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W00T! It's March!

It's gonna be a long week waiting for the next game. The real nice thing is that we'll get LBJ healthy this week, the guys will have some practice time to get better acquainted (Powe & Jamison... get em worked in a little better) and then a week from Monday we get Z back, which will revitalize us for the stretch until we get Shaq back a couple of weeks later.


It's going to be a fun run to watch.

Looks like AJ is going to be fine.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4979530

CLEVELAND -- An MRI taken on Cleveland Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison's left knee has shown no serious problems.

Jamison was forced to leave Monday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter with tightness in the back of his knee. He underwent a follow-up exam and MRI, which a team spokesman said was "good."

Jamison, who has had soreness in his knee most of this season, will continue daily treatments. He scored 17 points before leaving Monday's win.

The Cavs acquired Jamison last month in a trade with the Washington Wizards. He said he experienced similar stiffness in his knee while with the Wizards but was able to improve it with rest and rehab.

Jamison plans to play on Friday when the Cavs visit Philadelphia.

Even with our long upcoming break, I'd think about giving Jamison a few extra days of rest. Well....if it were up to me anyway. But good news for sure.

hard to believe there are only 17 games left

I'm not ready for the playoffs.

Well, I should restate that. My heart isn't ready for the playoffs. With everything riding on this title run, I'm very nervous.

On on hand, we could be celebrating our first Cleveland sports title since 64, keeping Lebron, shoving it to all the naysayers, proving the other Cleveland teams can get it done, and making a memory that will last forever. On the other, we fail again, Lebron leaves, the naysayers get to gloat, Cleveland sports will take a hit they may never recover from, and we fall into a deeper sports depression.

No pressure.

Easy there, dont you dare Jinx us!

I want the cavaliers to win a ring so bad i can taste it,almost all cleveland fans do not have confidence in any of their teams.Whether we like it or not,it's going down.So at the very least we can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

I have tickets to the last home game.. (last regular season game as well April 11th) vs the Magic.. I'd like to see the starters but it's likely LBJ and others will be wearing ties on the sideline and I'll just see a scrub game

Good news about Jamison. As far as Mo goes, he did look like he was in pain a little bit still and it would explain his poor shooting since he came back. He may feel that with so many other players unable to play that he can't sit games out right now and may be trying to play through it since we're so thin. Hopefully if Mo needs some more rest he can get it before the playoffs as we'll need him to hit some big shots for us at some point I'm sure.

just wanna let you guys know, in the past few months i have gotten back into trading cards, just kind of a small side hobby thing. and a shop has opened up right near my work so i usually stop in once a week. i bought some cards today, opened up a pack, and got a jamison sig

definitely a sign.

Who could forget the "Baseball Card Boom" of the late '80s and early '90's.
- Card shops in every city, and shows every weekend. - I still have a bunch of hold Becketts from this time and read them from time to time. - There's an article that was written right after Upper Deck cards debuted. - The article discusses how another card set isn't needed, and what the effects of too many card types would do to the market. - Spot on. Too many brands and too many cards are what killed the market.

Glad to see the hobby showing signs of life.

Ya, my card collection was going to be handed down to my son (if I had one) or used to get a nice down payment on a summer car/motorcycle. Well, that was the plan in the early 90's. I bet I could get about $200 for all my cards now (thought $2,000). Oh well.

The guys on PTI were talking about how Orlando is really the team to beat in the East (recent win against LA and Cleveland injuries). And I'm happy to hear that. I'd rather go into that series as the "underdog" than the favorite. I think it would help the focus of our team. The team took their foot off the pedal against Orlando in Game 1 and never recovered. They need that feeling of being doubted.

I have to tell Ya. Living here 30 miles away........I HATE the Tragic. Not so much from them beating us, but for the "bandwagon". These people have no idea about basketball. Is just the only game in town. Ask anyone who their #2 point is and You get a blank stare....But they cheer like no tomorrow. Nuttin else to do on a weekday. Have seen them cheer opposing players until they realize is not theirs. Props to the "Fat Man".......the only true Tragic Fan......

