Le Basketbawl

For the second straight year fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers were kicked right in the package Thursday night when their season ended as they lost to the Boston Celtics in game six of the NBA Eastern Conference Semi-Finals by a final of 94-85.

In two straight seasons the team from Cleveland had the best record in the NBA during the regular season as well as the NBA MVP in LeBron James; yet they fell short of their goal. The Cavaliers season ended without their winning an NBA Title; or even make it to the NBA Finals. This season they did not even make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

New York Vinnie is wondering whjy this team that is nearly unbeatable during the regular season can not get it done in the NBA Playoffs? Rumors were rampant that James right elbow was a lot more of a serious injury than he or the team were admitting to. But “The Chosen One” whether he was hurt or not ended his season with a Triple-Double.

Over the last few days Cleveland coach Mike Brown has taken a lot of heat from the fans and the media. This is a guy that has taken the team to the NBA Playoffs every year he has been there; something that never happened under the three head coaches the Cavaliers had before Brown. He too his team to the NBA Finals in 2007 only his second year on the bench.

People forget that the guy on the other bench in this series is one of the best coaches in the NBA. Doc Rivers was a smart and scrappy player and he is the same way as a coach. The Boston Celtics as New York Vinnie recently mentioned won the NBA Championship in 2008; and they were looked at as one of the favorites to win the Finals heading into this season. We are not talking the Frickin Minnesota Timberwolves in this situation if you catch New York Vinnie’s drift!

New York Vinnie has been telling you all along that LeBron James will re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers this coming summer. It all revolves around James with the Cavaliers; and if they keep him on the roster they can work out the rest of the kinks. New York Vinnie does not believe that Shaquile O’Neal will be back in Cleveland which leaves the Cavaliers some money to bring in that stud big man.

So Cleveland; New York Vinnie extends my condolences. But before you know it October will be here and as long as you keep “King James” on the court; you’ll be in the hunt!

The next few days will tell NBA Fans all across the Planet all they need to know about the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tuesday night the Boston Celtics went into the Cavaliers home and beat the spit out of the team in game five of the Eastern Conference Semi-Final series by a final of 120-88. With the win the Celtics now takes the lead in the series for the first time as they now have a 3-2 advantage with game six to be played in Boston on Thursday.

The Cavaliers who came into the NBA Playoffs with the  best record in the regular season for the second year in a row will either re-group and win this series in seven games or they will once again let their fans down. Unfortunately for Cleveland fans this is an experience they have gone through way too often; and they are already expecting the worst. This team has conquered adversity all season long; do they have it within them to once again reach down deep and win the next two games?

If the Boston Celtics end up facing the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals; this series will always be referred to as the series that the Cavaliers lost; not the series that Boston won. In fact New York Vinnie would venture to guess that if the Celtics go on and win the NBA Title it will only make Cleveland fans feel worse; as they will then truly believe that this was their shot!

The truth is that the Boston Celtics are not playing the same ball that they were over the last few weeks of the regular season. They are playing through the Playoffs as they did at the beginning of the season when they were tied for the best record in the NBA on Christmas Day. New York Vinnie does not understand why this has occurred but it has; almost as if a switch was flipped the day they started playing against the Miami Heat in round one.

Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been giving the Celtics opportunities in this series; but Boston has been able to take advantage of them. New York Vinnie is an objective observer in this series as I am not a fan of either team; and objectively the Celtics have outplayed Cleveland in every contest except for game three.

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers capable of winning the next two games and beating the Celtics to head to the Conference Finals? Of course they are; but it depends which version of the Cavaliers come to play especially in game six on Thursday. If Cleveland does not come out from the jump kicking tail and taking names all summer long we will hear “Welcome To Cleveland: Home Of The BIG CHOKE!”

The “Cleveland Plain Dealer” reported that Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh suffered a maxilla and nasal fracture to the right side of his face Tuesday night in the Raptors loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bosh was accidentally hit in the face by the elbow of Antawn Jamison as the two players were trying to get the ball very early in the first quarter. Bosh was bleeding from his nose and his mouth and was taken to a Cleveland area hospital where the injury was diagnosed. Bosh did return to the Q Arena in Cleveland before the end of the game. However he will spend the night in the Cleveland hospital and not fly black to Toronto with the team.

