Round 3, Game 1 | Cavaliers vs. Magic | May 20, 2009 | 8:30PM (EST) TNT

The NBA channel just showed a live shot of the Cavs locker room. Lebron had his feet in a big plastic pail, ice packs on his knees and shoulders. Sitting next to him, Mo had ice packs on his legs and shoulder. Both had their heads hanging down and they were not saying much to each other. There were no others around them, neither teammates nor reporters.

Qaatar is about to be banned for a special mix of poor grammar, a lack of being a real cavs fan, and agreeing with The Common Man... who has been on borrowed time for seemingly months.

Thoughts?

The Common Man said:

it would have helped a lot more to win. Now Mo & Delonte's confidence are down, we've lost home court advantage, and Orlando's on a 3 game winning streak. The negatives here far outweigh the positives. This was a terrible effort overall. I don't even want to hear the word Finals until this series is over.

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If you really think Lebron will allow the teams confidence to go down you are sadly mistaken. It was better to get the lose out early instead of losing a game 5 and going down 2-3. We are down 0-1 and can easily get back into this.

With Z off his game, why not have Wallace out there in the first half using up his fouls to put Howard on the line?

Lebron owned... the supporting cast sucked, plain and simple. Plus defensively we didn't do that great of a job. It was like watching two different games from the first half to the second. I am drained emotionally right now, its only one loss but it feels like the end of the world. I guess thats how it is for Cleveland sports fans lol. But that being said, lets just go out and even this thing back up.

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Qaatar, I'm talking about on the ball defense. Stop making up and bringing up useless comments. You think KG could do a better job guarding Kobe and Lebron than Artest and Battier? lol.

awww...you guys are upset because I understand the game of basketball and I can take off my Lebron goggles and see the game for what it really is? That I'm not overly bitter over a close loss and understand it's a long series.

It's not a personal attack, it's just understanding the game. I've watched Lebron since he was in high school. I was courtside when he lost to Roger Bacon in the finals his junior year. He went off for 32 points. Trust me, I'm a huge Lebron fan. But I can take off my Lebron/Cavs goggles and still critique his game.

We looked fatigued in the 2nd half, next game we'll have our legs back.

Sorry but Coach Brown has to take the blame for this one.

I dunno what's up with this Sasha hating but I really thought that he could help us out there. Yes, he is boneheaded and has the basketball IQ of a snail but he's still a good defensive player who has the size to harrass either Hedo or Lewis. You put Sasha on one and LeBron on the other and voila...you have a defensive plan on the wings. It's not like Delonte played great out here...Why not throw Sasha in? Could it really be worse than Delonte sitting in the corner and watching LeBron?

If Z's not hitting those mid-range shots, he shouldnt even be there. Why not throw D-Block in to foul Dwight on like 3-4 straight possessions? That would surely kill some of Magic's offensive flow.

Last but not least...the last play. Seriously come on...You are the Coach of The Year and you draw that? I could as well stand there and say

"Ok Bron you get the ball on top of the key, others spread out and you do your thing"

because thats exactly what happened. Double screens, fake cuts, trying to move LeBron off the ball for an easy shot? You got to have those in your coaching arsenal.

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Randolphkeys said:

Qaatar is about to be banned for a special mix of poor grammar, a lack of being a real cavs fan, and agreeing with The Common Man... who has been on borrowed time for seemingly months.

Thoughts?

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I've been wondering this since i first saw him post to tell the truth. Its always been in the back of my mind reading his posts.

Bottom line: We're fine. Our bench had 5 points. It's a long series and don't forget we're on a mission. Winning an NBA championship isn't supposed to be easy. I'm glad we faced adversity. This will just fuel us for the next game. We'll be ready, don't worry.

The game plan for the first half was let Howard get his, and close hard on the three. It worked spectacularly yet we got lazy on rotations in the 2nd half which is simply inexcusable.

The strategy of forcing the ball to Howard instead of the perimeter shooters is a great one if we keep it up, but to make it 100x more effective we need someone to body him up like Perkins did. Z is giving him way too much room for that spin move. The strategy is to let Dwight get his, but our bigs just literally let him get his.

I sincerely suggest we try out Darnell's big athletic body on him.

Delonte was out there for 46 minutes and 36 seconds.

Just one question...

Why?

Jezzar said:

Delonte was out there for 46 minutes and 36 seconds.

Just one question...

Why?

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Wow.

That's way too many minutes after an 8 day break for him, no wonder he looked like he didn't have his legs under him and missed that last 3.

He played all but 1:24? Jeez.