MSB Reports JJ Gets the Starting Spot Anyway

After PO’ing coach Scott over the last few games by not “getting” the offense down and with the threat of losing out on his starting spot, Scott went ahead and named J.J. as the starter and veteran Antawn Jamison will be coming off the bench.

J.J. Drives His Way to Starter

MSB from the PD reports:

“INDEPENDENCE — Just four days after calling out J.J. Hickson for his lack of focus in the Cavaliers final pre-game game, coach Byron Scott named Hickson his starter at power forward for Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Boston Celtics at The Q.

That means veteran Antawn Jamison will be coming off the bench.

Scott said Hickson responded with strong practices over the weekend. Meanwhile, he thinks a bench headlined by Jamison and Daniel Gibson will be a strength for the Cavs.”

Last Preseason Game Today in CBUS

Last Preseason Game

Tonight is the last game before the regular season starts next week.  Look to see a lot of weird lineups, as the Cavs hope to finish what was a surprisingly strong preseason.

First Sighting of Cavs Player in New Uniforms

The Cavs Facebook Page had this pic of Ramon Sessions on it today.

Ramon Gives You a "C"

Cavs Sign Samardo Samuels

via cavs.com “The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward Samardo (sa-MAR-doe) Samuels to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today. Per league and team policy, terms of the contract were not announced. Samuels, 21, played two seasons at Louisville before

Dunkin' Over Crocodiles

declaring for the 2010 NBA Draft, averaging 13.5 points on .549 shooting and 5.9 rebounds in 27.1 minutes in 70 games (all starts). In his sophomore and final season with the Cardinals, he led the team in scoring (15.3) and rebounding (7.0) in 29.3 minutes per game. The 6-foot-9, 260-pound rookie played in five games (three starts) with the Chicago Bulls in the 2010 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and averaged 12.6 points on .571 shooting and 7.4 rebounds per game.“

He’ll get added to the database when he takes the floor.

New Cavs Jerseys Tomorrow – via @cavsdan

Cavs majority owner Dan Gilbert announced the following via his twitter accout @cavsdan.

1st 100 fans at #Tweetup tmrw (5:30pm Cadillac Ranch) get ltd. ed. NEW Cavs Jersey T-shirt. Free bevs, snacks & more prizes including tix!”

I don’t know about you, but I’m excited!

Poll: Should Shaq Stay in the CavsHistory Banner?

[polldaddy poll=3574040]

So the CavsHistory banner is kindof reserved for Cavs greats. Its basically our Mt. Rushmore. Should Shaq stay or go? If you want him out, leave a comment on who should replace him.

Mt. Rushmore

Big Z Thanks Fans, Asks for Understanding

On the heels of the longest tenured Cav in history signing with the Heat to chase a championship, Zydrunas takes a path less traveled… he asks for understanding.

Check out the ad he placed in the Plain Dealer on Sunday:

Dear Cleveland....

As always, Z is a class act.

Cavs Sign Forward Joey Graham to Two Year Deal

Cavs have signed Joey Graham (twin of Cav Alumni Stephen Graham) to a 2 year $2.1m deal.

Twin #1 (Stephen)

Wayne Embry likes him… and he knows talent (or did).

I hope he does do well, but these seems very Ira Newble-ish to me.

Press release via Cavs.com below.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard/forward Joey Graham to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today. Per league and team policy, terms of the contract were not announced.

Twin #2 (Joey)

“We’re excited to add Joey to our roster. He adds a tough, veteran presence on the perimeter that will complement the pieces we have in place,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “With his strong work ethic and discipline, we feel he is a great match with the culture we have built and continue to build.”

Prior to joining the Nuggets, the 6-foot-7 guard/forward played four seasons with the Toronto Raptors. In the 2008-09 season, Graham posted career highs of 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 19.8 minutes over 78 games (10 starts). In the 10 starts, he averaged 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 28.3 minutes.

“Joining Cleveland marks an exciting, brand new start for me,” said Graham. “This is a great opportunity and I’m excited to come in and help the team as much as possible.”

