It'd be different if we were playing top tier teams or even marginal teams, but we're getting handled by sub 500 bottom of basement teams..We look old and slow, playing selfish, fundamentally garbage, I mean you have guys like TT making 14million a year shooting 48% at the line..Thats just unacceptable..It's also not an agenda against TT though sometimes it appears I don't like him, I actually really like TT, i just think for what cavs were forced by lebron to pay him, I'd expect him to be more than a rebounder. And he really doesn't do that all that well on the defensive end..he is great on the offensive, but he's nowhere near a great fundamental rebounder like Love. Just saying that we have alot of money invested in this team to get the production we are getting...Lue needs to lock these guys in a gym with no offdays until they get out of this funk they are in...they just look poorly coached. side note, i've seen reports that Collison might be available..He'd look great backing up Kyrie
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
CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James has smoothed things over with his teammates and bosses — for now.
In the aftermath of calling Cleveland's roster "top heavy" and questioning the organization's commitment to winning a second championship following Monday's loss in New Orleans, James met with the Cavaliers as a team and spoke one on one Wednesday with general manager David Griffin to discuss his assertions.
"I think we both needed it," said Griffin, who spoke to reporters shortly before the Cavs hosted the Sacramento Kings. "I'm happy it happened."
Griffin was not pleased James went public with his feelings and felt he demeaned some players.
"It wouldn't have been my preferred method," Griffin said. "It certainly wasn't appropriate from a teammate perspective. But, it is what it is."
Cleveland's problems worsened Wednesday night as the Cavs blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 116-112 in overtime to the Sacramento Kings, one of the worst teams in the Western Conference Cleveland has dropped six of eight.
The Cavs missed 17 free throws and squandered a five-point lead in the final 2:30 of OT.
"We gotta get better, that's all," said James, who quickly dressed and left after just a few questions. "We had our opportunities. It don't matter who we go against, if they're sub-.500 or plus-.500, we know we're going to get everybody's best, so we just gotta be better."
James triggered a seismic reaction both inside and outside Cleveland's organization with the scathing comments he made in New Orleans to a small group of traveling beat writers after the Cavs lost to the Pelicans, who were missing All-Star Anthony Davis.
Griffin said he was most bothered by James' claim that the Cavs seemed to be satisfied with one title and weren't doing all they could to repeat as champions.
"The comment about the organization being complacent I think is really misguided," Griffin said. "Organizationally there is absolutely no lack of clarity on what our set goal is. We are here to win championships and there is no other solution, there is no other outcome that is acceptable and there never has been."
Griffin said he's continuing to try and improve Cleveland's roster, adding that James' issues will not speed up any timeline.
Griffin also appreciates that James wants to win and is frustrated by the team's recent slide. Despite their slump, the Cavs entered Wednesday's game at 30-13 and leading the Eastern Conference by three games.
"We're all frustrated," Griffin said. "Everyone is frustrated and I can appreciate the fact that he feels that way. The thing you have to love about him and everybody on this team is they're really passionate about what they do and everyone is frustrated. So, I get the sentiment."
Griffin would not say if James showed remorse for his rant.
Earlier, coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavs met as a group and discussed James' comments.
"For me, you always want to try to improve the team whether you're great or not," Lue said. "Golden State won 73 games last year and they added Kevin Durant. You always want to get better and when you see teams getting better as a competitor you want to get better. But we have enough on this team to win a championship. We can get better. I know Griff is going to make us better and he's going to do the best he can.
"For me, LeBron James, the best player in the world, took a team that was worse to the NBA Finals two years ago. We have a good team. We just have to start playing better as a unit. No excuses."
This isn't the first time the Cavs have tackled James' behavior. Last year, he made several eyebrow-raising comments on Twitter that both Lue and Griffin addressed with the three-time champion.
Griffin has been in the market for a backup point guard, but believes the Cavs can defend their title with their current roster.
"I think we have enough (to win) if everyone plays significantly better, but we have a very fine margin for error right now," he said. "I would like to have a greater margin for error. I would like to be more protected against injury in different positions. But if we were 100 percent healthy going into any series I feel pretty good about our situation. We just have a very small margin for error."
Griffin would not comment on a report that the New York Knicks reached out to the Cavs about a possible trade for Carmelo Anthony.
Not sure if you guys have been following, but I see both sides of the debate that has been on-going and came to crux after the New Orleans game.
I get that LeBron wants a backup PG here and that the bottom of the roster is weak. I get his desire to win. I get that he was promised that the Cavs would spend money each year to help win multiple championships.
