The Cavaliers’ three game winning streak was snapped with their 116-107 road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night. LeBron James led the Cavs with 33 points and Ilgauskas had another solid night with 27 but the A.I duo of Iverson and Iguodala, along with Chris Webber, was too much for the Cavaliers down the stretch. The trio accounted for 78 of Philadelphia’s 116 points. The 76ers continue to give the Wine and Gold fits, now having won 22 of their last 26 meetings.

“They’ve given us trouble, no doubt about it,” James said. “This is the team that’s given us the most trouble thus far.”

Andre Iguodala is turning himself into quite the basketball player. First the slam dunk contest (which he should have won) and now tonight’s performance. A.I squared could develop into a pretty lethal combo. With it being the tail end of a back to back, the Cavs just didn’t have enough firepower to stay with the Sixers. They need to find a way to get back on track Friday because Sunday’s matinee in Motown could be a rude awakening.

The Ohio State University has a tough couple weeks ahead of them. Thad Matta and his Buckeyes are playing their best basketball of the year. The Bucks are heading toward a Big Ten championship and a high seed in the NCAA tournament.

The school, on the other hand, is facing possible sanctions, removing past awards, and a large financial setback. Seth Davis of SI lays out the endless scenarios, with one being OSU losing both Matta and their star studded recruits. Let’s all hope the NCAA does the right thing here and doesn’t punish the players.

The Cavaliers put forth a strong performance in their first game back from the break, beating the Orlando Magic 105-92 Tuesday night at the Q. The loss extends the Magic’s losing streak to seven games and 11 of 12. The Cavaliers displayed a collective effort offensively with three players scoring more than 20 points. Fresh off his spectacular MVP weekend, LeBron James led the charge with 26 points and 9 assists. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was not far behind, adding 24 points and 13 rebounds. Sasha Pavlovic, who has had some up and down games since replacing Larry Hughes in the starting lineup, finally broke out, scoring a career-high 21.

Being a big Pavlovic fan myself, it was great to see him play like he did tonight. He has the ability to shoot the three and with his size and athleticism, he can get the basket and score. While it is highly unlikely that he’ll average 20 points for the remainder of the season, hopefully this game will help build his confidence. We’re going to need him in the last 29 games to help take some of the pressure off LeBron, especially if Ferry doesn’t make a move.

The Cleveland Browns are preparing for free agency and this year’s draft. They will concentrate on leadership and experience. If the Browns draft an offensive or defensive lineman, look for them to sign a veteran free agent at wide receiver. This past year, free agents and draft picks played a major role in shaping the team.

I like the way Phil Savage handles himself publicly. He is open and honest when evaluating players and their future with the team (i.e. Antonio Bryant). The fact that we may have Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow back to start the season makes you wonder if concentrating on the defense should be a number one priority in the draft. The Browns have a pretty strong offensive line and durable back in Rueben Droughns. The addition of another top notch free agent would make their O-line very similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers. As an Ohio State Buckeyes fan, I see similarities with Phil Savage and Jim Tressel. Michigan and Pittsburgh are the key opponents, and beating them should be their number one concern.

Phil came to Cleveland and one of the first things he stressed was that you have to “believe you can win”. The Browns and their fans have a long way to go in that category. Savage answered every question asked in a recent conversation, but still didn’t tip his hand on the draft. I believe defense should be our main concern, but that being said I’ve always agreed with taking the “best guy on the board” regardless of the position. Let’s just hope our number one pick can make it through a full season without a major injury.

I was reviewing the Cleveland Indians’ 2006 schedule to determine how many games are going to be nationally televised this year. This number is a good indication of what the experts think of the Tribe for the upcoming season. So far, the baseball world believes Cleveland is a middle contender, as they tentatively have the Tribe slated for a handful of games on the national stage.

While reviewing this, I wanted to see how many games my local cable company was covering (Comcast) or my families (Adelphia) and as of today the answer is none. That’s right, zero.

