P.M. Cleveland Cavaliers links: Cavs continue to be one of NBA's top teams in the national media

LEBRON JAMES




One of the neat aspects of the Cleveland Cavaliers' emergence into an elite team over the last several seasons is their presence in the national conversation about the NBA.Cavaliers games are a staple on national television, with, of course, LeBron James the primary drawing card. Tonight's game at Dallas against the Mavericks isn't on ABC, ESPN or TNT, as so many Cleveland games are. It is on Fox Sports Ohio, and has some national presence as it's being shown on NBA TV.The Cavaliers also get their share of acknowledgement in the national print and online media. For instance, they're prominent in Marc Stein's Weekend Dime on ESPN.com, with numerous mentions.Stein's current edition features various "of the decade" topics. Among being included in other categories, James' memorable Game 5 in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons is considered among the "performance of the decade" candidates.Though Stein's winning effort belongs to another player, he writes:What LeBron did to the Pistons in the 2007 East finals -- absolutely dismantling 2004's proud champions by scoring 29 of his team's final 30 points -- certainly had more meaning given the playoff stage and undoubtedly ranks as James' signature game as a pro. Yet it can't top the most outstanding individual performance ever witnessed. Which is what Bryant delivered.And, among Stein's regular features, how about this?Some numbers of note in the East this week:71: LeBron James rumbled for 36 points, six rebounds and seven assists in Wednesday's win at Philadelphia, giving him 71 games with at least 35 points, five rebounds and five assists since James' rookie season (2003-04). Next on the list in the same span is Kobe Bryant with 57 such games. Houston's Tracy McGrady and Miami's Dwyane Wade are tied for third with 30.And, this:The irrepressible Elias Sports Bureau might have outdone itself with this one involving Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Cleveland's two centers produced near-identical lines in the box score in Tuesday's win over New Jersey: Both scored 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting with five rebounds and three blocked shots. How hard is it to produce a line with those specifics? Elias says that players have recorded more than 750,000 box-score lines since the NBA began keeping track of blocks in 1973 … and only two other players in all that time went for 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting with five boards and three swats: Cavs swingman Jamario Moon in April 2008 (with Toronto), and Portland's Greg Oden earlier this season.Covered: Plain Dealer Cavaliers coverage includes beat writer Brian Windhorst's NBA Insider and his "Hey, Brian;" columnist "Terry Pluto's Talkin;' " Jodie Valade's story on forward Jamario Moon's playing days with the Harlem Globetrotters.A win's a win: The Cavaliers have won their last five games, 17 of their last 21 and 20 of their last 25. Some observers have been concerned with the team's seeming penchant to play "down" to the level of some inferior opponents.Chris Beaven writes in the Canton Repository:The Cavs have looked dominant at times in the last month — winning four straight by double-digits at one point — while also delivering some ugly wins of late. But either way they play, they are usually winning.They have gone 17-4 since a 3-3 start, with road wins over Orlando and Miami and home wins over Dallas and Phoenix. The black eye in that stretch is three road losses to teams with losing records.They’ve done much of that during a busy December that has featured 10 games in the last 18 days. By the end of the month, they will have played 17 games in a 29-day span.“It seems like we’ve played a lot of games in a lot of nights already,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “We’ve been in town, out of town, so our schedule already has been whacky. But you’ve got to give our guys credit for trying to stay focused and trying to fight through the right way.”Tonight, the Cavs open their most difficult road trip with a game at Dallas, followed by Monday night visit to Phoenix. After playing Wednesday at Sacramento, the trip ends Christmas evening with a nationally televised game against the Lakers.“It is a difficult trip coming up,” Shaq said. “It is a good test for us. You know every time that we get into focus mode, we play pretty well. LeBron (James) said it earlier. I said it earlier. It’s a business trip. We are going to a lot of nice cities, but we are going to be locked in as soon as we get on the plane (Saturday).”West a key: Guard Delonte West is one of the Cavaliers' most important players. Writes Bob Finnan for the News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal:When Delonte West is playing at an optimum level, the Cavaliers are a championship-caliber team.But when he lapses into one of his funks, they appear to be slightly above average.There's no question the importance of West to the Cavs.Unfortunately, Coach Mike Brown doesn't know what he'll get out of West on a day-to-day basis.Brown said the Cavs' success this year doesn't hinge on West's prognosis. They'll move on with or without him."We have guys in the locker who are capable players," Brown said. "When you have the guys in there to help pull him along or carry him along, it gives him the opportunity to succeed over time."He's gotten better and better as time goes on. When it comes down to it, all our guys will be in tune."

