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Strange, that a non-basketball fan has to do this.... You guys too depressed or something?

Being down 3-1 isn't impossible, especially if you have two of them at home. Protect home court in Game 5, try to squeak out a road win in Game 6 and anything can happen in a Game 7.
There's no such thing as a curse....


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j/c

This is something that I've been curious about, and perhaps the reason I don't know the answer is that I just don't follow the NBA enough.

But, everyone talks about how 2009 is the "last" year for the Cavs to make a run at things because Lebron becomes a free agent, if he doesn't sign an extension, after the 2010 season.

So...what about 2010? Just because he might be a free agent, does that mean he won't play at all in 2010? Or will play worse?

Maybe I'm just missing something. Are other core players going to be leaving after this year?


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Well, I feel bad for the Cavs fans. This team looked good and held a lot of promise for a run at the championship. Doesn't look very promising now. It's not over, but I just don't see it happening.

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Bleah.. What a disappointing game last night.


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Quote:

Bleah.. What a disappointing game last night.




Hence why I don't follow any teams as closely as I do the Browns. It's hard enough to ride the roller coaster with the Browns, I can't imagine doing it with the Cavs, too.


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Quote:

j/c

This is something that I've been curious about, and perhaps the reason I don't know the answer is that I just don't follow the NBA enough.

But, everyone talks about how 2009 is the "last" year for the Cavs to make a run at things because Lebron becomes a free agent, if he doesn't sign an extension, after the 2010 season.

So...what about 2010? Just because he might be a free agent, does that mean he won't play at all in 2010? Or will play worse?

Maybe I'm just missing something. Are other core players going to be leaving after this year?




A LOT has changed with the Chinese Investment company that bought a 15% stake in the team and the Q. A lot of signs pointing towards LeBron resigning a max deal (rather than another 3 year). We have some pieces that expire (Ben, Wally, Sasha) and a lot of money to go into the luxury tax (Chinese Investment firm). We will have the ability to get a couple major pieces in the next year and a half.

I have hope this year....but I really wanted to see Z get a ring. This year is a great opportunity, because there are no guarantees in the future (injuries can happen, etc). I see Z playing 2 more seasons, so there is still a shot past this season.


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I'm no expert,...

Z would already be "done" if he actually played center,....the Cavs need a Howard to control the paint. Z looks like nothing more than a taller forward. Lucky enough he hits the shots he does.

Officiating is highly inconsistent,...this is NOT why the Cavs are lost, but at best, it is atrocious. I cannot believe some of the calls that go the way they do (both ways.) It just seems like the Cavs aren't getting their share, whatever that is.

I like to believe they can come out gangbusters in Five and send it back to Orlando for the "Decider." At least that way, Orlando fans get a chance to win it at home.

If The Plan--and the officiating--is the same as these first four, this thing is history. At this point, I'm almost all for leaving Gibson and Sasha out there and running their big men to death,.....

The real key is stopping their 3's. They all seem to go in,....

AV surprised me yesterday--he played tough.

Don't appreciate Williams running his mouth,...very uncalculated poor judgement.

Just rambling,....sorry.

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The Cavs gonna need ultra superior talent from here out, because this team is going to out coached every playoff game they will play in the next few seasons. I can't begin to express how poorly Mike Brown has handled this series, his arrogance and refusal to switch things up have cost the Cavs this series, period.

As close as all these games have been, a few, SIMPLE, adjustments could have made the difference. His refusal to go small, to switch up defensive match ups, his refusal to acknowledge that the magics DO MATCH UP WELL AGAINST US. Mike Brown is obsessed with stopping Howard, WHO IS NOT WHY WE ARE losing. We are getting killed on the perimeter because we double Howard down low.

I realize this team isn't hitting shots, but this team was a 66 win team because of defense, good defense leads to easy shots. Our offense is dependant on our defense. Our defensive issues are because of POOR matchups.

And now, LeBron has lost all confidence is his teammates and his coach, which is totally justified.

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Not doubling Howard means either giving Orlando 2 points on every single possession or having our entire team foul out. I will take my chances with Rafer Alston shooting 3s (34% for the season).

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We can't start Z in Game 5. We have to come out with Wallace & Varejao..


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Calm down folks!! I believe!!!! It's ain't over till it's over and all that stuff.

On Brown. He made every change people wanted before the game. LeBron on Lewis, More Wally and Boobie, More Ben and less Z. Orlando just plays sometime cheap ball, but at the moment is shooting lights out. I mean when do 60% free throw shooters get BETTER in the playoffs? Orlando is just playing tough, and it's a matchup nightmare for the Cavs. Still We can take this one coming up and continue from there.

