air's Cavs dynasty

[air]

DETROIT ADVANCES WITH GREAT DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCE

Detroit 86
Cleveland 73
Detroit wins series 4-2

Cleveland Cavs' fans did not get the display they wanted from their team in game six of the Eastern Conference quarter finals. In fact, it didn't really come down to how well Cleveland played, as it was an amazing defensive game by Detroit. Ben Wallace was the key player, doing everything he wanted under the basket, grabbing offensive rebounds, making crazy blocks from behind LeBron James' back and making a fool of Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Detroit already had a 48-34 lead at the half, and extended the lead to as much as 27, until dejected Cleveland players took their anger and disappointment out by scoring points. Detroit won the game by thirteen points. Looking at the figures it wasn't such a bad game by the Cavs, but Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas should have grabbed their rebounds earlier than the fourth quarter. Detroit still had more rebounds and a whopping 16 blocks.

"This loss would be easier to take in if we'd played a closer game. I can't believe they outplayed us that bad", said LeBron James.

Teams (points/rebounds unless otherwise indicated):

Cleveland
C Ilgauskas 10/8
F Gooden 4/8
F James 30/3
G Newble 4
G McInnis 8/3 ast

Peeler 6
Snow 2
Traylor 2
Varejao 0/8
Jackson 5
Diop 2

Detroit
C B. Wallace 16/6/5 blk
F R. Wallace 14/7/3 blk
F Prince 6/8/3 blk
G Hamilton 17
G Billups 9

McDyess 6/6
Hunter 12/3 ast
Ham 0/3/3 blk
Milicic 2/5
Arroyo 4

Player of the game:
R. Wallace DET 14/7/3 blk

Pictures:


This is...


...how it...


...all went.

air's note:
What a way to go out. It was disappointing but you know, I've already played through the off-season!! And there's a new-look Cavs, more on that later.

[air]

PLAYOFFS - FIRST ROUND

EAST
1 Detroit 4
8 Cleveland 2

4 Boston 3
5 Philadelphia 4

3 Miami 0
6 Indiana 4

2 New Jersey 4
7 Chicago 2

WEST
1 San Antonio 4
8 Sacramento 2

4 Dallas 2
5 Denver 4

3 Phoenix 1
6 Houston 4

2 Minnesota 4
7 LA Clippers 1

CONFERENCE SEMIS

EAST
1 Detroit 1
5 Philadelphia 4

6 Indiana 1
2 New Jersey 4

WEST
1 San Antonio 4
5 Denver 3

6 Houston 4
2 Minnesota 1

CONFERENCE FINALS

EAST
5 Philadelphia 2
2 New Jersey 4

WEST
1 San Antonio 4
6 Houston 3

FINALS

2 New Jersey 4
1 San Antonio 1

So the Nets are champions. I wonder if Mercer was playing center... well I suppose the CPU doesn't try to get the center in foul trouble if there's no backup... and they survived.

Nets championship-winning team:

C N. Krstic
F J. Collins
F R. Jefferson
G V. Carter
G J. Kidd
sixth man A. Wright

[zmac]

That hurts, that must really hurt!
You were up 2-1 and they got back and won 3 in a row....

[Jugs]

Bad luck losing against the PIstons, this is a great dynasty and well done to the Nets for winning the Finals. Good luck for the offseason, hopefully your team can expand

[colickyboy]

really tough if you big men (C, PF) can't score. well, sounds like you had a good off-season so i'm looking forward to it...

[Kemp]

This is a very tough series, but still the Cavs showed why they are a playoff team. I am looking forward to see the new Cavs. Your dynasty is very updated and I very enjoy watching all the cool previews, recaps and pics. Goodluck on the new look Cavs.

[Kobe101]

Wow that was one fast season!

Go get some good free agents!

[air]

zmac Posted:

That hurts, that must really hurt!
You were up 2-1 and they got back and won 3 in a row....

Well, I went further than I thought I would. But I was shaking my head a bit after game six. Couldn't believe the difference between the teams. Checked out your Cavs dynasty too (will post also).

