As mentioned earlier, the Cavs play the Bulls tonight in what I expect to be a play-off preview of the Cavaliers 1 vs 8 match-up in the coming weeks. In anticipation of that, as well as the fact that this video's awesome, I give you LeBron Dancing like Michael Jackson to Billie Jean vs. Joakim Noah by the fellas over at NoYork.com. Even if you've seen it by now, you should watch it again everytime the Cavs play Noah's Bulls...
Over the weekend I had a chance to catch up with ex-Cavalier Damon Jones for a post I put together for SLAM Online.
That conversation is up right now, right here: Catching Up with Damon Jones ...check it out if you get the chance.
Before the Raptors lost to the Cavaliers 113-101 on Tuesday, they were 38-38 and looked to have a grip on the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. But since they lost on Tuesday, and then again on Wednesday (to Boston), they're now 38-40 and I don't think they're going to hold on to see the Cavaliers again this season.
Not that the Raptors horribly underachieving season should be rewarded in the form of a first round playoff sweep by the Cavaliers anyways. What was it DeNiro told his kid in Bronx tale? Nothing worse in life than wasted talent? Well if Robby D were hanging around the NBA this year - instead of driving that bus - he'd probably say that there's nothing worse than these Toronto Raptors. Bosh, Hedo, Bargnani, Calderon, Jack, DeRozan...on paper this team should be the 5th seed in the East at worst, and I actually thought they'd finish 4th behind the Cavs, Magic, and Celtics in the preseason. However, turns out they're awful, and they also probably regret having the highest paid 11 point per game scorer in NBA history on their roster...Toronto sincerely appreciates your efforts Hedo.
I can’t decide on it, can you? For me, personally I’d say it’s somewhere between finding a $50 on the floor and banging your thumb with a hammer. Whatever that grey space is in between those two feelings (it’s probably the feeling of getting the new hammer you needed so badly with money that isn’t yours) is what we should feel after the weekend. It started like most weekends, on a Friday. We were up against the wannabe/upstart Hawks. The young-ish pretenders came to the Q wanting to send out a playoff message to the big guns of the East, but along with 13 of their 18 three pointers, it fell short. Victory was made even sweeter with the fact that the Spurs (more on them in a minute) handed the Orlando Three Point Shooters a loss and guaranteed us the top seed overall in our conference. With the way we’re performing at the Q again this year that will be vital to our success. Sure, we thought that last season also, but you have to remember Mo Williams got kidnapped right around the time of the Orlando series, so having a point guard this time around will be fun. Speaking of Mo, he was the Mo we know and love Friday night, going for 24 points while his counterpart Mike Bibby tallied 5.
I really didn't appreciate this on Friday, and I really didn't even know where to start. I mean, how could LeBron pose for that picture wearing this jersey? Just kidding. Fortunately two of our good friends did know where to start, and I think they speak for Cleveland on this. So since I couldn't have said it better, I just put quotes around parts of what they said and posted it below. Click on the respective links for more...
This week we look at the effect on the three point shooting of the Cavaliers by Shaquille O’Neal...
Three Point Percentage with Shaq (53 games):
Team Shooting is 401-1011 (39.7%)
Anthony Parker is 70-158 (44.3%)
Boobie Gibson is 59-124 (47.5%)
Mo Williams is 100-228 (43.9%)
LeBron James is 101-284 (35.6%)
Three Point Percentage without Shaq (22 games):
Team Shooting is 157-440 (35.7%), which is 4.0 percentage points lower
Anthony Parker is 29-82 (35.4%), which is 8.9 percentage points lower
Boobie Gibson is 12-24 (50.0%), which is 2.5 percentage points higher
Mo Williams is 43-113 (38.0%), which is 5.9 percentage points lower
LeBron James is 27-89 (30.3%), which is 5.3 percentage points lower
There is a dramatic difference with Shaq in the line-up and with him out of the line-up. Except for Boobie, who is having an incredible shooting season overall (ranking 2nd in the NBA), the other major three point shooters on the team are 5.3 to 8.9 percentage points lower without Shaq. The team is 4 percentage points lower. Even at his advanced age, Shaq is still a load to handle for one person in the post. Teams must account for him with an extra defender and this leaves the three point line more vulnerable (see Cavaliers defense versus Dwight Howard and the Magic in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals). This is a big benefit to the Cavaliers, as they have for years been building a team to surround LeBron with quality shooters, taking advantage of his drive and dish ability. Shaq just adds to this as most, if not all, teams cannot guard him one on one...
