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Cavs-Pistons Second Round Playoff Series

Im in no way gloating, the Pistons fans acted as any teams fans would act after 7 hard fought games in an elimination series, The Cavs have LeBron, hes more talented then any player whose played for the Pistons in the last decade

The Pistons should be upset that it even lasted 7 games.

Billups-Snow
Hamilton-Murray
B. Wallace-Z
R. Wallace-Gooden
Prince-James
 
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SNG77 you clearly arn't giving your own team enough credit. There is nothing wrong with chanting 'goodbye' at the end of the game. Anything past the first round of the NBA playoffs is a worthy opponent. If you came back from a 3-1 series and finished the job at home, let them chant. Cavs fans had been talking a lot of trash and been buried with King James talk, because they were seconds away from being taken out of the playoffs. Sounds like a valid reason to celebrate to me.

If Ohio State was beating George Mason in the Final Four and you were at the game, would you not chant along with the crowd?

The Pistons should be upset that it even lasted 7 games.

Billups-Snow
Hamilton-Murray
B. Wallace-Z
R. Wallace-Gooden
Prince-James
The 2002 Buckeyes should be upset that they survived the Cinci and Illini games? It's a best of 7 series. A sweep gets you the same result as a win in game 7 (minus the arguement of potentially much needed days of rest for a vetran team).
 
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SNG77 you clearly arn't giving your own team enough credit. There is nothing wrong with chanting 'goodbye' at the end of the game. Anything past the first round of the NBA playoffs is a worthy opponent. If you came back from a 3-1 series and finished the job at home, let them chant. Cavs fans had been talking a lot of trash and been buried with King James talk, because they were seconds away from being taken out of the playoffs. Sounds like a valid reason to celebrate to me.

If Ohio State was beating George Mason in the Final Four and you were at the game, would you not chant along with the crowd?

Good analogy, your right I might have been overreacting.

That game just showed how bad King Jame's supporting cast really is though.
 
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Im in no way gloating, the Pistons fans acted as any teams fans would act after 7 hard fought games in an elimination series, The Cavs have LeBron, hes more talented then any player whose played for the Pistons in the last decade

Lebron is better then anything Detroit ever had period.
He took a very average team against one of the top 2 teams to 7 games
If he got any help Pistons fans would be crying
 
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I am going to have to disagree with some of you on how bad the Cavs supporting cast is. First of all, yes they played horrible today, but they weren't horrible the entire season. Varejao had a great series and was a solid contributor, Gooden had a great game in Game 2, and Marshall had that huge block in Game 5. Another thing is, the entire Cavs team played great defensively in most of this series with the exception of games 1 and 2. The entire team... it wasn't Lebron playing great team defense, it was the entire team. Now I will admit, Flip Murray is a horrible shooter and Eric Snow is even worse but both of them played pretty darn good defense in this series.

So yes, the Cavs don't have the greatest supporting cast in the NBA, but it certainly isn't the worst, and it isn't as horrible as everyone is making it out to be.
 
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I watched many, many Cavs' games this season on tv between upn, fox sports ohio, espn, etc. and never at any point in the season did I think that LeBron's supporting cast was incredibly weak. However, the supporting cast seriously let the organization down in the playoffs. With the exceptions of Snow playing well in OT against the Wiz and Marshall looking decent in a few games, the players on the Cavs not named LeBron just didn't show up for the playoffs. Today (9-41 from the field) just capped things off.

It seems that if the Cavs' management is serious about making a run for the NBA championship (and hence keeping LeBron in Cleveland), it will have to change things drastically. LeBron needs one or two solid players around him to challenge for the NBA title, and right now he has zero. Z has shown he's not to be relied on in the playoffs, Hughes has greatly disappointed and hasn't shown anything to convince me he's worth $90 million (although maybe he will show more next year if he's not injured), and Gooden as well as the rest of the players are nothing better than middle-of-the-road role players in the NBA. I'm sorry to say it, but with this supporting cast, LeBron's not going anywhere, notwithstanding how great of a player he is.
 
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I am going to have to disagree with some of you on how bad the Cavs supporting cast is. First of all, yes they played horrible today, but they weren't horrible the entire season. Varejao had a great series and was a solid contributor, Gooden had a great game in Game 2, and Marshall had that huge block in Game 5.

No offense, but your entire evidence of the supporting cast not being bad consists of (1) one play by Marshall, (2) one game by Gooden, and (3) Varejao being a "solid contributor." That isn't a whole lot of evidence for 10 players in seven games.
 
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The thing is, in basketball, you can afford to have 1 superstar, and then a few other "decent" guys. You can half your one star score the majority of the points, and to focus your team around him. There are only 5 guys for your team on the court, unlike a sport like football, where there are 11. All of you talk about how "horrible" the Cavs are without LeBron, when the fact is that in the sport you can win a lot of games by just letting your star control the ball on a lot of the possesions, and have him make other players better.


The other Cavs aren't horrible, either.
 
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No offense, but your entire evidence of the supporting cast not being bad consists of (1) one play by Marshall, (2) one game by Gooden, and (3) Varejao being a "solid contributor." That isn't a whole lot of evidence for 10 players in seven games.

None taken, but first of all, there weren't 10 players in their supporting cast because of the shortened rotation. Also, to defend my small examples of evidence, Gooden played very inconsistent minutes but i actually didn't think he did bad when he got consistent playing time (see his good game). Marshall made some, missed some for the series which is his normal self and i was simply pointing out one play where he made a game changing play. And what else can you say about Varejao other than he was a solid contributor? He had a good series and contributed.
 
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Ok, first off I want to congratulate Piston fans. It wasnt as easy as some of you thought it was going to be, but the Pistons showed up when they had to, to win the series.

Second I can't believe some of the Cavs fans that are knocking the team, after they just went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the NBA. Some of you need to step back from the side of the wagon and realize that this wagon is on it's way to the top.

There are so many positives to pull from this series and the entire season and playoffs.

I mean we have a rookie coach and a 21 year old leading this team. You can only imagine where they are going to take us.

I could go on and on about the positives but I will leave that for another time.

As for todays game, I know alot of ppl are blaming the supporting cast for thier piss poor effort and deservedly so, but you have to put blame on the whole team and LBJ is part of the team. I know you look at his pts and he had a nice game, but it wasnt near what it should of been IMO.

Here is why, he did what he had to do in the first half to will his team back into the game, and as a teamate of a great player like that you kind of expect him to lead you in the second half as well. I have been on teams like this where you kind of let your leader take over and expect him to lead the team.

Well in the third quarter I don't know how many times that I saw the guys look LBJ's way and he was kind of standing and not doing a lot. After he had willed his team back into the game at halftime and then he came out and layed an egg in the third quarter. I know I know they were doubling him and what not, but he needed to find a way to get some points, whether it be in the post, or in transistion or something. They were looking for him to give them something.

Then in the fourth we needed him to hit some jumpers so they would have to guard that and that would of opened up the rest of his game and the rest of the court, but he coudlnt hit a jumper to save his life today.

I know he is only 21 and we played a great team and he lead us in the series, but Greatness should show up in a game like this and it didnt. He will get there and it wouldnt suprise me if he got there next year, b/c that is just how good he is, and determined he is.

I still think his jumper needs a lot of work in the offseason and when he gets that at a higher percentage than it already is, he is going to be even more unstoppable than he already is.
 
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Theres a rumor going around that Lebron wants to sign with the Nets because he is good friends with Jay Z.

If thats true, I cant say I would blame him. There isnt a word in the dictionary that could describe how horrible his supporting cast has been.

Cavs can offer James an extension this summer. No other team can offer him until 2008. The maximum offer is 5 years, $75 million. No other team can offer more years or more money.

The Cavs have two more years to show significant progress in helping James reach whatever his goals are, which I hope include bringing multiple championships to Cleveland.
 
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Even at his age, I say "show the money" to Sam Cassell.

This guy does absolutely nothing except win. If the Cavs had Cassell this year, they would have beaten Miami in Game 1 of the Conference Finals today.