GO CAVS !

Having to watch the Wizards/Rockets game to get my NBA fix, man this is a sad thing to watch, a team totally devoid of talent. Reminds me of the pre-LBJ Cavs. Cleveland fans are seriously witnessing something special these past few seasons, I sincerely hope LBJ resigns. On a side note, Cavs fans are also blessed with great commentators. Austin Carr and Company are VERY good at their job, compared to these smucks announcing the Wiz game.

ya I thought I was going to blow my brains out yesterday listening to the Spurs crew here in Austin for the Cavs/Spurs game... They even claimed that our team was 'Clippers' quality without James and Shaq. whoops!

without lebron, shaq, mo, andy, jj, delonte, antawn, you might be able to make that argument...

fred mcleod has grown on me, i was not a fan of his.

it's funny, i didn't like mcleod when he took over, and i loved reghi, now i love mcleod's work and can't stand reghi's afternoon show.

Reghi's afternoon show BLOWS. Thats when I turn off and start listening to podcasts or music. He seriously annoys me to no end, almost as bad ass Goldhammer.

i think goldhammer sometimes says a lot of stuff tongue in cheek...

reghi just blows my mind sometimes. it's like he has to go against the grain just so he can be that guy.

he wants to be the guy who pointed and said, see, i told ya so, whenever a cleveland team loses or something doesn't work out...

Goldhammer really grinds my gears with his game show voice, "Do it LIIIIIVVVVEEEE!" God I HATE that.

Whenever they do the bonus round I have to switch to something else.

i get a kick out of the bonus round. i just love the stupidity in it. and when people try and sneak in a crack on hammer before they get run after 5 seconds.

Full strength Celtics just lost to that same Milkwalkee team we lost to minus Lebron.

Celtics almost (and should've) dropped one to the Wiz on Sunday, too.

Hoping to see Toronto down the Lakers tonight.

Just checked the scoreboard, but didn't get past "Kobe get another last-second shot,..."

I am baffled at how many teams just let it happen. You KNOW Kobe is taking the last shot - you know it, I know it, the American people know it - why is there never a suffocating double team thrown at the guy in the final minutes?

I know that Gasol, Odom, Bynum etc are not bums but you have to make them beat you instead of the primo ballhog of the NBA.

Baffle,...weak word.

Just pickin' on ya',....I was too. But, the Lakers 'probably' have a good backup plan to dish if the double-team does come, so it's make or break.

Not jealous, but I'd like to have that kind of talent. The boy has it and he makes it work. Every time is getting old, but gotta hand it to him.

I'd still be mad if it had been anyone else, in terms of the homecourt lead, but as -- I think LBJ pointed out -- the math just isn't there unless the Cavs really tank these last 16/17.

Now, taking full advantage of, and destroying people because we have earned home court is another story. There, hopefully, we'll use it get big enough leads to keep shooters like Kobe from being in that situation in the first place,....

i think you automatically double kobe in that situation, especially with ariza gone who can knock down the shot, i know fisher has done it before but he just looks old right now, i'll take my chances with kobe doubled than kobe singled and even defended perfectly.

for all the talk about kobe hitting game winners, he did miss one not too long ago, it was either miami or orlando...

for all the talk of jordan hitting game winners i believe he missed more than he made, so take that for what it is, it might be playing the percentages to single him, although tell that to lenny wilkens....

nobody else on the lakers scares me in that situation...

I would think you'd double Kobe, and pack the lane with the other three guys. Jump out when they pass it to a shooter not named Kobe and force someone else to hit a mid-range jumper.

It was against Orlando that he missed a game winner. I like him having to make game winners, keep it up lakers! I am enjoying them looking like they dont want to play right now. I hope the attitude continues into the post season.

seems like the lakers have had a ton of those situations. how many game winners has lebron had a chance to take this year? the only one that comes to mind immediately is the chicago game early in the year.

They talked about this on one of the pregame shows on ABC a few weeks back. They had the %s of game winners hit, they talked about Kobe, Wade, Carmelo and LeBron, LeBron was by far the lowest in % made. I think Carmelo actually had the highest.

