Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 92 – NBA Blog

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thinks NBA age minimum should be 21

The AP reports:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says the NBA should raise its minimum age for entry into the league to 21.

The NBA’s career scoring leader and centre on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s “Showtime” teams said Wednesday there’s a disturbing sense of entitlement among many of today’s young pros.

“They get precocious kids from high school who think they’re rock stars — ‘Where’s my $30 million?’ “ said Abdul-Jabbar, who was in Omaha to speak at the B’nai B’rith sports banquet. “The attitudes have changed, and the game has suffered because of that, and it has certainly hurt the college game.” …

“When I played, the players had to go to college and earn their way onto the court, meaning that there were upperclassmen ahead of them,” he said. “Players who had to go through that and had to go to class, when they got to be professional athletes, they were a lot better qualified.”

Abdul-Jabbar said if college weren’t the right place for a player, the player should, as an alternative, be required to play in a minor league or developmental league.

Read fan discussion and share your own opinion in this forum topic.

LeBron James playing passively in playoff losses to Celtics

LeBron James playing passively in Cavs playoff losses to Celtics

The basketball world has noticed that LeBron James isn’t playing with his usual fire in the second round NBA playoffs series between the Cavaliers and Celtics.

Especially in the Cavs losses.

LeBron’s squad is now down 3 games to 2 in the best-of-7 series.

Is his right elbow more of an issue than previously thought? Or:

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, writing at LeBron James, reports:

How can you allow your team to lose 120-88 on your home court as you did to Boston in Tuesday’s Game 5? Certainly, you couldn’t win it yourself. But early in the game, you seemed resigned to the worst, taking only 14 shots and being outplayed and outhustled by Paul Pierce.

In the Cavs’ three losses, you have attempted only 18, 15 and 14 shots.

Where is the LeBron James who went down firing in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, averaging 38 points in this six games against Orlando?

Or the LeBron James who fired up 20-25-23-24 shots in the last four games of the 2008 series against the Celtics. Or the LeBron James who scored 45 in that Game 7 loss in Boston?

Or how about the LeBron James who had a miserable ordeal in the four-game sweep by San Antonio in 2007, but still put up 16-21-23-30 shots? In 2006 when the Cavs were eliminated 79-61 in a Game 7 at Detroit, you were 11-of-24 from the field for 27 points.

LeBron, you have always gone out with fire in your eyes, your finger on the trigger. You have been willing to take the criticism, even when you know that the Cavs had not supplied you with much support.

The world will tune in Thursday night for Game 6 in Boston.

Game 5: Celtics shock Cavs with 32-point win

The AP reports:

Ray Allen scored 25 points, Rajon Rondo scored all of his 16 in the second half and the Celtics, once thought too old to challenge for another title, beat James and the Cavs 120-88 in Game 5 on Tuesday night to move within one win of knocking the league’s top team from the playoffs.

Paul Pierce added 21 and Kevin Garnett 18 for the Celtics, who handed the Cavs their worst home playoff loss in history and can end Cleveland’s season with a win in Game 6 on Thursday night…

LeBron James, on the verge of an expected trip into free agency on July 1, had an atrocious game. He scored 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting, a startling outing for the 25-year-old who has been playing with a sprained elbow. He refused to use his injury as an excuse…

Rondo, coming off a 29-point, 18-rebound, 13-assist performance in Game 4, was held without a point in the first half as the Cavs concentrated their defense on stopping the point guard from penetrating into the paint. He finally got loose in the third, scoring 12 as the Celtics opened a 21-point lead…

James missed his first seven shots before he got loose on a leak-out dunk with 6:15 left in the third.

The Cavs led 29-21 when, with Rondo on the bench, Boston’s Big Three of Allen, Garnett and Pierce did all the scoring in a 16-0 run that put the Celtics ahead by eight.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

The Cavs trailed just 50-44 at halftime, but that changed at the onset of the third quarter. Allen came out and made two consecutive 3-point shots to quickly double the lead to 12 points.

With Allen heating up, Brown sent guard Anthony Parker out on him and put Mo Williams back on Rondo. Rondo went directly at Williams to the tune of eight quick points before Brown called a timeout. After the timeout, Williams disappeared for the remainder of the third quarter, along with the Cavs’ hopes for winning the game.

”We have to do a better job with our team defense,” Brown said. ”Mo had gotten beaten a couple times, but there were a couple of times when we didn’t play the right defense behind him.”

The blame is not solely on Williams; there’s plenty to go around. After Tuesday’s game, there has to be a question about James’ health. After enduring a miserable Game 4, if he were true to form, he would return to inflict damage on the Celtics in Game 5. That wasn’t the case.

Should LeBron guard Rondo?

Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

It’s time for LeBron James to guard Rajon Rondo.

It will go against every fiber of Cavs coach Mike Brown’s defense-is-everything being, especially with the possible fallout of who is left to match up against Paul Pierce.

But Rondo, the Celtics’ fourth-year point guard, is having his way with the Cavs in the Eastern Conference semifinals, while Pierce has been mired in mediocrity. How much the latter has to do with James is up to debate.

So it’s time for drastic measures.

Tied 2-2, the series has turned into a best-of-three heading into Game 5 on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena. And while both teams have been subject to wild swings in consistency and intensity, the one constant has been Rondo.

Game 4: Rondo unleashes monster triple-double, Celtics beat Cavaliers

The AP reports:

The Boston point guard [Rajon Rondo] had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists, and the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-87 on Sunday to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece…

Rondo became the third player in playoff history to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Oscar Robertson had 32 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists in 1963, and Wilt Chamberlain had 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists in 1967.

Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett scored 18 apiece for the Celtics, who rebounded from the worst home playoff loss in franchise history and ensured they’ll get at least one more game at home…

LeBron James scored 22 points—only one more than he had in the first quarter of Game 3—and seemed frustrated during a seven-turnover performance. Shaquille O’Neal added 17 points, his high for this postseason, but was on the bench when the Celtics blew by the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter.

InsideHoops.com notes:

Tony Allen had a monster game for Boston off the bench, shooting 6-of-7 for 15 points and five rebounds in almost 26 minutes.

Paul Pierce continued his struggles in this series, shooting 3-of-8 for nine points and little else. He’s looked lost.

Both teams were miserable from three-point range: Cavs 4-of-21, Celtics 1-of-14.

Delonte West came off the Cavs bench to shoot 0-of-7 for three points in 20 minutes.

While Rondo was a hero for Boston, Cleveland’s point guard, Mo Williams, shot 3-of-9 for 13 points and not too much else.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.

Paul Pierce off his game against Cavs

Mark Blaudshun of the Boston Globe reports:

Has anyone seen Paul Pierce lately? After three solid games in the Celtics’ first-round ouster of the Heat, Pierce has been missing in action in the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Cavaliers.

In Game 1 — a 101-93 Cleveland victory, Pierce made just 5 of 17 shots for 13 points and was not a factor. The Celtics bounced back to win Game 2 Monday night, but it was another indifferent showing for Pierce — 4 for 10, 14 points.

Both performances were below the standard the veteran forward had established — 22.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 77 career playoff games.

Last night was the worst effort of the three games against the Cavaliers — a 124-95 blowout loss at TD Garden — as Pierce made only 4 of 15 shots, finished with 11 points and, even worse from his standpoint, was part of a Celtic defense that was a no-show almost from the opening tipoff.

Game 3: Cavaliers destroy Celtics in Boston

The AP reports:

LeBron James scored 21 of his 38 points in the first quarter to help the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Boston 124-95 on Friday night, handing the Celtics their worst home playoff loss ever and taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

Showing no ill-effects of an elbow problem that was the talk of Cleveland during the long layoff, James finished with eight rebounds and seven assists. The 21 points in a quarter was a franchise postseason record.

Antawn Jamison had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, while Shaquille O’Neal added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Rajon Rondo, who had 19 assists in Boston’s Game 2 victory on Monday, had 18 points and eight assists.

The Celtics missed 10 of their first 13 shots, hitting just 27 percent in the first quarter to spot Cleveland a 21-point lead.

They were never able to recover as the Cavaliers shot 59 percent from the field for the game.

Fan discussion of the game was in this forum topic.

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert fights the Goliath of ticket sales

Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press reports:

Dan Gilbert’s innovative digital ticketing company, Veritix, has already set records for paperless tickets to a sporting event and concert — a Cleveland-Boston NBA game last week and a 2009 Billy Joel-Elton John show in Houston.

But can Gilbert, the Detroit-based owner of Quicken Loans and the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, really make a big success of Veritix in an industry dominated by the behemoth combination of Ticketmaster and Live Nation?

Yes, insists Sam Gerace, CEO of Veritix, a business born 3 1/2 years ago with the introduction of Flash Seats digital ticketing at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, home of Gilbert’s Cavs and the Lake Erie Monsters hockey club…

Ticketmaster retains a stranglehold on most U.S. ticketing for concerts and sporting events, because of longstanding relationships with the venues. More ominously, its clout grew in January with its marriage to Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, which staged 2,100 concerts and sold 140 million tickets last year.

Kendrick Perkins gets no defensive-team love

Paul Flannery of WEEI reports:

Kendrick Perkins was left off the NBA’s All-Defensive Team for the second straight season and Doc Rivers joked that maybe that look turned some voters off.

“Well, I guess it’s going to continue to happen,” Perkins said. “Because I ain’t changing the way I look.”

That was a joke in case you needed context and Perkins had a few ready Thursday after he returned to practice with a hyperextended right knee.

His reaction to getting six stitches in his lip courtesy of Shaquille O’Neal?

“Man, I look at it like I’m already ugly,” he said. “I can’t add nothing else to that, man.”

Perkins defense on Shaq has been no laughing matter. After holding Jermaine O’Neal to 9-for-44 shooting in the first round against Miami, Perkins has kept Shaq in check (8-for-22, 20 points in two games).

NBA fines Danny Ainge for conduct during Celtics-Cavaliers game

Boston Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations and General Manager Danny Ainge has been fined $25,000 for creating an unauthorized distraction and for conduct detrimental to the game, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 104-86 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal on Monday, May 3, at Quicken Loans Arena.

The fine is due to Ainge throwing a towel around to distract J.J. Hickson of the Cleveland Cavaliers during free throw attempts.

Paul Flannery of WEEI reports:

The NBA fined Danny Ainge $25,000 for “creating an unauthorized distraction” during Game 2 on the Celtics-Cavs series. In other words, he threw a towel up in the air while J.J. Hickson was shooting free throws.

The Celtics have been amused by this episode and Doc Rivers got in a few more one-liners at his boss’ expense Thursday.

“I was surprised, actually, at the fine,” Rivers said. “I know a lot of people were not. I was because he’s just an employee. What’s the difference between that and the mascots do it all the time. I was just wondering if Danny had worn Lucky’s outfit he would have gotten away with it.”