Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009, 7:27 pm
I previewed the Cavaliers/Hawks game on the “Wine & Gold Podcast” on 12.30.09. I also recapped the Cavs win over the Hawks the night before. Brendan Bowers, from StepienRules.com joined me for a few minutes before he jumped on his plane to Chicago.
Then I was joined by Bret LaGree from the Atlanta Hawks blog, Hoopinion, to talk about tonight’s matchup as well. You can listen to the interview portion of the show here.
OUR GAME PREDICTIONS: THIS SEASON: TIED 3-3-1
GLENN - CLE 98 ATL 90
LeBron James - 30 points
BRENDAN - CLE 94 ATL 88
LeBron James - 25 points
BRET - CLE 91 ATL 86
LeBron James - 22 points
Our next pregame show will be before Saturday’s Cavaliers/New Jersey Nets game, with the show starting at 12:00PM ET.
We also will be doing pregame shows for ALL Cavalier games, one hour before tipoff! Just come to the website and join the chat box and listen in!!!
Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009, 8:03 am
The Cavaliers held the Atlanta Hawks scoreless for almost nine minutes on route to a 95 – 84 win last night in Atlanta. The sellout crowd of 20,150 in attendance set a new Philips Arena regular-season record, generating a playoff-like atmosphere. Too bad they couldn’t help the Hawks put the ball in the basket.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) takes a shot against Atlanta Hawks center Zaza Pachulia (27) of Georgia, during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game at Philips Arena, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009 in Atlanta. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Gregory Smith)
LeBron James, despite being booed every time he touched the ball, notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists. Mo Williams and Delonte West led the Cavaliers (25-8) coming off the bench, combining for 37 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Williams did have seven turnovers though in what Cavs coach Mike Brown called “an ugly win” for Cleveland.
“It was an ugly game, but you have to win ugly games. Defensively, in the second half, we were pretty good,” Coach Brown said. “Atlanta has been averaging over 100 points in this building and having their way with teams. So we’re happy about the way we handled them defensively tonight.”
Cleveland has held three straight opponents fewer than 90 points and also improved their record against teams over .500 to 15-3.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 15 points off the bench for the Cavaliers, including a dramatic trey to put away the Hawks late in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers led 75-74 entering the final quarter and stretched the lead to 85-74 before Josh Smith finally ended the Hawks’ drought that lasted 8:48 by scoring with 3:12 remaining. The Hawks (21-9) were 0 for 10 from the field in the period before the basket.
Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 26 points off the bench on 10 of 17 shooting from the field, including four 3 pointers. Joe Johnson, who averages 21.4 points, made only 5 of 14 shots from the field and scored only four points after his 11 point first quarter.
Both teams head north to Cleveland where they will face off again tonight. Cleveland gets a couple days off to celebrate the New Year before flying to New Jersey.
Notes: Ilgauskas passed Brad Daugherty for No. 2 on the Cavaliers all-time scoring mark during the game and now has 10,405 career points
Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Saturday, December 26th, 2009, 9:18 pm
Martin Ward ran for two touchdowns and Andre Booker had a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown as Marshall held off Ohio 21 – 17 in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl .
The game looked like it would be route when Ward’s 2-yard run put Marshall ahead 21-0 with 7:21 left in the first half. Ohio got on the board with a 75-yard fumble return for a touchdown by the Bobcats Shannon Ballard before the half.
The Bobcats carried the momentum into the second half, when Ohio quarterback Theo Scott threw a touchdown pass to Terrence McCrae on an 8-yard pass midway through the third quarter. Matt Weller made it 21-17 on a 46-yard field goal.
The Bobcats (9-5) stayed in the game despite just 123 yards of offense, 34 of those coming in the first half alone.
Ohio did have their chances though, missing a wide-open receiver on a trick play and failing to take advantage on their last two drives. DeQuan Bembry interception with 40 seconds left sealed the victory for the Thundering Herd (7-6), which were led by interim coach Rick Minter.
Mark Snyder resigned at Marshall after the season and will be replaced by West Virginia assistant coach John “Doc” Holliday, who was an assistant to Urban Meyer on Florida’s 2006 national championship team.
Not many people saw the game at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. The bowl, which was known as the Motor City Bowl in its first 12 years, drew a record low 30,311 fans.
