As everyone knows, the Cavs went into last night's game having the chance to equal one of the most impressive records in NBA history, that being the all time best home record held by one of the NBA's all time best teams, the 1985-86 Celtics, who went 40-1 on their home court that season.In one of the worst decisions in sports history, Mike Brown decided to rest his starters for the Playoffs last night, and the Cavs lost. LeBron, Mo Williams, and Ilgauskas sat for the whole game, and Varejao and Delonte West sat out the second half. Now the 2008-09 Cavs are merely the 5th team to finish a season with a home record of 39-2.
Brown announced his decision before the game, and LeBron was supportive.
According to the ABJ's George Thomas, "Brown said the decision rests with him, and he's willing to deal with any fallout that might come from whatever decision he makes."
As for LeBron, ''We have to do what's best for the ring,'' he said. ''We got homecourt advantage already. We're not fighting for breaking a record anymore. We're fighting for that ring. So what Mike says goes.
'And I'm with Mike. If Mike wants to rest some of the big guys — myself, I'm going to sit out on Wednesday — I'm all for that because the playoffs, you've got to be fresh. You've got to be fresh.''
How fresh do you got to be, Bron? Your series against the 8th-seeded Pistons doesn't start until Saturday, April 18th. And, with the NBA's excruciatingly long made-for-TV-but-not-for-fans Playoff schedule, it's not scheduled to end until MAY 3RD. There are two days off between nearly every pair of games in the series, and the Series is likely to end after four or five games anyway. That's all kinds of opportunity for freshness there, buddy.
MOREOVER, If we were NBA players, we know what would make us feel extra extra fresh -- that is, going into the Playoffs, not only with homecourt advantage throughout, but also with THE BEST G*DDAM HOME RECORD OF ALL TIME, ONLY EQUALLED BY ONE OF THE BEST G*DDAM TEAMS OF ALL TIME. That would be called going into the Playoffs with some serious swag.
At least our favorite Cav, Delonte West, gets it: "We had guys who hadn't played that much all season trying to get a win against a tough team that was in desperate need of a win," said Delonte West, who appeared frustrated he was benched for the second half for caution's sake," according to the Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst. "With all the support the fans were giving us being one game away from history, it may not mean a lot to a lot of people but I've never been apart of anything. It meant a lot to me. I credit the guys who tried to win it for us, but I think we could've had an easy chance to win this game."
Exactly. There's just no doubt the Cavs and the Q lost something big last night. Home crowds are more important in basketball than they are in any of the other major sports. By not playing to win, the Cavs let at least some of the air out of the very very good thing they have going at the Q. We know that a great many of the fans who paid good money for the tickets to last night's game to see one of the NBA's most impressive records broken are a lot of the same people who will pay good money for Playoff tickets throughout. Windhorst chose to write about how much fun last night's game was, seemingly deliberately protecting Brown by not so much as questioning his decision. Bull$hit. Breaking that record would have been fun. The Q crowd could have carried into and through the Playoffs the knowledge that it was the best home crowd in NBA history. It would have been tons of fun for everyone to make that kind of history and, more, it would have been a huge momentum builder for the Cavs and the home crowd to ride into the Playoffs. It would have given the Cavs an aura of invincibility on their home court that "tied with five for second best ever" just doesn't get them.
What if you were a Cavs opponent who knew you had to win on the Cavs home floor? Do you really believe it wouldn't be harder for you to go in there knowing that you had to play on the toughest home floor in NBA history? That you were playing a team that did something that had only been done by Bird, McHale, and the Chief on one of the baddest teams in NBA history? Now those guys don't have to think that. That has to make a difference. Why wouldn't you want to put yourself up on a plane with those guys and nobody else? Why wouldn't you take the chance to elevate the Q to the status of that Boston Garden? We're pretty sure that that's what Delonte was getting at. As a former Celtic, maybe it's easier for him to understand this than it is for the others.
To deliberately forgo the chance at this record based on the small chance that someone might get hurt is a decision that reeks of fear, smelling a lot more like a decision made by a guy who's more afraid to screw something up than like one by a guy who's focused on and confident about the task at hand. Surely the Cavs opponents can smell that too. Someone could get hurt in any game. All-time greatness is worth a small amount of risk. This reflects incredibly poorly on Coach Brown's decisionmaking as the Cavs head toward a seemingly inevitable NBA Finals clash with a team led by one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.
Huge huge bummer.
*We used to play in a stickball league with a guy who was kind of a jerk. That guy would be an especially big jerk when he was pitching, and especially when he was pitching poorly. One day he gave up back to back home runs, and one of the league's best hitters gleefully entered the batters box announcing that back to back to back home runs had never happened in league history. Jerk pitcher ended up striking this guy out, and after he did, exclaimed, "way to make history, dipsh*t." That was a good one.
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UPDATE: Rick at WFNY responds to this post with a post of his own. Good stuff, most of which will be addressed in our NBA Playoff Preview.
UPDATE: Our guy Jeff Sack at Slam Dunk Central, a Cavs fan, disagrees with us.
UPDATE: Skeets puts us the 10 slot at his daily 10-man rotation at Ball Don't Lie -- "10th: Cleveland Frowns. "In one of the worst decisions in sports history, Mike Brown decided to rest his starters for the Playoffs last night, and the Cavs lost." Wow. A little much, no?
Note: "rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out."
Posts
95 comments:
Of course, the only way to contact Windhorst is during his livechats. We're stuck at work today and won't be able to participate, otherwise we'd love to ask him why he's not more critical of Brown's decision.
If anyone has the inclination, we'd very much appreciate it. The chat starts at noon. If you get the question up there and answered, we will do a separate feature post on it. Here's a link:
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/04/talk_cavaliers_with_brian_wind.html
Stupid blogger. Here's the link cut in half for you. Sorry.
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/04
/talk_cavaliers_with_brian_wind.html
Out of curiosity--"freshness" aside--had LeBron played the game, and then blew out his ACL in the third quarter (or any quarter for that matter), would you have criticized Mike Brown for playing his starters in a game whose only meaning otherwise was (potentially--there are no guarantees the Cavs would have won even if LeBron or the other guys played) tying a record? Or would you have been fine with it?
I think that's the issue here. It's very easy to judge these things in retrospect.
What history???
Come on man, TIED with Boston for the best HOME record? Did you know what that record was before the season began? If they set that record and lost in the playoffs would you really hang your hat it? Would you look back at this season and say "Yeah, but we were 40-1 at home!"
Ridiculous. And if Z or Mo had gotten hurt you would have blasted Brown for playing them.
I agree with Will. I think you are 100% dead wrong here. I am fairly certain no one had any idea who had the best home record of all-time until earlier this year. Who gives a shit?? All I care about is the greater good and the fact that this team is going to make a run. Do you think teams are less scared of us because 1/3 of our team lost to Philly by 1 point in the last home game of the season?? I would not expect this sort of idiocy out of you.
I also want to add that it also gave the bench players a little confidence heading into the playoffs. Don't you think Wally, Boobie and D-Block feel pretty good that they could hang with the first team?? It has to feel pretty decent to have a nice night when the spotlight is on you. I think it could do wonders for them in a few days.
I'm a 99%er in my agreement with Frownie, but this is my 1% dissent.
It was clear from watching the game last night that Mike Brown wanted to win. He drew up fantastic plays down the stretch and showed what a good coach he is by getting rag-tag players into overtime. What he didn't want to do was have any key player hurt. As a lover of Cleveland sports I'm glad Mike Brown did what he did because freakish things happen in this town. Frowns should be happy that Delonte got benched - that is a good sign he's going to get quality minutes in the playoffs where it matters. Look, Delonte is a great player and I like him too, but I'm not looking to him to make big picture or long term decisions. As an example, there was a point in Delonte's life where he walked into a tattoo parlor and said "could you ink that real big on my neck?" I bet it was real cool at the time, but in the long run that isn't going to help things. Neither would a win last night.