In his career, the five-year veteran has played in 338 games, including 76 starts, and averaged 6.0 points and 2.9 rebounds. He has shot .815 from the free-throw line and .485 from the field.“

Will add him to the site when he plays a game

Cavaliers Send West and Telfair to the Wolves for Sessions and Hollins

via Cavs.com

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired guard Ramon Sessions, center Ryan Hollins and Minnesota’s second round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for guards Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today. 

“In Ramon, we’re excited to add a young, multi-dimensional guard, and with Ryan, we’re adding a young, athletic center. We think both Ramon and Ryan are really good fits for this team. We’re also happy to add another asset for the future with the additional draft pick,” said Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant. “At the same time, we’d like to thank Sebastian and Delonte and wish them well in the future.” 

Sessions, 24, played in all 82 games (one start) during the 2009-10 season, averaging 8.2 points on a career-high .456 shooting, 2.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 21.1 minutes per game. His 3.1 assists per game ranked 8th among all reserves last season. Prior to signing with the Timberwolves before the 2009-10 season, the 6-foot-3 guard played his first two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. He posted career highs in scoring, assists and steals during the 2008-09 season, averaging 12.4 points on .445 shooting, 3.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.5 minutes per game in 79 games (39 starts). In the 39 starts, he upped his averages to 15.1 points on .444 shooting, 4.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.7 minutes per game. Sessions finished the 2008-09 season ranked among the league leaders in assists-to-turnovers ratio (8th at 2.97) and assists per game (18th at 5.7). 

The South Carolina native set the Bucks franchise record in assists with 24 while scoring 20 points against Chicago on April 14, 2008, also becoming the first player in Milwaukee franchise history to have at least 20 points and 20 assists in a game in the process. Sessions scored a career-high 44 points on Feb. 7, 2009 versus Detroit and on 17 occasions in his career has recorded double figures in assists. In his three-year career, Ramon, pronounced “ra-MAHN”, has averages of 10.0 points on .449 shooting, 3.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 24.4 minutes in 178 games (47 starts).

Hollins, 25, set career bests in nearly every statistical category during the 2009-10 season. The 7-foot center averaged 6.1 points on .558 shooting, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 16.8 minutes per game in 73 games (27 starts). The 7-foot center scored a career-best 19 points on two occasions during the season (Nov. 25, 2009 vs. Denver and Jan. 29, 2010 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers) and averaged 9.2 points on .610 shooting and 3.7 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game in his 27 starts. Over his four-year career, he has averages of 3.9 points on .541 shooting, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 11.6 minutes in 205 games (31 starts). 

West averaged 8.8 points on .445 shooting, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per game in 60 games (three starts) during the 2009-10 season. In 150 career games (93 starts) with Cleveland, he averaged 10.3 points on .450 shooting, 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 29.7 minutes per game. 

Telfair, acquired by the Cavaliers on Feb. 17, 2010 from the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team trade, played in four games with Cleveland, averaging 9.8 points on .457 shooting, 1.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 19.5 minutes per game. Over his six-year career, he has averages of 7.9 points on .390 shooting, 1.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 23.6 minutes per game in 392 games (181 starts).

As per CavsHistory Rules – I will add them when they actually play a game.

New Cavaliers Court Design

The guys over at RealCavsFans.com found it first.

The Cavaliers have made a big update to the court design at the Q for the 2010-2011 season.  In the tradition of what we can trust from Dan Gilbert, we can expect him to never stand pat and keep investing in the team. From new seats, new colors, new training facilities and now a great new court design.  The guy just gets it.

New Court Design

I’m pretty excited about the court design because it shows two great things.

1. Really limits the amount of blue on the floor.  We are wine and gold (with a little blue), not BLUE, wine and gold.
2. We are starting to see less and less of the script Cavaliers logo.  Hopefully, in time, the Cavs will do away with it permanently and go back to the arching block letter “Cavaliers” that once made Bingo look so heroic.

I’ve always been a fan of teams that stick with traditional logos and jerseys.  The Cavs have probably been more active in following the fads than any other team (remember the 90’s?… wow). So, I think its promising we are seeing the gradual move back to our 70’s past.

Take a walk down memory lane and check out all of the Cavs court designs over the last 40 some odd years.