The Trifecta

What a great night to be a Cleveland fan. The rest of Ohio can suck a cock after tonight. Columbus has nothing but the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Columbus Crew. No one watches hockey, I could play MLS soccer, and OSU football won't be good for another two years. You can collectively add the talents of Columbus athletics, and they wouldn't come near LeBron James. The other big city in Ohio is Cincinnati, and they have their MLB team in the Reds. I don't know what other sports teams come from there. All I know is that it would suck to be a sports fan in Cincinnati, because you really have nothing to cheer for, and your next to the state of Kentucky. Some of you might be wondering why I am calling out these cities, and its because this blog is about Cleveland sports, and how great it is. People always talk shit about this city and how we can't win anything, but I have a feeling it is going to change soon.
The John Carroll Blue Streaks basketball team heads to the Sweet 16 of the DIII NCAA Tournament after defeating Carnegie Mellon at the buzzer, the CSU Vikings defeated UW Green Bay to advance to the Horizon League Tournament Finals, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rebounded from a horrible loss to the Boston Celtics by defeating the Miami Heat. I will write a little bit about each of these three teams.

John Carroll Basketball
I am very happy that our squad advanced to the Sweet 16. I have a few friends on the basketball team, and they are a good group of guys. Our team plays great defense, and they just outwork every team. Our tallest player is 6'4, and we never give up in games. I am excited to see what this team will do this year, and next year in that we have 1 senior graduating. Also, our starting lineup features 4 juniors, and 1 sophomore. These guys are coached by Mike Moran, who has been a staple in coaching at JCU. Lets hope he can continue to lead our guys deep into the tournament.

Cleveland State Vikings
This is the team I was quietly cheering for the most. One of my favorite basketball players ever, J'Nathon Bullock played a great game tonight. He had 16 points and 8 boards. I would have been very sad if this was his last game. CSU trailed by 6 at half, and in the second half they played great defense, and attacked the basket on offense. Senior Point Guard Cedric Jackson had 14 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists. George Tandy had one of the best put back dunks of the year, and I am sure it will be on ESPN's top plays tonight. Sophmore Norris Cole stepped up big off the bench with 23 points. He is one of the building blocks of the future at CSU. This win is huge in that it came without one of CSU's best players in D'Aundrey Brown. I am very excited for the Horizon League Tournament Finals versus #22 Butler. Twice, Cleveland State has lost to Butler by 2 points. CSU has to have revenge on their mind, they are one game away from the Dance. Playing in the Hinkle Fieldhouse isn't easy, but I really think CSU can pull off the upset.

Cleveland Cavaliers
-Good win tonight versus the Heat. The Cavs returned to playing solid basketball, and they lead for most of the game.
-The Cavs played without any heart versus the Boston Celtics Friday night. The Celtics beat us because they wanted that game more than we did. Without Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis, the Celtics continued to pound us inside. Too many times Leon Powe, and Mikki Moore got 2 feet within the basket and just layed it in. Yes, we did not have Ben Wallace, and this game showed how much we really need him, but there is no excuse for Leon Powe to have 20 points on us.
-How does one stop this, two things, Its pretty simple, one box your man out. If you stay low, put your body on your man (I know this sounds gay), you will box your man out. I have done this numerous times while playing the game of basketball, and it works!
-Two, force your man to stay out of the paint. If he is trying to post up, put your arm and shoulders into him and force him out of the paint. If you just stand behind your man, and allow him to get the ball, he will either force his way in (like Glen Davis did with his big big body, like Leon Powe did with his quickness, and like Mikki Moore did with his athleticism and length). I know this sounds simple, but you have to play physical with the Celtics. In one of my previous blogs, I wrote how TrailBlazers forward Travis Outlaw said that you just need to hit the Celtics back if you want to beat them. That definitely didn't happen last night.
-Paul Pierce hit so many damn shots from the outside. He did this during game 7 too. Heres an idea, force him to go to the hoop. He has destroyed us from the perimeter, and putting a hand in his face isn't working. If we suck him to the middle of the floor, then he will be forced to take a bad shot or dish it out.
-We just looked outmatched yesterday, and we didn't seem to play as a team. Once we got behind, we gave the ball to LeBron. This didn't work in that he made 5-15 shots. He needs to quit his perimeter shooting, and go to the hole. When your 6'9 and 260 lbs. you shouldn't be shooting jumpers.
-The rest of the starters did fine as Anderson had 15 points and was the only active body downlow, Mo had 26 points as he put on a shooting clinic (4-5 from 3 pt. and 6-6 from the free throw line), Delonte had only 5 points, but he had 8 assists, and 6 boards, and Z continued his consistent play with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Z also did a good job sticking up for Anderson again after Davis knocked him to the ground.
-JJ Hickson looked like a rookie (2 turnovers, 1 reb. 0 pts.), Joe Smith looked rusty (he shot 3-8), Daniel Gibson continued his struggles (3 pts, 1 reb. 1 assist), and Wally couldn't get any good looks (4 points).
-If we have any chance to win in Boston, we need great bench play, and a great game from LeBron. The Celtics feed off of their crowd so well, and we just need LeBron to be coldblooded (much like Kobe was earlier in the year in Boston). I think a another Game 5 performance is needed to knock the Celtics out....

Well folks, that just about does it. I hope we can continue winning here in Cleveland! Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz