Kevin Love is putting up an All-Star resume this year. And Vers is right about Shump. He's really put in the effort to improve this year. I read somewhere that he even lost 10 pounds over the summer and put a lot of work into his three point shot.
yeah I hate Shump as a backup PG as i think he could be even more effective than he is as the 3 and D 2 he's built for...his shot has come a long long way, i've been impressed with how consistent his offense has been, just need to get him off the ball and he could probably add 3-5 ppg to his average i think. Wish Thompson would have put the kind of work shump did in, we'd be alot better off. Bench still worries me. But I think Lue understands rest over wins in the regular season are more important so even if we don't get the 1st seed, i think we'll be alot fresher than last year going into the playoffs
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Starting the 20th, the Cavs play 5 games in 7 days. I wonder which game we'll be resting the big 3?
20th @Milwaukee 21st Milwaukee 23rd Brooklyn 25th Golden State 26th @Detroit
I don't know why the NBA does this crap. I know they will start the season two weeks earlier to reduce the back-to-backs in the future, but this is messed up.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
Starting the 20th, the Cavs play 5 games in 7 days. I wonder which game we'll be resting the big 3?
20th @Milwaukee 21st Milwaukee 23rd Brooklyn 25th Golden State 26th @Detroit
I don't know why the NBA does this crap. I know they will start the season two weeks earlier to reduce the back-to-backs in the future, but this is messed up.
This is a stretch where you have to hope that everyone comes away intact and uninjured. At least they don't travel much, if that is a bonus...
Starting the 20th, the Cavs play 5 games in 7 days. I wonder which game we'll be resting the big 3?
20th @Milwaukee 21st Milwaukee 23rd Brooklyn 25th Golden State 26th @Detroit
I don't know why the NBA does this crap. I know they will start the season two weeks earlier to reduce the back-to-backs in the future, but this is messed up.
This is a stretch where you have to hope that everyone comes away intact and uninjured. At least they don't travel much, if that is a bonus...
And GSW plays 20, 22, 23, and 25, all on the road.. so it's not like we are at a disadvantage for our Christmas day game.. but that's still a lot of basketball.
It wouldn't surprise me.. well it would because it's GSW and it's Christmas day but LeBron was talking not too long ago about how many Christmas Days in a row he had played on and wouldn't mind if he actually got to spend one at home.
So we should definitely have 3 all stars this year.
Love absolutely deserves the nod.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Cavs deserve to lose this one, no interest in defending, letting lebron just jack up bad shot after bad shot, dribbling until 5 seconds left. Ugly to watch. Lebron looks old trying to guard Parker and gianis. We def are hurting and need some help. JR hurt. Dunleavey forgot how to play basketball and even RJ doesn't look to have much left lately. Shump and frye are pretty much our bench. I hope JR isn't hurt too bad. He was just finding his stroke again
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Looks like Lebron needs to shoot at 30 feet to have a consistent jumper
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Read something that I have always believed. It has to be extremely physically demoralizing trying to defend a Lebron. It's equivalent to when Shaq played and guys just didn't want to deal with him in a meaningless regular season game. It looked really obviously when Parker tried to cover him. Parker is a nice sized NBA player, but he looked like a child compared to Lebron. Lebron proceeded to back him down like he was a small child. When he gives guys a small bump, they move 1-2 feet every time.
It's just a bitch dealing with him night in and night out.
Lebron proceeded to back him down like he was a small child. When he gives guys a small bump, they move 1-2 feet every time.
Great point. I was thinking the same thing while watching him back guys down last night.
It's dangerous for him though. He takes HARD fouls because guys are worried about an And-1 scenario. He gets treated like Shaq used to. They both physically abuse guys, so refs let opponents mug them because they're both strong as a bear.
Good wins. Just one final comment on what I said about Lebron. I remember Simmons did an interview with Jimmy Butler that summarized it best.
Simmons: What wears you down more physically? Chasing around screens for four quarters, or taking the LeBron running-back body blows eleven times in a game?
Butler: I’m going to give you another scenario. Would you rather run 10 miles, or get hit by a bulldozer?
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Lebron finally decide to be a bully against Iguodala and Draymond Green in the finals.
Draymond Green appeared unhappy with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and he revealed why he gave that impression.
He’s unhappy with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Warriors forward elaborated on his dissatisfaction with the new deal. He stressed two major points:
He’s not complaining on behalf of himself. He doesn’t believe he should earn more – and even indicates he, as a star, should earn less. He has no issue with the Basketball Related Income split. Owners and players will continue to split revenue about 50-50. So what are his problems?
