BJ Mullens Cashing In On Potential

What BJ Mullens is as a basketball player is a young guy, with size, some skills, and a lot of potential. What he's not is the Georgetown version of Patrick Ewing. Whether Mullens plays (1) year for the Buckeyes or (10), he'll never develop into that type of player.

Out of high school BJ Mullens' draft stock couldn't get any higher, this year it dropped; he had to play this year. The next three he doesn't. Every year from here on out will serve to do the same thing his freshmen campaign did; expose one aspect or another of his game as being less than perfect, and the unknown potential that made him a number one prospect, will turn into a known commodity, and his draft stock will suffer because of it.

I don't blame the kid for leaving early. He probably won't be an All Star, but who's to say he ever would have? In this economy, jobs are hard to come by for anybody, and if you can cash in on the 'unknown potential' that the NBA pays big dollars for I say you do it before you can't. The longer he stays, the longer the book on him gets, the more telling the tape on him becomes, and the quicker the notion of 'untapped, superstar, potential' disappears.

From Bucknuts.com:

"B.J. Mullens was expected to turn pro and on Thursday he made it official. The 7-foot freshman center will forego his final three seasons of eligibility at Ohio State and will enter the NBA Draft. Mullens is expected to be a first-round pick, but there is a debate in terms of how high he will go. Once projected as a high lottery pick -- perhaps the top overall selection of the draft --Mullens' stock has dropped."

As a Buckeye Fan, of course you'd like to see Mullens play at least his Sophomore season. But you'd have liked to Kosta Koufas do that, Mike Conely, and Daquean Cook too. The fact is, you wouldn't have gotten Mullens for (1) year if David Stern didn't mandate it, and you wouldn't have gotten Oden, or maybe even Cook too. Its about money, as it always is, and I say get that money and run, just like Darius Miles and Kwame Brown did before him. Scoonie Penn came back to school after going to the Final Four as a Junior, how'd that work out for him?

Mullarkeys Wins Another Title

Team Mullarkeys won the Lake Catholic Alumni Basketball Tournament over the weekend. This marks the (4th) title in last (5) years for the Irish Pub in Downtown Willoughby. Free Agents pick-ups of Tom Eppich and Ryan Weiler were huge for Mullarks, and Steve Eppich and Dave Hillborn once again proved to be un-guard-able. Rounding out the six man squad was Danny Weiler, who hit a couple of big (3s) in the title game, and Brendan Bowers.

Remember the Pistons?

Are you old enough to recall when the Pistons mattered? Alright, I know, it wasn't that long ago. But my how the mighty have fallen. Did you realize the Pistons are (24) games back of the Cavaliers? Well, they are. And after tomorrow night, they'll be (25). Shouldn't be a surprise to Detroit either. The Cavaliers have been taking apart sub-.500 teams all season, and at 36-37, that's precisely what Rasheed and the fellas are these days. Additionally, reports are that AI is healthy and will play. Reports about PistonNation letting out a collective groan upon hearing that news are unsubstantiated. What's the problem, don't you want him to play, you traded your best player for him?? Anyways, Rasheed is healthy too, and while I know Hamilton will be wearing a nose brace to protect his healthy nose for the 658th time in a row, I am not sure if he will be starting, or coming off the bench in favor of AI. Irregardless, here's hoping the Cavs make it (25) after tomorrow night.

Donkey Basketball Takes Over PA

Donkey Basketball is growing in popularity, and sweeping the state of Pennsylvania at the current time. Why? Who knows, just be glad its not being played at your alma mater. The game is played by hoopsters who ride bareback atop live donkeys, with baseball batting helmets tied tight to their chins, as the picture clearly illustrates. Any self respect a player may have once had for themselves, must be forfeited prior to getting on top of the mules, according to league rules.

From the Sunbury Daily Item earlier this month:

"For the second year in a row, donkeys will be heeing and hawing their way around the basketball court as 24 Shikellamy seniors play 24 employees of The Daily Item and radio station 94 KX in donkey basketball. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Shikellamy High School...Upon hearing about the game, Bucknell University men’s basketball coach Pat Flannery admitted donkey basketball has 'got to be pretty hard.' "


Agreed coach. That would have to be pretty hard. Chalk this up as a good reason to be from Ohio, why, because we don't play that here.

Cavaliers Win 60th: Beat Mavericks 102-74

The most disappointing thing in Sunday's game to me was the fact that I couldn't hear everyone's favorite Uncle breaking down the action. With Fox Sports not airing the game, my attention was forced to be turned to ABC's coverage detailed by Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and the Coach who attacked Alonzo Mourning's leg. In the first half, they pretty much made as big a deal as possible about the fact that the Cavs were down by their largest home deficit of the season when the Mavs got out to their 15-point lead early. Despite their crys seeming to indicate that Cleveland's sky was falling, I was as confident in knowing the Cavs would come back as I was when I used to watch the Indians' softball style offense of the 90s make up a 10-run lead like it was nothing on a routine basis. And, true to form, the Cavs turned it on, and beat the Mavericks by (28). Your Mavericks sure did make a lot of strides after firing Avery Johnson, Mark. Great call. Almost as good of a move as letting Steve Nash go in favor of Dirk. But I digress, tough break for Cuban, but congratulations to the Cavaliers on another milestone. Here's hoping for one more milestone. Oh, and I liked the Pregame Baseball Warm-Up as well, way to keep it fresh fellas.

For more on the Cavaliers latest win read what Windhorst has to say about it.