Kobe Bryant Is Not the Clutch Shooter You Think He Is

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As Kobe Bryant’s body rose up over the 6’2” frame of Charlie Bell in the closing seconds of a recent overtime game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Celtic fans and Bucks announcers across America screamed “miss it!”
Surprisingly, the ball went in.
There is a secret the rest of the NBA doesn’t seem to know about Kobe: Over the last five seasons, he has been atrocious in the final moments of ballgames. While it is true that he is clutch, leading the league in scoring with five minutes or less in the fourth quarter or overtime, when it comes to the last possession he couldn’t hit the broad side of Sarah Jessica Parker’s nose.
Kobe ranks third in made game winning shots over that period of time with 16 made. Huzzah! Except, wait a minute, he has also attempted a final shot or turned the ball over a whopping 65 times, making him dead last in shooting percentage among the top 40 players in that situation at 24 percent.
Why is he so much worse at the end of games? I don’t know, maybe it’s because everyone knows he is going to get the ball. You know it, I know it, Larry King even knows it. Team's like Miami trap Kobe 40 feet from the basket, knowing he will throw up one legged bank shot three pointers.
His confidence in himself drives him to take the final shot regardless of his position and any other opportunities on the floor, resulting in a torrent of horrid shots. Also, he does not possess the pure power game to create the high impact collisions or speed game to force defenders to grab him quickly as he streaks past, forcing the referees to call fouls.
Instead, he relies on a time-consuming series of jerky motions and fakes which generate wrist and touch fouls less likely to be whistled as the game clock winds down. And Phil Jackson’s idea of drawing up a play is, “hey, one of the fans came up with a great idea. Why don’t we inbound the ball at half court?” Come on, Phil! Run a freaking screen every once in a while!
So how did we get to this point? When the Lakers were winning three consecutive titles in the early 2000s, teams were afraid to...READ MORE

LEBRON JAMES|Cleveland Cavaliers at Dallas Mavericks preview

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Scouting the Cavaliers

Their relentless pursuit to put the right people around LeBron James landed them Shaquille O'Neal and Anthony Parker this season, along with a 20-7 record. ... James has been in scoring mode of late, topping 33 points in three of the last five games and averaging 32.6 during that stretch. He missed a triple-double by two assists Friday in a win at Milwaukee. He's had 25 triple-doubles in his career, one this season. ... This is the start of a four-game trip for the Cavs, which includes a Christmas Day visit to the Los Angeles Lakers. ... Mo Williams is coming off a 17-point outing and has made 44 percent of his 3-pointers.

Scouting the Mavericks

They will go into survival mode, most likely, without Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki has a remarkable ability to come back from aches and injuries, but with three stitches put in his shooting arm Friday night, he might need a game or so to get back into action. ... The Mavericks have lost four consecutive games against the Cavaliers, including the last two at AAC. ... In late November, Dallas lost, 111-95, at Cleveland, when LeBron James had 25 points and 12 assists. The Mavericks allowed the Cavaliers to shoot 58 percent. ... Jason Kidd tried to will the Mavericks to a win Friday after Nowitzki exited with 11 rebounds, 10 assists and eight points, but they came up short. They are hoping to avoid consecutive losses for only the second time this season.

LeBron James tips sacred cows

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Some people thought LeBron James might have been trying to get people’s attention away from his impending free agency when he said he planned to stop wearing No. 23 out of respect for Michael Jordan. Maybe he was trying to move some product, as well.
But he’s been stepping into an increasingly difficult place with his position.
When he said the entire league should retire 23 (as baseball has done with Jackie Robinson’s 42), it brought his personal plan to a different level. That he will change to No. 6 is, in a word, unconscionable.

