You probably heard about how Kyrie Irving only played eleven games at Duke last year, so I won't bother mentioning that. What I will point out, however, is that if Kyrie did not return to the Cleveland Cavaliers line-up last week, to play in these last handful of meaningless games, that would've marked the second straight season he was unable to complete due to injury.


It's that trend of being technically unable to finish two seasons of basketball in a row that I'm glad Kyrie was able to break before it ever actually started. I'm not sure there's anything remotely positive about the possibility of that thought having to hang anywhere in, around, or near his head moving forward either. Which is all why I'm more encouraged than I otherwise would be with the fact that he's back playing right now, even if it means the Cavs might lose a ping pong ball or three in the process.

That win against the Knicks on Friday might've pushed the Cavaliers out the top-five-worst-records in the League category for good maybe, but I'm okay with that even if it did. I'd much rather see Kyrie's season come full-circle here in year-one out on the court, than to watch him sidelined in an overly cautious and tanktastic manner, for example, in response to the threat of injury. I also like the fact that Irving worked himself back into shape, and wanted to close the year out on the floor, even though his team had nothing left to play for and he already won the ROY. I'm sure it wouldn't have been too frowned upon either if Kyrie had decided to just pack it in last week and get ready for the off-season instead, but he didn't do that. 
 
Since missing the nine straight previous games heading into last Wednesday, Kyrie has now played in two more since returning for that home loss to the Sixers. He went for 21-3-3 in 26 minutes on Friday against the Knicks, and then for 19-2-3 in the loss last night to San Antonio. The Cavaliers are 1-2 overall in those last three, heading into the Memphis game tonight, and Irving has averaged 16.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assist in 25.3 minutes per night since his return. His minutes have increased from 20 on Wednesday against Philly, to 26 on Friday, and then 30 last night too.

From here, it will be interesting to see how much he ends up playing tonight on the second night of a road back-to-back against the Grizzlies, but I'm just glad he'll be out there ready to play regardless. Even if he ends up doing the unthinkable, and helps the Cavaliers actually win another game or two before this week concludes.

The Karen Foundation for MS will be having their annual Cleveland Browns Draft Party at Barley House in Cleveland on April 28th, and you really should get down there that day if you're in the area. Cavs superfan and Browns superstar Joe Haden will be in house for the event, as well as our good friend and legend Dan Coughlin who will be the MC.

A long list of other special guests, including ESPN 850's Tony Rizzo on live remote, will also be there as well and you shoud make it a point to be there too. It will be an exciting day of helping to raise money for a tremendous cause, and if you didn't buy a ticket already you should buy one right now. 

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door, but for Stepien Rules readers if you go to the Karen Foundation for MS Website and enter the PROMO CODE TKFSR tickets are available at a discounted rate.

Ticket Price includes Donation to The Karen Foundation for MS, Hors d'oeuvres, 2 Drink Tickets, Valet Parking, a Grand Prize Raffle Ticket and Great Entertainment All Day. There will be a Bruce Springsteen Cover band rocking out the event, Jimmy Buffet Tribute band, as well as Casino Games.

Listed below is the full schedule of events for the day and details too as a heads up.

I will also be attending this event myself on Saturday April 28th, and I'm looking forward to meeting as many Stepien Rules readers there that day as possible too. So buy a ticket, help a great cause, and I'll meet you there.

Thanks for doing that people.

Event Schedule & Info:

Last night marked the fifth game in six nights for Cavaliers Forward Luke Harangody. That six game stretch included a 16 point, 10 rebound, double/double during the first start of his NBA career against the Washington Wizards, as well as a four game back-to-back-to-back-to-back which no other player in the NBA or NBDL has completed this season besides Gody.

I don't know that for a fact to be honest, but I am as sure as I can be without definitely knowing that nobody else has played four straight in and around the League this season. We'd have probably heard about that. We'd have also probably heard if somebody else had squeezed a fifth game in over six days too, but that's besides the point.

Gody didn't just play in those four games, he helped multiple teams win in the process. After leading the Cavs to that victory over the Wizards, he then did the same for the Canton Charge in their first round playoff series too. What more do you want from the guy?

