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Never have I felt better about Lebron sticking around C-Town.  His biggest pursuers all along were the Nets and the Knicks and they still are.  Of course we've all heard the pipe dream of Lebron going to Miami to team up with Wade but I myself never thought they could co-exist.  Each of them are alpha dogs and have every desire of being "the man."  I just don't see this happening.  A million other scenarios have popped up and a million more are sure to come.  But personally as a Cavs fan over the last couple years my biggest concern was him leaving for the bright lights or to team up with his boy Jay-Z.  But seeing as how putrid both of those teams are I just can't see it happening.  Lebron came into a losing culture with the Cavs and it took years to turn the ship around to get to this point.  Of course the Knicks have cap space for two max players.  But then what?




Photo Credit: The News-Herald

You have two great players and to quote Bill the butcher in Gangs of New York "a handful of rag tags?"  They play zero defense and D'antoni's teams never have.  Lebron has developed a love for defense and knows how vital it is to winning.  He comes from a culture in which his coach didn't even install an offense until his team could defend.  The Nets.....well they're 6-54!!!!  Not one time have they won more than one game in a calendar week.  The Cavs are on a 5 game winning streak.  You have to go back to January of last season for the last time they won more than 5 games in a month.  The culture of losing in these places is running rampant and pretty much has been deemed acceptable by their front offices because they believe the end will justify the means.

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Earlier this evening, Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dearler reported that "Former teammates Anderson Varejao and Anthony Parker were in a group, along with strength and conditioning coach Stan Kellers, that visited with Ilgauskas after the team arrived here [New Jeresey] Tuesday night.  Ilgauskas has a place in New York City and has been spending time there since his release by the Wizards." 

And according to a couple follow-up reports I've also stumbled across, it appears the Cavs found a group of guys who referred to themselves as the 'Nets' to work out with at the IZOD center on Wednesday night while in town visiting Z.  I didn't get a chance to talk to any of the Cavaliers players about that work-out, but I heard it went well, and most of the players were pleased with the opportunity to both break a sweat, and work through some offensive sets without the interruption of defense.

Which is basically all Wednesday night's game against the worst NBA team I've ever seen was.

With six minutes left in the fourth quarter Bill Walker hit a three to give the Knicks their 74th point of the night.  That basket cut the lead to 36, and matched the total (74) the Cavaliers scored in the first half.  Part of me wants to stop right there.  There's no real point in belaboring the fact that the Knicks are a god-awful team.  We all know by now that they're allergic to defense, and continue to insist on shooting jumpers every 7 seconds despite the fact that they don't have all that many jump-shooters on the roster.  They're an embarrasing group that has to come back in the fourth quarter (down by upwards of 40 points) to lose by 31 (124-93), and I can't see how anybody would make the choice to join them next season.   With that said, I will stop there, and speak on the Cavs moving forward.

As much as I was discouraged to hear the reports that Shaq will be out for 6-8 weeks earlier in the day,

The Cavaliers came out atop the latest Bloguin BlogPoll Power Rankings for the second straight time, and if you missed the complete rankings and commentary from the esteemed bloggers of this network, go here.

The primary reason the Cavs were able to maintain their top spot is due to the fact that LeBron is no longer forced to hang out with these guys pictured below... no comments

The legend behind the microphone had an interesting comment prior to Thursday night’s Cavs vs. Celtics tilt in Beantown.  Tait rarely gets into the analytical side of the broadcast, and wasn’t prompted,  so it was a bit surprising to hear his take:  The Cavaliers need to focus less on the pre game handshakes between themselves and their opponent, and instead turn their attention to working hard on the basketball court.

Tait has seen his share of basketball games, and knows when a team needs to turn things up on the defensive end.  Personally I could care less about the pre game hugs, handshakes, and rituals, but I’ve heard Tait speak out against this multiple times this season.  I think Joe’s a good 40 years older than I am, so that may explain our difference of opinion.  However, we are on the same page when it comes to bringing the hard hats and lunch pails more consistently. While the first half was disappointing on the defensive end, the 2nd half was played extremely well.  Rondo got trapped, Allen got smothered, and KG, Big Baby and Rasheed got neutralized.

That’s what Joe Tait’s talking about.

Have a GOOD NIGHT, everybody!

Editor's Note: In addition to contributing here at StepienRules, Kyle was also co-MVP of his college football team. To follow Kyle on twitter go here, and for all your tailgating needs go here. 

If LBJ stays over 50% FG he will be the 3rd person in NBA history to finish the season with 25+ PPG, .500+ FG% and 8+ APG.

That group would then include:

LeBron James (2009-10): 29.8 PPG, .502 FG%, 8.5 APG

Michael Jordan (1988-89): 32.5 PPG, .538 FG%, 8.0 APG

and the guy who did it twice...

Oscar Robertson (1969-70): 25.3 PPG, .511 FG%, 8.1 APG

Oscar Robertson (1962-63): 28.5 PPG, .518 FG%, 9.5 APG

Editor's note: Dave Wooley is a statistical guru who's works include a detailed history of CWRU football stats, both team and individual.  Look for more from Dave in the future as the 'Cavs Stat of the Day' series continues.

Well that game was… interesting.

After watching the Cavs get manhandled in the first half, they come back to win it in Boston 108-88, outscoring Boston 60-32. As surprising as the outcome was, the game played out like a lot of Boston’s games this year. The Celtics couldn’t keep up with a small, spry, long, athletic lineup. They were 0-4 against the Hawks this year, and this athletic Cavs lineup gave them fits. I’ve been advocating a 5-Forward lineup for a little while now, and the Cavs essentially employed one all 2nd half tonight.  no comments

While it seemed like the Cleveland Cavaliers were about to let the Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo run away with a victory, LeBron James stepped in and made sure that was not the case.

The Cavaliers (45-14) held the Celtics to only 32 points in the second half and scored 35 points themselves in the fourth as they beat the Celtics in Boston 108-88 Thursday night.

LeBron James had 36 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, Mo Williams scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, including four 3-pointers to put away Boston for good. While Boston was without Paul Pierce, out with a right thumb injury, Rajon Rondo led the way in the first quarter. Rondo had 19 points and 11 assists while Ray Allen scored 21 points. The Celtics cooled off as the game progressed and shot 3-for-21 in the fourth quarter as Cleveland snapped a nine-game losing streak in Boston, counting the playoffs. no comments

The first name you think of when you hear New Orleans Hornets is Chris Paul. You may have to change that to three names after tonight. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Orleans Hornets 105-95 and while the Cavaliers played lackadaisical at times on defense, you can’t ignore the fact that the Hornets have two young stars in the making in Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison. no comments