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Z goes out, but Cavs rout

April 5, 2006 / John Blake

The Cavaliers laid an old fashioned whipping to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night, demolishing them 124-91 at the Q and winning their ninth straight. LeBron scored 37 before he and the rest of the starters were taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter. The Cavs scored 69 points in the first half and never looked back. They were on fire from three-point range, finishing 11 of 22 from beyond the arc. LeBron, as always, treated the home crowd to quite a show, including an absolutely ridiculous alley-oop dunk from Flip Murray in the second quarter. Almost everyone had a hand in the action. Varejao finished with a double-double, Drew Gooden added 23 points, and Larry Hughes had 10 in his first game back. There was some bad news in that Zydrunas Ilgauskas left the game early in the first quarter with an ankle sprain, but X-rays were negative.

This would be a killer if Z is out for a long period of time. He was able to walk off the court under his own power so let�s hope he was held out for the rest of the game strictly as a precautionary measure. As could be expected, Hughes started slow but got more comfortable as the game progressed. It�s going to take him some time to work his way back into the starting lineup bit it�s great to finally have him back.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Indians rebound from poor opener, dispose of Sox

April 4, 2006 / John Blake

Maybe it�s the weather. On a sunny afternoon in Chicago, the Indians� bats came alive as they beat Freddy Garcia and the White Sox handily 8-2 for their first win of the season. They got much of their offensive punch from third baseman Aaron Boone, who went 4 for 5 with a homer and 4 RBI. Starter Jake Westbrook pitched a solid game for the Tribe, giving up two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. As far as C.C is concerned, Jason Davis will take his spot in the rotation until he returns.

After a dreary opening night, we obviously needed a game like this. Boone is carrying over his tremendous spring to the regular season, a far cry from 2005 when he had an atrocious first couple months. Granted it�s early but Boonie really seems to be focused and locked in at the plate.

“Without having to worry about his leg and having a year under his belt versus not having played for a year and a half, he’s been a different guy from day one this spring,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

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Terry Pluto on the Tribe, the Browns and Lebron

April 3, 2006 / G

Now that Hal Lebowitz is gone, the weekly “View from Pluto” is a must-read for all Cleveland sports fans. Terry Pluto is the best writer covering Cleveland sports, and his insights each week are informative and entertaining. This week’s installment has some great predictions on the Tribe’s 2006 season. He’s not worried about the bullpen because the Tribe has some great depth at the minor league level. The same can be said for the starting pitchers, and we all know that Andy Marte and Ryan Garko will be waiting at Buffalo to take over at third base and first base.

As for the Browns, Pluto points out some interesting comparisons to the Butch Davis era:

There’s a good chance the 2006 Browns will have only two offensive starters from the Butch Davis Era: receiver Dennis Northcutt and right tackle Ryan Tucker. And if Braylon Edwards gets healthy (not expected back until September) or free-agent signee Joe Jurevicius starts, then it will only be Tucker.

� If the Browns have a decent draft, there could be as many as 40 out of 53 players who are new this season compared with the end of 2004. On defense, the only returning Davis Era starters might be Orpheus Roye, Andra Davis and Daylon McCutcheon. Chaun Thompson and Alvin McKinley came off the bench in 2004.

That’s pretty amazing. Savage and Crennel have them going in the right direction.

Finally, Pluto’s story about LeBron is worth reading. This kid is amazing.

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Mel Kiper talks Buckeyes

April 3, 2006 / G

Over at ESPN.com Insider (subscription required), Mel Kiper is all over the Buckeye players as he discusses the latest rumors on the NFL draft:

Another interesting spot to watch is with the Jets’ second pick in the first round. They could go with Ohio State center Nick Mangold with the 29th pick, but don’t be surprised if they take outside linebacker Bobby Carpenter, also from Ohio State. Carpenter is in the same mold of Mike Vrabel, another Ohio State alum. Vrabel’s defensive coordinator with the Patriots last season was Eric Mangini, now the coach of the Jets. If the Jets don’t take Carpenter, don’t be surprised if the Steelers take him. Remember, before he signed with the Patriots, Vrabel originally was drafted by the Steelers.

I’ll be sick to my stomach if the Steelers get Carpenter. I’d love to see the Browns get him with their pick in the second round, but that might be wishful thinking.

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Cavs get good news and Indians get bad

April 3, 2006 / Bob

The Cleveland Cavaliers will likely have Larry Hughes back in the next couple days. This will be a nice transition to get him ready for the playoffs. Hughes will have some time to again understand the offense and put in valuable minutes on the defensive end. This should be a great �shot in the arm� for Cleveland heading into the playoffs with home court for at least the first round. I look for LeBron James to get some well needed rest in the next couple weeks.

The Cleveland Indians started the season in Chicago and after losing another opener, they had to face more bad news. It�s likely that C.C. Sabathia will miss at least 2 starts as he recovers from his injury. This is not the type of start the Indians wanted considering they played catch up all last season and fell just short of the playoffs.

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