Marissa Coleman Can Sure Eat A Lot of Kids

The Battle Cry of the Maryland Terrapins Women's Basketball squad is well documented at this juncture. For whatever reason, these girls 'Eat Kids', and break every huddle with a 1-2-3- Eat Kids chant. And Marissa Coleman in particular, could probably eat the entire Brady Bunch in one sitting. She was a monster yesterday, scoring 42 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Her stats, while staggering for the women's game, weren't really what caught my attention though. Her highlights on ESPN did. This girl flat out scared me. She's nasty, and if Greivus Vasquez had her running the wing, the Men's team might still be in the tourney. I want to drop a Jim Rome style 'Man's Game B----" on her out of respect for her performance, but I'm too afraid for my family that she'd take it the wrong way, so I'll just say - Good game Marissa, you really ate 'em up!

Jim Rome and Ryan Garko

The Cleveland Indians' Ryan Garko is a frequent guest to the Jim Rome Show. He and Romey exchanged text messages yesterday, according to the self proclaimed 'pimp in the box,' and the conversation went as follows:

Garko: Romey, Benny and I were out driving around and we just spotted a car with the license plates 'Rex 3:16' and the driver was smoking a pipe. Unbelievable!

Rome: Liars

Garko: Swear to god. We tried to catch up to the guy to take a picture, but we couldn't catch up to him. Apparently it was not meant to be.

Rome: Right - and Mike Tyson and I were in my office this morning drinking Bombay Sapphire

Apparently that was the end of the exchange.

I like Garko. I think he's funny, and its kinda funny he text messages Rome. It is also funny that he was rolling with 'Benny' Francisco at the time, and I laugh at the picture of those two guys huddled up like school kids snickering as they busted out a 'prank text' to Jim Rome. I would like Garko more though, if he hit 30 homers, drove in 100 runs, and batted .300 this year. Then maybe he'll get on the Jim Rome Show for a good reason.

A Quick Shout Out

I don't have too much to say today, other than to float you a link for a recommended read: Take a Picture of the Best Team in the NBA: The Cleveland Cavaliers.

To be honest, I recommend this post to all of you, because I wrote it.

Other than than, I was a bit pre-occupied last night, in the 'throws' of a Fantasy Baseball Draft, for the Cleveland Sports Blog League. Shaver Sports is hoping to represent well this season...no thanks to the Top Man, who 'put together a list of his Top - 300 prospects for this years draft,' and then forgot to give it to me.

Hope your having a good time in the Chi 'Iceman.'

ESPN's 'Aircheck' With Aaron Goldhammer

ESPN 850's Aaron Goldhammer was on 'Aircheck' with Cindy Brunson yesterday, and a topic discussed was the pregame 'antics' that have created a minor stir, first with LeBron taking a team photo in pregame, only to be countered by Shaq with a pregame bowling display recently before a Suns game.

Hammer had the following to say in regards to Cindy Brunson's what's with all this pregame stuff question:

"I think its so much fun, everybody always freaks out about the touchdown celebrations, and now the pregame antics in Cleveland, but I think its great man, you got LeBron taking the pictures of all the players, and they're jumping around having a good time. Listen, the Cavs have the best record in the NBA, and the reason for it, I think, aside from the fact that they have LeBron, and they're well coached and everything, is that they have a lot of fun. The guys like each other alot, they have a lot of team chemistry and camaraderie, how is that a bad thing? I heard people and callers on shows, on our station ESPN 850 WKNR today, blaming LeBron, calling out Shaq, turning this into a negative, I think its a big positive, its a bunch of guys having fun. I dont see how you could take this as Shaq and LeBron don't like each other, they are just having some fun together."

I agree with Hammer's points. This pregame stuff is great. One of the worst things that happened to the NFL in my opinion was when they cracked back on endzone celebrations. I love football, but I miss Joe Horn busting out a cell phone, TO doing the 'Ray Lewis Dance' and Chad Johnson doing what he was doing that year...that was sports entertainment at its finest. I couldn't wait for any of those guys to get in the endzone. This stuff with LeBron and Shaq is just as entertaining if you ask me, and way less disruptive to the game - if your an old school purist. Its before the game even starts for crying out loud!

Additionally, I also agree with Hammer's other point about the Cavaliers chemistry. While I do think that the camaraderie level is in large part due to the way LeBron interacts with his teammates, it certainly is very prevelevant throughout this whole team, and been a huge part of this team's success thus far this year. As a fan, I like to see it on display, and if its on display during the pregame, thats fine with me. Furthermore, I am hoping LeBron goes ahead and tops Shaq's PBA move, with something better.

Stein Ranks Cavs #2; Takes Swipe at Legler

Mark Stein has his Power Rankings up on ESPN and currently has the 57-13 - best record in the NBA - Cavaliers ranked #2 overall behind the Lakers. What I found interesting though, wasn't the ranking, but the comment he had up, that appears to be a not so subtle swipe at fellow ESPNer Tim Legler. Legs, if you recall, made the following ill-informed comment last week about why Cleveland was atop the Eastern Conference:

"Cleveland is 4.5 games in front of Boston and five games ahead of Orlando, and with the exception of Ben Wallace, the Cavaliers are the one team that is not dealing with injuries."

Now I know Cleveland let out a collective huh? in response to Legler's comments, but I was please to see that Mark Stein did too. Stein, had the following comment posted about the Cavaliers:

"They might not rise higher than No. 2 here, but don't make the mistake of suggesting that the Cavs have the league's best record by default. They've had as many injuries (Delonte, Ben, Big Z and now Wally) as anyone."

Good point Stein, now go remind Legler that, and bump them up to #1 while you're at it.