LOL ... the word out of LA is that the Clippers fired Dunleavy as their GM to offer Lebron the opportunity to pick his own head coach and possibly even the GM if he were to sign with them during free agency. "Hey Lebron, play here! We're such a mess we'll let you pick the front office FOR us!"

Brian Windhorst Podcast from 03/10/10 here.

My recap of it for people who what to know what he had to say:

Brian says that the win over San Antonio without LeBron was impressive and it should have positive effects on the rest of the team, especially their morale.

He says Powe is still favoring his leg but he's getting through it. Powe likely would have played against San Antonio if Blair had played more due to matchups, and also Hickson was having one of his better games of the season defensively. Those 2 things limited Powe's floor time. Powe will play most of his minutes against shorter more physical types like Glen Davis or against smaller teams like Atlanta. When Z resigns in two weeks, Powe is out of the rotation anyway so it's probably a moot point. Doesn't think Powe should be a rotation player in the playoffs.

Powe didn't like it when Brian questioned his lack of athleticism pre-injury and seemed offended by the comment. Powe is good at playing angles and playing with leverage, and knows how to do what it takes to get the job done. He won't look impressive athletically and it won't work against all defenders. Mike Brown likes Powe's stoutness and the fact that he will throw his body around and foul people hard. Brian wouldn't be surprised to see Darnell Jackson play ahead of Powe again at some point in these next two weeks before Z returns. Doesn't seem all that high on Powe at all.

Brian said the Cavs were aware of Jamison's knee issues when they traded for him and Jamison has been wearing a wrap on his knee the majority of the season. He likely will be bothered by it the rest of the season and the rest of his career. Jamison said he just needed to rest his knee and get treatment but Mike Brown may err on the side of caution and sit Jamison on Friday. Jamison wants to play Friday if he can go and at this point he thinks his odds are good.

Brian doesn't think its a big deal at all that Jamison is missing practices becasue of his knee. He says Jamison is acclimating quickly both offensively and defensively and that Jamison will have to keep an eye on his knees the rest of this season, next season, and the year after but he knows his body and what he can and can't do. The fact that there are no back to backs in the playoffs and only two back to backs the rest of the regular season should help out in that regard. If his knee were to stiffen up in the playoffs, he would have at least a day before the next game.

Brian thinks Mo's recent play is a little alarming. Mo was facing pressure in Milwaukee and didn't respond too well like he also didn't respond well last year in the playoffs. He didn't play with confidence and it really showed in the Magic series. With LeBron and Shaq out, it was a great opportunity for Mo to respond to pressure and he handled it poorly and also took the game very personally. One good sign is that he responded well in the Spurs game, especially in the 2nd half defensively. Mo is a very emotional and streaky player; the Cavs simply cannot afford Mo to repeat his performance from the 2009 playoffs. Not a coincidence that the two big wins at LA and at Orlando both featured Mo playing extremely well.

Brian says Mo is fine with going from being the #2 option to being the #4 option. Mo relies a lot on LeBron setting him up most of the time and needs to be off the ball more. If you ask Mo to play point guard for 40 minutes, his game will likely suffer. Mo plays best when he doesn't have to handle the ball or make decisions under pressure. Mo is usually at his best when he can be fed shots in pressure situations instead of having to create his own. Brian thinks Mo is the best shooter LeBron has played with in his career, even better than Gibson. The Cavs pretty much know what they are going to get from LeBron, Shaq, and Antawn every night, but the Cavs don't know what they are going to get from Mo and Delonte every night. If those two guys are on, the Cavs are virtually impossible to beat.

Brian says that in transition offense/free flowing offense against bad defensive teams like New Jersey, LeBron is the best option at point guard. In half court/grind it out possession offense against good defenses like Los Angeles, he thinks LeBron should be off the ball. LeBron enjoys running and the team enjoys running, but deep in the playoffs things will inevitably bog down and the games will slow down and LeBron will be at his best off the ball.