We realize that you folks want to stay confident about the Cavs and Mike Brown. We just call em as we see em.
We edited the post to add this comment:
"Someone could get hurt in any game. All-time greatness is worth a small amount of risk."
ENERGY is what we're talking about here. There's ENERGY that comes with being the all-time best.
The Q crowd could have gone into and through the playoffs believing that it was the all time best home crowd of all time. You think the scoreboard operators couldn't have made something of that? You think the crowd would have even needed the scoreboard operators to make something of that?
All thrown away because of the small chance that someone might get hurt. What if someone hurts themselves in the first game of the playoffs?
And we're disappointed that our integrity is being questioned here.
We guarantee we would be defending Coach Brown if someone got hurt last night.
And Rick, as for nobody knowing about the record, how does that matter? Anyone who would have considered it would have had to assume it was a pretty g*ddam awesome team that had that record, and they'd have been right. And we know about the record now, and we know the Cavs don't have it, even though they had an excellent chance at it.
The Q crowd could have gone into and through the playoffs knowing it was the all-time best crowd in NBA history.
It's the context in which you get injured that matters. Sure, players can get injured at the opening tip of round 1. But they're playing when we need them. By no means--other than tying a record that no one had heard of until this season--did we need any players in last night's game. They could've had (since it was fan appreciation night) fans come out and play and it wouldn't have made a difference. I imagine most folks would look at that and say--why bother playing guys and costing the Cavs at a championship in that type of affair?
And again--did anyone really know about this record until this season?
The reality is, yes, it's disappointing. Yes, I bet even LeBron wanted to tie that record. I was at the game and, yes, there was definite melancholy after the loss. But is this anything we'll care about when the Pistons come to town this weekend?
Long post but three other points:
1) The Pistons are the perfect team to face after this game. If the Cavs can't say, let's take care of our rivals, in this game, who can? Arguably the Cavs might have a chip on their shoulder and "get back to defending" home court.
2) I think the other risk of having the starters play against the Sixers is that they play--and lose. Sure, unlikely scenario but basketball is a game of streaks. If LeBron plays and loses that game, there's a chance other teams look at that loss and say, hey, average teams can beat the Cavs at home. As it is, players in the league will know LeBron & Co. weren't playing and so the loss is largely meaningless from a momentum perspective.
3) As an attenuated--and I hope unintended side benefit--of the Cavs' loss, the Sixers actually jumped up to sixth place, despite being an inferior team to the Bulls (who are surging after their mid-season acquisitions). This means the likely opponent for the Cavs if they get to the conference finals, the Celtics, now has to deal with the surging Bulls, not a Sixers team that almost lost to Jawad Williams & Co. Usually I don't care about matchups but this means the already-injured Kevin Garnett will need to expend more energy, earlier, and frankly, he's too old to be going through this. So I'm pleased we're making Garnett's life a little harder, and it could pay dividends down the road if he reaggravates his old bones.
Hmm...interesting article here...but I'm affraid Im not agreeing with you. As far as Im concerned This so called "great accomplishment" went out the door when they lost to the lakers back in march. If they had been undefeated going into this game then you can have a beef with this- but in this situation you are way off base. There is absolutly no reason to play the starters in a meaningless game other than to TIE a record b/c of the risk of injury/rest to our guys. And yes Lebron can get hurt in the first game of the playoffs-god forbid, but at least he would be doing in a meaningful game, not for selfish reasons, such as a record.
There would be a more negative vibe in the building had Z gotten hurt going into the playoffs, than what there is now with a loss by the Rookies to a playoff team.
That WAS good one.
Cross sport-parallel to show why you're wrong: the 2007 New England Patriots. Yeah, they went undefeated in the regular season.
So what?