Green, via Anthony Slater of The Mercury News:
It’s about me being frustrated for other guys. When we go in these negotiations, guys are overlooked. I think it’s more about helping these guys be in better standing than what it is for an All-Star or top two or three guys on a team. Those guys will always be taken care of.
It’s not even necessarily that it’s a higher minimum salary. There could be different structure to have not as many minimum players. Right now, there’s like a max and a minimum and a couple in between. I think there could be different structures to help those minimum guys make more and not be a minimum player.
Because without all 15 guys, yeah, you can be an All-Star, you can be a nice player. But without these guys, you can’t practice, you can’t get a sub, you can’t go through 82 games playing 48 minutes a game. If you get hurt, nobody’s there to step in for you. Every guy matters and I think every guy should be taken care of in the grand scheme of things.
My complaint is not one of everybody is not making a good living. It’s that there is a good living in this for everyone, but for some it can be better. How do we help elevate those guys who are on the lower end of the totem pole? I think that should always be a focus. That’s my argument. It’s not to come off as everybody is not living good. No. You’re living pretty good if you’re in the NBA. I don’t want someone to look at me and say that I am inconsiderate about everyone else’s life outside the NBA. I grew up in a household where my mom made $16,000 a year. I know the struggle. I know how to keep those things in perspective and I do keep it into perspective. But I do look at things in a business standpoint and I do understand how much money is going around the NBA on a year to year basis. Within that realm of how much money is going around, you can elevate those guys.”
I don’t want to be this guy that tries to raise this awareness that makes us go into a lockout and makes fans miss a game. I don’t think that’s always necessary either. At the same time, I think some guys in this league can be better taken care of. I want to be a voice for them. To help them be better taken care of.
Green is right. The new CBA definitely benefits stars.
But it also creates 60 new player jobs in the form of two-way contracts, increases minimum salaries to a historically normal percentage of revenue after they dipped this season and expands retirements benefits that are particularly important to low-paid players.
Green is directing his criticism at his fellow star players. By approving the BRI split, Green is accepting how money is divided between owners and players. He just dislikes how players will divvy up their share.
Interestingly, Golden State teammates Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala are vice presidents in the union that helped put together the CBA, and Green is the Warriors’ player representative. But as he said, Green isn’t upset enough to oppose ratification. So, voicing his concerns can serve only as an attempt to alter the long-term paradigm.
It’s important to remember stars have already made concessions. The existence of an individual maximum salary ensures stars earn less than a free market would dictate, leaving more money for other players. That’s a practical necessity in a league where sub-star players easily outrank stars and each player gets a vote on the CBA.
Maybe highly paid players could give back more. Green obviously thinks so. But the last three CBAs have helped mediocre players at the expense of stars. The new one will continue to help mediocre players with the additional concessions coming from the middle class.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I have a really hard time with those who commit domestic violence, so I hope that Liggins is past all of that. Anyone can make a mistake, and it does sound like he is really working on it, and going beyond what he was supposed to do, so I'm pulling for him.
CLEVELAND: After waiting 1,425 days to make another start in the NBA, DeAndre Liggins couldn’t wait any longer. He charged onto the court at Madison Square Garden for the opening tip against the New York Knicks earlier this month and took his rightful place alongside LeBron James and the rest of the Cavs starters. There was only one problem: He forgot to take off his warm-up jersey.
Liggins was at midcourt before he realized the gaffe, but it’s easy to see how he could trip over such trivial details. Given the road he has traveled, Liggins rightfully wondered whether he’d ever get a second chance in the NBA.
“This is enormous to me,” he said about an hour before the game against the Knicks. “I’m going to go out, compete, play hard and do what’s asked of me. But yeah, this is a big deal.”
Liggins was a spot starter that night because J.R. Smith was dealing with a sore knee. Now that Smith is expected to miss at least a month with a fractured right thumb, he is again the Cavs’ starting shooting guard for the foreseeable future. No one could’ve predicted that even six months ago, when he remained in basketball purgatory.
Liggins has lived in exile the past three years, punishment for heinous domestic violence allegations in August 2013 stemming from a dispute with the mother of his young son. Liggins’ ex-girlfriend, Jasmine Horton, told Oklahoma City police that he kicked in the bedroom door and pushed her down, dropped a fan on her, stomped on her and dropped an Xbox on her head — all in the presence of their 2-year-old.
Horton had bruising on her chest, scratches on her back and injuries to her arm and fingers, according to the Oklahoma City officer who wrote the affidavit. Weeks before he was set to attend training camp with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Liggins was instead arrested and charged with seven felonies including kidnapping and domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Within a week, he was released by the Thunder.