Brian doesn't think playing Shaq and Z will be a problem because when one of them is in at center, the other won't be in. The real question is what to do with Hickson. Hickson is by far at his best when he starts, but that isn't going to happen when Shaq comes back. The Hickson/Shaq pairing and the Varejao/Z pairing both have worked very well this year, but with Jamison in the as the starting power forward, how do you find minutes for everyone? When you're playing Orlando, you don't really want Hickson to ever have to guard Rashard Lewis. JJ's development has been phenomenal and it will be disappointing if he isn't allowed to continue that, but it's just going to be tough for all five bigs to see minutes in the playoffs.

Brian has concerns about the Center position considering Shaq/Z's age and upcoming free agency status. Dwight Howard is not going away anytime soon and the Cavaliers will have to go out and find someone to help slow Dwight Howard down after Shaq and Z hang it up. He says you don't have to find a Shaq, but you do have to find a big body who can body Dwight up. Varejao/Hickson can both play center and will both work against 26 or 27 of the teams in the league, but not against the Magic or the Lakers. On the flip side, other elite teams are asking themselves the same questions about LeBron James and he cites Matt Barnes and Ron Artest as two examples of guys brought in to do the job.

Brian doesn't think Mo or Antawn will be given too much time off before the playoffs start. The Cavs have a pretty light schedule down the stretch, nothing brutal like 4 games in 5 nights or anything coming up. Mike Brown may try and avoid playing guys if they are injured, but for the most part the schedule doesn't seem to warrant guys needing games off.

Brian says the Cavs are 50-15 with Parker as the starting shooting guard, he says the guy makes 2.5M dollars and has done his job extremely well. He has been everything the Cavs have wanted in terms of shooting and defense. Parker off the curl has not been as big of a part of the Cavs offense as Brian expected before the year started but he is still doing a solid job. Delonte is playing great right now off the bench, but Parker has been too steady to take out of the lineup. If Delonte is playing well, he's going to be in the 4th quarter finishing lineup anyway ahead of Parker and that's what he says matters most.

Brian says the Cavs told Shaq it was ok to not be on the bench while he was injured. Shaq was instructed to take 2 weeks to do absolutely nothing while the thumb heals and essentially the Cavs gave him those two weeks off as a vacation. The team is giving him space, but they are monitoring him and making sure he isn't gaining weight. Shaq is spending time with his kids since they do not live in Cleveland with him currently.

Brian says the Magic are a huge threat still, and the Magic and Lakers are the only two teams in the NBA that he thinks can possibly beat the Cavs in a 7 game series. The Magic have the easiest schedule down the stretch, just 8 road games and 8 games against winning teams left. The Magic should be on a nice roll heading into the playoffs and that might work against us. Brian hopes Boston doesn't fall to the 4th seed because he would not want to go Boston/Orlando in back to back series. The Celtics don't have the horses to eliminate the Cavaliers this season, but it wouldn't be an easy series. Brian then switched gears and went on a rant about Rafer Alston. He is surprised that Alston had a meltdown for Miami and essentially got kicked off the team, he feels like Alston was probably the biggest reason why Orlando knocked the Cavs out last year considering he's so undependable and he came through with one of the best stretches of his career. The Cavs defense last year was based around guys like Alston and Pietrus beating them, and those guys had the best moments of their careers and beat them.

Quote:

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Brian has concerns about the Center position considering Shaq/Z's age and upcoming free agency status. Dwight Howard is not going away anytime soon and the Cavaliers will have to go out and find someone to help slow Dwight Howard down after Shaq and Z hang it up. He says you don't have to find a Shaq, but you do have to find a big body who can body Dwight up. Varejao/Hickson can both play center and will both work against 26 or 27 of the teams in the league, but not against the Magic or the Lakers. On the flip side, other elite teams are asking themselves the same questions about LeBron James and he cites Matt Barnes and Ron Artest as two examples of guys brought in to do the job.

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This is a big concern looking forward. Im not worrying about it right now as I am enjoying this ride, but Ferry is going to have to work some magic in the future to address this.

Will tomorrow never get here??

This four day off span is like a lifetime without basketball, lol.