Let's try this again... CAVS vs Raptors tonight, 7:00pm!

[Sara Tonyn]

Okay, so the season opener wasn't exactly great.

Okay so the season opener was actually frightening. Most of us had a bad feeling about the game before it started but I don't think anyone imagined how horribly discombobulated the team would look. Or what terrible, stupid rotations Mike Brown would come up with. (He better be gone before the 2010 season starts regardless of how the Cavs do this year. He's dumber than a Jim Thome rock.)

Anyway...

Today's a new day! The Celts are gone! They went home! Laughing and grinning all the way. (What is it about #@#!#@##! Boston teams?)

Fearless prediction: The Cavs will beat the Raptors and make yesterday's loss feel a little less painful. Like only a 9.5 on a scale of 10.

FWIW, the Cavs are 6 1/2 point favorites and I think they'll live up to it tonight.

The "favorite" part, that is. Dunno if I like the 6 1/2 part. I'd make them a 1 point favorite; better to re-start the season with low expectations until the Cavs players looks like they've met each other before and seem more familiar with what they're supposed to do on a basketball court.

And finally...

PLEASE, BASKETBALL GODS, NO BOO-BOO GIBSON TONIGHT!

And please stop Mo from showing off like a hot dog only to end up making sloppy passes that become turnovers. (If it's not too much, could you also help him make a few three pointers? )

And please help Z remember what and where the basket is; and help him lumber around aimlessly a little quicker and with less glaze over his eyes.

And please smote Mike Brown immediately if he ever, EVER puts Z and Shaq on the floor at the same time again, especially for long stretches and especially in the 4th quarter of a winnable game!

In fact, smote him two or three times.

Amen.

Now... GO CAVS!

[TribefanstuckinMA]

How badly obvious were the Cavs miscues in the home opener? When watching lowlights (my view - the local reporter called them "highlights"...hardly ) from the game Mr. Wonderful intoned "wow, LeBron and Shaq aren't working together very well right now, are they?" For Himself to make a basketball comment is surprising. For him to pick up on that - well, it was pretty obvious.

One more request, Baseball Gods: Please PLEASE get Delonte West back to playing!!! If BooBoo Gibson is his replacement...

[Wahoo1324]

We'll get a win tonight.

GO CAVS!

[TribefanstuckinMA]

What WAS that? I understand losing to the Celtics (don't like it, but understand it ) but the Raptors? HOW soon does Spring Training start?

[Kevin Dasd]

Does it matter when Spring Training starts?

As bad as the Browns are, the Indians are still the worst team in Cleveland. As far as i'm concerned the Indians can pack up and move the team.

[Sara Tonyn]

This is unacceptable. We have the best basketball player in the NBA and a coach who can't coach worth crap. He's wasting LeBron's talent.

The team was nowhere near ready for the start of the season and WOW does it show.

Go Cavs.

[shamwow_imitator]

HOLY CRAP !!!
How far has Cleveland sports fallen off since 2007? Not in a panic, just really, really concerned at this point.
When is Redz coming back??

[LoafingOaf]

Sorry, the Cavs lost again. Looks like Leboob the Yankee fan didn't prepare for the season.

HAHA AND HIS YANKEES LOST TODAY!!! GO PHILLIES!

[Wahoo1324]

Sorry, the Cavs lost again. Looks like Leboob the Yankee fan didn't prepare for the season.

Go away, stupid Trivisonno fan.

Wow, how the heck did we lose to the Raptors? Jeeeeez! Next game on Friday, I'll definately watch a lot of that one.

[Sara Tonyn]

We need to find a way to win Friday (Wolves) and Saturday (Bobcats). Not because I'm worried about the Cavs in general. They're gonna stink for the first month from the looks of things, but they'll make the playoffs. We'll just have to ignore their record this year.

