DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum ***Cleveland Cavaliers February/March***

that was a beatdown of epic proportions. two teams going in completely different directions.

still scratching my head as to why they dealt billups...

my only guess is that dumars didn't think they were good enough to compete with the class of the nba, boston, cleveland, la. so maybe he wants to dump salary and sign guys in 2010. there was that whole lebron thing, but everyone pretty much should know he ain't goin there.

but the class is so big that anyone with cap space can add a star player, some cases two stars.

and in turn you bring in a guy who can still fill up a few seats. iverson is still a draw in the nba, even if he's past his prime.

and d west was incredible.

J/C...

I am really hoping (while I am always hoping) for a Boston loss tonite.. Second nite of a back to back on the road at Denver, and Denver is coming off a loss yesterday at Milwaukee.. You gotta think Denver will come to play since they will be at home trying to put a bad loss behind them...

Cavaliers notebook
Cavs show interest in free agent Horry
Former Spurs player, 38, could be option during NBA playoffs

By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer

POSTED: 09:52 p.m. EST, Feb 23, 2009

CLEVELAND: Last week's trading deadline wasn't the end of the line for possible roster moves for NBA teams and especially the Cavaliers.

There still could be a big man in the Cavs' future.

Mention has been made of the Oklahoma City Thunder's Joe Smith, who was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats until the deal was rescinded. Reports surfaced that Smith, a former Cavs player, would seek a buyout in time to be eligible for a spot on a playoff roster. He has since denied that to be true.

Within the Cavs organization, Smith was a popular player. The team didn't particularly want to trade him, but it had to give up somebody to get somebody, and who could quibble with bringing Mo Williams here in that deal?

Mikki Moore appears to be off the table with an offer from the Boston Celtics and several other teams, the Boston Globe reported.

A source close to that situation said Moore has received no interest from the Cavaliers.

With Smith saying he wants to stay put, where does that leave the Cavs? With an intriguing option, according to a league source: former San Antonio Spur Robert Horry.

Horry, 38, a free agent, hasn't played a game this season. He made his name coming off the bench for the Spurs the last five seasons. A 6-10 forward and center, Horry has 16 seasons in the NBA. His career average is 7 points per game.

In one respect, the Cavs' interest in Horry makes sense. San Antonio is the former home of Cavs general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown. If he's kept himself in shape, Horry could be a valuable insurance policy in the playoffs.

Wally won't quibble

With the Cavaliers finally getting healthy, swingman Wally Szczerbiak has found his playing time reduced. Even with that, he scored 15 points against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Szczerbiak said he has little problem returning to the bench after starting several games in the absence of Delonte West, Tarence Kinsey and Sasha Pavlovic

''I think I help solidify our bench a little bit,'' he said. ''I can come in and know my role — make shots, guard different positions, create havoc for the other team with mismatches. I think it allows everyone to be comfortable where they are at.''

Szczerbiak is averaging 7.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game this year.

Injury update



Pavlovic shot a little with the team today. Brown stuck to a four- to six-week timetable for Pavlovic's return after he suffered a high ankle sprain Feb. 10 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

West said his wrist was a little stiff after Sunday's return to the lineup. No other issues were reported today.

Quick hit



Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva won't face NBA sanctions for his actions in Friday's game against the Cavs, a league spokesman said. Officials assessed Villanueva a flagrant foul-2 and ejected him after a play against Anderson Varejao that led to a neck-grabbing altercation with Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reach George M. Thomas at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/cavs/40188707.html

Boston got popped last night by the Clips...

We're 2 games UP on the Loss side...And 2 SHORT on the W side...

This next 10 game span is CRUCIAL to staying even with Boston cause this is as tough as it gets...

Back to Backs with Houston & SA to start it off...8 of the next 10 on the road...1 day rest then Back to Back again in Atl and Miami...

After a mini 3 game WC trip we get 8 or 9 at Home again for the stretch run...

These next 10 are crucial to stay close to Boston...We need to be no worse than 6-4...7-3...

Along with Boston losing last night, Detroit seems to be in an absolute meltdown. They've lost 8 straight ... Rasheed got ejected last night, so you know he's back into his old-school frame of mind ... and Iverson has a bad back too. They are only 2 or 3 games away from the 9th spot in the conference.

