Tag Archives: Cavs

“The Shot” Podcast With Craig Ehlo and Brad Sellers

Posted: May 9, 2020 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Classic Interviews, Current Interviews, Feature Articles, Fun Stuff, Podcasts, Video Vault | 6,230 Comments

May 7th, 2020 was the 31st anniversary of Michael Jordan’s legendary shot that beat the Cavaliers in game 5 of the first round of the 1989 NBA playoffs. It launched MJ’s career towards the greatest of all-time(G.O.A.T.), but knocked Cleveland out of the playoffs and just a year later led to the disastrous trade of Ron Harper that would haunt the Cavs for years to come.

We’ve seen “Air Jordan” describe “The Shot” many times. What I wanted to do was talk to the other two key players involved in “The Shot” and get their perspective of what was supposed to happen from both huddles prior to “The Shot”, and then get their reaction immediately after the play, and then all these years later.

So I set up a Zoom call with former Bulls forward Brad Sellers, who inbounded the ball to Michael, and former Cavaliers guard Craig “Eggs” Ehlo, who had the unenviable task of trying to guard Michael on the legendary play.

The guys broke it down and shared great stories, some never told before, in this 45 minute Zoom video podcast:

LeBron James Greatest Game?

Posted: May 2, 2020 by . Filed under Feature Articles | 1,249 Comments

It’s always great talking LeBron James and Cavs basketball with Michael Reghi and JT on the Kenny and JT show on 1480 WHBC. We broke down Game 5 of the 2007 NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals – Cavs at Pistons, when King James scored 48pts – including Cleveland’s final 25 points and 29 of the Cavaliers last 30 points in the 109-107 double overtime win at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit. We talked about it from two different perspectives:

  1. Michael and I were there in person at the Palace to witness it first hand.
  2. JT was at home watching on TV.

Listen to our Podcast here by copying and pasting this link in your browser – https://www.whbc.com/kenny-roda-podcast/?futurishared=3689&station=WHBCAM#.Xq2rFVr6Gio.twitter

RISKY BUSINESS – CAVS GM DEALS KYRIE TO CELTICS

Posted: Aug 23, 2017 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Feature Articles | 304 Comments

by Kenny Roda

Was new Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman channeling his inner Joel Goodson from the hit movie “Risky Business”? More on that later. Let’s get right to the surprising trade of Kyrie Irving to the Cavs biggest threat in the East, the Boston Celtics.

Koby Altman photo courtesy of fearthesword.com

This is a very risky trade for the Cavs considering that they gave up a four-time all-star in Kyrie Irving who they controlled for two more years even if he was unhappy, for Isaiah Thomas, an undersized, currently injured point guard, who’s terrible on defense and in the final year of his contract. And oh yeah, they made this deal with their Eastern Conference rival, the Boston Celtics!

Yes the Cavs got a decent role player, who’s calling card is defense, in Jae Crowder, plus an unproven rookie center, in Ante Zizic. But I’m not sure how much they will really help the Cavaliers this season, which possibly could be the final season for LeBron James in Cleveland.

If the Cavaliers are in a must win now mode, I feel, especially with the uncertainty of the hip injury Isaiah Thomas is dealing with, that this trade does not help them for this year, with the exception of owner Dan Gilbert reportedly saving $29 million in the luxury tax.

However, if Isaiah Thomas and his seriously injured hip, that forced him to miss games 3, 4 and 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavs, is able to get back to being 100% healthy, and Derrick Rose does the same, the Cavaliers will continue to be the best the Eastern Conference has to offer. But as they are constructed right now, I don’t think that the Cavaliers will be good enough to defeat the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

Maybe the most exciting thing about this trade is the draft pick the Cavs got from the Celtics. It is actually the Brooklyn Nets draft pick, and Brooklyn could be the worst team in the NBA the season. That would mean the Cavaliers could end up with the most ping pong balls in the hopper (#APPBITH) with a chance to get the number one overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Or the Cavaliers could take this Nets draft pick and potentially flip it for a big-time player which could mean a whole another story.

