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!”

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.

Earlier this season the Cleveland Cavaliers triumphed over adversity as they were without a “true point guard” after losing Mo Williams and Delonte West to injuries. The Cavaliers not only persevered they actually prospered as they would arrive at the the All-Star Break with a 13 game winning streak. Well they will once again have the chance to show that they can deal with a tough starting Monday night as the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” has reported that the Cavaliers will be without starting center Shaquille O’Neal for 8 weeks after having surgery performed Monday on his right thumb.

Shaq was injured Thursday night as Cleveland defeated the Boston Celtics. Sunday he was examined at the National Hand Center in Baltimore and the surgery was performed there Monday morning. The surgery was deemed successful however the veteran will miss the rest of the regular season and most likely the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

The Cavaliers do not have a “true center” right now on their roster.  Last month the club traded veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Washington Wizards in the trade that landed them Antawn Jamison. Ilgauskas has been waved by the Wizards but can not re-sign with Cleveland until March 21, due to NBA rules.

Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry released a statement after the surgery was announced. Ferry said “Our guys have done a very good job of stepping up this season. We are confident they will do the same in this situation … We are fortunate to have some depth in our front court that can keep us moving forward while Shaq recovers and returns to play for the post season.”

In New York Vinnie’s opinion maybe the toughest task a man ever has to go through is to make an apology. No matter how old New York Vinnie gets that is one thing that has always stayed the same. New York Vinnie does not like to admit when I am wrong and to have apologize when I have messed up. But what is 50 times more difficult than that is when you have to apologize when you did not do anything that merits it.

To make an apology when you know the other party is in the wrong just to resolve the situation truly means you have to be the bigger man. New York Vinnie has a tough enough time doing that with New York Vinnie’s Doll; however any man who is in a committed relationship with a woman has had to do it at some point. That is just a Frickin part of life. But to have to do it involving another guy; especially if he is a peer just to keep the peace is asking  a heck of a lot from any man.

According to the “Associated Press” Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is a big enough man to have done exactly that. Last Thursday after the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Magic to keep their winning streak alive at 13 games heading into the All-Star break. Cavaliers veteran center Shaquille O’Neal reportedly made disparaging remarks about Howard to the media after the game. O’Neal reportedly is not pleased that Howard is identified by the media as “Superman“  as he feels that the nickname should be his.

The Eastern Conference Team’s All-Star starting center was interviewed by “TNT” on O’Neal’s remarks and to his  credit Howard took the high road. The Magic center said “It didn’t sit well with me personally. I’m a young player trying to get to where he’s at. I felt it would be better if he tried to help me instead of trying to put me down. The whole Superman thing, there’s no battle of nicknames. I mean, if he wants to be Superman, he can be Superman. But I never tried to steal that title from him or take away anything that he’s done for the game of basketball. I would like, instead of people fighting over a nickname, for us to be able to talk about what it’s like to win a championship. Just little things that him being who he is can help me. But I never tried to do anything to be like him. I’m my own person. I just love to have fun, and I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s brought to the game of basketball, and I would just ask that somebody like Shaquille O’Neal to help me become a better basketball player and a better person.”

In New York Vinnie’s opinion that not only took courage that took class to make that statement. Rather than Frickin escalating the situation like happens so many times in Pro Sports; Howard defused it! Even though he was not in the wrong he held out the Frickin Olive Branch. That takes guts in New York Vinnie’s eyes.

Shaq most likely will now issue an apology as he did after his “Free-Stylin’ Rap” on Kobe in 2008. But Howard will have been the one who set it in motion over the way he responded. During a season when we almost had a shoot out in a locker room it is reassuring to know that players like Dwight Howard still do exist!

No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

H.L. Mencken

There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute

David Hannum

We live in the Greatest nation on the Planet and supposedly we are the most Frickin Sophisticated people of all Frickin time. Well if that is the Frickin case then can somebody please tell New York Vinnie why it seems that we have a Country filled with Dim-Wits, Morons and Imbeciles? People fall for the stupidest Frickin things and the worst part about is nine out of ten times it is the fault of the Frickin Media!

Back a few years ago we had what they called “Journalistic Standards” in our society. But here in the last month of 2009 ”Journalistic Standards” are a thing of the past. It no longer is about getting it Right; it has become  about getting it First. So we end up being glued to our Frickin TV sets worrying about “Balloon Boy“; or some PUD like Stephen A Smith  can write a story about Allen Iverson retiring from the NBA. And we the Frickin American Public just sit there with our Frickin mouths shut.

There was a rumor going around all day on Friday that Cleveland Cavaliers center and future Basketball Hall Of Fame Inductee was about to announce his retirement. Friday afternoon  the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” reported that the rumors were false. They had in fact been spread by some College-Boy PUDS over the Internet  Thursday night.

New York Vinnie is not going to give these Frickin Scumbagos the Free Publicity they seek by printing their website in this article. If you want to find the site there plenty of other media outlets that will tell you their name. However New York Vinnie will tell you this; I went over to their site and these Frickin Nerds make the guys on the Frickin TV show “The Big Bang Theory” look like the Frickin Fonz! 

Here is something else that New York Vinnie will share with you. This is not the last of these Frickin incidents and they will not end as long as some Frickin moron at some media outlet keeps spreading these Frickin rumors. One of the Greatest Freedoms we have in the Nation is Freedom Of The Press. But with that Freedom comes responsibility; get the Frickin story right!

Could you imagine Walter Cronkite covering “Balloon Boy“? Or Curt Gowdy reporting that Iverson or Shaq was retiring if they were not? Of course not because those guys were Class and they had Standards. We need a whole lot more of those kinds  of Standards in 2009 as far as New York Vinnie is concerned.

It looked like it was going to happen earlier this week however the “Cleveland Plain Dealer” reported Wednesday that Cleveland Cavaliers veteran center Shaquille O’Neal would still be in street clothes Wednesday night when the Cavaliers are in Motown to play the Detroit Pistons.  O’ Neal has missed five straight games with a strained shoulder. Cleveland head coach Mike Brown decided to keep the “Big Pick-Up” inactive for one more game for precautionary reasons. If there are no setbacks according to the report O’Neal will most likely play Friday when the team takes on the Charlotte Bobcats.

New York Vinnie agrees with the way Brown is handling this; better to wait one game too long than rush him back one game too soon. Besides Cleveland should have no problem with Zydrunas Ilgauskas matching up against Ben “Mr. Geritol” Wallace or the Giant PUD himself the biggest bust of the NBA draft this decade Kwame Brown. Detroit will be without Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton due to injury.