In the Cavaliers loss to the Sixers on Wednesday, Luke was back up in the League again but he didn't get nearly as much playing time as he should have. He did finish with two points on a sick fade-away from the right corner though to go along with 4 rebounds in 13 minutes of work. Next game he'll definetely play more assuming the Cavaliers want to win that one. 

After the game last night, I caught up with Gody and we talked about the recent tear he's been on.




Stepien Rules: How are you holding up, how's your body feeling here up after your 5th game in 6 days?

Luke Harangody: You like that Tawn? [Directed at Antawn Jamison who was standing behind me while I was interviewing Gody] That camera? I mean, it is what is. It's one of those things, you just gotta go out there, and try to compete. Everyone's going through this right now at the same time, these guys just played five games in seven days, so it's no different. The stamina has to come from somewhere.

The Cleveland Cavaliers just completed their first, and only, back-to-back-to-back of the season. Three games in as many nights isn't easy for anybody, and due to the lockout shortened season, every NBA team was stuck with one of those this year.

Watching guys limp and hobble out of the locker room on Sunday night it certainly looked like they felt it too. They're now back in action tonight in Detroit against the Pistons, but not before they did get one day off. Luke Harangody, however, doesn't get days off. 

Monday night's series clinching win for the Canton Charge over the Springfield Armor marked the fourth game in as many nights for Luke Harangody. This recent back-to-back-to-back-TO-BACK stretch for Gody included three games against the Armor on April 13th, 15th, and 16th, as well as Saturday's epic showdown with the Washington Wizards.

Harangody scored 16, 26, and 7 points in each of those three NBDL playoff games, for an average of 16.3 points per game. The same number of points that Luke also currently averages as an NBA starter.

In adidition to being a scoring threat at both levels, he's also hitting the glass with a vengence as well. Harangody grabbed 10 boards as you might recall against the Wizards, and even while being completely gassed last night he still found a way to haul in 10 more rebounds during his fourth game in as many nights. He only needed 25 minutes to grab those ten rebounds in the 115-106 Charge win too.

Just imagine what he's about to do in Round Two of the NBDL Playoffs after a couple day's rest.

On Thursday, the Canton Charge will host the Austin Toros in the semifinals of the D-League playoffs. The Toros are reportedly wishing, hoping, and praying the Gody gets recalled by the Cavaliers before then, because if he doesn't they know full well they cannot contain him. He's difficult enough to defend when he's exhausted. At full strength, it's simply impossible. Just ask the Washington Wizards, the NBDL, and the entire Big East Conference if you don't believe me. 

Best of luck to Gody and the Charge on Thursday. 

Dan Coughlin wrote a blog for Stepien Rules on Friday. I really can't explain how honored I am by that development without sounding real sentimental and dorky, so I'll just say that I remain very grateful for his time on that. When traditional media was the unequivocal king of sports talk in this town, Dan Coughlin was the star of stars. He still is too. Wherever he goes to this day, people gather around to hear him hold court, and tell stories that you'd never be able to tell unless you were really there to live it. For a brief moment in time on Friday, my website was that place he held court. I know it was no big deal to him, and just a fun exercise that he did because he felt like it, but to me it was a big deal. Always will be too, so thanks again for doing that Mr. Coughlin.

Earlier today, I also caught up with another old friend of ours here at Stepien Rules too by the name of JJ Hickson. After being traded to Sacramento, JJ and the Kings didn't really ever fit together. I think that happens more times than people realize in the NBA, and Hickson's 35 games as a member of the Kings was just another example of that. He appears to have found a place that he does fit in Portland now, however, and he's averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game during his first fourteen games there since being picked up on March 19th. He has also posted four straight double/doubles in his last four games too, and the big man says that he would like to re-sign with Portland long-term after this season. My interview with JJ Hickson went live around noon today at SLAMonline, and that link is right here as a heads up.