Doodle Posted:

Bad luck losing against the PIstons, this is a great dynasty and well done to the Nets for winning the Finals. Good luck for the offseason, hopefully your team can expand

Thanks for the kind words. Offseason coverage coming up shortly!

colickyboy Posted:

really tough if you big men (C, PF) can't score. well, sounds like you had a good off-season so i'm looking forward to it...

Cheers. Ben Wallace must be the best player I've played against, or close.

Kemp40 Posted:

This is a very tough series, but still the Cavs showed why they are a playoff team. I am looking forward to see the new Cavs. Your dynasty is very updated and I very enjoy watching all the cool previews, recaps and pics. Goodluck on the new look Cavs.

Cheers! Good to know you're supporting!! As I said, offseason coming up shortly!

Kobe101 Posted:

Wow that was one fast season! Go get some good free agents!

Already got em! Hopefully I can get through a few of these 29-game seasons. They are pretty quick if you play a lot.

[air]

by Chuck Collins, cleveland.com sports writer

KIDD NAMED FINALS MVP
New Jersey Nets' point guard Jason Kidd was named NBA Finals MVP, averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in the finals (sim quarter length 10 min).

TORONTO GET FIRST PICK
Toronto Raptors were drawn to get the number one pick in this year's NBA Draft. Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats got the second and third picks respectively. Cleveland Cavs have pick number 15.

CLEVELAND LET PLAYERS GO
Cleveland Cavs have decided not to re-sign any of their players whose contracts have run out. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jeff McInnis, Anthony Peeler, DeSagana Diop and Scott Williams will all become free agents.

RAPTORS PICK ONYANGO
Toronto Raptors expectedly picked 6'3 shooting guard Walter Onyango with their first pick. The exciting Korean-born prospect is a deadly shooter but can also hold his own on the defensive end.

Orlando Magic chose 6'8 power forward Bandele Friedman, a strong rebounder out of Fresno State.

Charlotte Bobcats went for Demian Reirden, also a 6'8 power forward, and Washington continued the trend choosing Soulis Dykhuis, power forward at... 6'8.

A rare 6'11 small forward Keenan Seynabou went to New York with the fifth pick.

Cleveland Cavaliers picked 7'1 center Ambrose Hawken with the 15th pick. In the second round, they chose 6'2 point guard Leander Elie. More to come later on the Cavs rookies.

CAVS LAND FREE AGENT HUGHES
Cleveland Cavs reported a major signing in shooting guard Larry Hughes. The 6'6 shooter comes in on a lucrative $62 million, six-year deal. He is expected to help LeBron James in making the Cavaliers a force in the NBA playoffs.

KIRILENKO CHOOSES CHARLOTTE
Charlotte Bobcats have signed free agent Andrei Kirilenko. He is definitely their biggest acquisition to date.

CAVS SIGN MIKE JAMES
Cleveland Cavs have strengthened their point guard position by signing free agent Mike James, who comes in to replace Jeff McInnis.

CAVS SIGN DERMARR JOHNSON
Cleveland Cavs have made another free agent signing, this time bringing in 6'9 shooting guard DerMarr Johnson.

BATTIE ARRIVES IN CLEVELAND
Cleveland Cavs have traded point guard Eric Snow and center Martynas Andriuskevicius for Orlando Magic center Tony Battie. The nine-year veteran will most likely be starting center after Zydrunas Ilgauskas was not re-signed by the team.

ILGAUSKAS SIGNS FOR ATLANTA
Former Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has signed for the Atlanta Hawks.

PEELER SIGNS AGAIN FOR CAVS
In what could be their final move before the start of the new season, Cleveland Cavs have decided to sign shooting guard Anthony Peeler. Peeler was initially let go but the Cavs have decided to give the veteran another year in the team.

MORE TO COME ON CAVALIERS' NEW PLAYERS!
Once the season begins, new Cleveland players will all be introduced to our readers. The rookies will be featured before the season begins. Stay tuned!

[Kobe101]

Nice signings dude! Good job!

