Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 108 – NBA Blog

Cavaliers finally release Eric Snow

The Cleveland Cavaliers have made the medically necessary release of Cavaliers guard and Canton-native Eric Snow, it was announced today by Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry.

Snow suffered, what ultimately became, a career-ending injury to his left knee immediately prior to the start of the 2007-08 NBA season. He has not practiced or played during the current 2008-09 NBA season.

“We appreciate all that Eric has done for the Cavaliers both on the basketball court and in the community. Eric is a tremendous competitor. He had a very successful playing career and I look forward to watching his broadcasting and coaching careers unfold,” said Ferry.

Snow enjoyed a long, successful and notable NBA career, the last several seasons of which were with the Cavaliers. During Eric’s final full season of play (2006-07) wearing the Wine and Gold, the Cavaliers won their first-ever Eastern Conference Championship and made their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.

“It was a great privilege and dream come true, not just to play for my hometown team, but to finish my career in front of the fans who have given me so much support throughout my career. I loved the role offered to me of being a veteran the younger players could rely on, as the organization was rebuilding this franchise into a winner. The Cavaliers have done it the right way and I am proud to be a part of a new and re-energized winning tradition,” said Snow.

Snow, a second round pick (43rd overall) in the 1995 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, was acquired by the Cavaliers from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Kedrick Brown and Kevin Ollie on July 20, 2004. In four seasons with the Cavaliers, Snow played in 267 games (147 starts) and averaged 4.0 points, 3.9 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game. Snow played in all but one regular season game from the 2004-05 through the 2006-07 seasons.

The 2005 recipient of the J. Walker Kennedy Citizenship Award presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, Snow was a true champion in the community and worked hard to make a positive impact with local fathers and their children. His work included the popular Full Court Fathers program, which brought a father/child duo to every home game for a special pregame meeting with Snow, as well as his annual father/son basketball clinic.

Snow was also very active with a number of team and individual community programs, such as annual holiday toy drives and the construction of the Eric Snow Reading and Learning Center at the Ed “Peel” Coleman Community Center in Canton, Ohio. He hosted an annual fundraising golf tournament and summer basketball camps in support of his Shoot for the Moon Foundation. Snow made charitable donations to local non-profit agencies promoting positive father/child relationships for his steals and assists on the court. He also received the 2005 National Basketball Players Association Community Contribution Award at the 2005 NBA All-Star Game.

Magic throttle Cavaliers, James 116-87

The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Magic rode a strong second-half start to go ahead by 41 points and hand the Cleveland Cavaliers their most lopsided loss of the season with a 116-87 blowout Friday night. “It’s embarrassing,” James said. Rashard Lewis had 22 points and Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 for the Magic, who remained percentage points behind Boston—but tied in the loss column—for the Eastern Conference’s second seed. James finished with 26 points and nine rebounds but never did find his rhythm, shooting 7-for-20 from the floor… A series of alley-oops, dunks and wide-open 3-pointers all seemed to connect for Orlando. And when Courtney Lee finally missed a jumper for the Magic during the spurt, Howard cleaned it up with a monstrous put-back dunk that began the chants of “M-V-P!” every time he shot free throws.

Worst beats best: Wizards top Cavaliers 109-101

The AP reports: In the closest thing they’ll have to a playoff game this year, Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards fed off a sellout crowd Thursday night and ended the franchise-record 13-game winning streak of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Washington recovered after blowing a 14-point second-half lead and held on for a 109-101 victory… Brendan Haywood, also playing his second game of the season and making his first start after recovering from a major wrist injury, added 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Wizards also received the usual steady contributions from Caron Butler (25 points) and Antawn Jamison (19) and a surprising 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from Darius Songaila as they snapped a three-game losing streak. MVP candidate James scored 22 of his 31 points in the second half and finished with six assists and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, but—how’s this for a statistical oddity—he was responsible for all five of his team’s turnovers until Daniel Gibson traveled in the final minute of the third quarter.