Exalting Jordan above all others is misguided but at least debatable. To then think it is perfectly fine to wear Bill Russell’s number is nothing less than a slap at the greatest winner in the history of team sports.
This is a Sunday notes column and we have a little extra space, so let’s repeat that: the greatest winner in the history of team sports.
Look, we like LeBron. He’s a good-hearted kid and an incredible player who will get even better. We’ve abused him over the years - in person and in print - for his love of the New York Yankees, but beyond that he’s an intelligent man who has worked hard to maximize his gifts.
But the belief here is that he rode this train completely off the tracks with his most recent comments on the number change.
“I just feel like MJ has more of an impact off the court than anyone else in NBA history,” James said.
“His numbers speak for themselves on the court, but what he was able to do off the court inspired people to play basketball. I think Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird and Wilt (Chamberlain) and those guys were unbelievable, but none of those guys did what MJ did off the court to inspire people to be great and fly and jump.”
“Then,” James added, “I’m biased because I watched MJ when I was growing up.”
Let’s put aside for the moment that James has immersed himself in the history of the game and has seen video of Russell’s games. Focus on the fact that, in terms of impact away from the court, Russell teamed with NFL legend Jim Brown and others in the 1960s to effect positive change in minority communities. Jordan, when asked to support former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, an African-American running against Jesse Helms for the U.S. Senate, offered the immortal reply, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”
If James still wants to honor Jordan in this way, that last line is quite a hurdle over which to “fly and jump.”

Pistons ready their anti-Kobe crew

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He might know what to expect, now that he has played once against Kobe Bryant, but it won't be any easier for rookie forward Jonas Jerebko.

The Pistons, coming off a 0-3 road trip, will try to extend a five-game home winning streak against the defending NBA champion L.A. Lakers today. Bryant torched the Pistons for 40 points in a 106-93 victory in Los Angeles on Nov. 17.

"Before the game, you think about it a little bit," Jerebko said after the Pistons practiced Saturday. "But when you're out there, I don't even think about who I'm guarding or what name it is.

"Everybody knows what Kobe does. He does a little bit of everything."

Pistons coach John Kuester said a number of players will have to take the challenge of defending Bryant, including Jerebko.

"Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers are two others that are going to have to take that challenge," Kuester said.

"Jonas always works hard and does a great job, night in and night out, of bringing us energy. It's a challenge. Every night's a challenge for him. He had (Kevin) Durant last night, and now turn around and have Kobe and (Ron) Artest."

Bryant isn't the Lakers' only weapon. The Lakers outrebounded the Pistons, 44-32, and that was with Pau Gasol out with a hamstring injury.

INJURY UPDATE: Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (back) remain out. Charlie Villanueva, who injured his right heel in the first half of Friday's 109-98 loss at Oklahoma City, will play against the Lakers, but Ben Gordon (ankle) is questionable.

"I'm just working with Arnie (Kander) every day and going off what he suggests," Gordon said, referring to the Pistons' strength and conditioning coach. "Hopefully I'll be ready by tomorrow. It's feeling stronger each day, but just taking it day by day right now."

Gordon said he's working to strengthen the ankle before he returns.

For Hamilton, dealing with a right hamstring injury after missing most of the season with an ankle injury is frustrating.

"When you think you're back, and then something happens, it's one of them things that's hard to get over," Hamilton said. "You want to be out there. You want to be out there fighting with your guys and playing and things like that. And I've never been injured like this in my whole career. So it's frustrating."