Yesterday at WFNY, I also celebrated the first NBA start for Luke Harangody too. On Saturday night, I set the Over/Under for Total Points that Luke would score against the Wizards at 13.5 points. I thought he'd score 14, which was how I determined that line. Prior to tip-off, I received 10 over picks and 9 unders, and Luke went on to finish that game with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He was then shipped back down to the D-League, where he played for Canton against Springfield last night in a playoff game, and put up 26 in a losing effort. The Cavaliers missed his production last night on the NBA level against Orlando too, and they got basically smashed by the Howard-less Magic because Luke wasn't there. The Cavs cannot option Harangody back down to the D-League at this point either, so the next time he does comes up he has to stay up. I'd imagine he gets one more call-up before the season ends, just as soon as the Canton Charge playoff push is over.  Here's the link to my Harangody post from Sunday too by the way.

Lastly, I just wanted to reference my story on Lester Hudson that went live at Cleveland.com late last week too. I tried cover Lester's play through the social medium of Twitter in the article, and focused on the Lesanity his play had created leading up to that game last week. I was able to incorporate four Twitter questions that I received prior to the Pacers game for inclusion in that piece too, and appreciated all of the other questions I received. It wasn't easy getting the four questions in that I did, with the swarms of media surrounding Hudson last week, but that task was made easier by the questions I received being good ones. So thanks to everybody who tweeted a question at me for that exercise, and the link to that Cleveland.com article I wrote on the Legend of Lester Hudson is here as well if you're interested.

Be back tomorrow with more, hope everyone's week gets off to a great start.

So many people have asked about Ted Stepien that I am starting to get a complex. They want to know why I virtually ignored him in both of my books. I'll tell you. It was not an oversight. It was intentional.

There is no question that Ted was one of the most bizarre characters I have covered over the last thirty years. This website is actually named after him. His very name has become a Cleveland punchline. And that's my problem. I don't like to pile on. Ted is long gone. First his wife died. Then Ted passed. Out of respect to their five daughters. I'm not going to kick their father around, even though you might say he deserves it for his inept management of the Cavaliers in the early 1980s.

Some people took advantage of him. I'll never forget the day he called a press conference to announce the signing of a free agent. Ted thought he had the deal done, but no papers had been signed. The press conference was set for noon at his "Competitors' Club,"a girlie bar in the basement of the Statler Office Tower.

Half an hour before the press conference, Ed Keating, the player's agent, said to me, "Wait right here. I'm gonna get another million out of Ted."

Both Keating and Stepien had offices in the Statler Office Tower.Keating asked Stepien to step into his lair, where he had his secretary type up a fresh contract that raised the player's salary by an extra million dollars.

"Sign it or cancel the press conference," said Keating.

Stepien should have cancelled the press conference and sent everybody home. He should have told the caterer to take away the tray of cold cuts and close the bar, but Ted caved in. With his back against the wall, Stepien signed the contract and held the press conference. In the corner of the room Keating laughed his rear end off. Keating could be vicious. That's how people did business with Ted. They squeezed every dollar out of him.

Others took delight in getting under his skin. One of the best was Doug Clarke, a columnist for the Cleveland Press. In April of 1982 Doug wrote a withering column about Ted, who responded by banning Clarke from press row. I think he tried to ban him entirely from the Richfield Coliseum, but that was difficult to enforce. There were too many entrances.

That was during the ten weeks that Doug and I worked together at The Press. Being teammates, we worked out a game plan. I distracted the usher's attention to allow Doug to slip past and take his usual seat on press row. In those days the media sat on the floor at courtside. It was a civilized arrangement, quite unlike the press facilities downtown at the Q. However, I believe that security eventually escorted Doug to the exit.

When I write my next book, maybe I'll include a chapter on Ted. I surely will include his softball toss from the observation deck of the Terminal Tower. That was part of the 50th anniversary of the Terminal Tower. One of Ted's softball players was supposed to catch the ball, but his first throw dented a car and his second throw broke the arm of a lady passerby on the Square.

"Ted, they're taking her to the Lutheran Hospital emergency room. Please go to the hospital and apologize to her," pleaded Dan FitzSimmons, who put together the anniversary festivities.

Ted refused.