Cavaliers win 13th straight, beat Pistons 79-73

The AP reports: LeBron James made two crucial three-point plays down the stretch and finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers won their 13th straight game, 79-73 on Tuesday night over the Detroit Pistons, who gave the NBA’s best team all it could handle… With the win, Cleveland improved to 36-1 at home, won the season series from Detroit for the first time in 11 years, and became just the sixth team in NBA history to win 16 games in one month… Richard Hamilton scored 13 and Allen Iverson 11 for the Pistons, who were held to 35 percent shooting and shot off their mouths afterward… Delonte West scored 12, Anderson Varejao added 11 and several hustle plays, and the Cavaliers held off the Pistons in one of those old-school Eastern Conference street fights.

Cavs want homecourt in playoffs

The Akron Beacon Journal (George M. Thomas) reports: Rest is the last thing on the Cavaliers’ minds. With nine games left in the season, the Cavs have the league’s best record at 60-13. They are pushing for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, an edge that many observers believe the team needs to win its first NBA title. While it would be nice to sit out an occasional fourth quarter, Cavaliers forward LeBron James says he can’t. ”We’re fighting for a No. 1 seed and trying to continue to get better,” he said. ”You got to be careful with trying to get rest and things when you’re playing so well. You take someone out of the lineup when everything is going well — you may do it for one game or two games — it can mess up the whole thing.”

Cavaliers top Mavs 102-74 for 12th straight win

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 24 points with 12 assists while orchestrating Cleveland’s show on and off the floor as the Cavs made more history with a 102-74 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, hitting the 60-win mark and extending their winning streak to a franchise record 12 straight… Cleveland is the 61st team to win 60 games in the regular season. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 for the Mavericks, who came in with a three-game lead over Phoenix for the No. 8 playoff spot in the West. Dallas was held to a season-low in points… Mo Williams added 22 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas 14 and Joe Smith had his best game since returning to the Cavs, adding 12 points with 13 rebounds and was Cleveland’s only consistent player in the first half.

James, Williams lead Cavs to 11th straight win

The AP reports: LeBron James has taken plenty of hard hits in his career, but didn’t like the one he took from Minnesota’s Jason Collins on Friday night. “It was borderline dirty,” James said after scoring 25 points in Cleveland’s 107-85 victory, the Cavaliers’ 11th straight win. The play in question occurred in the third quarter when James broke through a double team at the top of the key and drove into the lane. As James was heading toward the basket, Collins struck him in the face with his upper arm. James went to the floor and Collins was charged with a flagrant foul. “That’s not part of the game,” James said. “Hard fouls are a part of the game. That was a little bit overboard.”

NBA rule change on too many players on court

The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.

Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.

Option 1 — Accept Game Action

The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.

Option 2 — Nullify Game Action

The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.

Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:

1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.

2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.

3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.

Cavaliers set team wins record, beat Nets 98-87

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 22 points with 11 assists and made all the right moves in the closing minutes as the too-tough-at-home Cavaliers set a franchise record with their 58th win—and 10th straight—by beating the New Jersey Nets 98-87 on Wednesday night… Vince Carter scored 20 and Jarvis Hayes 18 for the Nets, who are running out of time to make the playoffs… Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mo Williams scored 16 apiece and Delonte West had 13 points with nine rebounds for the Cavs, who again showed they are much more than James.

LeBron James does yoga

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Brian Windhorst) reports: As LeBron James has matured, part out of necessity and part out of pride, he’s serious about preparing and maintaining his body for the rigors of an NBA season. That includes a wide range of measures from diet and recovery techniques to the Vajrasana, Virasana and the particularly stunning Salamba Sarvangasana. They are yoga poses, and they are also an essential part of James’ routine every week. “Yoga isn’t just about the body, it’s also about the mind, and it’s a technique that has really helped me,” James said. “You do have to focus because there’s some positions that can really hurt you at times if you aren’t focused and breathing right.” From the “thunderbolt pose” to the “hero pose” to even “downward facing dog,” James has become a devout believer in the benefits of yoga. He and Cavs assistant athletic trainer Mike Mancias have been developing a regimen over the past two years.