Season has familiar ring for Kobe Bryant as Los Angeles Lakers aim for repeat

KOBE BRYANT

On the seventh floor of a Manhattan health club on Friday afternoon, Phil Jackson put his Lakers through a five-on-five scrimmage without his best player.
Taking a day off to help heal his broken right index finger, Kobe Bryant sat on Jackson's left, thoroughly enjoying the action and smiling at some of Jackson's more pointed comments.
"On this team, we pass the ball to the open man," Jackson shouted at Sasha Vujacic, after the Laker reserve guard failed to do exactly that. "That's one rule that never changes."
Something else hasn't changed for Jackson: He still goes into games with the best player in the game. It used to be Michael Jordan, all during the '90s. Then it was Shaquille O'Neal earlier in the decade. But now it's Bryant, who has his sights fixed on a fifth NBA title this June.
"With the team we have," Bryant said, "we want to try to milk the cow."
By that he means that it's not just this June when the Lakers can be the last team standing, and when they can become the first team to repeat since he played second banana to O'Neal at the start of the decade. With Bryant 31, Pau Gasol only 29, Lamar Odom now 30, Andrew Bynum still a baby at 22, and the newest Laker, Ron Artest, also having only just turned 30, there is the argument to be made that the core of the team is young enough to compete for a bunch of titles and allow Bryant to leave the game with more than the six rings Jordan carted off.
"I've wanted to try to gobble up as many as I could," Bryant said. "Just because that's everybody's goal."
LeBron James hasn't won one title, although sometimes he's treated as if he's got as many rings as Bryant. Dwyane Wade has one championship, but is playing for a team that needs a serious makeover to get back to championship form. After five straight first-round losses, Carmelo Anthony didn't see his first action in late May until Chauncey Billups showed him last spring how it's done.
Among the old-timers, only Shaq and Tim Duncan can match Bryant's four rings. But you have to think that Bryant has a much better chance of repeating than either big man has of getting what could be a final piece of jewelry. Even playing with LeBron, Shaq's Cavaliers are no sure thing if they have to face a complete Celtics team - meaning Kevin Garnett is 100%, with no knee issues - or if they encounter Dwight Howard and an Orlando team with Vince Carter instead of Hedo Turkoglu. Duncan's Spurs, meanwhile, still look too old to do any major damage in May, despite retooling their roster with Richard Jefferson.

Not that Bryant is already counting on a repeat. He's been around long enough to know that there are too many variables involved in winning, too many obstacles that can derail the best teams.
The addition of Artest could make L.A. an even more formidable and more physical defensive team, given his track record as a stopper. Yet the Queensbridge product can also be his own worst enemy, with all of his antics and non-basketball-related issues. This past week, he drew attention to himself, once again, by writing an open letter in support of Tiger Woods, calling him a good role model.
"Ron has a sense of humor," Bryant said. "And to be on this team, you need a sense of humor - and a thick skin."
Even if Artest toes the line, there's always the possibility of an injury to a key performer at the wrong time, which was Boston's fate last season with Garnett. But Bryant almost seems immune to that. When asked if the injured finger on his shooting hand would have required surgery if he had broken it in July, he snickered and said, "I still have that pinkie that's broken and I haven't touched that."
For the record, it will be two years ago this February when he tore a ligament and broke the bone on the pinkie of his shooting hand.
"Sometimes, you have to have a little bit of luck," he said. "The Lakers had a chance to "three-peat" in '89, and then they had the injury to Magic (Johnson). And the season went, poof. It's gone."
Two years later, the Lakers went back to the Finals with Magic, their last one of the Johnson era, but were no match for Jordan with his first championship team. Like that Bulls team, these Lakers, and particularly the players who had never won a title before last June, starting with Gasol and Odom, now understand what it takes to win. That also puts them ahead of all the other contenders.
"We've been through so many battles, we've seen every defense and every adverse situation," Bryant said. "So it's kind of like we know what's coming before it comes now. We have the pieces in place. The moment is here and you don't want to let it slip away. Because it took so long to get back to this point. It took us seven years. You just don't want to lose it because of a lack of focus or a lack of work ethic. That's just not going to happen."
It won't happen, because Bryant won't let it happen.
"He's still as driven as ever to push this team forward," Jackson said.
Bryant's closest teammate, Derek Fisher, a holdover from the Laker three-peat teams, says Bryant seems "more relaxed and refreshed" this season. He attributes that to Bryant finally coming to the end of an arduous 24-month period in which he competed in pre-Olympics competition, lost to the Celtics in the Finals, won the Olympics in Beijing and then carried the Lakers to the title in Orlando last June.