As the EXACT SAME Stickball pitcher said, it don't mean a thing if you ain't got the ring.
Also, wouldn't having the best record potentially set them up for being all "Can they live up to it?" in the playoffs, instead of just letting them play their games?
Agree that if the Cavs don't win the Championship this doesn't make a difference, but think that this would have greatly helped the Cavs win the title in adding to the aura of invincibility they have at home.
Addressed the "nobody knew about the record" point above.
And we have to worry more about the Magic than we do the Celtics anyway. Would rather have the Magic have the tougher road, which is another reason why this was a bad decision.
re: 2007 Patriots, wasn't it the Giants decision not to rest their starters in the last game that folks credit for them winning the Championship?
like we said, we agree it doesn't mean a thing if they don't win the title, but this would have helped them do that.
But the Patriots didn't rest their starters, either. There's a difference when you're trying to MAKE the playoffs and want to be hot coming in than when you're ready to play. Actually, I think the argument is even better in basketball than it is in football, because football teams can lose it all on one bad day and it's good to stay sharp.
I understand your point here, but the proof will be in the pudding. If they lose, I don't think you'll be going back to the last day, blaming it, or saying "Well we could have at least gotten the best home record." You'll just be pissed that they lost.
Totally different dynamic between the 16-0 football season and 40-1 home record. Apples and oranges.
You cannot compare football playoffs to NBA playoffs. as football is one game the better team may not always win. In football you have to stay hot, whereas basketball is a drawn out 7 game series that is way different in format...retrospect you have beat the team just once in football in advance, 4 times in baseketball...apples and oranges...
As for the matchups, no we want the Celtics to have the harder road, as they are the defending champs- AKA "the team to beat"
It's the same principle to go for things that do not ultimately matter for fleeting glory rather than keeping your eyes on the ultimate prize. The exact same. They may be apples and oranges but when you think about it, apples and oranges are more similar to each other than they are to steak, or a telephone.
Sir,
I do not think you can justify this in any way, shape or form. I don't know how you can honestly think it was the wrong decision. It really seems asinine to me and most of the others on here.
I don't think it's asinine, but I think it's just a fleeting thing and not worth the fuss.
I love the Frowns commentariat, though — WE WRITE MORE COMMENTS BEFORE 10 A.M. THAN YOU WRITE ALL DAY!
KG is out for the first round, if not the whole playoffs Rivers is telling the media...not sure if I believe anything about Boston injuries after Paul Pierce was wheeled off ina wheelchair last year and returned
Frownies once again you are proving your piss poor and illogical reasoning when it comes to the NBA. NOBODY cares about the home record, only thing that matters is winning the championship. Every coach in the nba, including Phil Jackson, arguably the GOAT would've done the same exact thing!
Rest is one thing, but risk management is the key here. A twisted ankle to any of the guys who sat would've been devastating.
FYI - KG out for playoffs!!
Frowns - Will is right. You are an idiot. If only there was a blog that this Will ran, I would read that everyday instead of yours.
KG out for the playoffs= FTW!!
"anything isn't possible..." -KG 2009
Frowns,
I got a question for you. If the Cavs win the Championship this year, your theory on the "Curse of Chief Wahoo" would be wrong. So when it comes to the Cavs playoff run, do you want them to win, eventhough it would make you wrong? Or would you want them to lose to be right?
Consider this: Your argument against Chief Wahoo loses steam if people only think its a racial insensitivity instead of a curse on the Cleveland sports teams.
Gotta side with the gang here...who are we to judge what's best for the team...let's leave that to THE TEAM! Will summed it up best.
You guys are a bunch of HOMERS. Keep giving our Coaches free passes on bad decisions and our teams will keep on losing.
You guys are COMPLETELY ignoring the aura of home court invincibility that would have come with that record.
NotManBearPig makes a good point about if this Will guy had a blog, by the way. We'll have to investigate further.
Voyear asks an excellent question, which will be addressed in our playoff preview. STAY TUNED.