Liggins believes his original attorney compounded his problems. He said he wasn’t supposed to have any contact with his ex at the time, but his first attorney arranged for the two to meet. Liggins says when the prosecution found out about it, they piled on more charges. Shortly after, he fired his attorney. When Horton refused to cooperate with prosecutors, however, the charges against Liggins and his friend, Marcus Rogers, who was also present at the time of the incident, were dismissed. Liggins’ second attorney, Tony Coleman, and Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater did not return calls to the Beacon Journal for this story.
Liggins pled guilty to one count of domestic abuse. He was ordered to make a $5,000 donation to a diversion program and he avoided any prison time.
“We’re better. We’re better people,” Liggins said of he and Horton. “We communicate. We co-parent. We talk. She still goes to counseling. I go to counseling. … We’re not together, but we communicate better and everything has worked out.”
Hard upbringing
Liggins is reserved, quiet. Every NBA locker room has cliques, but he typically keeps to himself. He speaks openly and freely about the case, but typically doesn’t say much before or after games.
He was raised on the gun-riddled streets of Chicago’s south side. His older brother and idol, Maurice Davis, was an 18-year-old star athlete who was shot to death outside of his high school.
Davis and some friends had confronted his sister’s ex-boyfriend, Xavier Edwards, one day after school because Edwards had shoved Davis’ sister when she broke off their relationship, according to a 2004 Chicago Tribune report. Edwards grabbed a gun and Davis tried to run away, but instead was shot in the back. Edwards was charged with second-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Liggins was 14 at the time. His brother died months after his father died after falling into a diabetic coma. But Liggins avoided the gangs and drugs surrounding him by focusing on basketball. He went to Kentucky and declared for the NBA following his junior year.
The Thunder was Liggins’ second organization in as many years. He was a second-round pick of the Orlando Magic in 2011 and released after his rookie year. Following his arrest, however, no other NBA team would touch him. Liggins signed with the Sioux Falls Skyforce — the Development League affiliate of the Miami Heat — as he worked through the legal process. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Heat and even appeared in their game on March 3, 2014.
He was released by the Heat on March 14 — a month after Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was arrested for assaulting his fiancée and two weeks before Rice was indicted. As the Rice incident swelled in the media and video footage of him striking his now-wife became public, Liggins couldn’t find another NBA team that wanted him. He believes it’s because of Rice.
“Ray Rice’s name is bigger than mine, so of course his thing was big. They looked at his thing and now domestic violence is a big issue,” Liggins said. “That kind of blackballed me.”
As the Cavs were marching toward the 2015 NBA Finals in James’ first year back in Cleveland, Liggins was dividing his season between Russia and Germany. He returned to the U.S. last season, but still couldn’t find an NBA team that would give him a chance. He instead went back to Sioux Falls and won a D-League championship and earned his second D-League Defensive Player of the Year award. Finally, in early August, Liggins found an NBA team willing to take a chance on him. Taking a risk
The day before the Cavs played the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last spring, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue and some other members of the organization (but no players) visited San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco. Lue has visited plenty of prisons around his home state of Missouri, but this was his first trip to San Quentin.
He walked the yard and talked to the prisoners, many of whom were big basketball fans and rooting for the Warriors. He played basketball with them on the prison court, ate in the meal room with them and walked past the place where Stanley “Tookie” Williams — who co-founded the Crips gang in the early 1970s — was executed in 2005.
The warden told Lue that 75 percent of those inmates at San Quentin would never commit another crime, but their convictions were for crimes so vicious they had to be locked up. Lue took that message into the Cavs’ locker room at Oracle Arena prior to their championship victory.
“Where we come from, the environments we come from, it could’ve been any one of us in prison,” Lue told his players prior to Game 7. “One bad night, one bad car ride, somebody got drugs on them, or one bad night and you get into a fight and someone dies, whatever. One bad night could change your whole life. “Fortunately enough for Liggs, he got a second chance. Everybody makes mistakes. I think he paid for that mistake by guys not wanting to touch him and being in the D-League for three years. The talent he has, he should be up here on this level.”
A woman is assaulted or beaten every nine seconds in the United States, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. There are more than 10 million abuse victims annually. Society has become more aware of assault cases involving athletes because of the footage of Rice’s punch and, more recently, Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon, who punched a woman in the face in 2014. Rice never received a second chance in the NFL, despite offering to donate his salary to domestic violence causes if a team signed him this year. No one took him up on it.
Footage of Mixon’s alleged assault was just released within the past few days. How that impacts his NFL future remains to be seen.