"There's a little bit of an edge off of him, but there has not been a change in his desire to win a title," Fisher said. "That has not changed at all."
Not that it will ever change, either.
In Rod, Prokhorov should trust
Nets fans should be happy that associates of new owner Mikhail Prokhorov have been getting positive feedback from various team executives and NBA officials about Rod Thorn. One team executive who had such a conversation told the Russian billionaire's representative, "Rod is the perfect executive to oversee franchise operations for a new owner, especially one who's from out of the country."
Considering Thorn's record of success running New Jersey since June, 2000 and how favorably he is viewed by league executives, starting with his former boss, David Stern, Prokhorov would be foolish not to retain him. Toronto executive Maurizio Gherardini has been mentioned for the post because he is held in high esteem by Prokhorov, but his contract with the Raptors runs through next season.
Whether it's Thorn, Gherardini or someone else, the person in charge of running the Nets is going to be left alone by Prokhorov.
"He's not involved in the process of running the team," said Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, who played three seasons for Prokhorov's CSKA team in Moscow and still maintains a social relationship with his old boss. "He puts that on the shoulders of the coaches and the GM."
As for helping the GM by spending money on free agents, Kirilenko thinks Prokhorov will shell out what is necessary to build a winner, with a provision.
"His main issue will be building a team, rather just spending money," he said. "He won't be afraid of spending. It won't be an issue for him. But he's been known to run a great business, rather than just trying to get a quick result.

Pistons' road struggles continue, and Kobe Bryant, Lakers await at The Palace

KOBE BRYANT

There’s no place like home for the Detroit Pistons, who are 8-4 at The Palace heading into Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.But on the road? That’s another story.The Pistons lost three games in a row on their most recent road trip and have lost eight of their past nine away from home. They are 3-11 on the road this season.Pistons coach John Kuester said Joe Dumars summed up the key to success on the road with one short phrase: “Don’t beat yourself.”“There have been times in the third and fourth quarter where we’ve had unnecessary turnovers and we haven’t moved the basketball the way we’re capable of,” Kuester said. “That’s where you get into that phrase -- ‘Don’t beat yourself’ -- and I think we had that happen (Friday) night.“We had opportunities to either take the lead or take control of certain situations, and we just didn’t take advantage of it.”The Pistons had only 13 assists in a 109-98 loss to Oklahoma City on Friday, and Kuester seemed less than thrilled with the play of point guard Rodney Stuckey following the game.After a reporter suggested Stuckey had continued his streak of good play, which earned him Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors last week, Kuester responded briefly.“He scored points,” he said, then quickly turned away to field another question.Stuckey scored 31 points but had more turnovers (four) than assists (three).Ben Gordon said the team struggles to win when it doesn’t move the ball effectively.“When we’re playing really well and we’re winning basketball games, we usually average anywhere from 18 to 25 assists,” Gordon said. “Whenever we don’t move the ball and we’re stagnant in our offense, that really hurts us.”The Pistons average only 17.4 assists per game and rank 29th in the NBA in that category, ahead of the New Jersey Nets. The Pistons’ offensive numbers have been affected by the injuries they have battled through, which led to increased playing time for younger players.The youth movement could also affect the team’s ability to win on the road, according to Richard Hamilton.“Learning to win on the road is totally different than winning at home,” he said. “I think it’s an adjustment. I think guys are still learning on the fly. I think that we’ll be better as the season goes on.”Odds & ends• The Pistons listed Gordon as questionable for the game against the Lakers, while Tayshaun Prince and Hamilton are “out.” Hamilton is battling a hamstring issue after returning from a sprained ankle. Gordon continues to battle a sprained ankle and will test it in the morning shootaround.• Charlie Villanueva, who broke his nose earlier this season, said Friday night that he has been dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right heel. Kuester said Villanueva will play tonight.• Sunday's game against the Lakers is sold out. The game marks the first meeting between the teams since Lakers forward Ron Artest’s comments about his desire to fight Ben Wallace. Artest later backed off those comments. Kobe Bryant scored 40 points in the only meeting between the teams this season, a 106-93 Lakers victory in Los Angeles.