Around the Blogosphere: Bray, Chuck, AV

Braylon:

Profootball talk had a post up yesterday detailing the specifics of the soap opera that is the Cleveland Browns wide-receiving core. While making mention of the Dante Stallworth situation, the signing of David Patten - again - and the release of Joe Jurevicious, they also had the details of the Braylon Edwards trade rumors.

PFT quoted George Kokinis as saying they (Browns) entertained the possibility of trading Braylon, but look forward to having him on their team. PFT had the following interpretation of those comments, and I can' t imagine they are too far off:

"Kokinis also seems to be indirectly suggesting that Edwards remains available if the price is right."

I am not saying the Browns are wrong either way, trade him, don't trade him, I don't care...but they need to decide, and decide now, because if they don't...you think the Jay Cutler thing is getting ugly!

Chuck Barkley:

I appreciate what Waiting For Next Year had to say last week in regards to his most recent comments, and I just have to wonder why TNT still employs this guy. As Frank Caliendo would say, I'm 'tired, tired, tired' of this of this windbag. I would like for him ot just go back to prison for a while, and be reminded of the fact that the only pick he'll end up being right about this year is the one he made on opening night, when hell froze over, and he picked the Cavaliers to win the East...even though he was wrong about the starting five in that same breath.

Aston Villa:

Lastly, its now official, Browns Owner Randy Lerner is the proud owner of (2) teams that are referred to in the national sports world as 'hapless.' This according to The Big Lead...Red Devil Collapse:

"After Liverpool’s 5-0 beating of now hapless Aston Villa, the gap at the top is only one point, pending United’s game in hand."


Click Here for Around the Blogoshpere Part V

There's Two Sides To Every Fathead

And like your mother always said, there's two sides to every Fathead. Here is that other side. Unfortunately for Lopez, neither angle is all that becoming.

Click Below For A Free Brook Lopez Poster

Unfortunately for Lopez fans this poster highlights his 7 - foot tall a#% getting dunked on by LeBron James. You should have gotten out of the way Brook - you're not in the PAC -10 anymore! This can also be purchased as a Fathead upon request.

Austin Carr Line of the Night; Cavs Win 57th

Austin Carr was a great shooter. He appreciates the art of shooting. He also holds a great disdain for horrible shooting. This disdain is highlighted in this A.C. Line of the Night brought to you by Shaver Sports.

Setting the Scene:

With 3:oo minutes left in the 2nd Quarter of Sunday's game, Nets Guard Keyon Dooling found Trenton Hassell, open, spotted up in the corner, thinking about getting his Larry Bird-on. Hassell however, chucked up a shot that barely drew iron.

To which end, A.C. said the following:

"Ewwwee, that was an uggllyy shot. MAN. That ball had no chance from the time that it left his hand!"

Pulls no punches, dead on accurate, just like he was as a shooter, that's AC.

*********************************************************************************

The Cavaliers went on to win the game 96-88, and notch their 57th win of the season, which ties a franchise record. That record is sure to be broken a few more times before this regular season comes to a close. LeBron went for 30 - 8 - 11, Anderson had a double-double also, going for 16-11, and Big Z threw in 18. Click here for the complete Box Score.

Hats Off To Gary Waters and the CSU Vikings

I guess the experts were right last night...I probably should not have referred to them as 'clowns.' Digger Phelps, for one, certainly deserves my respect, he is after all a helluva dancer.

Despite that, and the subsequent loss today to Arizona, I have to take my hat off to the these Cleveland State Vikings, and you should too. I have been in this town for a while, and spent most of my sports fan life wishing college basketball would be relevant around here, and thanks to this club, it finally is. After all these Rollie Massimino, Mike Garland, James Madison, and Damon Stinger seasons of false hope, Gary Waters has finally built something worth believing in, and we should applaud him for that.

I don't think he'll leave to take another job in the years to come, and I hope he sticks around to see this thing through. If he does, CSU will be a team to reckon with come March for years to come. Runs like they had this season (beating Syracuse, Butler, Wake Forest - all away from home) winning their conference tournament, and advancing in the NCAAs, will be flat out great to follow as Cleveland sports fans, and I think its likely to come. Sure, Ced Jackson's gonna move on, J'Nathan Bullock and George Tandy will go too, and that will be tough; but they have a nice nucleus coming back lead by Norris Cole, Jeremy Montgomery, Chris Moore, and then some. If Waters can add an explosive freshmen or two, look out Cleveland.

If Gary Waters is still here in (5) years, I would be surprised if CSU does not go to the NCAA tournament at least (3) more times during that stretch. Cleveland will support that too, and be proud to do so, just like their proud of this club.

Hey Vikings...The Experts Aren't Impressed!

Cleveland State dominated Wake Forest on Friday night, in an impressive way too no less. However, Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps are not impressed. Both ESPN 'experts' picked Arizona to beat the Cleveland State Vikings in their 2nd round match-up later today. Don't take it personal though Coach Waters, reports are that Digger Phelps simply did not have had a green highlighter on hand at the time his prediction was issued. Here's hoping the Vikings prove these two clowns wrong later today.

Cleveland State Dominates Wake: 84-69

The whole Cinderella thing kinda looses its appeal when that (13) seed completely dominates the 'said national power' they were matched up against in the NCAA Tournament. Blame Cleveland State for the lack of drama last night as the game wound down. Or blame Wake for not being able to hang, but either way, Cleveland State did dominate Wake Forest last night, and it was more than 'one shining moment.'