Sarah Thomas made history during the game, becoming the first woman to officiate a bowl game. She was the first woman to be an official for a major college football game in 2007 and is on the NFL’s list o f officiating prospects.
Michigan-based Little Caesars Pizza signed a one-year contract to sponsor the bowl after General Motors and Chrysler cut ties.
Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Thursday, December 24th, 2009, 3:45 pm
Two reasons why December 25 was circled on my calendar this year. 1-Duh, it’s Christmas! And 2-The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the dreaded Los Angeles Lakers. And what better way to preview the Christmas Day matchup, than to speak with Rey Moralde from The No Look Pass. (I also did a email interview with Rey on the matchup on his site)
TheNoLookPass.com
Rey and I hit on Kobe-LeBron, LeBron vs. Shannon Brown in a dunk contest, how bad Shaq is doing this year, Ron Artest, and a lot more on the matchup.
You can catch Rey at The No Look Pass and he is also a fellow 8th Seed pocast brother. His Twitter is @thenolookpass Even though I may not like the Lakers a whole lot, his website is second to none when it comes to Laker news.
Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009, 4:29 pm
With the end of year and decade approaching, we here at The Dugout Sports Show would like to present our “Cleveland Indians All-2000s Team”. After hours of stat studying and careful consideration, we put together the best seasons at each individual position. Enjoy!
The Cleveland Indians were 816-804 during the decade, including 9-8 in the postseason, winning one series, which was in 2007 against the New York Yankees.
Season of the Decade: 2007 (96-66 season; 6-5 postseason)
Season Notes: AL Central Division Champions, AL Championship Series Appearance
Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Monday, December 21st, 2009, 12:05 pm
Rolling on a five game win streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers went down to Dallas to face a Mavericks team playing without their star player, Dirk Nowitzki. Easy win? Not exactly. The Cavaliers could not overcome the Dallas lead in the fourth quarter and they lose, 102 – 95.
Reuters
Tim Thomas, who took the spot in the starting lineup for Nowitzki, played liked an All-Star, dropping in 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting, adding seven rebounds. Six Mavericks scored in double figures, including all three bench players.
“I just wanted to be aggressive with the minutes I was given tonight,” said Thomas. “I told coach I wanted to get back to playing an all-around game, which is my strength.”
LeBron James scored a game high 25 points, but it took him 23 shots to get there. Shawn Marion and Josh Howard rotated on harassing James, who was 3 for 11 in the second half. This was also LeBron’s 500th career game.
The defensive pressure didn’t stop there with Mavericks. Erick Dampier and Drew Gooden applied strong pressure on Shaquille O’Neal, who only went 1 for 7 from the field. He did go 3 for 4 from the free throw line.
There were 11 ties and nine lead changes during the first half. Dallas had their largest lead in the second half at 63-51 on a 19-footer by Thomas with 6:42 left in the third quarter. Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, and Howard all knocked down 3-pointers in the fourth to make sure a Cleveland rally did not happen.
Nowitzki did not play because of a deep laceration on his right elbow suffered in Friday’s overtime loss to the Rockets.
Delonte West chipped in 18 points for the Cavaliers as Anderson Varejao added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Life on the road for the Cavaliers doesn’t get any easier, as they will take on the Phoenix Suns tonight.
The Cleveland Indians yesterday announced the club will not tender 2010 Major League contracts to RHP ADAM MILLER, RHP ANTHONY REYES, and RHP JOSE VERAS.
Reyes, Veras, and Miller are now free agents. The 40-man roster currently stands at 37 players.
Adam Miller
Miller, selected by the Indians in the 2003 MLB Draft, had his rise to the MLB level slowed by elbow problems in 2005. Healthy again and rated as the organization’s top prospect by Baseball America, his journey towards the big leagues resumed in 2008. He started the 2008 season as a starting pitcher at Triple-A Buffalo. In 2009, he had reconstructive surgery on his middle finger and has never pitched in the major leagues.
Anthony Reyes
Reyes made eight starts for the Indians in 2009, going 1-1 with a 6.57 ERA before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery in June. He is expected to be sidelined for 12 to 18 months.
Veras went 1-2 with a 4.38 ERA in 22 games after he was acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees in June.
