Page 82 of 357

Simply amazing

November 12, 2006 / John Blake

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.

Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James

James actions causing a stir

November 11, 2006 / Bob

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the process of losing to the Atlanta Hawks and LeBron James was very frustrated. He missed a three point shot and as the other players ran down court, James starting walking to the bench. There was still a few seconds left on the clock, but WHO CARES!
James has never been accused of not playing hard in his short NBA career. He hustles, plays defense and does whatever it takes to win. I believe the media needs to stop looking for stories where there isn�t one. The Cavs are struggling, but it has nothing to due with effort. James is one of the classiest NBA stars and wants to win, lets LEAVE HIM ALONE.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Bench leads Cavs over Bulls

November 9, 2006 / John Blake

The Cavaliers quickly silenced all the critics about their poor field goal and free throw shooting, at least for one night. The offense played like they’re capable of, even against a usually solid Bulls defense, as they routed Chicago 113-94.

The Cavs’ bench bunch played a key role in the victory. Donyell Marshall and Anderson Varejao each scored 15 and Sasha Pavlovic exploded for 16 points as the bench scored 56 points. The Cavs built an early 30-18 lead as the first quarter came to a close and then cruised from that point. LeBron finished with a mere 19 points but had 12 assists as the team did a much better job of working the offense and spreading ball around. We’ll be in much better shape if we can get consistent play from our bench.

In addition, rookie Shannon Brown scored his first two points of his NBA career on a layup in garbage time.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Former Tribe pitchers getting a shot

November 9, 2006 / JEC

The Padres hired former Indians pitcher and Angels’ pitching coach Bud Black as their new manager Wednesday, replacing Bruce Bochy, who recently took the open managerial job in San Francisco.

Yawn, right? There’s more:

Charles Nagy, the Angels’ triple-A pitching coach, is the leading candidate to replace Black…. The Angels hired Nagy last year, in part on Black’s recommendation. Black is expected to retain San Diego pitching coach Darren Balsley but could ask the Angels about Nagy, a three-time All-Star with Cleveland.

It’d be great to see Charlie get a shot in the majors, though you had to figure it would happen at some point. It’d be even better to see Nagy back in the Tribe organization at some point.

Cleveland Indians

Shapiro can’t win

November 9, 2006 / JEC

Indians fans crack me up sometimes.

The general opinion on yesterday’s trade of Kevin Kouzmanoff and Andrew Brown for Josh Barfield seems to be split: some love the move, some hate it. Mike in Chicago commented on one of our threads that Shapiro has once again given up too much talent for “an upside guy that hasn�t proven anything.”

Um…actually, Barfield proved that he can hit, run and field at the big league level — .280 with 13 homers, 21 steals and a .987 fielding percentage that ranked third in the National League, all as a 23-year-old rookie. Plus he had a very good minor league career, hitting for average and a bit of power (15-plus homers from 2003-’05) while stealing bases and even taking some walks (an average of 50 per year from 2003-05).

Meanwhile, I don’t see anything overly impressive about Kouz’s minor league numbers. Granted, the kid can obviously hit (.379 with 22 homers combined between AA and AAA last year), but so can Barfield, plus Barfield plays exceptional defense and he can run. Those traits are much more valuable in a middle infielder than they are in a corner infielder.

Let’s turn this around for a second and say the Indians had Barfield last year as a rookie and the Padres had Kouz. If Shapiro dealt Barfield for Kouz, people like Mike in Chicago would be bitching about Shapiro dealing a proven talent in Barfield for an upside kid in Kouz. It’s true. I bet Mike in Chicago hated the Coco/Marte trade too.

It’s fun to play GM when a deal like this goes down, but some people love to hate no matter the situation. You’ve got to give talent to get talent, and you deal from your strengths to shore up weaknesses. Despite some people’s opinions, the Tribe believes Andy Marte has a chance to be special offensively and defensively, and they have several guys to play first base. Kouz was excess, and therefore a prime bargaining chip. Shapiro did an outstanding job using that chip to plug a gaping hole at 2B with a young, proven talent who will instantly add some much-needed speed to the lineup. Plus, he did it without eating up any of the payroll, which means he can now focus his resources on shoring up the bullpen and adding another quality right-handed power bat.

Kouz could be good, but Barfield already is. So what’s the problem?