Gary Waters' club can flat out play basketball people, and don't be surprised if they win another one. From wire to wire the Vikings imposed their will on the Demon Deacons, and there is no debate who the best basketball player on the floor for any team last night was - Cedric Jackson baby, no doubt. The PG went for 19 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds on the night. From now on, when Clevelanders talk about Cleveland State NCAA lore, they need to say Mouse McFadden and Ced Jackson.

From the point guard's position, Jackson played a perfect game. Absolutely perfect. Coming out and hitting monster (3's) to run it out to a 9-0 start, finding people with LeBron James type vision in the open court (the one handed 1/2 court bounce pass to Chris Moore was spectacular), and working his a@# off on the defensive end. The kid was beyond impressive. While there was a lot to like about his performance, what I liked best was the series when he got his (3) point attempt blocked in the second half. The ball goes out of bounds, and then off the inbounds pass, Jackson receives an Alley-Oop Dunk off a lob from half court. Even ACC Honk Dick Vitale was somewhere saying, 'Are you Seerrrioussss.'

Most kids, on that stage, may have taken a step back after that block, but not Ced Jackson. Not the Vikings, not a Gary Waters coached team. CSU moves on, and this fairy tale is just beginning. They can beat the Arizona Wildcats next round. Oh, and somebody tell Norris Cole that the game is over now, so he can go unlock George Teague. Norris, you looked like a young Gary Payton on the defensive end last night, Dayton's proud of you, and so is Cleveland. Your defense was so impressive, I didn't even notice until this morning that you dropped in a game high (22) to boot.

Box Score

*J'Nathan Bullock scored (21) on a little post move that I think he invented, and Wake never saw before. Half turn deluxe, bank it home Bullock. Look for Bullock to match-up against Chase Budinger for Arizona, and give him trouble...he is a tough match-up for Budinger, and he if can slow Chase down....

Xavier Rolls Over Portland State: 77-59

Call it karma for the Musketeers; Coach Sean Miller's interview with Jim Rome in the Jungle this week paying dividends. Or, more appropriately, maybe just call it 'Xavier is way better than than Portland State.' Regardless of how you want to phrase it, Xavier moves on with the 77-59 win, and will get ready for the winner of Wisconsin - Florida State in the 2nd round. The State of Ohio moves its tourney record to 2-1, with (2) big ones tonight. Lets go Bucks, lets go Vikings. War, Ohio going 4-1 in the first round. Out.

This Might Be a Foul: 1st Round Action

While Joey Crawford might miss this one, the visual evidence does seem to indicate that Xavier's C.J. Anderson may have fouled Portland State's Jamie Jones here on this possession.

Dance Turns Into Party As Dayton Moves On

Flying High: Dayton Wins 68-60

Lets not lie about, there is at least (1) couch on fire in Dayton's Ghetto right now, at least (16) keg stands in play, and a game of drinking Olympics that I don't expect to end until at least Sunday morning. And why not?

The (11) seeded Dayton Flyers ran away from the Bob Huggins' West Virginia squad for the first marquee upset of this years Tournament.

As a whole, Dayton brought the game to WVU on the offensive end, attacking the rim relentlessly all game long. Defensively, Dayton did not allow WVU to ever get into any kind of rhythm, as Brian Gregory's club held the Mountaineers at bay, forcing them to operate from the perimeter all day long. Chris Wright was solid for the Flyers, going for 27 and 10 in the contest.

Next up for Dayton, is Kansas, and despite the fact that the Jayhawks are defending national champs, and are a (3) seed, this year, this is another game Dayton could win...I don't want to be near the Ghetto if that happens - or do I?

Breaking Down The WBC

We interrupt all this basketball coverage to bring you a blast from Indians' past. By land, by sea, by way of ESPN, its Carlos Baerga, all grown up, rocking a mustard yellow suit with brown pin stripes, breaking down the World Baseball Classic, as and audience of four people sit at home watching the coverage. I don't know what he's saying either, but it doesn't matter. He was my favorite player growing up, and he is now, automatically, my favorite baseball analyst as well. I bet he could still go yard from both sides of the plate in the same inning, any night of the week.

Cavs Use Extra Session for W: 97-92

With (37) seconds left in regulation last night, during the Cavaliers 97-92 win over the Trail Blazers, LeBron James emphatically cleared out the lane, drove past Travis Outlaw like he wasn't even there, rose up, and delivered a Bill Raftery kissss off the glass, while all the Steve Blake and company could could do was turn and watch. That bucket made the score 86-82. And I know, I know, all you Screamin A wannabees, yeah, he did foul Brandon Roy, and miss a buzzer beater to end regulation. Okay great. Since your keeping score, you might also have noted that the King did tally a triple double in a relatively off night for him, going for 26-11-10. His Cavs did then use the extra session to dispose of Portland, and extend their home record to 31-1. I'll take it. Zydrunas stepped up and hit some big shots for Cleveland throughout the game, going for (21), and Joe Smith came off the bench to be as efficient as possible, going 5-5 from the field, totaling (12) points, (3) rebounds on the night.

Zags Oust Zips: 77-64

With about (15) minutes left in the second half, Akron was leading 4th seeded Gonzaga 52-51. From there, during a (13) minute stretch, Gonzaga went on a 23-3 run to push the score out to 74-55. Akron's (3) points during that period came on (3) free throws. They did not hit a shot from the field until Roberts connected on (3) for the Zips with 2:06 to go in the game, to cut the margin to 74-58, in favor of Mark Few's Zags. Even though I can't stand the guy, and wish he would have been busted with all those drugs this year, instead of last year, Josh Heytfelt proved to be too much inside, and Akron had no answer for him - even though Chris McNight did all he could to mix it up with him inside. The Zips represented well though, and came out with a lot of energy in the first half. Linhart was tough, had (13) of his (15) in the period, and did all he could for the 330, but it was not enough. Hats off to Dambrot and company on a solid year.