I'm a Cleveland homer?
I am a homer?? I hate the Browns moves for about 9 years running. I am also very critical of plenty of local moves. I just think you are wrong.
BREAKING NEWS---John Madden is retiring!!! What a great overalll day so far!!
Bro are u serious?? So 39-2 at home doesn't bring an "aura of home court invincibility"???? Please pass me the pise you're smokin homie!
Btw if we lose any home games to eastern teams it's not cuz we "let air out of the building", it's cuz the other team beat us. At the end of the day the players need to make plays and the best team almost always win, regardless of home records, etc. Regular season is OVER. We did what we needed to do, secure home court throughout, now it's 0-0 and first to 16 wins.
First round spoiler alert: SIXERS beats Magic in 7!
Rick at WFNY just responded with his own post:
http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/?p=10251
Ah Frownies. I love ya, but it is disappointing to see you to fall victim to Bill Plaschke/Mike Lupica style posting. By that I mean giving an "unpopular" opinion just to get the attention. Otherwise known as the "Around the Horn" system. Your arguments fail to satisfy the Rule 11 standard. I would sanction you if I were the Court.
I hope you posted this only because you are playing Devil's Advocate and knew it would get people fired up. If you actually believe it...well, wow. I mean, wow.
Ill say it again Invincibilty of the cavs at home went out the door when they lost to the Lakers at home back in March...there focus after that loss was to have home court throughout the whole playoffs- which was secured with their win on Monday night. Now wednesday comes along, and is meaningless...cant even comprehend your stance on this frowner...but anyways the new season has started no regular season matters a bit in the playoffs...Go Cavs.
I can't even fathom that anyone would care about "TYING" a record of most home wins. What does that have to do with anything? No one cares if you don't win the ring... wow we had the best home record of all time!! whoopeedoo
And what is this "aura of invincibility" and why is it different for a 40-1 than a 39-2 team?? I still can't believe this is an actual argument...
Exactly 40-1...39-2 not much difference.....now 41-0 Gosh damn thats impressive- but as i said before that invincibility went out the door in March with loss to lakers.
totally agree Lenny... if they could have been the first team to go undefeated at home, THEN I think the injury risk would be worth it. My biggest issue is TYING a record that is meaningless.
Also, here is the real big story of the day in the NBA:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/news?id=4073024
Moral of the story: KG may be out for the whole playoffs.
And that was my point w/r/t the Patriots -- the point is not a basketball or football-specific one, the idea is to keep sight on the ultimate goal and not the side stuff.
Agreed Bryan, good point, big picture, not tying some record in the regular season.
Wow 40 p
osts before noon, good work Plaschke!
The real story of the day is will cliff lee start out 0-3?? Come on tribe, let's hammer your old mate CC and bring out the boo birds from the yankee faithful!!
Bik...I root with you!
AURA OF INVINCIBILITY. Why would you throw away a chance at that?
I would throw out an aura of invincibility because I don't even know what that means
This "aura of invincibility" Is going to help the Cavs win at home in the playoffs??? come on man, you actually believe that??
And even if this did exist, the aura is greater if they went 40-1 at home instead of 39-2 and lost a game everyone knows they would have won if they had tried??? shocking to me
this is my last post about this frowner as i will move on to other topics, b/c not truely convinced you actually believe this- I might have to start calling you Skip...but i digress...
The lakers already proved that the Cavs are beatable at home, is this that aura of invincibility you speak of, b/c if it is not sure how 40-1 shows this aura, if it was 41-0 than you have a great/valid point, but its not and it has been since MARCH!
Anyways...i hope CC gets rocked by pronk in their opener, would be bittersweet for me.
You're not invincible at 40-1. Just sayin'.
(-DHM)
Agreeing with Lenny k, just to reiterate, 39-2 is pretty damn impressive, just about as impressive as 40-1. Heck, LeBron would've demanded to play if they were going for 41-0.