The Cavs game's on DVR for me tonight, and I'll be updating this blog live during the 2010 McDonald's All American Game...
Some Cavaliers related notes before we tip-off:
Danny Ferry - a 1985 McDonald's All American - is a Current Advisory Council Member for the McDonald's All American Games. The other five members of this six-member panel include Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, Candice Parker, and Quentin Richardson...
Besides Ferry and Boozer ('99), some other former Cavaliers to play in this game include Dajuan Wagner (who had his own shoe apparently which I saw this weekend...more on that later maybe) in 2001, and DeSagana Diop also in that year ('01)...Shannon Brown in ('03), Brad Daugherty played in 1982, Larry Hughes played in this game out of the Lou in 1997, and Shawn Kemp took the court - sans kids at the time - in 1988...there's others, just naming a few...
LeBron in the '03 game: LeBron scored 27 points for the East squad in 2003 which ranks 6th all time just behind Chris Webber's 28 in 1991...Jordan scored 30 tens years earlier in 1981, and Jonathan Bender is the game's alltime leading scorer with 31. Shaq in the 1989 game: O'Neal grabbed 16 rebouds for the West which ranks third all-time behind Sam Perkins and Othella Harrington...O'Neal also had 6 blocks...
2010 McDonald's All American Game Starting Fives:
East Squad
#1 Deshaun Thomas - Fort Wayne, Indiana - Ohio State
#11 Kyrie Irving - West Orange, NJ - Duke
#31 Tobias Harris - Dix Hill, NY - Tennessee
#35 Reggie Bullock - Kinston, NC - North Carolina
#34 Jared Sullinger - Columbus, OH - Ohio State
West Squad
# 1 Terrance Jones - Portland, OR - Undecided
#11 Brandon Knight - Coral Springs, FL - Undecided
#13 Fab Melo - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Syracuse
#20 Doron Lamb - Laurelton, NY - Undecided
# 40 Harrison Barnes - Ames, IA - North Carolina
Final Score from Value City Arena: West 107 - East 104
1st Half Thoughts:
Jared Sullinger is the top-rated center in the country at 6'9" but on his first made basket of the game he showed all his new friends down here in Columbus that he has no problem stepping out and knocking down a three. He'd score six more points to finish the half 3 of 6 from the field for 9 points.
Harrison Barnes had maybe the best dunk of the half on a break-away, and currently has his eye on that 31 point all-time high mark set by Jonathan Bender. He's heading to the locker room with 15 first half points. There's only so much you can tell about a player in an All Star game like this, but this kid has seperated himself so far in this first half...heads to UNC next season.
My boy Deshaun Thomas got blocked on one dunk attempt, and kinda got off to a slow start in the first half, but did come back strong to finish one off at the rim hard with two hands later on. He ended up with 4 points in the first half on only four attempts.
Joshua Smith - out of Kent, WA - is a huge kid. He's 6'10" and - roughly - 280, but he can move. Runs up and down the court like its no problem, and he was quick the one time he caught it posted up in the paint one-on-one. Big fella spun quick for a nice turnaround move off the board, he has 4 and looks to be a presence for UCLA in the paint next season.
Tobias Harris (6'8" F) has 13 to lead the East squad and looks to team up with Bruce Pearl and company next season at Tennessee.
Kyrie Irving had probably the best move of the first half on a pass fake behind the back, followed by a finish at the rim...the Duke recruit has 11 at halftime.
They showed a new Dwight Howard - LBJ - Larry Bird McDonald's commercial too on the jumbotron...funny commercial, if I can find video of it I'll post it later this week.