How many games this season did the Cavs win in a row? 15 twice? Some crazy numbers though. They can do it, but things have to start going our way a little. It would be nice if the officials didnt' totally suck, but what can you do?

Go Cavs!!! Win 7 in a row!!!!!!!! (or at least 3 please!).

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Lets witness three wins in a row by the Cavs


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Really, all we need is game 5.

If we can somehow just put some semblance of a convincing win together, all the pressure would really switch over to them. They'd face a must win on their own court or face the prospect of having to win game 7 on the road against the NBA's best home team.

This series has been so insanely close and it seems like all the key bounces are going Orlando's way (i.e. the long rebound we should have had to seal the game in regulation). You have to think we're going to eventually catch a few breaks or that Orlando's shooters will start to miss some key shots but who knows?

In the end, if Alston is going to give them 26 points, we can't beat them. It's pretty much as simple as that. Their role players are absolutely KILLING us.

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I can't see us winning the rest of the games. I've been watching and getting into it, only to get crushed again.

Cleveland teams are just not cut out to win - whether the regular season (Browns) or the post season (Cavs).



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I think it's doable, mainly because 2 of the 3 are at home. If we can't win one road game, we probably don't deserve to advance anyway.

We still haven't played all that well. Delonte had a nice game yesterday but Mo still shot poorly. We're getting great looks, we just can't knock down WIDE OPEN shots. Shots that we've been hitting all year. 6-22 from 3 just isn't going to get it done. Especially when you consider 4 of the makes were LeBron. Everyone else was 2-12.

If we were going on the road for game 5, I would say we're dead in the water but they have a chance to build a little momentum heading in to game 6 (if they can get a win at home). At that point (down 3-2), a championship team has to be able to ATLEAST get it to a game 7 and see what happens.

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If we can come out of the gates like we did in game 1, and then actually play defense and make shots in the second half, we might have a chance...

Yesterday was the first we've looked like a team that had a chance for an entire game, if we can build off of that, then...who knows...

PS: Delonte's dive and miss for a rebound is only second to Flip Murrey's missed rebound in game 6 a few years back on my lists of "OHHHH we were so close" plays


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I don't understand why we aren't being physical with Howard, we got Z, Andy, Big Ben, Joe Smith and Jackson, use those guys to hack Howard.


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What's the techincal foul rule? If you get 6 or 7 techs in a series you get suspended for a game? I know we're getting reduced to extreme "what-ifs" here ... but, what if we win game 5 at home, and Howard gets a technical? They'd be looking at a crucial closeout game at home without their best player.

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Quote:

What's the techincal foul rule? If you get 6 or 7 techs in a series you get suspended for a game? I know we're getting reduced to extreme "what-ifs" here ... but, what if we win game 5 at home, and Howard gets a technical? They'd be looking at a crucial closeout game at home without their best player.



Yeah, just like last series versus Philly...


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You really want to compare us to Philly?

Right after I posted my last post, I found this on ESPN:

Howard Can't Afford Another T
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

If there's one nagging nightmare scenario to torment the Orlando Magic after they took a dream 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, it's this:

Dwight Howard getting hit with a technical foul in Thursday's Game 5 in Cleveland.

That's because Howard collected his sixth tech of the playoffs in Tuesday's Game 4, leaving him just one T shy of suspension territory.

Seven technical fouls, remember, add up to an automatic one-game vacation. So Howard is on the brink unless the league rescinds the T he received for what was deemed to be taunting of Cleveland's Anderson Varejao after a third-quarter dunk.

The good news? Getting a tech erased is far from implausible, as Kenyon Martin could tell you. Denver's K-Mart would be tied with Howard for a league-leading six Ts in the playoffs if three of Martin's six hadn't been rescinded by the league office this month.

However …

If Tuesday's T stands, Howard will have to be extra careful not only for the rest of a postseason that threatens to last longer than so many of us Orlando skeptics ever imagined … but especially so in Game 5. Although a 3-1 deficit certainly has Cleveland at death's door, as Phil Jackson would say, imagine how much the complexion of the series would swiftly change if the Cavs not only forced a Game 6 but if Howard also had to miss that close-out opportunity at home.

The Magic might have been able to get through a Game 6 without Howard in the first round against Philadelphia, when he was suspended for Orlando's clincher on the road after slamming an elbow into the Sixers' Samuel Dalembert. You can be sure that they don't even want to think about trying to finish off LeBron James without him.