Details Appear To Emerge In Tragic Case

The Dante Stallworth story that broke earlier in the week, continues to get sadder as the days go on.

WFNY detailed the latest in the Dante Stallworth case today, and I would recommend you read what they had to say on it.

For latest details, proper perspective, and responsible reporting on this case, check the WFNY's post: Unnamed Sources Say...

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim.

Star-ter-bury In Line-Up For Celts

I thought it was a desperate move when the Celtics first started talking about Steph Marbury joining the squad, and I thought it was even more desperate when they signed him. But tonight is by far a new low. Not only announcing that Marbury is in the starting line-up for tonight's game against the Heat on ESPN, but then trying to make him look like Ray Allen?? I guess at (4.5) games behind Cleveland cheesy looking Glen Davis and the Celtics will try anything.

Austin Carr Line of the Night

This is a great one from Austin Carr, who's all out enthusiasm is unrivaled in this town. This A.C. line of the night came after LeBron hit two free throws, to ice the Orlando victory, with 8.7 seconds left in the 4th quarter of Tuesday night's win. As both teams walked to the sidelines, following the second make, Uncle Austin dropped the following line. Check your DVR if you don't believe, me.

"Cavaliers, playing a team game, L-Train, Mo Williams, Anderson, Delonte, Joe Williams, Z, everybody getting into the act."

Classic. I would ask the question, who is Joe Williams, but it doesn't matter. Joe Smith knows who he is, and I know exactly what AC meant... 'Cavaliers win a big one, and I love it.'

Austin Carr Line of the Night

This line of the night from A.C. came with 3:32 left in the 3rd quarter, after an Al Harrington bucket made the score 64-67.

"Somebody better get a hold of Harrington, he's starting to really feel his Cheerios now, he is starting to attack from the outside and the inside similar to what he did to the Cavaliers last time they played him in New York."

I don't know what 'starting to feel his Cheerios means', but who am I to judge. Uncle Austin's point was that the Cavs had better D-up on Harrington, and his point was well taken, cereal reference or otherwise.

Bring On the Demon Deacons

Wake Forest is going down. Cleveland State earned a (13) seed, as projected earlier last week, and will square off against the Demon Deacons when the tournament begins.

The reality of it is, Wake is a solid squad. Real solid, and they went 24-6, on the year, without really a bad loss on the season. However, I will say this. The best player on the Vikings roster, will match-up with, and naturally guard, the best player on the Deacons squad. Meaning, the best perimeter defender, and playmaker, for the Vikings, Cedric Jackson, will naturally match-up with Jeff Teague, who is the best player on the Deacons roster. Teague is a 6'2" guard, and Jackson, who is the Defensive Player of the Year in the Horizon League, should match-up admirably against the All American, and make him work on the offensive end as well.

An additional edge the Vikings may have is inside, where an experienced front line of J'Nathan Bullock, Chris Moore, and George Tandy, will match-up with a young front line of 6'9" freshmen and sophomores for Wake. This game will be interesting.

Previous CSU Posts:

Get Your Dancing Shoes on Cleveland

Gary Waters Pre-Game Speech

CSU v. Butler Preview

CSU Looses Regular Season Finale to Bulter

Cedric Jackson at the Buzzer...Good

Ohio Is Basketball Capital of World

Forget about New York, Indiana, or wherever. Ohio is the basketball capital of the world. Why? Couple reasons. Obviously we have LeBron. Buy beyond that, we have all kinds of dance cards punched around here. Ohio State, Akron, Cleveland State, Dayton, and Xavier are all in the NCAA Tournament. This is the first time in history that all five schools have gone to the dance in the same year. Should be exciting. Especially when Ohio State and Cleveland State collide in the Sweet Sixteen. You heard it here first.

Shaver Sports Joins Sports Blog Net.com

Shaver Sports has joined Sports Blog Net.com. We are excited to be a part of the network, and encourage you to check it out the site. We have a link to the website in this post above, and also have a push button link in the sidebar off to the right. Check it out today!

Breaking News:Stallworth detained in FLA

Shaver Sports has been informed that Donte Stallworth is being detained by Florida police. Apparently it is for questioning in the death of a pedestrian. Word is that he is cooperating with authorities. Expect the main stream media to come out with more soon.

Grant Hill's Daughter Should Have Warned Richardson

In a TNT interview Grant Hill said his daughter warned him that he was playing against LeBron James tonight, and to be careful or he might score (50). She should have talked to Jason Richardson, because I think he thought he was playing against DeShawn Stevenson. The 360 dunk attempt by Jason Richardson that LeBron blocked was the most hilarious play I have ever seen. Hey Richardson, LeBron has been blocking dunk attempts from behind all year, and you are not really a 360 guy anyways...as Dr. Phil would say...What Were you Thinking?

CSU: Projected a 13 Seed

I saw Gary Waters at the MAC tourney last night. As he was walking by I yelled out, 'good luck coach', but I don't think he heard me. Nevertheless, his team is currently projected as a 13 seed by Joe Lunardi. How about their signature win, Syracuse, hows that looking? The Cuse took UCONN to (6) OT's last night?? Look out for the Vikings, I'm serious. They can beat anybody.

For more on CSU, check out the latest JD Shaver Post on MWSF:

CSU Goes To NCAA Tournament for first time in 23 years.