The Raptors host the Boston Celtics Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre; and in most likelihood he will not be available to play for Toronto. The Raptors currently hold the eighth seed in the NBA Eastern Conference Playoff race and they lead the Chicago Bulls by just one game with each team having 5 left to play in the regular season. Toronto after losing to the Cavaliers have a 38-39 record. The Raptors have not commented publicly on the severity of the injury or how long their star will miss.

Since the year 1964; the rallying cry for the city of Cleveland has been “Wait Till Next Year.” That is because throughout the years not one of Cleveland’s professional sports teams have won a championship. Things looked pretty promising about a year ago at this time for the city  as the Cavaliers entered the NBA Playoffs with the best regular season record and Home-Court Advantage through the Post Season. They would sweep their first two opponents but would fall to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. And once again for Cleveland it was “Wait Till Next Year.”

The Cavaliers on Friday before playing the Atlanta Hawks Friday night; had the best record in the NBA at 59-16 and are very close to once again having the best regular season record for the second straight year. Cleveland has added strength to their front line with the additions of two veterans; Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison. And it would be a Frickin crime if the NBA MVP Award is given to anyone other than LeBron James who also won the honor last season.

Anything can happen in the NBA; we have seen it since it first came into existence back in 1947. However barring an injury to James; this could be the season that a Cleveland team finally breaks on through to the other side! The Cavaliers have gone through adversity several times this season and they have passed each test with flying colors. As long as “King James” is on the floor they seem to be capable of just about anything. And LeBron now with the supporting cast he has may be in the best position since another player with the number 23 got the first of his six NBA Championship Titles.

As great a player as Michael Jordan was in his prime in the NBA; he would not win a NBA Title until he got Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. That trio got them past the “BAD BOYS” the Detroit Pistons and onto winning their first Larry O’Brien Trophy. With Shaq, Jamison and Mo Williams James now has the weapons he needs to win the Eastern Conference and defeat which ever teams comes out of the West.

The Cavaliers like great teams before them learned a lesson when they fell short of their goals last year. Just as Detroit did before they got past the Boston Celtics in the eighties and as the Bulls did when they would succeed  the Pistons. Just as teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Pistons and Bulls finally got the right chemistry in the clubhouse to win their Titles; Cleveland seems to have all their bases covered. They have athletes and veterans and the best player on the Planet this season. When all is said and done this could be ” Next Year” for the  Cleveland Cavaliers.

The “Washington Post” has reported that Washington Wizards veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned to Cleveland on Friday night. The center who is now in his twelfth season in the NBA was acquired by the Wizards in the three team deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers that sent big man Antawn Jamison to the Cavaliers. According to reports Ilguaksas has told the team that he does not want to play for them and would like to be bought out of his contract. There has been speculation that if Ilgauskas does become a Free Agent before March 1, he would wait the required 30 days and then re-sign with Cleveland.

New York Vinnie has noticed over the past couple of days some grumbling going on as if Cleveland is trying to pull some kind of Frickin scam by resigning their former center. This practice goes on every year or at least could if situations call for it. The Cavaliers are not doing a thing wrong; and if any team is trying to insinuate they are that is just Frickin sour grapes.

Well if the Phoenix Suns do trade big man Amar’e Stoudemire before the NBA Trade Dead Line of  Thursday at 3:00pm EST it will not be to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers and Phoenix have broken off talks that would have sent the All-Star to Cleveland in exchange for veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas and second year big man J.J. Hickson. Thursday the “Washington Post“  reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired Washington Wizards veteran big man Antawn Jamison for the stretch run in a three team deal that also included the Los Angeles Clippers.

 Cleveland will send veteran center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and their first round pick in the 2010 NBA Draft to the Wizards. The Wizards will send Jamison to Cleveland and veteran forward Drew Gooden to the Clippers and Los Angeles will send forward Al Thornton to Washington and guard Sebastian Telfair to the Cavaliers to complete the deal.

Cleveland had been in discussions with the Suns for the last several days about the Cavaliers picking up Phoenix All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire before the NBA trade deadline. Cleveland reportedly had a deal on the table that would have sent Phoenix the veteran center Ilgauskas along with Hickson; a second year player that the Cavaliers really did not want to lose. The deal that they completed will still give the team an elite big man without having to lose Hickson a player the team believes has great upside. Instead Cleveland will give up their Number One pick in the upcoming NBA Draft a selection that should be at or near the end of the first round. 