For the first time in sixteen years, a ranked, power-conference team dared to take on Butler on their home court in Hinkle Fieldhouse. In the end, two lessons were learned. One, the No. 20 Butler Bulldogs beat their first ranked opponent this season and for No. 15 Ohio State Buckeyes, life without star player Evan Turner could be a rough road.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
The Bulldogs led by as many as 17 in the second half and held off a late charge for a 74 – 66 win. The last time they beat a top-15 team at home? An upset of then No. 11 Indiana in 1993.
Gordon Hayward scored 24 points and Willie Veasley had 15 points and 10 rebounds for theBulldogs (7-3), who had lost to Minnesota, Clemson, and Georgetown this season.
“This games don’t really mean anything for us, because we’re worried about March,” Hayward said. “But it’s good for us, and we like the challenge.”
Turner, the Buckeyes (7-2) leader in scoring, rebounds, and assists, will be out two months after falling after a dunk and injured his back in the Buckeyes’ previous game against Eastern Michigan. P.J. Hill, Turner’s replacement in the starting lineup, finished with no points, one assist and one rebound in 14 minutes.
Ohio State’s coach Thad Matta was so worried about his lack of depth he employed a zone for most of the first half against a team who loves to pass and shoot.
“We’ve got to continue to learn and play smarter,” Matta said, “because Evan is a guy who does so much for you.”
Matta thought he might be without starting guard William Buford on Saturday as well. In an dribbling drill Thursday, Buford’s back tightened up and he fell to the floor. He received heating treatments on the bench during timeouts and managed to play all 40 minutes, scoring a team-high 20 points.
Don’t tell the Butler Bulldogs this was an upset though. But without Turner, Ohio State looked liked the mid-major, with only one starter standing taller than 6-6. The Buckeyes were outrebounded 40-27, including a 15-5 edge on the offensive glass.
David Lighty chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds, as the offensive ran through the junior swingman.
The Buckeyes next game is against Presbyterian on Wednesday in Columbus.
Posted By Glenn S. Moore on Thursday, December 10th, 2009, 3:24 am
By: Glenn S. Moore
It’s really amazing what can happen in two days of NBA basketball. After five technical fouls, forty turnovers, and two loses, the Cavaliers go from riding a four game winning streak to losing two straight, including their most recent loss, in which the Houston Rockets put on a defensive clinic while beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95 – 85 Wednesday night.
Michael Paulsen-Houston Chronicle
Rocket defenders gave LeBron James a hard time on the perimeter and when James did get in the lane, he had to deal with the Rockets big men. Shane Battier and Trevor Ariza harassed LeBron all night and while James had 27 points, he only made 8 of 21 shots and for the second time in as many days, he turned the ball over five times. This loss adds to the Cavs woes in Houston, as they have lost 6 of 7 times on the Rockets home court.
The Cavaliers (15-7) did cut the Rockets double digit lead to single digits, but were not able to get it close enough for Houston to panic. It did not help that Mo Williams, Shaquille O’Neal, and Delonte West received technical fouls for arguing calls. The Rockets converted those technicals to points and padded their lead.
The frustration of the night did not stop with the players. Cavs coach Mike Brown was ejected by referee Scott Wall before halftime. It is always a good idea to keep your cool, especially on the road, but with the team’s lack of intensity, Brown probably did it more to ignite a spark for his team.
“I don’t like to do that because I think we’re good enough to win no matter which way the calls go,” Brown said. “I took it a step too far.”
For the second straight night, the Cavaliers were hurt by committing 20 turnovers, which led to easy baskets for the Rockets (12-9). Those miscues cost them 22 points and Houston ended up with 18 fast-break points.
Ariza led the Rockets with 26 points, including 4 of 6 shooting from 3 point range and getting easy fast-break hoops. Aaron Brooks put in 27 points and held Williams to only 7 points.
West helped keep the Cavs in the ballgame with 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting. The Cavaliers did hold the edge in rebounding, 47 – 37, including 11 offensive boards.
To add to the Cavs troubles, Daniel Gibson suffered an injury to his right pinky in the first half and didn’t return. X-rays were negative and he is day to day.
The Cavs return home Friday night to take on the Portland Trailblazers. But their home stand will be short lived, as they will be back on the road to travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder.
the best seasons at each individual position. Enjoy!