Even if you don't want to read it there is a sweet picture of the '86 squad cutting down the nets.

So Who Will Play More Games Next Year: Dante or Joe?

The most professional athlete the new Browns have ever employed since their inception in 1999 is parting ways with the new regime. A regime headed up by the coach the Jets fired this offseason, Eric Mangini, and a I guy I never heard of who Eric picked. Regardless, Joe Jurevicious, who battled injuries, and a staph infect the Browns most likely gave him, last season, will no longer wear his hometown teams colors. Bittersweet for me as a fan. Bitter in that I wont be able to watch Joe at Browns stadium on Sundays - sweet because I am happy for Joe. If I were an NFL player, playing for the Browns is not exactly like working for Google.

So the Browns let Joe go and are left with Dante Stallworth. Josh Sabo and Aaron Goldhammer engaged in an intersting debate on the Really Big Show, yesterday. The question being, who ends up playing more NFL games next season? Dante Stallworth or Joe Jurevicious? Shaver Sports has this debate as our poll question, and JD Shaver is voting for Joe. I also will go as far as setting the over under for Stallworth at (5) and am betting the under. Vote today.

Get Your Dancing Shoes On Cleveland

What a game last night. Cleveland State is heading to their first NCAA tournament since 1986. If you saw Gary Waters' reaction at the sidelines as the buzzer sounded, that said it all. Watching him all night, you could see how bad he wanted for these kids. He out coached Brad Stevens out of every single timeout, all night long. Nice work Coach...

Ced Jackson is a player. He had a big game last night. In the first half he singlehandedly got the Vikes back in by hitting back to back threes after Ron Franklin suggested CSU might not score 20 in the first half with (8) minutes to go. Jackson was the key figure in the charge they made in the second half as well with Bullock on the sidelines. Great Game...

Jeremy Montgomery, while he missed the front end down the stretch, hit some monster threes in the second half last night. Three of four from deep, the freshman from Chicago was devastating from distance...

Bullock is player you can't help but get behind either. He got kinda handled inside by Howard, but Howard was the player of the year in the Horizon League, a lot of guys get handled by him. Despite that though, Bullock is a tough match-up inside, and could exploit a slow center in the NCAA's depending upon who they draw.

George Tandy and Chris Moore represented their hometowns well. Both guys made key plays at big points, and so did Norris Cole, the kid from Dayton. Hitting the first free throw was huge, because it forced Butler to find a three they couldn't find this time.

57-54. Cleveland State wins the Horizon League for the first time ever. Mark 'em in Lunardi.

Gary Waters Pregame Speech

While rocking a button down green shirt that had no need to be tucked in during his pregame speech, shown live on ESPN, Gary Waters had the following to say to his crew as they took the floor:

"...We had them twice, they got away from us. This time they can not get away from us."

He got me fired up with it. Let's get 'em fellas.

Cleveland State - Butler: Tonight at 9pm

If you are the Cleveland State Vikings, this is all you have to do to get into the NCAA tournament: Beat the 17th ranked college basketball program in America, on that team's home-court, to decide their league's championship. That's fair, right?

If you loose to that team - Butler - tonight at (9pm), no chance. No one cares that you lost to Butler twice by a total of (3) points in the regular season. No one cares that you won over (20) games for the second season in a row. And they don't care either that you beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome this season. One game tonight for all the chalupas, thats what it all got you. Forget about Lunardi's Brackets, I don't think Joe even knows that Cleveland has a D-I college basketball team. The win on Saturday in the semis was great, but forget about that too. All that did was give you tonight. One chance to dance. One chance to dream.

With all that said, if your Butler, its gotta be tough to beat a team (3) times in one season. I think Gary Waters is gonna have his club playing loose, and ready to go. I think the Vikings come out on something magical, and they get their ticket punched tonight. You heard it hear first. Get ready to dance Cleveland.

Ric Bucher Doesn't Like Brian Windhorst

The snazzy ESPN sideline reporter Ric - hold the CK - Bucher doesn't like Brian Windhorst. He says Brian breaks stories that he doesn't know for sure are true. Sounds like Brian needs a Sr. Writers Job at ESPN then, huh Ri -c. From Awful Announcing via Cursed Cleveland:

"The Plain Dealer came out and said very early on that Joe Smith was going to the Cavs, but I know as early as yesterday that there was a chance it could have come apart and he could have been headed to the Lakers… it got a little contentious… at the end of the day does the Plain Dealer look wrong…? No, because he ended up there, but were they completely on the beam… maybe not?And so, my issue now is right now is....You have people who put things there, that are not couched, that put it out there early because they want to be first, and then they're not right. There's no culpability, there's no okay...this is going to happen and it didn't."

So Windhorst is wrong because he said Joe Smith was going to sign with the Cavaliers, and he then signed with the Cavaliers. Expect to get booed next time you are on the sidelines in Cleveland Ric...you don't make any sense.

Around The Blogosphere...Part V

The Big Lead re-capped the Cavaliers win over the Heat Sunday, referenced LeBron's 'off night' that resulted in a triple double, and Mo Williams' cluctch shooting performance that woke memories of a Simpson's episode, but the best part was the following line:

"Heat Coach Eric Spoelstra was reportedly very upset about the loss until he was picked up by his mom, who took him out for ice cream."

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Waiting For Next Year's Post from Saturday in regards to Sean Jones should have people a little concerned about the organization down in Berea, if you weren't already concerned like four years ago. But while I understand that new coaches, bring in new players, and let old players go, I can't understand how Mangini would 'have never met' the starting strong safety on the team he took over. Weird.