On the other hand, I get that no one is spending more money on players than Gilbert. The team is way over the cap and he is paying an obscene amount in regards to the luxury tax. I also get that Griffin might be weighing his options and will make the right move at the proper time.
I seem to recall going through this same drama last year. LeBron and his "cryptic tweets."
Can we just fast forward to the Finals already?
his tweets have been anything but cryptic...but while i get that the roster is thin after the big 3, this is alot of LBJ's fault for pushing to get big contracts for role players like TT and JR, guys like RJ, JJ, Birdman, felder, and mcrae are just taking up valuable roster spos. RJ is the only one that contributes somewhat, but at a 6 something PER, he's not contributing that much, bottom line is we're going to have to move some bodies and get some production from bench..have 2 guys with injury proneness and 1 guy with more miles than keith richards face, you can't expect them playing 40 minutes a night, especially can't expect them to play 40 minutes a night and we still lose. The thing that sucks its hard to pinpoint exactly what happened. But I know for fact I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Lue. I don't see anything he's doing working. We were 30-10 when blatt was fired..well here we are 30-14, so is Larry Drew up next since it worked last year...i kid but ASB is 3 weeks away, no way we should be mailing in games already against teams that we should have stomped and had bench playing the whole 4th. The thing that Lue has that Blatt i guess didn't was Chemistry with his star player, because as a coach, Blatt is a much better coach imo, he just needed time to adjust to NBA egos and that just wasn't going to happen on lebron's watch. Cap management has been our downfall, but it got us a ring, just repeating is going to be so much harder this year..we've lost the hunger it looks like
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
I don't know if the team's not hungry. I think we just ran out of gas and need a kick start.
We had a long offseason, we played well up until this past west coast trip and the injuries and rest are starting to wear on the team. I think that's normal for any team after a title. Plus, it's the end of January. It's the dead zone in the NBA, post-Christmas and pre-All Star.
And like you said, this is pretty much the same thing that happened last year. We're still in first, we just played the Spurs to the last second, we'll get a PG and JR will come back.
I know the media wants us to freak out, but I'm not going to do it.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
Even worse than losing was watching JJ miss three foul shots in a row. Has he ever missed three foul shots in his life? He wasn't the only one who had trouble at the foul line.
I turned the game off when we went into OT, I knew our losing streak was going to continue.
We shoulda won last night, if we shot a bit better at the foul line we'd have had it. Once JR gets back, and Love gets his 3pt shot back it will be different.
I do think the bench needs more minutes to gain chemistry though. Kover is supposed to be this sniper from the distance (and he didn't do bad last night) but he's not consistent either.
WE DON'T NEED A QB BEFORE WE GET A LINE THAT CAN PROTECT HIM my two cents...
I seem to recall going through this same drama last year. LeBron and his "cryptic tweets."
Can we just fast forward to the Finals already?
his tweets have been anything but cryptic...but while i get that the roster is thin after the big 3, this is alot of LBJ's fault for pushing to get big contracts for role players like TT and JR, guys like RJ, JJ, Birdman, felder, and mcrae are just taking up valuable roster spos. RJ is the only one that contributes somewhat, but at a 6 something PER, he's not contributing that much, bottom line is we're going to have to move some bodies and get some production from bench..have 2 guys with injury proneness and 1 guy with more miles than keith richards face, you can't expect them playing 40 minutes a night, especially can't expect them to play 40 minutes a night and we still lose. The thing that sucks its hard to pinpoint exactly what happened. But I know for fact I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Lue. I don't see anything he's doing working. We were 30-10 when blatt was fired..well here we are 30-14, so is Larry Drew up next since it worked last year...i kid but ASB is 3 weeks away, no way we should be mailing in games already against teams that we should have stomped and had bench playing the whole 4th. The thing that Lue has that Blatt i guess didn't was Chemistry with his star player, because as a coach, Blatt is a much better coach imo, he just needed time to adjust to NBA egos and that just wasn't going to happen on lebron's watch. Cap management has been our downfall, but it got us a ring, just repeating is going to be so much harder this year..we've lost the hunger it looks like
Man, if we just had the Knicks' roster.
Lighten up, Francis.
You complained all last year and we won the championship.
I complained too, but I learned to shut my mouth when proven wrong.
Rondo might get bought out now! Get on the phone Grif! Sign him to the vet min.