East leads the West 59 - East 51 at Halftime
Also...Demarcus Cousins is courtside, and I'm sitting next to these guys from some Kentucky newspaper...they're figuring Calipari will end up landing four of the seven guys in this game currently undecided, and also only expects four players back off his roster from this past season...so that's Patterson, Orton, Bledsoe, and a few others I never even heard of joining Wall and Cousins as draft eligible. Calipari must have cut their pay after they failed to win it all this season and everyone is trying to find work elsewhere.
East MVP Jared Sullinger Post Game
2nd Half Thoughts:
Overall the first half was more exciting than the second, which is a nice way of saying the second half was kinda boring. However, it did come down to the wire, and Brandon Knight won it when he knocked his defender to the floor with his shoulder, stepped back, and buried a three as time expired to give his West squad the 107-104 win. Credit the kid for knowing they aren't calling any fouls like that in an All Star Game at the buzzer, as well as stepping back and knocking down a tough shot to win it.
Coming in, I was secretly rooting for my guy Thomas to win the MVP, but he never really got going. He looked good in spurts, looked like he was playing in an unorganized All Star Game at other times, and ended up finishing with 11 points on 10 shots. His last two was an alley oop finish though, that drew an ovation from his future fans, who will have more chances to cheer for him in the coming season.
Speaking of future fans, they all voted B for Jared Sullinger when the Jumbotron 'text the MVP contest' appeared on the board. Not a bad pick, kid finished with a game-high 22. Rounding out that top three was Harrison Barnes and Kyrie Irving. The East MVP was Sullinger, and the West MVP was Barnes. If I had to rank those three overall, I'd go Barnes, Sullinger, Irving. That's UNC, OSU, Duke respectively. Sullinger will be a stud, but the Barnes kid just looks like a superstar to me. Check my blog in 8 years to see if I'm right.
Irving finished with 13, and Barnes finished with 18. Josh Selby (undecided on his college choice from Baltimore) and Brandon Knight (also undecided) finished with 13 apiece, Knight being the one that cashed in that aforementioned game winner. Perry Jones III - a 6'11" athletic freak - will fit right in with those athletes at Baylor that look like they could take the floor in an NBA game talent-wise. He had two serious finishes in the second half...one in the half court with two hands, and one in transition with one.
And that will do it...Eric Flannery's West Squad beats Dru Joyce's East by three...until next year.
Statlines for the game:
Points - Rebounds - Assists
East - Jared Sullinger (Ohio State): 22 - 7 - 3
East - Tobias Harris (Tennessee): 13-4-2
East - Kyrie Irving (Duke): 13-2-2
East - Josh Selby (Undecided): 13-2-3
East - Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State): 11-7-3
West - Harrison Barnes (North Carolina): 18-5-1
West - Terrance Jones (Undecided): 14-3-0
West - Doron Lamb (Undecided): 12-2-0
West - Jereme Richmond (Illinois): 11-3-2
West - Joshua Smith (UCLA): 10-6-0
* For my interview with Deshaun Thomas, click here.
Tomorrow night, Deshaun Thomas will take the Value City Arena floor for East squad under the direction of Dru Joyce II. And while it may be the last time Thomas plays for LeBron James' HS coach, it won't be the last time he wears the same uniform as fellow McDonald's All American Jared Sullinger. Those two headline a recruiting class for Thad Matta's OSU Buckeyes that has them looking to reload next season, and while many around Buckeye nation are familiar with Sullinger, there's equal reason to be as excited about the arrival of Thomas. The 6'7" forward from Bishop Luers High in Fort Wayne, Indiana can bring the ball up the court, create his own shot, and hit the boards as well...and he's been drawing comparisons to Shaquille O'Neal since the 3rd grade. 
Photo Credit: Robert Sheer / The Star
I had a chance to catch-up with Deshaun at the McDonald's All American media-day earlier today, and our exchange is below...
Stepien Rules: How's this week, and experience been for you so far?
Deshaun Thomas: Its been a great experience for me. Its been great being with all these guys, and today we had a chance to meet the kids at the Ronald McDonald’s house and help out with that charity. It was great to get involved there, and I've been having a lot of fun down here so far.
Stepien Rules: What made you decide on Ohio State?
