Here’s some great news from Terry Pluto’s column this morning:

LeBron James continues to work on his low-post moves near the basket. He has not used them often in the preseason games, but James has made it a focal point of extra time on the court after the regular practice sessions. James has said he will have something new for this season — and going into the low post a few times a game will put even more pressure on opposing defenses.

It’s about time. With his size and athleticism, LeBron James should be unstoppable around the basket, particularly when guarded in the low post by other small forwards. Of course, LeBron is extremely dangerous when driving to the basket from the opt of the key, but he also gets lazy and often tosses up the random jumper without letting the team run the offense. Hopefully a low-post game will give him another lethal weapon while also adding some much-needed discipline to his game.

Photo by Bill Moore

LeBron finally became more aggressive, and he scored 38 points to lead the Cavs over the Lakers. Maybe he took notice of how Larry Hughes got agressive the night before.

It was a nice win and sent them into the All-Star break n a high note. At 31-22 they are in second place in the Eastern Conference.

When your team is down by 25 in the third quarter, most would chalk it up as a loss and turn the game off in disgust. Most of us probably did that Saturday night with the Cavs, who fell behind 25-6 in the first quarter. But behind LeBron’s 38 points, 25 of which came in the second half, the Cavs staged an improbable comeback and outscored the Celtics 34-17 in the fourth quarter to win a 94-93 thriller at the Q.

“We had no business winning that game,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “We willed our way to a win.”

The Cavs looked lifeless in the first half, especially in the first quarter. Somehow, the lightbulb went on and LeBron James decided to take over in the second half and did not allow the Cavs to lose. Sasha Pavlovic had his second consecutive double-digit scoring night with 14 points while the Wild Thing added nine points and 10 boards for the Cavs.

The Cavaliers have been extremely streaky so far this season and although we won Saturday, it has to be a little concerning that it took us an entire half to get in gear. Great win nonetheless.

Kenny Roda from WKNR SportsTalk 850 will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the sports world both locally and nationally. Check back often for his updates!

Cavs

What a great win for LeBron and the gang at San Antonio on Friday night, ending a 16-game losing streak in the Alamo city. James was fabulous, finishing with 35 points and 10 rebounds and one spectacular, high flying jam over Tim Duncan in the first quarter. That is how you posterize someone. If Nike or the Cavaliers don’t do something with that dunk in the very near future, they’re both stupid. It was legendary, just like Dr. J’s windmill over Michael Cooper or M.J.’s baseline throwdown over Patrick Ewing.

But as great as the win was at San Antonio, the loss at Charlotte was just as horrible. If the Cavs expect to be considered with the elite teams in this league, they can’t lose games like they did Saturday night against the Bobcats, 92-88. It was a back-to-back for both teams and the Cavs jumped out early with a big lead and thought they could just coast to a victory. You have to put teams like that away to be considered one of the best. And I was a little surprised that LeBron didn’t take over a game like that. Are you kidding me, three field goal attempts in the 4th quarter? Michael Jordan would never have let the Bulls lose a game like that. LeBron needed to be more of a leader and take charge in that game. Let’s hope he and the Cavs learn something from that loss.

Browns

Cleveland played a better game than I thought they would in the 32-25 loss at San Diego. I thought for sure they would get blown out. In the end, had they been able to score a touchdown or two instead of kicking 6 field goals, they actually might have been able to pull off the upset. Instead they’re where a lot of us thought they would be at this point with a record of 2-6. But they did manage to score 25 points, and that makes two games in a row they have scored at least 20 points under new offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson. So some progress is being made.

Charlie Frye is still a huge question mark for me. It’s tough to judge his performance because of the horrendous offensive line he’s playing behind. There are times where I say to myself, “that was a heck of a play and if he only had more time, he could be a very good QB in this league.” Then there are times when I’m thinking out loud, “What the hell was he trying to do there? Throw the damn ball away or don’t force it!” The announcers made some good points yesterday based on what San Diego players had told them, Frye does have a case of Kelly Holcomb-iduss. He locks onto his receivers from the get go and allows the defensive backs to break quicker on the ball to break up the pass or pick it off. Frye was lucky he had only one interception on Sunday as the Chargers dropped at least three of his passes.

Kamerion Wimbley is the best #1 draft pick the Browns have made since they returned in 1999. Learning a new position and doing so at the NFL level in your rookie season and registering 4 sacks already and numerous other pressures and tackles for losses makes him a future stud in my eyes.

Ohio State

They won on the road at Illlinois, but by a lot closer score then most of us predicted, 17-10. It almost looked like after they jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead Jim Tressel went into the prevent offense. He just wanted to run the ball, chew up clock and count on his defense to pitch another shutout. It almost backfired. Did they use any 5 wide receiver sets at all? Nobody can stop that. When you up by 17, put your foot on their throat and don’t let them breath. Go for the jugular and put them out of their misery. Don’t let them hang around and think they still have a shot. But as they say, a win is a win and the Buckeyes are still undefeated and ranked #1 in all the polls. But they’re going to have to play better next week at Northwestern to make sure they’re 11-0 going into the November 18th game against Michigan in Columbus.

Did Troy Smith hurt his Heisman chances with a 13-23 day for 108 yards, 1 interception and no touchdowns? A little, but even with Brady Quinn putting up huge numbers at Notre Dame against high school teams, it’s still Smith’s award to win. Play well next week at Northwestern and then put the finishing touches on a perfect regular season against Michigan, and the hardware is his!

Surprised or not that the Ohio State offense struggled without Alex Boone in the lineup? The starting left tackle sat out the game at Illinois on Saturday due to a knee injury and procedure. He protects the blind side for Smith and often opens up huge holes for Antonio Pittman on the left side. Without the 6′8″, 325 pound sophomore on the field Saturday, Smith was sacked 3 times and Pittman ran for only 58 yards on 32 carries. Here’s hoping Boone is 100 percent for the Michigan game in 2 weeks!

Just a heads up for those who don’t already know, LeBron James will be a guest Friday night on the Dave Letterman show, which airs at 11:35 pm. It will be his very first appearance on the show.

As Cleveland fans, we haven’t had much to be happy about the last several months with the Indians and the Browns. At least we have a superstar in LeBron to fall back on. Despite the failures of the teams that are currently playing, we can always hang our hat on LeBron and be proud of his accomplishments as a player and a person. His charisma, professionalism, and personable demeanor will hopefully put us all in a good state of mind for at least 15 minutes Friday.

Kenny Roda from WKNR SportsTalk 850 will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the sports world both locally and nationally. Check back often for his updates!

Tribe woes

If you feel like you had a rough week or a not so good weekend, then this should make you feel good. Put yourself in Fausto Carmona’s shoes, or spikes in this case. The Indians’ 22-year-old closer, for now, went 0-4 with 3 blown saves and an ERA of 37.08. And three of the losses were walk-off wins for the opposition. Which was more devastating, Big Papi’s three-run walk-off homer to dead center at Fenway Park or Pudge’s two-run rocket in Detroit? After seeing Carmona’s reaction after Pudge’s ball left the yard, I would say that’s the winner. Here’s hoping this doesn’t ruin Carmona for good. And here’s hoping the Indians take him out of the closer’s role immediately so, if his head isn’t totally fried already, they can do something he couldn’t…save something. Save what is left of a career for this kid for the future!

By the way, Jason Davis should take Carmona’s place. In his last four outings, he’s picked up one win, one save (the only one the Tribe has since they traded Wickman), and hasn’t given up a run in eight innings of work. He also picked up his teammates after they made errors behind him on defense in Detroit. The 26-year-old right-hander didn’t wilt under the pressure and rose to the challenge. Unlike C.C, Cliff Lee and others on the staff, Davis made the pitch to get out of the inning and showed great emotion walking off the field. Give him the ball in the ninth!

Indians GM Mark Shapiro told me last week on my radio show that he still thinks Eric Wedge is part of the solution and not part of the problem for the Indians. Shapiro, who I respect a great deal, and I disagree on this. Maybe it’s because of the team’s slow starts over the last four years. Or their poor base running night in and night out. Or their inability to play small ball. Or, I don’t know, maybe the fact that, counting Sunday’s loss at Detroit, in the last two years the Indians are a combined 31-55 in one-run games. That’s right, a winning percentage of just .360 in tight games where a manager does make a difference!

At 47-63, the fourth place Indians are a season worst 27.5 games behind first-place Detroit in the Central Division. By the way, all three losses in the Motor City this past weekend were by one-run (7-6), (4-3) and (1-0). Last year after 110 games the Indians were 58-52, good for second place in the division, 13 games behind first-place Chicago. But only 4.5 games out of the wild card.