I was hoping that somehow someway new GM Koby Altman would find a way to trade for Eric Bledsoe, Josh Jackson and a draft pick from the Suns, or if Phoenix continued to be steadfast on not giving up Jackson, I might’ve taken TJ Warren and Jared Dudley and a draft pick along with Bledsoe. But the Suns wouldn’t budge, so Altman took, I guess, the next best deal.

Could he have done worse? Sure! Could he, or maybe David Griffin, if he were still the Cavaliers GM have done more? I think so! Now I’ve been wrong before on trades, but I’ve also been right.

But Altman is the man in charge and it looks like he took the mental approach of  Joel Goodson, Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Risky Business” and went with, “Sometimes you gotta say, what the f***, make your move”! And boy did he ever!

Is this the end of the “Soap Opera” that is the 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers? I highly doubt it. I’m sure there’s plenty more drama to come.

Stay tuned!

 

CAVS OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE ON THE KYRIE IRVING TRADE

Posted: Aug 22, 2017 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Feature Articles | 775 Comments

CAVALIERS ACQUIRE NBA ALL-STAR GUARD ISAIAH THOMAS, JAE CROWDER, ANTE ZIZIC AS WELL AS THE 2018 BROOKLYN NETS UNPROTECTED 1ST ROUND DRAFT PICK

CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 unprotected first round pick from the Boston Celtics in exchange for guard Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

“This trade needed to include both players and assets that we felt strongly could help us continue to compete for championships and we believe it does,” said Altman. “We look forward to Isaiah, Jae and Ante joining us and also felt that the unprotected first round pick in the deal was very important for us and our future as well.”

“On behalf of the entire franchise, I want to thank Kyrie Irving for the six impressive years he spent in Cleveland wearing the Cavaliers uniform,” said Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert. “From the moment we won the 2011 NBA lottery that put us in position to draft Kyrie to the ‘The Shot’ that sealed our first NBA championship and all of the electrifying play that made him a joy to watch, ‘excitement’ was always in the air when it came to Kyrie Irving. We wish him and his family well as he moves on to the next phase of his NBA career.”

Thomas (5-9, 185) appeared in 76 games (all starts) for the Celtics in 2016-17, averaging a career-high 28.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 33.8 minutes. He finished as the third-leading scorer in the NBA and had the second highest scoring average in Celtics history, trailing only Larry Bird’s 1987-88 mark of 29.9 points. Thomas also set career highs in field goal percentage (.463), three-point percentage (.379) and free throw percentage (.909, 2nd in NBA) this past season, while setting the team record with 245 three-pointers. An NBA All-Star in each of the last two seasons, Thomas was an All-NBA Second Team selection in 2016-17. He scored at least 20 points or more on 71 occasions, which includes a stretch of 43 consecutive contests hitting that mark (11/19/16-2/26/17), the longest in Celtics history. The six-year NBA veteran out of the University of Washington was originally drafted by Sacramento as the 60th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and has gone on to hold career averages of 19.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists over 441 games (309 starts) with the Kings, Phoenix and Boston.

Crowder (6-6, 235) played in 72 games (all starts) for Boston this past season and averaged 13.9 points on a career-high .463 shooting from the field, including a career-best .398 from three-point range, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal in 32.4 minutes. He also went .811 from the charity stripe, while scoring in double figures on 54 occasions and posting seven double-doubles. The five-year forward from Marquette was the 34th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Cleveland before being traded on draft night to the Mavericks. In 383 career games (186 starts) with the Mavericks and Celtics, Crowder has averaged 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.2 minutes.

Zizic (7-0, 250), who was selected 23rd overall by the Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft, competed internationally with Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul in Turkey and KK Cibona Zagreb in Croatia last season. He took park in five different competitions in 2016-17, which include the Euroleague, Basketball Champions League, Adriatic League, the Turkish BSL and the Croatian A-1 league and played a total of 65 games. In 21 contests for Darussafaka Dogus in the Turkish BSL, Zizic averaged 8.9 points on .688 shooting from the field and 4.3 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game. Zizic also played in 20 games for Darussafaka Dogus in the Euroleague, helping them reach the quarterfinals after averaging 9.0 points on .649 shooting from the field and 6.7 rebounds in 21.9 minutes. He had his highest scoring average in the Adriatic League for KK Cibona where he averaged 20.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.23 blocks in 29.8 minutes per game. Zizic was named as the 2015-16 Adriatic League Top Prospect which is given to the league’s best young player, aged 22 or under. Previous winners of this award include current NBA players Nikola Jokic and Dario Saric.