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At Slam Online, I have an issue with Khalid Salaam's post. His article 'Its Not his Fault But Damn' article starts out as follows:

"It’s not LeBron’s fault his success is tied into ratings and newsstand sales. Nor do I slander his forays into other things (hosting SNL, etc.) and his ubiquitous profile because of those things. But sportswriters have got to stop being such Stan’s of this guy. It’s making me not like LeBron, making me root against the Cavs just so these clowns can stop deifying him. It annoys me."

His examples are something to do with a Nuggets player and a reporter, and an ABC telecast that he can't remember who was playing in. What? While I agree with the whole idea that reporters shouldn't be coming at these stars like they want an autograph, you can make this arguement about any sport, or any star, for the last (10) years in this country. Singling LeBron out, and talking about him being 'handed the MVP trophy,' is being nothing more than a hater.

Don't hate Khalid, it makes me want to root against you.

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Click Here for Around the Blogoshphere Part IV

One for One On the Weekend

In the last (10) Cavalier - Celtics match-ups, the home team has won (10) times. Nothing new over the weekend with the Celtics win in Boston. I was, for the first time all season, a little disappointed in the Cavaliers performance Friday, but if you re-read this sentence, that is probably a sign of great season. Hopefully the Cavaliers learn from that loss, and its gotta be good in a way to experience some downs during a season filled with upside and success. Couple that by the fact that the Celtics went on to lose to the Magic this weekend, and I got a big who cares for all the beantowners that think the win was a sign of things to come...

It was nice to see the Cavaliers bounce back with a win last night over Miami. The fact that they come back to get a win after a loss like Friday speaks to the character of this club. Reghi mentioned on the radio this week that the Cavaliers have not lost (3) games in row all season, and that is impressive. Going into Saturday's game, I thought maybe the first one was on the horizon, but not so. LeBron coming back with a triple double was huge...I liked when A.C. said last night in the first half that D-Wade 'is really fighting himself, he has been fighting himself all night.' At the time Austin said it, Wade really was, and as the night went on, D-Wade ended up fighting the officials as well as he got launched late after (2) technicals.

Joe Smith Back With Cavaliers

Word is Joe Smith will be in uniform tonight when the Cavaliers travel to the G-aaa-den to take on B -aas-t-e-n, and count me as excited to see the big 6'10"former #1 pick overall back wearing Wine and Gold. I liked him when he was here, and I was sad to see him go. He is a solid bench player, and is valuable pick-up, especially Wallace on the shelf. Smith is a guy that can be counted on play (20) minutes a game, give you decent defense, score (6) points, and grab (4) boards night in and night out. That is what he averaged in his (13) playoff games with us last year, and that is what he averaged in his (33) games with the Thunder this year. My only thing with Joe Smith is this.,, Don't tell me that now the Cavaliers are a legitimate title contender, and can win it all now - that they signed Smith. That is ridiculous. The Cavaliers could have competed for and won an NBA championship as assembled two weeks ago. Joe Smith doesn't hurt at all, don't get me wrong, but lets not overlook how good this team really is, and how good it has really been all year long. Nevertheless, I am glad to see him back, and so is LeBron:

“The short time that we had with Joe on this team was great,” said LeBron James before taking on Miami on Monday. “(He’s) one of the best guys, one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. I’d definitely love to have him back.”

The Franchise - By Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst

The publishers of the book The Franchise, LeBron James and the remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers were nice enough to send me a copy of what I have heard is an excellent book, and I can't wait to read it. I received it yesterday, and flipping through it briefly, it looks like a great read. I will be breaking the book down in depth in a couple weeks, but I wanted to share one excerpt below that I stumbled across just skimming through, that made me remember something I thought I wouldn't forget.

The excerpt was as follows:

"When LeBron James played in his first high school basketball game on December 3, 1999, it was in a half empty gym in Cuyahoga Falls, a suburb of Akron. James was starting as a freshmen for St. Vincent - St. Mary High School...Before the game Coach Keith Dambrot was nervous because he was starting (3) freshmen, including James"

That triggered a conversation I had towards the end of that season. That year, I was a college freshmen and I went back to my high school to practice with the basketball team over winter break. After practice, I talked to my old coaches, who talked my ear off about a freshmen from St. V's they saw play that year (99-00 season). They said he was incredible, explosive, real quick, saw the floor unbelievably well. They said he was like 5'4" or 5'5"... they said his name was Dru Joyce. I didn't hear about LeBron James until the following season. To this day I can't believe that conversation was about Dru Joyce and not LeBron James. Who knew.

Karl Formula Has Cavaliers On Top

This post was sent to us from Diego Lo Mein...a stat guru, and Cleveland sports aficianado.

Micheal Reghi was recently discussing the Karl formula on ESPN 850 WKNR, which he says is the best way to rank teams during a given season. The Karl formula is used to see where NBA teams stand, how they measure up to each other, and to take into account how many home and road games a given team had played.

The way the Karl formula works is to take your road wins, and subtract your home losses, to come up with a number. I guess George Karl came up with this.

Anyways, if you look at that, the Cavs are way ahead, with a net of 20. The breakdown is below:

Cleveland: 21 - 1 = 20
Boston: 22 - 5 = 17
LA Lakers: 21 - 4 = 17
Orlando: 21 - 7 = 14
San Antonio: 20 - 8 = 12

Austin Carr Line of the Night

While I have brought you before some of my favorite A.C. lines of a given game, we are going to increase the frequency of that with the new series creatively titled: Austin Carr Line of the Night. How'd we come up with that right? I know, impressive. Without further ado:

The situation (5:24 left in the first quarter)...