"Then send her flowers," FitzSimmons said.

Ted said no again. There was no saying no to her lawyer. Once again, Ted paid through the nose.

I'm starting to think that Ted does deserve a chapter.

--

Editor's Note: This is the coolest blog entry I've ever had the privilege of posting here at Stepien Rules. Dan Coughlin has covered the Cleveland sports scene for 45 years, as a sportswriter for The Cleveland Plain Dealer (1964-1982) and on WJW-TV 8 (since 1983). He was twice named Ohio sportswriter of the year and was honored with a television Emmy. Dan has written two books: Crazy, With the Papers to Prove It and Pass the Nuts. He blogs at Coughlin Forever. We are beyond honored that Dan has taken the time to write this for us here at Stepien Rules. Thanks a ton Mr. Coughlin, I owe you a beer.

I will be doing an interactive Twitter Q+A using questions from #Cavs fans later on tonight with Cavaliers phenom Lester Hudson, so tweet @ me a good question to #AskLester and I will ask him. Try to to make the question something you don't think people will already be asking him, use a little creativity, and if it's a solid question I will ask him and use it in the Q+A that's published from there.


For some background on Lester here is a post I wrote about him on Monday, and here is also another one that Scott Sargent wrote earlier today. For the questions I do use in the Q+A, I will be posting your Twitter name and question in the transcript, and linking back to your Twitter account. I'll also tweet his answers at you once it's published too. Here's an example of the format I'm talking about if you were wondering.  

As a heads up, if your question is good enough there's also a chance it ends up at Cleveland.com's Sports Blog Network too, in addition to here at Stepien Rules. So tweet @StepienRules with a good question when you get a chance, or hit me up during the game tonight. #AskLester #Cavs

I wrote an article for Cleveland.com earlier today highlighting the fact that the Cavaliers are in a position to use only two drafts in order to acquire the same number of core pieces that the Oklahoma City Thunder did in three.  


Here is a link to that article, and below is an excerpt:

They followed the Durant pick by selected Russell Westbook and Serge Ibaka 4th and 24th overall in 2008, and then drafted James Harden 3rd in 2009. During Durant's first two seasons, however, the Thunder won a combined total of only 43 games. They lost enough in Durant's second season, with a record of 23-59 overall, to be a lottery team able to take Harden 3rd that following summer. That doesn't need to happen for Cleveland in year two of the Kyrie Irving Era though, and shouldn't based on the current position the Cavs have put themselves in.

If the season ended today, and the Lottery balls bounced according to wins and losses, the Cavaliers would find themselves picking 4th, 26th, 33rd, and 34th overall in the 2012 Draft. If you include the two first round picks last season of Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, that would mean the Cavaliers would have been able to add a player drafted 1st, 4th, 4th, and 26th in the last two drafts heading into next year. When compared to the 2nd, 4th, 24th, and 3rd selections OKC spent on Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Harden respectively over that three-year stretch, the picks are just about identical.

Check it out if you get the chance, and thanks if you do.

--

Full Article at Cleveland.com: On the Cavaliers 2012 Draft and accelerating the "Oklahoma City Model"

Follow Nick Mancini on Twitter @NickMance

Playoffs were never on my mind for the Cavaliers this season. Being in the top five of the draft was.

As it stands right now, the Cavs would have the fourth most Ping-Pong balls in the lottery. With this years' draft being called a deep one, that bodes well for Cleveland fans. On ESPN’s mock draft lottery, the top five picks are any combination of Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kansas’s Thomas Robinson, Florida’s Bradley Beal and UCONN’s Andre Drummond. Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist will most likely go one, two by just about everyone's estimation.

 
Any one of those players would look great in Wine and Gold though, but I don't see the Cavs going after Robinson with Tristan Thompson locking down the 4. Davis is the clear-cut number one pick and rightfully so. He dominates games on the defensive end so well that he doesn’t have to score to be the best player on the court, as seen in the National Championship game. The Cavs would have to win the lottery to grab him, but that would be not only a dream scnearion, but also a great way to press fast forward on this rebuilding process.