Irving (6-3, 193) played in 72 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers in 2016-17, averaging a career-high 25.2 points (11th in NBA) on .472 shooting, including .401 from beyond the arc, 3.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 35.1 minutes. He also shot .905 from the free throw line (3rd in NBA). Irving has spent his entire six-year professional career with Cleveland, appearing in 381 games (all starts) with averages of 21.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.32 steals in 34.2 minutes.

CAVS RELEASE 2017-18 FULL SCHEDULE

Posted: Aug 15, 2017 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Feature Articles, Fun Stuff | 122 Comments

Whether Kyrie Irving is there to play with LeBron James or not, the Cleveland Cavaliers know who, when and where they will be playing their 82 regular season game for the upcoming 2017-18.

Cavaliers 2017-18 Printable Schedule

 

 

CAVS AND G.M. DAVID GRIFFIN GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS

Posted: Jun 20, 2017 by . Filed under Blog Posts, Feature Articles, Fun Stuff | 710 Comments

The Cleveland Cavaliers and General Manager David Griffin have parted ways after 3 years and one NBA Championship. It was announced Monday night that the two sides could not agree on a new contract and had philosophical differences for the direction of the team.

 Here is the official press release from the Cavaliers:

Statement From Cleveland Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert

The Cleveland Cavaliers and its General Manager, David Griffin, have mutually decided not to extend David’s current contract, which ends June 30, 2017.

On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to thank Griff for his leadership and many contributions during his time here, including most recently, his role in the franchise’s first NBA Championship.

We have no announcement at this time related to new leadership of the Cavaliers basketball operations group, but we are confident our current front office will continue to aggressively explore and pursue opportunities to improve our team in the weeks ahead.

–cavs.com–

Names that have surfaced as potential front office candidates in varying roles according to WHBC sources include Chauncey Billups, Justin Zanek, Joe Dumars and Larry Harris.

Via Twitter, Cavs All Star and All NBA First Team forward LeBron James had this to say about David Griffin’s departure:

LeBron James‏Verified account @KingJames

If no one appreciated you Griff I did, and hopefully all the people of Cleveland! Thanks for what u did for the team for 3 yrs! We got us 1

11:32 PM – 19 Jun 2017

Tune in to the Kenny and JT Show on 1480 WHBC and WHBC.com Tuesday from 3p-7p for more on this developing story.

LEBRON JAMES ON C.J. MILES FINAL SHOT

Posted: Apr 16, 2017 by . Filed under Audio, Blog Posts, Current Interviews | 1,149 Comments

LeBron James may have summed up the Cavs Game #1 victory against the Pacers the best way possible when it’s playoff time in the NBA, listen –

KYRIE IRVING ON CAVS 109-108 GAME 1 WIN vs PACERS

Posted: Apr 15, 2017 by . Filed under Audio, Blog Posts, Current Interviews, Podcasts | 279 Comments

Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, handed out 6 assists and came up with some defensive plays down the stretch of the Cavaliers Game 1 victory over Indians in their first test of the 2017 NBA Playoffs. here’s what Kyrie had to say postgame – 

TYRONN LUE ON GAME 1’s FINAL DEFENSIVE PLAY vs PACERS

Posted: Apr 15, 2017 by . Filed under Audio, Blog Posts, Current Interviews, Podcasts | 161 Comments

There was no way Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn Lue was going to let the Pacers Paul George beat the Cavs on the game’s final play. Listen to what he told me postgame following the 109-108 win.

LeBRON JAMES ON GAME #1 WIN OVER PACERS

Posted: Apr 15, 2017 by . Filed under Audio, Blog Posts, Current Interviews, Feature Articles, Podcasts | 254 Comments

After leading the Cavaliers to a 109-108 win over the Pacers in the first game of the 2017 NBA Playoffs, LeBron James who scored 32 points, dished out 13 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds had these thoughts on beating Indiana.