I attached the article so fans understand that the Indians are asking us, the fans, to call our cable companies to petition for airing the games on cable. Fox Sports Network announced that the Indians were “ridiculous” in their demands to keep the team on their station. Did I miss something, or are the Indians still an “up and coming” team that need fan support? The organization really can’t be trying to squeeze money out of these networks before they are even winning, can they? That being said, it’s time for the Dolan family to put up or shut up. This city needs an owner that believes in winning by spending money. I know I have said this at least ten times, but do we really have to call our cable company to plead or should the Dolans put some money into this team and PROVE their worth? I think we should all call THE INDIANS and demand they start making the playoffs before wanting more money to watch games on TV.

The Cavaliers joined together to celebrate LeBron James being named the best player in the All-Star game last night. Coach Mike Brown, GM Danny Ferry and the players showered James with praise and compliments.

I believe Brown and Ferry should be on the phones and wire trying to improve this team. If we believe that MVP LeBron can carry this team for the whole second half of the NBA season, we’re kidding ourselves. Let’s not relive the collapse by the Indians at the end of the baseball season. I want to win and I want to win now!!

They only way that will happen will be to make some changes. Larry Hughes is hurt and will not return until the playoffs begin, at the earliest. The Cav’s have proven they can play with Indiana, Detroit and Miami. I continue to read how Drew Gooden gives us a constant double/doubles, this should be a given with LeBron roaming the court. Damon Jones is still building a new Q with all the bricks he continues to throw at the rim, even though he is the self proclaimed “best three point shooter” in the league. And excuse me for not getting excited over Stephen Graham, there’s a reason this is his third team this year.

I’m a Cleveland fan and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope we finally have an owner (unlike the Modells or Dolans) that has the drive to get us there.

Honestly, it still amazes me that someone this good plays for a Cleveland team. LeBron James scored 29 points and led the East’s 21-point comeback victory in Sunday’s NBA All Star Game, a performance that netted James the MVP award. He hit 12 of 21 shots but missed four of his five freebies (where have we seen that before?), and had a rather ordinary line outside of the points and a half dozen boards. Still, in an All Star Game, all that matters are points, and although Tracy McGrady outscored him (36-29), the East’s 122-120 victory secured the award for LeBron, the youngest player in league history to win an ASG MVP.

Man, this kid’s something special. It’s nice to see someone from Cleveland hoisting hardware at the end of a game, even if it’s not during a championship celebration.

The Ohio State basketball team can at least share the Big Ten title this year. The best way to do this is win the last 4 games. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, considering they play at Michigan State Wednesday night. OSU is a half game out of first, with Iowa holding the top spot down at 9-4. The Buckeyes showed how strong the conference is by narrowly defeating the Northwestern Wildcats at home yesterday.
Coach Matta’s team needs to finish strong and have a good showing in the Big Ten tournament to secure a high seed in the NCAA tournament. The experts are predicting as many as 7 Big Ten teams making the dance. If the Buckeyes can win at least 3 of 4 to end the season, and win a couple Big Ten tournament games they would be looking at a 4 seed in the tournament. This would be a great spring board for next years recruiting class.

The Ohio State University has come a long way the past couple years. It seems like ages ago that John Cooper was consistently losing to Michigan, Maurice Clarett’s antics and Jim O’Brien’s firing. The last couple years OSU has really righted this ship and started to become the envy of most major universities.
This is why it’s so critical that the NCAA uses proper judgment and doesn’t apply any further sanctions against the OSU basketball team. I believe that Coach Matta is keeping quiet on this situation because he is waiting to see the results of the investigation. Matta is a fast track coach that loves OSU, but has to use good judgment while he waits for the results.
If the NCAA does a shocking reversal, look for Matta and his recruits to possibly look elsewhere to continue their careers. This would be a severe blow for an Ohio State program that has recovered quickly from such a shocking end to Jim O’Brien’s career. I believe that the NCAA will use proper protocol and inflict no further punishment to the program. This will allow OSU to make a quick trip to the top in basketball, just like in football. Let’s hope I’m right and the chant OH…IO will be heard year round.

Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta is not commenting on the open basketball coaching position at Indiana University. Under Matta’s contract he won’t be able to discuss this job with Indiana till the end of the season. This is an awful tough situation for Matta to be in. He has many ties back to Indiana, but also has a top recruiting class coming in next year at OSU.
The only way I could imagine Matta even considering this move is if Ohio State faces some stiff post season sanctions next year. According to sources close to the situation, this is very unlikely. Let’s hope OSU basketball and Matta have a long and successful career together.