NBA 2008-09 Season

**HD MM** · 01-19-2009 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by SandraC

HD, where did you get this preview from?

Sandra

The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index....owledge_r.html

**SabresRule** · 01-19-2009 11:22 PM

THOSE DAMN SPURS KEEP SURVIVING!

**salsadancer7** · 01-20-2009 07:56 AM

Well....last night, that was a clinic! Damn I HATE KOBE, but he showed why he IS the best player in the world....tape it up and let's go. Though the shooting was about even, Kobe and his team outplayed Lebron and his. Truth be told, it was more like out coached. Jackson made the proper adjustments, Brown didn't.

BUT, it was the 1st time I saw a COMPLETE Cavs game and I was impressed. Their weakest link, the head coach...and I think he is decent. Reminds of a Doug Collins when he took over the Chicago Bulls with a buddy star in a young Michael Jordan.

**HD MM** · 01-20-2009 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by salsadancer7

Well....last night, that was a clinic! Damn I HATE KOBE, but he showed why he IS the best player in the world....tape it up and let's go. Though the shooting was about even, Kobe and his team outplayed Lebron and his. Truth be told, it was more like out coached. Jackson made the proper adjustments, Brown didn't.

BUT, it was the 1st time I saw a COMPLETE Cavs game and I was impressed. Their weakest link, the head coach...and I think he is decent. Reminds of a Doug Collins when he took over the Chicago Bulls with a buddy star in a young Michael Jordan.

If you were impressed by last nights performance, you should've seen them 1 month ago when we were healthy and firing on all cylinders. Last night the Cavs were a shell of what what they're capable of.

I've stated before my concerns when Big Z and Delonte West went down. The Lakers exposed our hole at the Center position last night. We got dominated in the inside.

Hats off to the Lakers though. They took advantage of the situation.

**salsadancer7** · 01-20-2009 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by HD MM

If you were impressed by last nights performance, you should've seen them 1 month ago when we were healthy and firing on all cylinders. I've stated before my concerns when Big Z and Delonte West went down. The Lakers exposed our hole at the Center position last night. We got dominated in the inside.

Hats off to the Lakers though. They took advantage of the situation.

Well...I am taking NOTHING away from the AMAZING start the Cavs kicked off their season with, they really didn't play alot of the better teams. Notice how their games have been closer. When they started to play the Celtics, Hawks, Magic, Heat, Pistons....those games were alot closer. The 2nd half of the season, they will not surprise alot of people like I think they did early. The Bad teams will still be bad, but they will play better and tougher...the mediocre teams will be decent and the good teams, barring any injuries, they will be better. League has realize they must use the same approached the EARLY Bulls teams with Michael Jordan....Let Michael get his points and stop everyone else because that will be easier to do that try to stop Lebron.

**Ramy** · 01-20-2009 08:49 AM

When they interviewed Kobe he said he has never had that much pain and that he isn't going to have surgery. He will just play through the pain and go on.

**salsadancer7** · 01-20-2009 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by ramy

When they interviewed Kobe he said he has never had that much pain and that he isn't going to have surgery. He will just play through the pain and go on.

I really dislike the guy, but gott give him his props!

Here is something I read from Andande's recent piece for ESPN to continue the debate of Kobe vs. Lebron:

I thought I had a definitive answer last week after a former NBA player with championship rings explained why he gave the edge to Kobe. He looked at what happened when they were Olympic teammates and pointed to the gold-medal game in Beijing. The United States wouldn't have won it without Bryant. The U.S. assembled a roster of stars, and whom did it need when it mattered most? Kobe.

Both have benefited from taking on each other's qualities. LeBron needed more of Kobe's ruthlessness, the desire -- the need -- to take over games when the situation called for it. Kobe flourished when he adopted LeBron's willingness to involve his teammates. Could it be we have chosen the wrong measurement, that instead of sizing them up to determine the worthiest heir to Michael Jordan, we really should be assessing them as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the two parallel players who gave the league its juice in the 1980s?

The player said the reason you're seeing a better LeBron this season, especially at the defensive end, is that he spent the summer practicing and playing with Kobe and saw Kobe's commitment to be the best.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...eLeBron-090119

**Paul Wozniak** · 01-20-2009 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by HD MM;1670354[B

]If you were impressed by last nights performance,[/B] you should've seen them 1 month ago when we were healthy and firing on all cylinders. Last night the Cavs were a shell of what what they're capable of.

I've stated before my concerns when Big Z and Delonte West went down. The Lakers exposed our hole at the Center position last night. We got dominated in the inside.

Hats off to the Lakers though. They took advantage of the situation.

I wasn't.

**Skyhi** · 01-20-2009 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Paul Wozniak

I wasn't.

I wasn't impressed with the Cavs last night either. Too many stretches of sloppy possessions and missed jumpers.

**HD MM** · 01-20-2009 02:08 PM

That's what I was saying guys. I was not impressed with the Cavs either.

To an outsider (Salsa) though, this goes to show you how much we've improved since last year. Plus, we're without Z and Delonte. If everyone can stay healthy and get back to the type of game they were playing in early December, we're gonna scare a lot of teams come playoff time....