Cavs 07-08 Season Thread

[osugrad21]

Canton

Stopping LeBron James tops Celtics list in series vs. Cavs
But Cleveland has offense clicking
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE Everything clicked for one night in Washington.

The offense flowed. The defense locked down. The Cavaliers looked like a team poised for a run to the NBA Finals when they closed out the Wizards last Friday in Game 6 of the first round.

Tonight at 8, the Cavs will begin to prove if that was an illusion or reality with the start of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Boston. The best-of-seven series will be a huge test for the Cavs, who essentially are just coming together after a major trade reshaped them Feb. 21.

"Confidence is very high," guard-forward Devin Brown said Monday after practice.

Taking out Washington in six games bolstered Cleveland's confidence after a 14-13 finish to the regular season.

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Canton

Cavaliers keys to victory
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
BY Chris Beaven
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

Here are five things the Cavs have to do to beat Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals:

LeBron on move

LeBron James always says he's seen every defense imaginable since his arrival in the NBA. And expect the Celtics to throw everything they've got at him. But what makes James almost impossible to stop is giving him the ball when his 6-foot-9, 250-pound ultra-athletic frame is on the move. Too often, especially late in games, the offense bogs down. James stands and dribbles up top or on a wing before trying to make something happen late in the clock. "We're going to have to try to move him around ... so the defense doesn't know what's coming," Head Coach Mike Brown said. So look for the Cavs to use him in the post, coming of screens away from the ball or by running pick-and-rolls on various spots of the floor to give James room to work.

Don't settle
Cont...

[osugrad21]

Canton

Sports spotlight: Everything seems brighter in Wally's world
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
BY Todd Porter
REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

INDEPENDENCE It was less than a week ago when Wally's world was somewhere between a heave-ho wave and the bottom of a fan's beer in the nose-bleed seats at Quicken Loans Arena.

"That guy," the fan said on his way out of the door after the Cavaliers blew a chance to close out the Wizards in Game 5, "sucks."

"That guy" was veteran Wally Szczerbiak. He came to Cleveland in the middle of the season by trade, but seemed to leave his shot in Seattle. In 50 games there, he shot 46 percent from the field and drilled almost 43 percent of his 3-pointers.

With the Cavs, Szczerbiak hit just 35.9 percent, 13 below his career average. That's quite a dropoff for a shooter who knocked down more that 50 percent of his shots his first three seasons in the NBA, and 51 percent just three seasons ago. But playing in Cleveland didn't come natural.
Cont...

[billmac91]

The Cavs did pretty well when you consider their roster. It's time for Danny Ferry to get creative and find a way to get LeBron a legit #2.

Top 2 guys on my board.

1. Baron Davis
2. Gilbert Arenas

Either of these guy paired with LeBron is a title contender. A healthy Arenas would be deadly. A healthy Baron Davis can get to the rack whenver he wants.

The nice thing about Baron, is he is also strong enough to be a good defender. That would allow Boobie to play considerable minutes with him in the game. Gilbert and Boobie is a very weak defensive back-court.

Anyways, I'd love to see Ferry find a way to get one of these guys. You'd have to think at some point, another superstar wants to come and play with LeBron.

The thing that worries me the most is if we don't make a move this off-season, we will be in the position to have to re-sign LeBron and bring another on-board. This off-season is really critical to keeping LBJ in a Cavs uni, IMO.

[crazybuckfan40]

First I wanna say not as a good a season compared to last season, due to the fact we were looking to get back to the finals as we were there last year, but this year the road was a lot tougher and the injuries, and lack of ever finding a lineup killed us...

Ferry did a good job this season IMO...Some don't like the trade, but first he started with not over signing for Sasha and Andy...Both ended up playing this season for us, but for far less than they wanted...

I really liked the trade with Seatlle...Newble and Marshall weren't doing anything for us and West and Wally were the two main guys outside of LBJ and Z for us in the playoffs...

West is the man at point next year...

I really don't have a feel for the salaries this season, after the trade...but what I do know is that we have to find a way to not just get role players, we need a couple legit starters, not necessarily all star players, but guys that could start for most teams in the NBA...

We have players that would make for a great bench...Guys like Wally, Boobie, Smith, Wild Thing, Sasha...

West, LBJ, Z are the guys, we need a legit PF and 2G...

Need a guy at the PF that can score to go along with play D...A younger version of Joe Smith would be great, but we need a guy that can put it on the floor and do something, unlike Joe who is just a Shooter and occasional post move at this point in his career...

I had hopes for Wild Thing last year...this year he didn't improve...He has the potential, but it is going to take time, which we don't have...

Also as for 2g we need a guy to come off screens to score the ball, and also score and create off the dribble...

Would be great to think that we could get someone in the draft but it is hard to really strike that kind of lightning at the number 19 pick in the draft...

Also I am all for either firing Mike Brown, or bringing in an offensive coach...The thing here is if LBJ is for Mike Brown, you don't [censored] him off...Keep him happy, if I was Ferry I would be sitting down with him and finding out what he thinks is best, as if we [censored] him off he could leave when his contract is up...