Wright’s new deal

A few blogs ago we told you we thought All-Star third baseman David Wright could be to the Mets what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees, both on and off the field. While Wright still has a long way to go to accomplish that, he’s off to a good start. At last check, he’s hitting .308 with 22 homers and 82 RBI. The Mets obviously agree with us about the 23-year-old stud because they just signed him to a 6-year, $55 million contract. Now with the pressure on after inking a big deal, let’s see if David can be like Derek and produce the Wright stuff!

Browns’ first preseason game

Players I’ll be watching during Thursday’s exhibition game between the Browns and Eagles in Philadelphia. Rookie linebackers Kamerion Wimbley and D’Qwell Jackson. Center Bob Hallen, if he returns in time from his back injury, and right tackle Kirk Chambers. Mr. “Even at 90% I’m still better than any tight end in the league” Kellen Winlsow Jr. It’s time to shut up and put up for him. And last but not least, quarterback Charlie Frye. It recently came out that he suffered an apparent thumb injury which was why he exited early in the scrimmage Friday night. We’ll see how it affects him Thursday night in the city of Brotherly Love as number 9 is supposed to play about one quarter.

Strong start for LBJ and the USA

LeBron and Team USA was impressive the other nite in Las Vegas as they destroyed
Puerto Rico 114-69 in an exhibition game as they’re tuning up for the World Championships and down the road for the 2008 Olympics. LBJ’s linescore: 10 pts, 5 ast, 4 rebs in limited playing time. I love the fact that he’s finally getting some good coaching (sorry Mike Brown) from Duke’s Coach K!

Tiger

Congrats to Tiger Woods, the greatest sports star on the planet. All he did was record career PGA Tour win number 50 at the Buick Open on Sunday, becoming the youngest to reach such a mark. Sam Snead holds the all-time PGA record (for now) of 82 tour wins. When it’s all said and done, Tiger will break that and the record he covets most, the 18 major wins set by Jack Nicklaus. Tiger is at 11 majors with one more to play this year after winning the British Open.

Bucks #1

No surprise here. The USA Today coaches pre-season poll has Ohio St. ranked as its #1 team. Should the Buckeyes win the national title this season, they’ll be deserving champions considering they have regular season matchups at Texas and Iowa along with home contests against Penn St. and Michigan. All four teams are pre-season top 20 teams with the defending national champion Longhorns ranked #2. This year’s title game is Ohio State’s home away from home, the Fiesta Bowl, where they won their last national title five years ago and beat Notre Dame last year.

Talledega Nights

And finally…Went to see Talledega Nights this weekend. I’m a huge Will Ferrell fan and couldn’t wait to see him as NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby. Problem is I felt like I had already seen the movie. From all of his appearances on talk shows and with the trailers being played everywhere, when I went to the theater to watch, I had already witnessed all the funny scenes. Well, with the exception of his potty-mouthed sons Walker and Texas Ranger. Don’t get me wrong, it was still funny and I enjoyed the movie, but not as much as I thought I would. Sorry, Ricky Bobby. As you like to say, “If you’re not first you’re last!” So in this case, you’re last and the checkered flag for first place goes to Ron Burgundy!

Kenny Roda will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the entire Cleveland sports universe. Check back often for his updates!

The Cavaliers’ signing of LeBron James. We told you it would happen in our last blog and it has. LeBron agreed to a three-year deal worth about $43 million with a player option for a fourth year that would make the total value of the deal worth $60 million. This isn’t totally what we were all hoping for. We were hoping for a five-year, $80 million deal. But as he’s done so far in his short but amazing career, LeBron has set a new trend.

He realized two things:

1) With a new collective bargaining agreement in the not-too-distant future, he could more than likely make more money then by accepting less money and years now. His good buddy Dwayne Wade has done the same thing in Miami. Yes it’s a risk, but a small one at that, considering how much money they take in outside of the NBA from endorsements.

2) It forces Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry in the next four years to put a good team around Lebron. If they fail to do so, he could decide at the end of this contract, when he would be an unrestricted free agent after the 2009-2010, to take his talents elsewhere, having given the Cavaliers organization seven years to build a winner. When you look at it from that standpoint, as much as we may not like it, it’s a brilliant move by LeBron both on the business side as well as the basketball side. It’s a decision I don’t blame him at all for making.