You may not be invincible at 40-1, but you're the BEST EVER at 40-1.
Do you really think it wouldn't make a difference to the crowd, say on a play before the Cavs need a huge defensive stop, for the PA announcer to rev up the crowd by calling them the best home crowd IN NBA HISTORY!?!?
He could have done that at EVERY HOME GAME.
We have to believe that has to be worth more than whatever small risk was avoided last night.
We refer, once again, to the high authority of Delonte West on this point.
Delonte West is bipolar, u think he really knows what he feels????
My god frownies, you really believe what ur saying??? You have lost all credibility when it comes to the NBA, absolutely pitiful. Please stop with your nonsense.
im not convinced he believes what he's saying, which is why ill give u a pass on this one...anyways its the playoffs you shouldnt need a PA announcer to tell you that you are watching the best regular season team ever...its the playoffs Regular season is thrown out the window...new season frowner.
Bik, if we are losing credibility, why did Dime Magazine just contact us to do a Cavs Playoff preview for them for Dimemag.com?
(for serious, they just emailed us. stay tuned for that.)
Congrats on the coverage! Obviously they haven't been following your cavs related posts. Not only have you been berating them all season and pointing to a few regular season games which the cavs lost for a variety of reasons including injuries, etc, and then now blasting the most likely Coach of the Year for benching his starters in a meaningless game. Yes it's meaningless, just like TYING a record.
I don't think you'll find a credible NBA writer in the country that will side with you.
Good luck with your preview, maybe you should have it scrubbed by your fellow frownies before your deadline to avoid national embarrasment.
Best. Home. Crowd. In. NBA. History.
NOT MEANINGLESS.
Speaking of dipsh*ts, the last DP the Indians hit into was pretty retarded.
Again, I highly suggest you refrain from writing that in your article because "they're all gonna laugh at you!"
If we would have played the big boys last night it would have been
Co-Best. Home. Crowd. In. NBA. History.
Not sure why you are so breathtaken by tying someone...are you a big fan of soccer? or hockey? If we could have been undefeated than your point is valid,,,but again not the case frowner...
Can frowner find anyone to agree with him other than Delonte West?? I don't see any in the comments here and I have asked 15 or so fellow Cavs fans in the last couple hours and nobody cares about tying a record.
If they needed "Best Home Team In History" as motivation, they weren't winning anyway.
i have also talked to many of my clients throughout the day as well...everyone understood the need to not play the big boys...just seems real off base for frowner to take this stance-but he does what he wants i suppose.
And if you are hanging your hat on Delonte agreeing with you then you know you are wrong, he is crazy.
Just bumped into Delonte at Long John Silver's. As he dipped his hush puppy into cocktail sauce, he quoted French Playwright Albert Guinon:
"When everyone is against you, it means that you are absolutely wrong-- or absolutely right."
D-West is OUR DUDE!
"If they needed "Best Home Team In History" as motivation, they weren't winning anyway."
As for what they needed, who knows what they need? Who knows what they'll need in game 7 against the Lakers when Mamba catches the inbounds pass? Life is a game of inches, or decibels. The inches that we need are all around us.
haha...is snowfall rubbing off on you frowner...making trips to Long Jon Silvers now are you?
good quote from an even better movie, but just cant see how 40-1 over 39-2 will make the crowd be that much louder for Game 7 of the NBA finals...just dont see the connection. I can guarantee it has no bearing on the decibel level of any game in the NBA finals- seeing as how the lakers have already defeated this "aura"
Decibels? u really think cavs fans will need any extra motivation to scream in a game 1, let alone game 7???? Unreal.
As far as mamba, that is a whole other topic.
I'm just glad we got CC's pitch count up and he'll only pitch 5 innings, unless girardi wants to overwork him which I wouldn't put past him.
This is a ridiculous argument. I didn't care about going 40-1 when I first heard about it as a possibility and I surely don't care now when we weren't able to achieve it.