This "supporting cast" is no where near as bad as some might think. A "true" point guard like Sam might be all we need for next year.
 
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Even at his age, I say "show the money" to Sam Cassell.

This guy does absolutely nothing except win. If the Cavs had Cassell this year, they would have beaten Miami in Game 1 of the Conference Finals today.

This "supporting cast" is no where near as bad as some might think. A "true" point guard like Sam might be all we need for next year.

First off not sure if we have the money to do this and if we did, not sure how he is going to last for a couple more years, and I am sure he would want a contract of about 2 or 3 years, not just one which would be ideal, as we tried to break in a pg. we already have the one vetran in Snow who is under contract for 2 more years I beleive.
 
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[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Cavs can’t match Pistons in second half[/FONT]
Monday, May 22, 2006 [FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]BY Mike Popovich REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER[/FONT]
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Bob Rossiter And down go the Cavaliers after a 79-61 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday in Game 7 of an Eastern Conference semifinal. Tangled up with Ilgauskas is Tayshaun Prince (22) and Lindsey Hunter, while in the background is LeBron James.

<center style="color: black; font-size: 10px; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
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Advertisement</center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Auburn hHlls, Mich. - Game 7 was within their reach at halftime.
The Cavaliers had wiped out a 13-point first-half deficit. The Pistons were keeping it close by missing free throw after free throw. Some nervous tension was felt inside The Palace.
The second half was totally different.
Instead of riding the wave of momentum to Miami for the Eastern Conference finals, the Cavs came home licking their wounds after Sunday’s 79-61 loss to Detroit.
An entertaining series could not have ended any worse for the Cavs. They set a team record for fewest points scored in a playoff game. Their 23 second-half points tied an NBA record for fewest points scored in the second half of a postseason game.
“In pressure situations, you always do what you do best, and for us it’s defend,” Pistons Head Coach Flip Saunders said.
“Our offense has been stagnant at times. Sometimes, it’s tough to play both ends at a high level in a high intensity situation. But tonight we locked down.”
Detroit built on a 40-38 halftime lead by holding the Cavaliers to just 19 percent (5-of-26) shooting from the field in the second half. Cleveland had just one field goal during a 14-minute stretch when the Pistons pushed their lead out to 67-52.
“They turned it up a notch, and we have to give them credit,” Cavs Head Coach Mike Brown said of the Detroit defense.
Even LeBron James could not get on track in the second half. The Cavaliers All-Star forward hit just 1-of-9 field goals and scored 6 of his game-high 27 points during the final two quarters.
“I saw a little bit of everything,” James said. “They trapped me. They went under screens. They went over screens. I saw almost every defense I can possibly see for the rest of my career in the playoffs.
“That’s why they keep winning every year. Defensively, they’re one of the best teams in the league.”
The Cavs were down only 48-46 with just more than three minutes left in the third quarter. That is when the Pistons took over.
Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace swatted away the next three Cleveland shots. Then Game 1 catalyst Lindsey Hunter hit a couple of clutch shots of his own. His jumper and driving layup gave the Pistons a 53-46 lead.
Detroit took a 58-48 into the fourth quarter. A quick Larry Hughes’ 3-pointer broke the Cavaliers’ field goal drought. But Hunter answered with a three of his own that made it 61-51.
“We were saying, ‘Once somebody off the bench could come in and get some extended amount of time, they would be able to come through for us,’” Prince said. “Obviously, Lindsey, with his experience and having been in this position before, we knew he had that capability.”
Prince scored a team-high 20 points for the Pistons. Hughes, in his first game back since the death of his brother Justin on May 11, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in almost 26 minutes off the bench for Cleveland.
The loss brings down the curtain on the most successful Cavs season since 1992, when they reached the conference finals. Most people never expected them to last more than five games against the heavily favored Pistons. And no one will be surprised if the two teams square off for more playoff battles in the years to come.
Brown will continually raise the bar for his team.
“Yes, we’re here, but we haven’t arrived,” he said. “When you arrive, it means you’re there every single year like the Pistons.”
 
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