Also, before you start panicking about the fact that LeBron didn’t sign the max contract, take a few deep breaths and relax. What you’re failing to realize is that we have LeBron in Cleveland for the next four years: the 2006-07 season, which is the final year of his rookie contract, and then three additional years as part of his new contract, which will run through the 2009-10 season.

That’s four years to build a championship team. Plus, even if LeBron decides to decline the player option for 2010-11, the Cavaliers will be able to offer him more money than any other team in the NBA because he will be their free agent. That particular deal could be worth from $150-$160 million. But because of how much money LeBron will have already made by that time, the most important thing in making sure LeBron will stay in Cleveland is winning championships. Memo to owner Dan Gilbert and GM Danny Ferry: get to work now. You’re on the clock and time is ticking away!

Rumors have been swirling about LeBron almost on a daily basis since the season ended about his future with the Cavaliers. Will he bolt to the larger market teams? Then came the discussion recently about whether he was going to sign a five-year or three-year extension with the Cavaliers. Wednesday marks the first day players can officially sign new contracts and all the speculation about what LeBron was going to do came to an end. James officially agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract extension with the Cavs with an option for a fourth year. The shorter contract turns out to be more beneficial for James, who can actually earn more dollars under the new deal. After his new contract is up, LeBron will become an unrestricted free agent and can earn a greater percentage of the team’s salary cap with his next deal.

In an interview with LeBron, his agent Leon Rose, and GM Danny Ferry, Cavs.com takes a look at what transpired with the whole extension process and what lies ahead for LeBron and the Cavs.

Why the three-year deal?

James: If I didn’t believe in this team and this organization and the direction that we’re headed, I wouldn’t have signed the extension. I’m extremely happy here and excited to win a championship here. We did extensive research and with the way the C.B.A. (Collective Bargaining Agreement) is set up, it makes the most business sense to sign this extension and then look at another new contract in four years.

Rose: In the end, this works out very well for him and puts him in a position to accomplish all of his goals, both on the court and off…They (the Cavaliers) really look at their relationship with LeBron as a partnership and understand that helping LeBron maximize his opportunities only helps them as well. So you could say it worked well for everyone.

How LeBron’s signing will affect potential free-agent signings:

Ferry: His signing shows his confidence in winning championships here in Cleveland. That certainly shows our current guys and the entire league that we all believe Cleveland is a place that will get it done.

What LeBron’s new deal means for the franchise:

Ferry: should be a tremendous moment of pride for our entire region and state considering the positive impact LeBron has had thus far and will continue to have. Few things or people in life have the ability to raise the spirit of a community like LeBron does here. It is very rare and we are very fortunate to experience it.

This truly is a historic day for the city. Having an athlete and a person like LeBron call Cleveland home is a once in a lifetime opportunity. For years we have seen other athletes from different cities ascend to greatness and now we have the chance to witness LeBron’s greatness right in front of our eyes for years to come. He is a unique talent, something the city hasn’t seen since Jim Brown.

If the reports are true about LeBron James agreeing to a three-year extension with a player option for a fourth season, instead of the max five-year deal, things at the Q are about to get very interesting.

If he were to decline his player option after the 2009-10 season, James would move into a higher salary bracket. As a seven-year veteran, he would be able to sign a contract paying up to 30 percent of a team’s salary cap, as opposed to his current ceiling of 25 percent.

Okay, so financially, this move makes sense for LeBron since he would be able to sign an even bigger contract once those three years run out, but let’s not kid ourselves: there’s much more than money motivating this decision for LBJ. He’s a loyal guy and, as I’ve stated before, I believe him when he says he wants to stay in Cleveland for his entire career. But wanting to stay and being compelled to stay are two very different things.

The Cavaliers aren’t getting a free pass here, no hometown discounts and no benefits of the doubt. LeBron wants to win, especially after his buddy Dwayne Wade hoisted the championship trophy over his head last month. If his player option comes up in four years and LeBron’s not happy with the direction of the franchise, he’ll bolt, hometown roots be damned. Playing at home for your entire career is a great story but it’s an incomplete story if there’s no championship involved. If LBJ can’t get his ring here, he’ll get it somewhere else.

Which puts the pressure squarely on Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert. Ferry came from San Antonio, a franchise that placed high value on big men in the middle. Hey, that philosophy works great if you’ve got David Robinson and Tim Duncan on your roster, and if you don’t have arguably the best player on the planet at small forward. Zydrunas Ilgauskas has his moments and he’s always been a fan favorite, especially once he kicked his foot problems and became one of the better low-post scorers in the East. Unfortunately, he doesn’t fit here.