There was no video of Liggins’ alleged incident and it’s impossible to say how video might have changed his outcome. Regardless, Cavs General Manager David Griffin takes domestic charges seriously. He and his wife are actively involved with the Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center, which is why he vetted Liggins thoroughly before signing him.
Liggins displayed no pattern of this type of behavior. He wasn’t exposed to it as a childhood. It was viewed as an isolated incident — albeit a troubling incident. Griffin met with Liggins prior to July’s summer league and laid out steps Liggins had to meet in order to attend training camp. Liggins met them. He was early for every meeting with everyone involved. People neutral to the incident agreed it seemed isolated in nature.
Griffin learned that the league had set up counseling for Liggins. He met every month with an NBA-appointed counselor and met every week with another counselor in Sioux Falls. He remains in counseling through the NBA, which works around his hectic travel schedule. An NBA spokesman declined to disclose to the Beacon Journal the protocol involved in Liggins’ case.
“He spent three years paying for something that he didn’t have any legal obligation to pay for,” Griffin told the Beacon Journal. “So it was a fascinating situation. It’s a really unfortunate situation. I know he’s still friendly with the person involved and I know she told the league very positive things about him even though she had no vested interest in doing so. It’s a very sensitive subject for us. It’s something we cared a great deal about and DeAndre has lived up to everything he said he would to this point.” Liggins is playing on a non-guaranteed contract. It only becomes guaranteed if he is still on the roster past Jan. 10. There is every indication he’ll remain in Cleveland all season, particularly now that he is starting in place of Smith.
Prior to that Dec. 7 night in the Garden, Liggins’ only other career start was on Jan. 13, 2013 with the Thunder. He scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds, then waited nearly four full years before starting another game.
Like everyone else in the league, Lue loves the way Liggins defends. He loves how Liggins isn’t afraid to pick up point guards full court, bumping them and poking them along the way.
Within the first couple of minutes of his start at the Garden, Knicks point guard Brandon Jennings dribbled between his legs while bringing the ball up the floor. Liggins, guarding him tight even in the backcourt, lost his balance and fell over as the crowd jeered. Liggins, however, did something he’s used to by now. He got right back up.
“My thing was to hold my head high and get through it,” Liggins said. “You’ve got to wait, you’ve got to believe in God. I believe everybody deserves a second chance in life. You live and you learn. I’m finally getting mine.”
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
However, this seems to be a one time thing, and he has been getting help for it, even beyond what he was required to do. The team also has checked him out in depth, and felt that what he did was a one time event. I can give someone who makes one mistake a second chance, but if he ever is even realistically accused of anything like this again, I would boot him so fast his head would spin.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
J.R. Smith is expected to miss at least three months following surgery Friday to repair a “complex fracture” in his right thumb. The Cavs estimated his return at 12-14 weeks, which would put him back on the court around the start of April.
Hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham performed the surgery at the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center in Montrose.
DeAndre Liggins is expected to remain Smith’s replacement in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future.
So, 2nd quarter with 5 minutes left, and were up by 28.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
--One thing that I have noticed this year that I haven't heard much about.........I think Kyrie is really dedicating himself to be a better distributor of the ball. He is passing up shots and really trying to create shots for other players. I like that. I think it will help w/team chemistry and guys will be more ready to catch and shoot instead of just watching Kyrie dribble and shoot. Very impressive.
--I know Golden State has more star power than the Cavs, but man, the Cavs are playing well. I think this team is going to be very difficult to beat in a series. I'd like to see the Cavs get a back-up PG, but the Big 3 are all playing w/a ton of confidence and they are damn near unstoppable. Also, TT is playing w/a ton of energy and he is like a perfect compliment to the Big 3. He feasts off of the scraps and doesn't take away the ball from the other guys. He is a hard match-up for other teams because when teams inevitably have to switch to help w/one of our Big 3, TT will punish them on the boards. Thus, they have to stay at home more and that in turn, opens things up for more one-on-one match-ups for our dynamic players.
Livingston and Iggy have been so bad offensively that I feel it will come down to a 4th guy matching Green on offense. Our role players can outscore the Warriors role players.
Lebron can obviously match Durant Kyrie proved he can match Curry I believe Love can match Klay
Also, TT is playing w/a ton of energy and he is like a perfect compliment to the Big 3. He feasts off of the scraps and doesn't take away the ball from the other guys. He is a hard match-up for other teams because when teams inevitably have to switch to help w/one of our Big 3, TT will punish them on the boards. Thus, they have to stay at home more and that in turn, opens things up for more one-on-one match-ups for our dynamic players.
Be a star in your role. Great line.
Winning the championship has done wonders for this team. The confidence is sky high. And they all actually like each other.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
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