I knew a few of us were actually happy to see that Iverson for Billups trade go down at the begining of the year, but who would of thought it would be THAT detrimental to Detroit.

Ugly game so far tonight but somehow we are only down 4. We scored 11 points in the first, lol.

23-19 Rockets.

Z getting absolutely abused on pick and rolls...

I gotta believe that ankle of his still ain't right... His lateral movement has been HORRIFIC since the original injury against Philly back in Dec.

45-40 Rockets at the half.

As bad as we have looked, I think they will turn it around in the second half.

nothing to say other then UGLY...our lack of interior size/defense is glaring. getting decent looks but noones hitting squat..someone needs to throw a ball right in scolas face...

Yao is dominating this game. The cavs do not have an answer at the defensive end and the cavs are afraid to drive on the offensive end.

The cavs look slow are settling for jumpers and are running 0 offense. Almost everything is one on one.

And now Ben is gone for most of the rest of the season ... can't get much worse.

broken fibula... not good.

although it was said that it may not be season ending...

that kind of injury varies.. could be 6 weeks, could be months and months...

our frontcourt is going to be challenged now... i think a move for joe smith, robert horry, anybody is going to really be needed.

if wallace is done for the year, which is only speculation at this point, we cannot compete in the playoffs with z, andy, and jj as our bigs rotation.

we can only hope that this is only a month, month and a half max.

It'd be hard enough to compete with that big rotation even with Ben. Only one of those four is an offensive threat, and he also happens to be in his mid-30s and can't go more than 25 minutes a night.

Watching this game really makes me hate Yao and Scola. All they do is flail around and play out of control, and never get called for it.

Only in Cleveland...

I really hate to get all Chicken Little here, but we are in DEEP trouble...

I know Ben has not been all that great, but we are now gonna be RELYING on JJ for extended minutes in the playoffs.. D-Block should be a D-Leaguer and Renzen, well I aint even gonna waste my time commenting on him..

We need to get a big in here... Damnit, Joe Smith has not played in OKC's last 5 games... Just BUY HIM OUT ALREADY...

I know this game is in the books at this point, but this is ridiculous. Yao is holding the ball rolling around the floor and doesn't get a travel call? Lebron gets absolutely mugged by Yao and comes up lame, but no foul? And then this scrub from Houston doesn't get touched and gets the whistle. Give me a break.

i think even without wallace, we'll be ok the rest of the regular season, but if we don't have him for a series with boston, i would be worried.

we have to somehow make it through tomorrow, sunday, and monday, and then the rest of the regular season isn't all that bad.

but yeah, i'm worried too. no question.

My concern is that none of our bigs other than Z are even remotely reliable scorers. I'm absolutely not ready to hang my hat on Varejao and Hickson. One is streaky as hell and the other is green as hell. Z can score but you can't get more than 25 minutes from him and he's playing injured.

Not pulling the trigger on a deal, even if it might not have been the best deal around, is starting to not look very good right now. We have just about exactly 48 hours to sign a big or we're really screwed.

I'm not concerned about this loss. They caught fire and we couldn't hit anything. It happens. Houston doesn't frightened me because they're by and large a garbage team. They're like the Magic of the west. I just don't like the sudden turn our season just took.

Rockets have always matched up well with us... They are a solid squad and generally play pretty disciplined basketball... defensively, they do a nice job..

I am just beside myself with this latest injury though... Everyone needs to keep in mind that as the NBA season enters the stretch run, teams "flip the switch" if you will... kind of like what we have done over the past few years.. with that said, our frontcourt is now a mess... we obviously know that MB does not have confidence in JJ as he did not even see the floor in the first half tonite..

I am just angry with the bad luck...

I'm fairly sure that Ben Wallace is out for the year.

TNT reported 8-10 weeks at the halftime show of the Lakers-Suns game.

most outlets are saying 4-6...

anyways. we were handed a gimme last night, no duncan, no ginobili, we got ourselves a free win, but you'll take those all day and night.

lakers lost too. so we are 1 game ahead in the loss column of boston and one game behind la.

atlanta will be a tough game tomorrow, but winnable.