Quote:
As of Thursday evening, the Bulls front office was so angered by an Instagram post by Rondo in which he retaliated on teammates Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade that they were seriously weighing the idea of removing Rondo from the team and buying out the remainder of his contract.
Rondo may work as a backup PG, but he's so unstable. If he's not getting enough minutes, he'll become a distraction and could make this team worse. I'd keep looking elsewhere.
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
I seem to recall going through this same drama last year. LeBron and his "cryptic tweets."
Can we just fast forward to the Finals already?
his tweets have been anything but cryptic...but while i get that the roster is thin after the big 3, this is alot of LBJ's fault for pushing to get big contracts for role players like TT and JR, guys like RJ, JJ, Birdman, felder, and mcrae are just taking up valuable roster spos. RJ is the only one that contributes somewhat, but at a 6 something PER, he's not contributing that much, bottom line is we're going to have to move some bodies and get some production from bench..have 2 guys with injury proneness and 1 guy with more miles than keith richards face, you can't expect them playing 40 minutes a night, especially can't expect them to play 40 minutes a night and we still lose. The thing that sucks its hard to pinpoint exactly what happened. But I know for fact I have been thoroughly unimpressed with Lue. I don't see anything he's doing working. We were 30-10 when blatt was fired..well here we are 30-14, so is Larry Drew up next since it worked last year...i kid but ASB is 3 weeks away, no way we should be mailing in games already against teams that we should have stomped and had bench playing the whole 4th. The thing that Lue has that Blatt i guess didn't was Chemistry with his star player, because as a coach, Blatt is a much better coach imo, he just needed time to adjust to NBA egos and that just wasn't going to happen on lebron's watch. Cap management has been our downfall, but it got us a ring, just repeating is going to be so much harder this year..we've lost the hunger it looks like
Man, if we just had the Knicks' roster.
Lighten up, Francis.
You complained all last year and we won the championship.
I complained too, but I learned to shut my mouth when proven wrong.
this has a different feel than last year..this year just seems like everything is out of sync..
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
please god no Rondo, i want him nowhere near this team...theres alot of teams that would probably give up a pg close to deadline, I'm thinking guys like Nelson (who we have been rumored to have ongoing discussions to get, Collison, Chalmers, hell even Jack if he's healthy.. I'd dig up the corpse of Miller before i sign Rondo, what's mark price doing these days? Serious, screw Rondo, hes done as a player and a cancer to every team he's on
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
The Clippers are desperate to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs this year; they probably would've last year, if Blake Griffin and Chris Paul weren't made of glass.
The Clippers are desperate to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs this year; they probably would've last year, if Blake Griffin and Chris Paul weren't made of glass.
They are desperate to make the Conference Finals.
A team of CP3, Griffin, Melo, Jordan, and Redick would be interesting, but I don't know if it would be good. They would also have zero bench.
Hope so. Not that I'm too worried about him going to Boston, but I don't want to make our trip to the Finals any harder by putting Melo on the Celts.
If the Clippers are going to make a run, they need to go all in now. It would be something of a 2nd round in the West (Warriors, Spurs, Rockets and Clips).
“...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
The Cleveland Cavaliers have their eyes on acquiring a playmaker and that aforementioned player is likely coming from Denver.
According to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, the Cavaliers have been in repeated discussions of acquiring Denver Nuggets point guard Jameer Nelson:
"The Cavs have taken part in repeated discussions centered around Nelson, and he would appear to be the primary target of the three mentioned by Forbes, per Amico Hoops sources."
This story follows up the previous report from Forbes' Mitch Lawrence, who states that the Cavaliers are interested in acquiring Nelson, Rajon Rondo or Deron Williams.
The Cavaliers have lost six of their past eight games and are in "crisis mode." LeBron James has been pushing for the team to acquire another playmaker, while the organization seems to be concerned with the cost of adding another player due to their luxury tax situation.
Nelson is a 13-year veteran who has averaged 11.8 points and 6.0 assists per game for his career. The 34-year-old is currently averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 assists per game and helped the 2009 Orlando Magic advance to the NBA Finals.
The 6-foot point guard would obviously represent the veteran backup point guard the team has been looking for since Mo Williams' retirement in September.
Just a prediction: Cavs destroy the nets and get out of the losing funk.
or they lose and the world melts down
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
I just listened to this and I think you are wrong.
I think the two best points belonged to KG and Shaq. LeBron is not afraid to compete, but he should have had this conversation w/the Gilbert and Griffin rather than doing so in the media.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/Punchsmack/punch.gif)
thanks man, I needed that. My week has sucked.