The NBA has been tightening up its rules on contact, which favors athletic teams that run, like the Suns. With the talent they have, the Cavs could be a very good up-tempo team, pushing the ball aggressively up the floor looking for high-percentage shots. The only problem is, your starting center is about as up-tempo as a funeral procession. Dude can’t run. In fact, you don’t want dude to run because every time he does, he looks like a wounded giraffe galloping down the court and you’re sure that, one of these times, he’s going to lose his balance, topple over and break his wrist, ankle or, even worse, his foot.

Z is built for the half-court game but the Cavaliers are built for the run-and-gun game. If LeBron, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Donyell Marshall and Shannon Brown (yeah, I’m excited about this guy) were on the run all game, they’d be one of the most explosive offensive teams around. But they’ve got Z holding them back.

Even worse, the front office has Z’s contract holding them back for another four years. The Larry Hughes contract is almost as bad but, assuming he’s healthy, he’s still a much better fit on this team than Z. The Cavs need an athletic big man who can run, block shots and play solid D in the post more than they need a stationary guy with a great low-post game who’s a liability in transition and mediocre at best defensively.

So what to do? The Dans need to figure out how to clear Z’s contract off the books and start building an athletic roster top to bottom. Would they even be able to move Z? I’m sure someone out there who’s enamored with offensive-minded centers would love to have him; question is, who is that and what are they willing to give up in return?

These next four years are the most important four years in franchise history, without question. Ferry and Gilbert can’t afford to make any mistakes, and they can’t let past mistakes continue to haunt them. Every contract they take on needs to contribute to this four-year plan, every rookie they draft needs to fit the system, and every dollar they spend has to bring them one step closer to an NBA title.

The Cavaliers don’t necessarily have to win a championship by the time LeBron’s option year comes up, though that certainly would improve their chances of keeping him beyond 2010. Instead, when it comes time for LeBron to either re-up or bolt for greener big-market pastures, the Cavaliers need to be one of the NBA’s elite franchises, a team on the shortest list of title contenders each year and one that LeBron is confident will one day soon bring home a championship.

So let’s see what you’ve got, Ferry and Gilbert. It’s on you now. You’ve got four years to convince LeBron that this is, in fact, where he wants to be. And not to add any unwanted pressure, but an entire city is counting on you.

Kenny Roda will be writing a weekly blog on Cleveland Scores covering the entire Cleveland sports universe. Check back often for his updates!

10) No other team can offer more years and more money than the Cavaliers. Five years and around $80 million depending on what the new salary cap is.

9) The mother of his son, his mother and now grandmother to his son, family, friends and inner circle are all from this area and have homes here. Does he really want to move them all?

Owner Daniel Gilbert is sinking a ton of money, not only into the team’s roster to surround LeBron with better players, but he’s also putting a lot of money into the arena and is building a new state of the art practice facility in Independence for LeBron and the team.

7) The Dwayne Wade rivalry that is developing in the Eastern Conference. D-Wade is one up on “The King” as far as championships go and being the competitor that LeBron is, you know that doesn’t sit well with #23.

6) The New Jersey Nets and LeBron’s good buddy and favorite musical artist, Jay-Z, are capped out and don’t have room to sign LeBron right now.

5) The New York Knicks currently suck and Kobe wants to prove he can do it alone in Los Angeles with the Lakers.

4) LeBron can go down in Cleveland sports history as the greatest athlete this city has ever seen and will be lauded as the savior of a city tortured by sports and he did all this by staying at home in Ohio right out of high school.

3) LeBron realizes that at the end of this new contract he’ll either be 26 or 27 and will still be in the prime of his career and will be eligible to sign another huge contract, either with Cleveland, or if they’re not winning, with any team that he wants to.

2) Even if he signs on July 12 for that reported 5 year deal around $80 million, he can always force a trade if the Dannys, Gilbert and Ferry, don’t put a winner together.

1) Did I mention the Cavaliers can give him the most money out of any team in the NBA? I want to believe that LeBron wants to stay here and bring a winner to his home state, but if I’ve learned anything from guys like Jim Thome, Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez, it’s a business and in this case Cleveland can offer the best monetary deal. So if LeBron is like all the other athletes today, and lets hope he’s not, but just in case he is, then advantage Cleveland is the money department.