Let's hope Joe Smith convinces Oklahoma City to release him so he can become a free agent. He has like a day until the deadline.

Picking up Joe,...who do you drop off the roster ??

Lorenzen Wright or Darnell Jackson

It would probably be either Trey Johnson (he's on his 2nd 10-day contract) or if they were able to do something with the Eric Snow situation...

johnson. i would anyways.

alot of speculation of some other talent that might be bought out, on the PD site. its a toss up between, Marion, Rasheed, Boozer, or Gooden. I think i'd take any of those right now

Quote:

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Rasheed, Boozer,

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even if they made the cavaliers better, i shutter at the thought of either of these players on the team.

yuck

Out of those four, I think that Marion would be the best fit for a playoff run.

yeah, it makes sense any of those to be bought out given the contract situation. i'd curious to see who it is. but i guess Joe smith is close too

ATLANTA -- Joe Smith could be just days away from providing the Cavaliers with a needed talent injection.


Multiple league sources said on Saturday that Smith and the Oklahoma City Thunder are making progress in buyout talks and there is a favorable chance the sides will come to an agreement by Sunday's midnight waiver deadline. It has also become clear that the Cavs would be Smith's top choice if all the terms can be agreed on.


If all the hurdles can be cleared, Smith would be put on waivers on Monday and become an outright free agent by Wednesday morning.


But there still may be some more drama surrounding the Cavs, who continue their road trip Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks in their second game since Ben Wallace broke his right leg.


There was some growing chatter within NBA circles Saturday that another and more high-profile forward could also become a free agent via a buyout on Sunday. One source said the name would "surprise" a lot of people if it can get done and the Cavs would likely be interested.


As for Smith, he and the Thunder have been exchanging some figures for the last several days. Insiders have indicated Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has been showing some reluctance and has driving a hard bargain.


Smith is still owed about $1.3 million of his $4.8 million salary this season by Oklahoma City. However, there are some indications the Thunder are looking for Smith to give up that amount and perhaps more, which may be what has been stalling the talks.


The Cavs have a large pro-rated portion of their mid-level exception left that totals around $3.5 million. Sources indicate it hasn't just been the Thunder and Smith who have been talking, but also the Cavs and Thunder over just how much money might end up in the Thunder coffers if a deal can get done.


Presti and Cavs GM Danny Ferry have a close relationship. They worked together in the Spurs' front office and have already executed two trades in the two years Presti has been the Thunder's GM.


Thunder coach Scott Brooks has said he would prefer Smith not be bought out. But the Thunder attempted to trade Smith at last week's trade deadline before a deal with the New Orleans Hornets was rescinded. Smith is not hurt, but has not played since Feb. 10 as Brooks as left him out of the rotation.


The 6-foot-10 veteran has averaged 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds on 45 percent shooting in 39 games this season. Last year with the Cavs he averaged 8.1 points and five rebounds off the bench in 27 games after a midseason trade. He was traded in the off-season as part of the package to acquire Mo Williams.


Currently, the Cavs do not have a roster spot, but guard Trey Johnson's 10-day contract expires Sunday and he will likely be released. The Cavs could free up another roster spot when Eric Snow's disability claim is settled if they need one.


Other than the Cavs, Smith could consider the Spurs if a buyout can be reached.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/02/help_on_the_way_as_thunders_sm.html

Folks...This would be a SERIOUS COUNTER to Boston's Marbury/Moore moves...And this surprise mystery player has gotta be Wallace or Boozer...

If the Thunder relent in the final 36 hours and the 33-year-old winds up on the open market next week, Smith would likely clear waivers Wednesday. At that point, Cleveland could offer him a healthy pro-rated share of what's left of its mid-level exception: $3,503,882.


The Cavs' actual cost, of course, would be double whatever it gives Smith because of the luxury tax. But since they wanted him even before Wallace got hurt, Smith would figure to have a decent shot at the whole amount.


The most San Antonio could offer is $1,484,029 for the rest of the season. Smith, meanwhile, was owed $1,353,882 by the Thunder as of Friday morning -- with 48 days to go in the regular season -- and would presumably have to forfeit a good chunk of that to convince them to let him go.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090228-0301