[air]

Meet the new Cavaliers
by Chuck Collins, cleveland.com sports writer

Hawken is ready for the NBA



With the 15th pick in the draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted an exciting 7'1, 267-pound center Ambrose Hawken. Having caught the eye of NBA scouts playing his freshman year of college ball at Tennessee, Hawken decided he was ready to take the step into the pros. Physically, he should have no problem adapting to the NBA.

"That's what people were telling me", he says. "I was told I have an NBA body and I think so too, but height, strength and quickness alone doesn't get you anywhere in this league. But it's a good start."

Cleveland fans can rest assured, though, that Hawken has more to his game than what he's achieved working out. He always seems to know where the ball will fly off the rim and he has been an outstanding rebounder in high school and college.

Hawken will play as backup to Tony Battie and Anderson Varejao.

Elie will not back down



Cleveland Cavs' second round draft pick for this year is 6'2, 200-pound point guard Leander Elie. After three years at Georgia Tech, Elie entered the draft in order to take his game to the next level.

"I'm a competitor", he says. "I need challenges. My next challenge is to get to play regularly for the Cleveland Cavaliers."

Elie is certainly right about him being a competitor. If things weren't going his way in college games, he got his attention lunging for loose balls or challenging a bigger opponent. In fact, he is more known for his toughness and energetic defence than he is for ball-handling or passing.

Whether his abilities will be enough to convince Cavs' coach Paul Silas of giving him playing time remains to be seen. Cleveland have a new point guard in Mike James, and Dajuan Wagner could switch to the point because of a slight shooting guard overload situation.

[air]

Cheers, Kobe101. I figured it will take some time to learn how to make the best use of Hughes but there you go, should be interesting.

[air]

by Chuck Collins, cleveland.com sports writer

CAVS MAKE ANOTHER PRE-SEASON TRADE
Cleveland Cavs have traded small forward Luke Jackson, shooting guard Anthony Peeler and rookie point guard Leander Elie to the Detroit Pistons for point guard Carlos Arroyo. This trade will most likely solve the problem the Cavs had with lack of point guards, but leaves the team with just 12 players on the roster.

CAVS SIGN FREE AGENTS
Cleveland Cavs have reported the signing of two free agents before their season-opening game against the Denver Nuggets. 6'7 small forward Matt Barnes and 6'7 power forward Ryan Gomes both join the Cleveland team on one-year deals.

[air]

So this is how the roster looks at the start of the new season. I changed some players' positions, like Traylor to PF, Varejao to C and Newble to SF as I think these are the positions they will be playing this season.

[Isaiah]

some good moves you made...YOULL BE BACK NEXT SEASON!

[Keo]

Huge off-season moves there, Philly made it to the Conference finals. Good luck!

[air]

Thanks for your feedback, Isaiah214, Sensation! First game recap is here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAVS GET BLOWN OUT IN SEASON OPENER

Denver 104
Cleveland 86

Cleveland Cavs lost their season opener against the Denver Nuggets at the Gund Arena in Cleveland last night. The revamped team had three new faces starting in Tony Battie, Larry Hughes and Mike James. It was a different kind of basketball compared to last season, with several players putting up points, but the worrying thing was that the team could not stop Denver scoring. The Cavs' defence seemed to get weaker and weaker, and as the third quarter ended, the Nuggets were up by 13 points. The Cavs scored a solid 86 points, with all but one player of twelve scoring points. It's clear that the area the team needs to work on is defence. Not that their offence had been perfect either, but by the looks of it offence will be much easier for this group of players to master. LeBron James led the Cavs with 27 and Larry Hughes had a decent 15 points to start with. Carmelo Anthony and Julius Hodge were on fire for the Nuggets with 25 and 23 points respectively. Kenyon Martin took care of the inside with 16 and 12 rebounds.

"I don't think I need to tell you what we're going to work on", said LeBron James after the game. "We must communicate better on defence."

The Cavs have another home game coming up in two days' time against Orlando.

