Z

[lebron_MVP]

How about Z giving the finger to someone in the crowd last night!

It's funny that Lebron laughed about it.

 

[Maximus]

It wasn't someone in the crowd, it was someone on the bench. It was all in fun...teammates giving each other shit.

 

[lebron_MVP]

Gotcha...it was hard to tell. I know Z is a class act.

It really doesn't bother me either way. Kinda funny:chuckles:

 

[B Mac]

How the hell did I miss that? Anyone got a video capture or clip of it? Rep will be your reward.

 

[PIP]

It was on the Grizzlies broadcast...

Z flips me off all the time when I heckle him at the Q...

 

[Maximus]

It was on the Grizzlies broadcast...

Z flips me off all the time when I heckle him at the Q...

Entire sections of fans at the Q flip you off too. :fu:

 

[greatness]

damn i was hoping the league would've recognized it
so that z could get some more street cred.

but someone really needs to make a .gif of that.

 

[Splitz]

He's got the gangsta nickname, the aerodynamic dome for riding low in his whip, and now he's got the gang signs to match. It is safe to say that Z is officially legendary on the streets.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

For "riding low in his whip."

 

[Maximus]

It wasn't someone in the crowd, it was someone on the bench. It was all in fun...teammates giving each other shit.

BW confirms what I had said...

• Zydrunas Ilgauskas got caught on camera giving an obscene gesture while on the bench Tuesday in Memphis. He said it was given in a joking manner to teammate Donyell Marshall after the frustrated Ilgauskas left the game due to his third foul in the first half. The clip was picked up by sports commentary shows Wednesday.

''I was icing in the hotel room and watching ESPN and I saw my name (on the rundown) and I was like 'What did I do?'  Ilgauskas said. ''It was done in a joking manner with a teammate.''

Ilgauskas said he doesn't expect to be fined.

 

[Maximus]

The rest of the story from BW's blog...kind of funny -

–Before the game I talked with Zydrunas Ilgauskas about the obscene gesture — oh, what the heck, this is the net — he flicked off Donyell Marshall on the bench in Memphis and it got caught on camera. I guess in practice on Monday, Z went over Donyell’s back on a rebound and ‘Yell wanted a call. Z told him he never get called for going over the back. Then Z did, for his third foul, in the second quarter against the Grizzlies. Donyell was staring at him when he came back to the bench with a smile and that was Z’s reaction. “I guess that’s the same in any language.” By the way, Z was excellent tonight on offense with 17 points and bothered Tim Duncan as much as he could on the defensive end.

 

[Jon]

Is Robert Horry washed up? He seemed solid last season, but Z was in a zone against the Spurs I haven't seen in a long time. It's like he smelt fresh meat and wanted to go for the kill.

The inside-outside game got the ball moving like we've rarely seen this season. Was it a fluke? Or will this lead to yet another offensive re-adjustment?

 

[Kavdawg]

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me why they have been abandoning the low-post game in recent outings (prior to the SA game). I know Z's trademark mid range shot hasn't been falling lately, but he is still very effective down low. He held is own against Duncan and played excellent ball yesterday.

If you check out the game logs since the Cavs started the new year, you'll see that MB has really limited Z's minutes (with a couple exceptions) in favor of playing small ball with the bench players who have been great thus far. As of the last several games, Z has really turned it up a notch and is playing well. In order for the Cavs to remain competitive they must continue to feed Z down low. In my mind, he is our best 2nd option.

 

[Karma]

Its a matter of where Z can get the ball and off ball movement. When he gets it deep in the post, not too many bigs can inhibit him putting it off the glass, or softly hooking it in. Where there is off the ball movement, he often finds the cutting man, or searches out the open man on the perimeter. He is an excellant passer from the post.

However when he gets ball a tad far out with everyone else standing back and watching, he goes for that sweeping hook, or gets tied up on a double team.

Basically it is up to Z to fight for good position (he did that against the Spurs) and for his team mates to move off the ball (actually this is one area that Sasha does well and at times LeBron). Both of those happened last night for some effective results.

 

[Jon]

The Spurs did something interesting in the game. They had Duncan and another big in the middle as Parker drove to the hoop. The two Spur's bigs screened off the Cavs defenders and let Parker drop in a little floater/jumper uncontested.

The Cavs are always clearing out the middle so LeBron can drive... which is why we rarely run the offense through Z - but imagine if we could run some plays where our bigs wouldn't be clogging things, but would instead be creating space for easy shots? Maybe we wouldn't see LeBron and Gibson splattered on the floor so often after attacking the hoop...

Ahh, well ...