Especially not after Howard, after three quarters of virtual quiet, scored 10 of Orlando's 16 points in Tuesday's OT, enabling him to finish with 27 points and 14 boards and take another significant step toward LeBron's stratosphere.

"Hopefully they look at it," Howard said of a possible mulligan from league officials on his sixth tech, insisting that he didn't taunt Varejao and that he didn't deserve the T after escaping the Brazilian's forceful grasp to squeeze home a key layup.

Then Howard joked about trying to keep his mouth zipped for the rest of the series: "I might have to really use some duct tape."

(There is one other scary omen for Howard's Magic that we have to stick in here: Only eight teams in NBA history have blown a 3-1 lead but Orlando is one of them, losing three straight games to Detroit in 2003 in the series remembered for Tracy McGrady prematurely talking about getting to the second round for the first time.)

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Two things:

It'll be easy to compare us to Philly, Especially if we both get beat by Orlando, but hey, Philly won TWO games! So I guess we can't really compare to them yet

If they take the T off of Howard, it'll be a continuation of how the refs seemingly have been coddling him this entire series, I swear it's like he'll have 5 fouls for an entire game but can't seem to get another until theres 20 seconds left in the game...


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pretty much spot on, Nas...


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Quote:

Really, all we need is game 5.

If we can somehow just put some semblance of a convincing win together, all the pressure would really switch over to them. They'd face a must win on their own court or face the prospect of having to win game 7 on the road against the NBA's best home team.




Nas, I have been saying the same thing all day. - If we can win game 5, that puts a lot of pressure on them to win at home. - Mind you, before this series started, Orland played 13 playoff games compared to our 8. - This stat has to come into play eventually. - They have to start getting tired at some point. - Couple that exhaustion with pressure and it could spell doom for Orlando. - However, needless to say, we have to win game 5 for this scenario to play out.

Let's get this thing back to Orlando.

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Just a general comment on my part.

If we do happen to pull out 3 wins in a row it could be the greatest playoff experience us cav's fans have ever seen, and if we would do that it would be a huge confidence booster going into the finals.

Let's look forward to that and not worry about where we are sitting right now. After the series is done win or lose it was still a hell of a season.

But I can't say I would not be dissapointed if we lost.

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FYI

The NBA rescinded Howard's 6th technical foul that he earned yesterday so he is back to 5.

Bullcrap.


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It was a weak techincal foul.


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After watching all these games, I can't believe Pietrus and Alston are beating us... We've been playing some good defense IMO on Turk and Lewis... I think West has done excellent on a player 7 inches taller than him.

However, when will Pietrus and Alston ever miss a shot... if they catch the ball behind the 3 point line and there isn't someone dry humping them then they're going to make the shot. I don't understand... How can everyone on a team be this good collectively for this many games in a row...

I say Cavs win game 5... and hopefully by 50---well maybe not 50, but I do think it is important that this game isn't a down to the wire. Get into their heads a little. Then in game 6, we let Howard get his, because we simply dont have anyone to match up with him, and continue to keep Turk and Lewis around 10-17 points and then.... pray that either Alston, Lee, and/or Pietrus builds a few house.....then i think game 7 is ours.

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. I don't understand... How can everyone on a team be this good collectively for this many games in a row...




Because they plant themselves on the wing and know that after a quick trip around the horn the ball is going to end up in their hands with no one in front of them.

Delonte/Andy/Ben putting a hand up as they rush over a second too late from the paint, maybe.

They get the open look with ease...they have to be more than confident in that.

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Yeah but I see where's he's coming from
Mo gets wide open threes.......clunk or in and out.
We've been getting good looks but somehow the shots just are not falling.
Orlanda makes a good shot........and it goes in. I just keep wondering how can this go on? I mean didn't they shoot 60% !!!!!! (seem to remember an annoucer saying that during the game) The fact that the refs are simply horrible and sure seem to favor the Magic doesn't help. James has been getting hammered down low.
I feel that sooner or later (better be sooner) Normal things will start to happen. Fouls will be fouls. Good shots will have normal % of being made. Howard will miss free throws. James will drive to the basket.
In the end, if normal happens........we have James.
Seriously...do you think they see the same things we see when they watch tape? I see Z getting the ball WAY to far out, and should be at the key or closer.....does he or Brown?
I see James shooting long jump shots when he gets tired......does he? Seems like he settles and takes bad shots late in games.
Or those darn Howard/any shooter picks that Orlando keeps using......they (brown/team) see those right?
I just hope they work on what they need to. I hope the team address's the sloppy play late in games. I hope basketball returns to normal. Everything seems to be going Orlando's way......we just need it to return to normal.......but I'd take things going the cavs way for a change.