Pairing him with Thompson would give the Cavs one of the best, and youngest, defensive frontcourts in the game. Drummond, on the other hand, is a bit of an enigma to me. At times this season, he was as dominant as advertised. Other times, he disappeared for long stretches. Someone of his talent shouldn’t have that happen, but that can be helped with proper coaching. Also, like Davis, he would be able to pair with Thompson as well for a superior defensive frontcourt and could be available for the Cavs if they want to go in that direction.

In Beal and Kidd-Gilchrist, the Cavs would come away with players who fill gaping holes. Beal would be able to step in right away and give the Cavs that athletic, scoring two guard they have been lacking for, oh, a while. He has unlimited range and would be an ideal running mate next to Kyrie Irving for seasons to come. With Kidd-Gilchrist, his spot is being occupied by Gee, but, Kidd-Gilchrist is just such a pure basketball player, I think he would have no problem playing with Gee.

Plugging him into the 2 or 3 would help the Cavs immensely. He is an elite defender, rebounds very well for his position and is able to finish in traffic almost anytime he wants. While anything can happen between now and the end of the season, the Cavs seem to be well on their way to a top five draft pick. And I would love to have any of those five guys on our team.

It's that other tale, sometimes told, that I'll always find more compelling than the one traditionally summarized in an NBA Boxscore. From Rick Telander and Darcy Frey, to Arthur Agee and William Gates, that hoop dreams story personified is one that will never sound repetitive to me. When truly realized, and put on display for all of us to see, however long that moment lasts, its something that will always move me. Not because I can specifically relate, or that my five foot eight inch frame ever allowed me to personally leap up and touch anything higher than that box connecting the rim to the backboard either. But because there's always something within that basketball story, every time a new chapter's written, that inspires us all to continuing dreaming ourselves. No matter who we are, or what those dreams entail.

Which is why I appreciate what Lester Hudson did not just last night, but this whole weekend. When the camera followed Hudson to the Cavaliers' sidelines late in regulation on Sunday against the Nets, and we saw him leap up to celebrate his fourth quarter of basketball wizardry with Manny Harris, I could only imagine the emotions he was feeling. About seven years ago, Lester first followed his hoop dreams to Southwest Tennessee Community College. He then moved on from there to the Ohio Valley Conference, and played well as guy nobody really heard of for the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks. He'd then play so well that he'd eventually become that Conference's Player of the Year, and go on to be drafted late in the second round by the Boston Celtics in 2009. If his journey from college basketball anonymity to the most storied franchise in NBA history ended there, it would be hard to not deem such a run ultimately successful.


He'd then play for, and be cut by, three NBA teams from there however, and as recently as this year he was a member of the Chinesse Basketball Association. He signed with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in January of 2011, and then a team named Quindago DoubleStar in November. As opposed to other American players like JR Smith, Wilson Chandler, and Kenyon Martin, he wasn't playing in China because of the NBA Lockout. He was playing one million miles away from his native Memphis, Tennessee because it was the only place that would pay him to do so. On March 30th, he then signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and last night he'd score 26 points in 29 minutes against Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets. The three pointer he hit from the corner with under one second to play in regulation would be enough to not only extend that game for his new team, but extend the very dreams that got him there in the first place.

I don't know what the future holds for Lester Hudson and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm not sure he's a long-term piece, but I am sure he isn't a guy that should be simply dismissed at this point either. In his last two NBA games, he's averaged 24.5 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in 30.5 minutes of work. He helped this short-handed group to a win in Toronto on Friday, and did everything he could to do the same last night in New Jersey too. In the process he's forced people to take notice of not only who he is, or what he can do on an NBA floor, but what he overcame to get there. He grew up in one of the roughest areas of Memphis, made mistakes common to those growing up in similar circumstances, and would be 24-years old when registered a quadruple double as a junior in college. For at least one night on Sunday though, everything that happened to Lester Hudson before he arrived on that NBA stage made everything he did that much more special while on it. He gave not only himself, but everybody who watched, a reason to believe in the Legend of Lester Hudson. As well as a reason to keep dreaming ourselves all the same.