But the Cavs need to win Fri & Sat -- or at the very least one of those games -- just to take a little media pressure off themselves. You know how the national media loooooves to trash Cleveland, so every loss right now will be blown out of proportion. And of course the very first thing they'll start harping on is maybe the losses will make LeBron leave in 2010! (We're gonna hear that crap non-stop between now and June.) A couple of wins will shut them up a little bit, give the Cavs a little boost mentally, and allow the adjustment process to continue, as painful as it may be. (As long as they're finished adjusting before the playoffs, I don't care! )

Of course starting the season with a packed schedule is the last thing the Cavs needed this year but they're stuck with it. They play 4 games in the first 5 days and 7 games in the first 12 days! Obviously they're not going to gel in that amount of time, especially with very little time to practice in between. But nobody wants to start a season off 0-12! So a win or two this weekend will break the constant media criticism of the team and speculation about LeBron long enough for us to at least let our ears stop ringing.

That said, I still don't think Mike Brown knows what the heck he's doing and that's a large part of the reason the "adjustment" process will take a while. We really need to hire a coach for the offense. (And fire Brown after the season no matter what.)

[Wahoo1324]

Alright, watching the game tonight, gotta win both of these. Wolves and Bobcats.

[Wahoo1324]

And the Cavs are on the board! That's exactly what they needed to do, go out there and win it by 20. Any problems with this game?

[Sara Tonyn]

And the Cavs are on the board! That's exactly what they needed to do, go out there and win it by 20. Any problems with this game?

That was a sight for sore eyes. Let's make it 2 in a row with a win over the Bobcats tonight!

Cavs looked better. Some progress showed, thank goodness.

Boo-Boo had a good night but I won't change my opinion of him until he can do it consistently and against good teams. Z looked a little better but I still don't want to see him on the team next season. (Sorry, Z. ) Shaq looked better than the stats show. Mo looked better. Andy looked better. Moon and Parker looked more comfortable. LeBron was LeBron!

The only real negative was that Charlie Brown used Z and Shaq together again. I see absolutely no good in that nor any logic to it. The T-Wolves weren't able to seriously exploit having two giant sloths on the floor, but better teams will make the Cavs pay for it, and the great teams will go on a run every time they even get a whiff of it. Brown seems determined to prove there's some value in the move but I think (hope!) his stubbornness is because his pride was hurt. He was raked over the coals by fans, sportswriters and TV analysts when he did it the first time. Mikey needs to get over his embarrassment and drop the silly plan ASAP.

GO CAVS!

[Wahoo1324]

Well, they took care of business and won both. Back to even!

Shaq's not doing anything amazing, but he's getting the job done under there.

[Sara Tonyn]

Well, they took care of business and won both. Back to even!

Shaq's not doing anything amazing, but he's getting the job done under there.

Yeah! And Delonte played! And played very well! It was as if he was never gone!

Overall the Cavs looked good though the Bobcats aren't the best measuring stick. Shaq's doing fine, IMO. He was brought here to give us a presence under the basket and defense down the middle and he's doing that; anything else he gives us is a bonus. The more he plays during the regular season, the better the team will know what to expect from him and how to use him best when it really matters -- in the playoffs. But they want him well-rested for the post-season so I doubt if he'll see more than 20-25 min a night on average as long as everybody's healthy.

The best part of tonight besides the return of Delonte: I don't recall seeing Shaq and Z on the floor at the same time! Hallelujiah! Maybe Coach Charlie Brown finally figured out that's a terrible idea! PLEASE let it be so! They play much better in separate rotations. Much better. Z looked sooooo much more alert and comfortable when he was playing with the starting lineup from last year! He rebounded well, scored well and even played good defense -- 5 blocked shots! (Of course he's still very slow, but... )

Mo, Andy and DWest all looked good. (Except for Mo making too many turnovers -- 5.) And LeBron, of course, was LeBron! Parker and Moon seem to be getting a little more comfortable each game. So there were lots of pluses.

Then there's Boo-Boo. Once again, no consistency. After having a good game the night before, he went 0-3 FGs , 0-1 three pointer, 0 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 personal fouls in under 15 min. He also had 4 rebounds and 1 steal so he wasn't a total waste of playing time. But we wouldn't have missed him had he not played.

[Wahoo1324]

Yeah! And Delonte played! And played very well!

Yeah, it was good to see him come back strong. I really think he's still going to be a big part of the offense this year.

Shaq's doing fine, IMO. He was brought here to give us a presence under the basket and defense down the middle and he's doing that; anything else he gives us is a bonus.

Agreed. He's getting the job done.