The deal is the second major trade for the Wizards and the Clippers in less than a week. Saturday the Wizards completed a seven player deal with the Dallas Mavericks that sent Dallas forward Caron Butler, center Spencer Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson in return for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross. Tuesday the Clippers sent veteran big man Marcus Camby to the Portland Trail Blazers to fill the pivot spot for them for the rest of the season. The Blazers traded guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw to the Clippers for the veteran who is the second leading rebounder in the NBA this year. Reports are also that the Trail-Blazers also sent Los Angeles $1.5 million and will pay Camby $2 million in incentives for the rest of the season.

The trade gives Cleveland a proven talent in Jamison that along with reigning NBA MVP LeBron James and veteran center Shaquille  O’Neal gives the club a very formidable front line. Jamison now in his twelfth season in the Association has averaged 20.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this season for the Wizards. There is speculation that Washington could waive the veteran Ilgauskas which would then allow him 30 days after he clears waivers  to sign a deal with the Cavaliers for the rest of the season.

In many ways New York Vinnie sees this deal as a better fit for Cleveland than the trade with Phoenix would have been. The Cavaliers will have Jamison under contract for the next two seasons which should be enough to alleviate any lingering doubts that Cavaliers star LeBron James would have about signing an extension with Cleveland this Summer. They also get to hold onto a player they really like in Hickson and most likely will not be giving up a whole lot with the draft pick.

The deal gives James a veteran running mate for two seasons after this and if Jamison does decide that this is indeed his final contract it will open up  a salary slot that could bring in another quality player.

Sunday night after the New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl Number 44; New York Vinnie thought  about all the teams over the past few years that have finally broken through and won the Championship of their Sport after being ridiculed for years. The NFL not only has the Saints but the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers who did what at one time folks thought would be impossible. In Baseball we have witnessed the Red Sox win two World Series Titles and the White Sox also copped one. But there is still one city that has suffered for Frickin decades; longer than even New York Vinnie has been on this Planet.

That of course is the city of Cleveland, Ohio who have a Frickin rabid fan base for all their Pro Teams and who are always waiting until next year. During the Nineties The Cleveland Indians wennt from the Frickin sewer to the top of the American League and made it to the “Big Show” twice but could not get the Frickin ring.

Cleveland Browns fans are just Frickin nutsy-cuckoo; there is just no other Frickin reason to explain their devotion to a franchise that is truly a Frickin joke or a nightmare dependant on your perspective. This team that plays in Cleveland is not even really the Frickin “Real Browns“ as that team moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens in 1995. Browns Team Owner Randy Lerner is as Frickin clueless as New York Vinnie’s “BOYS” Team Owner James “EL DOUCHE” Dolan. They are now like on their newest management team in 11 years; New York Vinnie believes this may be number 37.

However there is one team in  the city of Cleveland that could actually end the Frickin drought that goes all the way back to 1964. That of course would be the Cleveland Cavaliers who have won their last 11 games despite the fact that they have had neither of the team’s two point guards for the last 8 contests.  The “News-Herald” is reporting that the Cavaliers will most likely not make any moves before the NBA Trading Deadline which is on February 18.

The rumors out of Cleveland are the only way the team is going to make a move is if they could acquire Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. New York Vinnie thinks that Cleveland General Manager Danny Ferry is doing the right thing. This team has the best record in all of the Frickin NBA; why would you mess with that?

Now; if you can bring in a Jamison or Carlos Boozer that would be making you a better team. But reports out of Indiana are that the Pacers are looking for the Frickin  Sun and the Moon for Troy Murphy; that is not going to be worth it for the Cavaliers. Iguodala is not what this team needs; they need a quality power-forward what they term recently as a “stretch-four.” So if you can’t make the team better why make a move at all? If its not broke; don’t fix it, right?

As of Monday February 8, the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing the best ball in the NBA. Sometimes when you make that one pass too many you throw the ball away. Unless the club can get something that puts them a lot closer to the basket they should take their shot with the team they have.