Gah! The more we think about this the more we realize how right we are. We just added this paragraph to the post:
What if you were a Cavs opponent who knew you had to win on the Cavs home floor? Do you really believe it wouldn't be harder for you to go in there knowing that you had to play on the toughest home floor in NBA history? That you were playing a team that did something that had only been done by Bird, McHale, and the Chief on one of the baddest teams in NBA history? Now those guys don't have to think that. That has to make a difference. Why wouldn't you want to put yourself up with those guys? We're pretty sure that that's what Delonte was getting at.
So you agree with Delonte West over LeBron James. That's fair. I agree with LeBron James.
I think Delonte has more courage than LeBron.
Also, not surprising that Cavs fans disagree with us. They clearly don't want to believe that this was a huge screw-up.
If we would have went 41-0 at home and had home court throughout, David Stern probably would have just canceled the playoffs and dropped the NBA Championship off at Dan Gilbert's office.
Our opponents would be too afraid to play us b/c of the aura coming from going 41-0 at home. Why even play the games??
The new Archbishop of NY is in the booth for the Yankee broadcast, he is cool as shit! Knows his stuff!!
Also, Delonte, as a former Celtic, is probably more apt to understand this.
Also, the Q could have been elevated to the status of Boston Garden. WHY WOULDN'T YOU TAKE THE CHANCE TO PUT YOURSELF UP ON THAT PLANE?
THE CAVS WILL NEVAH BE THE CELTICS. HOW DAHE YOU COMPAHE LEBRON TO LARRY LEGEND. HE IS NAWT IN THE SAME CATEGORY. NO ONE DENIES THIS!!!!!!
Dude what are u smoking?? So the 40-1 home record is what gave boston garden its "aura"?? Not the 17 championships won by the celtics???????????
U might be the worst nba blogger ever. Please stop, I'm actually embarassed to say that I read this garbage.
So let me break down your argument for this
You think that a playoff caliber team will be SCARED of the Cavaliers because they are 40-1??? what the hell are you talking about were the lakers scared of us when they came into and beat us in March- NO...they said they dont give two $hits about that we are undefeated and came and played like it. No team is going to roll over, which is why a championship is so hard to come by in professional/collegiate sports. Not one team is scared by any means of another opponent, not sure why you think this- its starting to bother me....
The NBA Playoffs- the best team will prevail in a 7 game series, not any "aura" or "record" or "history" or "fear" or anything,,,the best team will win PERIOD
That's the only thing you've said that makes sense to me... I agree it would be awesome to have the Q mentioned in the same breath as the Boston Garden but I feel that has a lot more to do with NBA Titles and postseason home court record than a 40-1 regular season home record.
I think the bigger issue here than 39-2 or 40-1, as I believe Windhorst pointed out, is Delonte West's personal/psychological issues. If you recall he missed time during the preseason, for what many thought was depression. He just takes adverse events harder than others. I just hope he--a great guy and teammate by all accounts--can stay strong and happy. So far, he's a guy I really root for because he's fought through so much personally.
While I found this post interesting, I really can't believe it's generated so many comments.
BTW, the record for comments on a single post in the 'sports blog with a logo made out of diarrhea' category is 117, held by 'Bear Down', a site for Chicago food and sports enthusiasts.
Will the Frowns readers go for the record or try keep something in the tank for a more meaningful future post? Think of the implications.
I think we should come up one short.
@Big Dood +40-1.
UPDATE: Skeets puts us in the 10 slot at his daily 10-man rotation at BDL -- "10th: Cleveland Frowns. "In one of the worst decisions in sports history, Mike Brown decided to rest his starters for the Playoffs last night, and the Cavs lost." Wow. A little much, no? Note: "rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out."
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-10-man-rotation-starring-Miss-America-s-swe?urn=nba,156699&post_comment=1&success=1
thanks frownie,
full props and pounds for your long john silvers encounter as well.
