East, but any true basketball scholar can watch the Celts play the Cavs and realize they don't match up well against them, especially from the mental aspect of the game. The Cavs have 3 of the best players in the league at getting in opponent's heads: Wallace, AV, and LBJ. KG has proven time and again to be unable to handle the havoc AV and Big Ben cause him. And let's not forget the LBJ-Pierce rivalry...which LeBron owns.

Add to that LeBron's addition of a killer instinct, especially in the 4th quarter, and the Celtics are going to have some trouble in that series.

As for Detroit, they are talented, to be sure, but it will be interesting to see if Rasheed blows up again with AV and Big Ben all over him, or if they have any way to stop LeBron. The Pistons may be better than last season, but the Cavs are as well. They may also be better in record, but that doesn't show the whole story. The Cavs have battled numerous injuries all season and have only had a steady rotation for 10 to 15 games, tops. The Pistons have somehow avoided any significant injuries for the 4th straight season.

Yet, the Cavs are 4th in the East right now. If LBJ didn't miss 6 games (all losses), and the Cavs only won half of those (as opposed to all), Cleveland would be 1 game out from the 3rd spot.

What the national media (and apparently Pistons fans) fail to realize is that this team has played less than one quarter of its games with a set rotation. Ira Newble started games...yet the Cavs have still managed to win. Sasha, a starter most of his time while uninjured, has missed 23 games. Gibson, the marksman who leads the 2nd unit has 13 games. James has missed 6. Z has missed 3. LH missed 14. AV has only played in 27 because of injury and the holdout. In fact, the Cavs only have 2 players that have played in 57 of the 61 games (Z, 58 and Devin Brown, 57).

Meanwhile the Pistons have 8 players that have appeared in at least 57 of the 61 games, including all of the starters (averaging 59 games apiece). With their talent and health, they should be leading the East in wins. The fact that the Cavs are 9 games over .500 is phenominal.

Add the fact that the Cavs got rid of a cancer and a player that just couldn't grasp the defensive schemes, and added 4 players with high b-ball IQs, and the Cavs are a very dangerous, under the radar team. So go on and keep under-estimating them...that's just how they like it.

 

[Green Lantern]

This game sucked big time..coming off that Knick game, Brown should have mixed his D..some zone some man..
And why does he persist in starting AV/Wallace or playing them in long stretches?
AV isn't healthy and when he is, he's not a force in the low post..he never will be..and he certainly won't be able to keep any bigs out of the paint UNTIL HE BULKS UP.