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Also I wish Brown would start a new rule.........if you take a shot outside of 20 feet w/o being WIDE open.......you get fined $100,000.
If we would shoot for twos every trip we'd kill Orlando.

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Now that this thread has went from run for the ring to the Cavs playoff thread, I just want to change the title to the Lakers run for the ring.

About 2 weeks ago there was a question about the talent the Cavs had played in the first 2 rounds and I had answered that they have not played anyone to that point and the Eastern Conference was weak. Boy did I hear about that. Now it seems I might know something about basketball!

The Lebron against 5 will never work and the Lakers proved that tonight by Bryant getting the rest of his team involved tonight and counting on the bigs and the bench which your team has major weakness in that area.

Anyway good luck tomorrow and us Laker fans will look forward to the match up with the Cavs next year!


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Quote:

It'll be easy to compare us to Philly, Especially if we both get beat by Orlando, but hey, Philly won TWO games! So I guess we can't really compare to them yet




Quote:

About 2 weeks ago there was a question about the talent the Cavs had played in the first 2 rounds and I had answered that they have not played anyone to that point and the Eastern Conference was weak. Boy did I hear about that. Now it seems I might know something about basketball!




Do people NOT understand the concept of "Matchup Problems"??

It has nothing to do with certain teams being more talented than us. We are probably one of the most talented teams in the NBA ... it's just Orlando plays to all our weaknesses. Philly took them to six games ... the same Philly that we almost beat with our bench scrubs in the final game of the season!

I hear Celtic fans acting like the real ECF was last round ... had the Celtics beaten the Magic, we may just of swept them ... we match up a heck of a lot better against them.

The Lakers got extremely lucky themselves. Their three "Kryptonite" teams are Charlotte, Houston and Portland. Charlotte didn't make the playoffs, and Houston and Portland played each other in the first round. Then the Lakers got a beat-up Houston team down two superstars by the time they faced them, and it still took them 7 games to beat them.

We just facing one of our own Kryptonite teams.

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I was being sarcastic in comparing us to Philly...

Basically if we both get beat by Orlando it doesn't really matter who's better...

And I'm positive if we we're facing Boston right now we'd already be in the Finals, or at least in them after tonight...


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Sorry ... I kind of knew you were being sarcastic, and that post was more directed at Corpus ... as well as various other nameless random posters from other boards who seem to think the Cavs have gone from juggernaut to talentless-crap overnight.

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And it's not like the Lakers are setting the world on fire either, according to how these playoffs have gone, I expect them to lose game 6 to Denver by 25, then win game 7 by 15...but who knows?

And I don't see Howard having the kind of series he's having now versus either LA or Denver...

Just win Game 5, then worry about the rest in two days...


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I just PRAY to God that we don't come out looking absolutely miserable like we did in Orlando, that would be the end all be all.


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Quote:

About 2 weeks ago there was a question about the talent the Cavs had played in the first 2 rounds and I had answered that they have not played anyone to that point and the Eastern Conference was weak. Boy did I hear about that. Now it seems I might know something about basketball!





So, if the Eastern Conference is so weak then shouldn't LeBron be able to breeze through it? Especially when he's averaging 43/7/7 on 50% shooting? I think Orlando is actually proving how good the top of the East really is.

Also, before you get too confident, you might want to close out your series first....


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Quote:

About 2 weeks ago there was a question about the talent the Cavs had played in the first 2 rounds and I had answered that they have not played anyone to that point and the Eastern Conference was weak. Boy did I hear about that. Now it seems I might know something about basketball!




26-4 against the West.

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Now it seems I might know something about basketball!




Only about as much as you knew about Quarterbacks


Browns is the Browns

... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.

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doesn't take a genius to say that the west is better than the east.

although that gap has closed significantly over the past few years...

depth-wise though, the west still has more teams that can play...

but again, that has nothing to do with why the cavs are down 1-3 in the series.

neither did the rest. they just have their problems with this team.

the cavs were significantly better than a depleted detroit team and an atlanta team that was banged up. and they showed it. they did what they were supposed to do, they won 8 straight.

but hey, let's win tonight and talk about anything after that, afterwards.

it's about tonight.

this entire "one day, one practice, one game" theme doesn't hold true any more than it does right now.

let's win A game. if we can do that, let's win another...

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