'youse a buster /slash/ hussy. soft as a hush puppy'
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie
Congrats on the Ball Don't Lie shoutout!
oh shoot. they lost. now no one will show for the playoffs cuz they lost for the 2nd time in the Q. oh rats! we could have tied with the 85 celtics. but we must settle with having the same home record as the 96 bulls.who had the best record ever. what a shame!!! this is a dumb write up. of course d west wanted to play. everybody probably wanted to play. it was a good game. gibson was in such a zone he was a slip away from hittin a game winner. it was a dramatic finish to the game. im sure everybody wanted to check in. LeBron would have checked in the game with his Louis Vuitton sneakers if he could!! So what D West said is true but im sure everybody felt that way. teams still dont wanna play in the Q. im not even from cleveland. never been. just a fan. this article is bologne!!!! its playoff time now!!
Maybe if we could have gone undefeated it would have been worth it but just to tie the Celtics?
Who gives a shit, really? Tying their record isn't going to anoint the Q to the level of the Garden anyways.
Its not worth the risk to share a meaningless record.
If we win a title by dominating at home THEN the Q gets more mystique.
plus that game was worth it just for the fact that Boobie finally scored some points and knocked down another big 3.
Maybe it helps him going into the playoffs
"chance to equal one of the most impressive records in NBA history"
it is a record...an ok record... a nice record to have.... but one of the most impressive? I think the Championship is a little more important than this... let them rest. Win it all. You won't even remember this was up for grabs. Prioritize.
The only people who think this record is worth getting is those who don't think Cleveland can win it all.
jeeeeeeez. this game/record may not mean anything to the cleveland fans, but if it means something to a player don't tell delonte not to give a shit.
i disagree with frowns about the coach's call being a hugely important decision, but I do think he's right about it being the wrong decision.
if delonte wanted into the game, and had tapped some sort of pride or motivation, it's pretty dumb to sit him. that's exactly the sort of spirit a coach is supposed to FOSTER, not smother.
if you're telling players you don't want them to go out and compete because you're suddenly concerned they'll get hurt or worn out while doing something they've already done 80 fucking times over the course of the season i'd say that's poor management of a team's psyche.
if anyone on that team wanted to play for that record, or just to give the last of the regular season fans in attendance a nice send off, let them play the game. let them get excited about it and see where it takes you.
Without reading all 88 comments, what does it say to the rest of the NBA that Philly won by 1...in overtime...against Cleveland's bench and some D-leaguers? That to me is scarier than a 40-1 home record.
Man, Beej, you are late to the party. Whatever it says, it doesn't say BEST HOME COURT OF ALL TIME. You should read the comments.
"In certain cities, you can hear people heckling you from the stands," Sizemore said. "There are so many people screaming in New York, it's just noise. They were loud today, too -- until when we went up 10-1."
I agree, that if the Cavs did play their starters on that game and got the 40-1 record, they would have been very intimidating at home games during the playoffs.
However, the fact that they lose that game playing only their second tier players does not tarnish this "AURA OF INVINCIBILITY". You played your second team against a decent team who were playing their starters and the result was a 1 point overtime loss, now that is intimidating. It shows the Cavs' opponents how good their reserves are.
Frowner it would read CO-Best. Home.Court. Team. Of. All. Time. Ever.
Because we would have tied a team...get your facts straight
It is kind of ignorant for someone to want to tie a record in a meaningless game when there is bigger things on the horizon for this team. Dont settle for tying, support this team to go and actually win something meaningful, such as a championship.
If you want to enjoy meaningless attempts at accomplishments such as going 40-1 then go watch tapes of the pre-Lebron era of Ricky Davis shooting at the opponents hoop to try and record a triple double if you want to watch Cavs players attempt to make a name for themselves.
If not, then watch this cavs team throughout the playoffs as they will achieve something greater than some regular season record.
*my last post about this ridiculous article, promise.
What a stupid post. The Cavs are playing for a title, not for some meaningless record. Who cares about that stuff? Settle down and get ready for some playoff action.
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