Starters:
Denver (1-0 before game)
C M. Camby
F K. Martin
F C. Anthony
G J. Hodge
G A. Miller

Cleveland (0-0 before game)
C T. Battie
F D. Gooden
F L. James
G L. Hughes
G M. James

Player of the game:
Anthony DEN 25/3

Box scores:
Nuggets
Cavs

Pictures:


Hawken scores his first NBA points here.


Hughes goes in hard.


Hodge catches an alley-oop pass.

[Isaiah]

ANOTHER BAD START?!?!?!?! it was tough to lose at

anyway, some players are still new and might not be able to really get the feel of "Cavs basketball" yet. just work on your chemistry, and youll be fine...

also, dont make turn this team from the "Cleveland Cavaliers" to the "LeBron Show"...dont force the issue. its just my opinion

[colickyboy]

nice offseason. i think the problem is your shooting %...when you had denver, it was much higher. of course, the personnel is different here in cleveland interior-wise...

[Keo]

The LeBron vs. Carmelo matchup. Too bad you lost the game, you didn't want to start the season this way. Plus you lost to your old team, hopefully you can take the next one.

[[C][B]#4]

I always thought you should always start off your season strong with a W, especially if itz a home opener. Too bad you lost...hopefully with the new lineup you could aim for above .500 this season

[Devin112]

Sucks man, sorry to hear about the loss.

Gooden has to step it up.

good luck with the next game.

[air]

Isaiah214 Posted:

also, dont make turn this team from the "Cleveland Cavaliers" to the "LeBron Show"...dont force the issue. its just my opinion

I'm not trying to but the fact is, LeBron is now rated 95 and can pretty much do whatever he wants. I'm trying to get him his shots because he will score.

colickyboy Posted:

nice offseason. i think the problem is your shooting %...when you had denver, it was much higher. of course, the personnel is different here in cleveland interior-wise...

Cheers. I realize that, I could have gone for Gasol also but with these sliders it's not that easy to score from the inside either. Well, at least it's a challenge.

Sensation Posted:

The LeBron vs. Carmelo matchup. Too bad you lost the game, you didn't want to start the season this way. Plus you lost to your old team, hopefully you can take the next one.

Somehow, he [Anthony] always manages to get those points no matter how you try to guard him.

[C][B]#4 Posted:

I always thought you should always start off your season strong with a W, especially if itz a home opener. Too bad you lost...hopefully with the new lineup you could aim for above .500 this season

I also had high hopes, a bit higher than just .500. But it takes time, I've got to go one game at a time.

Devin112 Posted:

Sucks man, sorry to hear about the loss. Gooden has to step it up.

After the Orlando game (coming up next) he really, really needs to step it up.

[air]

DWIGHT HOWARD STEALS WIN FROM CLEVELAND

Orlando 86
Cleveland 82

Cleveland Cavs fans have every reason to be disappointed with the start of the team's season. After a defeat against the Denver Nuggets, they went down against the Orlando Magic despite holding a double-digit lead in the third quarter. Much of the credit for Orlando's comeback goes to power forward Dwight Howard, who simply could not miss a shot. Well, he missed one, but 14 for 15 is an impressive record from the field for any player. Howard finished with 28 points, 14 of them in the final quarter. Drew Gooden was no match for him. The Cavs played a decent game through two and a half quarters, but lost their defence again somewhere in the third quarter. LeBron James scored 32 and Larry Hughes added 17, whereas Robert Traylor was on his way to a good performance with 10 points until he injured himself.

"I think we've got some good players here. We're just not working well enough as a team", said shooter Larry Hughes.

The Cavs travel to Chicago to meet the Bulls next.

Starters:
Orlando (1-0 before game)
C K. Cato
F D. Howard
F G. Hill
G H. Turkoglu
G S. Francis

Cleveland (0-1 before game)
C T. Battie
F D. Gooden
F L. James
G L. Hughes
G M. James

Player of the game:
Howard ORL 28/6

Box scores:
Magic
Cavs

Pictures:


Hughes gets some points on the fast break.


At this point, all was well. Check the score.


But Howard started scoring and couldn't stop.

[Kobe101]

Tough losses man! Hope you can bounce back!