Big Z hit the deck for a loose ball, tapped it out to Mo Williams. Mo then skipped it across the defense, throwing it into the corner to Delonte, who then rotated it over to LeBron as the shot clock expired. LeBron hit a three to make the score 16-12 as the buzzer to the shot clock went off.

As they went to commercial, after that play, Austin Carr said the following as the replay rolled:

"Big Z, going to the floor, then gets a pass, over the top Mo Williams, back to him, LeBron James, Deep - I'm not gonna say it."

Would have been a drink (1) if he had said "Deep in the - American Airlines Arena -and he knew it.

Nice work A.C...that was classic!

Thanks for Spreading the Word...

Shaver Sports wanted to send a shout out over to the good folks at Waiting for Next Year for linking up our post out of the Corner Office of the Top Man last week on Shaun Rogers, and highlighting it in their best of the web series. We also wanted to thank our friends over at Cleveland Frowns for being the first to link up our Notorious Cavs discovery last week as well. For more on the Notorious Cavs check out the latest JD Shaver Post on Midwest Sports Fans as well.

Cavs Beat Heat...Chalmers Bombs From Half Court

The Cavaliers are a premiere basketball team. Sunday's win was big, and tonight's was bigger. 3-1 on the trip, come back from (11) with 7 minutes left in the game. Win on the road against the Five Seed in the East. Team defense. Blocked Shots. Half Court Shots by the other team for no real reason. And the King. LBJ was awesome.

The flurry to get back in the game, from 7:15 left in the 4th Quarter to 6:29 left in the game, was the most entertaining 0:46 seconds of NBA action I have seen for as long as I can remember....

First, Mo hits a (3) to make it 91 - 83...deflections, a scrum, a dunk by LBJ, a Halfcourt shot by Mario Chalmers (which was the funniest thing in the NBA I have seen this year), and another (3) by Mo with 6:29 left, and the Cavs were down (3), 91-88 before you can say Ocho Cinco (who was in attendance Monday). Then, after the Cavs scored (8) points in (46) seconds the cameras picked up the Heat's (12) year old coach and Mario Chalmers talking to the Ref at the T.V. timeout about Chalmers' heave with (22) seconds left on the shot clock, (7) minutes left in the game, from just over half court, by the sidelines.

"I don't know what he's doing, " you could hear the ref say to the both of them.

Classic. No one did.

The Cavs then took the lead with (4) minutes left 92-91 on a sick lay-up by Mo Williams in traffic, and had a stranglehold on the game from there. LeBron scores (42), Cavs win 107-102.

Not that they need him, but bring on Joe Smith.

Tough Road Trip

The Cavs current road trip which has them playing 4 games in 5 days got a little bit tougher overnight. After winning the game on LBJ's free throw with 1.8 seconds left, the Cavs boarded their plane for Miami. Because of the storms out east, Atlanta had about 3 inches of snow on the ground and the Cavs spent 5 hours on the plane before it could head for the warm weather of Miami. They didn't get into their hotel until 7am this morning. Back-to-backs are hard enough. Don't be surprised if they come out a little sluggish against the Heat tonight.

Quote From the Big Cactus

I have to admit, that part of me was intrigued by the idea of the Cavaliers trading for Shaquille O'Neal because I love reading that guys quotes, and hearing his soundbites. I think he is hilarious.

After scoring (45) points Friday night, and grabbing (11) boards, the thirty seven year old center had the following to say:

“I’m the only player who looks at each and every center and says to myself, ‘That’s barbecued chicken down there.”’

I am not sure what that means, but it makes me laugh when I picture the Big Fella saying it.

Vikings Represent Cleveland Well

I appreciate what Gary Waters has done with the CSU Vikings. I was (5) when Mackey led Mouse McFadden and company into the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen, and I have been waiting my whole life to see if CSU could be a competive college team worth following again. Whether they make the NCAA tournament this year or not, THEY ARE a club worth following NOW. No doubt. The Vikes will win more than 20 games this year, included amongst them was the win over Syracuse, and enough Horizon wins to finish (3rd) in an under-rated mid-major conference. The losses include a couple of near misses against Top-25 ranked Butler, who clinched the regular season title yesterday. They (CSU) lost at home by (1) at the buzzer, and lost yesterday by (2) at Butler. A close call on a (3) point attempt goes CSU's way at the end... who knows? But what I do know is that coming into the Horizon tourney with a (3) seed, gives them shot to go the distance, and earn the first NCAA bid in (23) years. Whether CSU won Saturday or not, really doesn't matter if you are talking NCAA's anyways. There is only one at large team in the league (Butler) and it is not CSU. But look for CSU to sneak into the dance by playing their way in come tournament time. It is going to be tough for Butler to beat them (3) times. Once in, anything can happen. Maybe they beat Indiana again. Wait, I don't think the Hooisers will make it this year. Nevertheless, Waters club is a solid one, competitive group that plays hard, represents the city well, and as a Cleveland basketball fan, I appreciate that.

As the World Turns. Berea Edition

Now that Winslow is gone, who is next? Sources in Berea say that there are about 4 or 5 other players that could soon be packing their bags as well. Of note, Kevin Shaffer, Derek Anderson (don't know if the Rd 2 and Rd 4 are still out there), and Braylon Edwards are rumored to be 3 on the move. The Browns would most likely get draft picks for Edwards and Anderson. Look for Shaffer to be released outright. Donte Stallworth will probably be back, after he renegotiates his contract. Rogers will NOT be let out of his contract or traded.