Cavs vs. Lakers

Hmmm...not great.

Things I noticed about this game:

* This game was officiated like the refs got together and said, "Let's show LeBron who's boss!" Every borderline call that LeBron gets 70% of the time everywhere else, he got 0 times and other calls that normal players get 100% he still didn't get. While this was happening, Vujacic was getting calls for L.A. On the other end, to begin the game, Gasol and Bynum offensively fouled the Cavs' terribly undersized bigs which was never called.

* Now let's get one thing straight, I DO like to complain about refs. I hate them during games I'm watching or playing in. That said, I usually calm down after games and realize I was just whining. It just looked like Cleveland got homered tonight, I'm sorry.

* Tonight's game should be taped, saved, and shown to Varejao's agent during negotiations this summer. Over the last few games, Andy has really proved he is simply not good enough to be a starting center in this league (at least not on a good team). Numerous times during the night, LeBron (or someone else) got the ball down low to him and he had to kick it out because he just isn't good enough to make a layup in traffic. It was painful. He also missed a bunch of free throws badly and played mediocre defense. He is a valuable bench player, but that's it.

* JJ Hickson played pretty well. He was probably our best big tonight. That's both bad and good. It's never good when a rookie plays the best in a big game, but it's nice when a rookie plays well in a big game...you know what I mean? You know what I mean.

* That elbow thing is bothering LeBron. He couldn't hit a free throw tonight.

* This is probably how the Cavs are going to look for a while. Not great. At the same time, we've seen this before. Without Z and Delonte, the Cavs are about as good as they were in the past few years. The names have changed, but they're still going to have to junk it up and hope LeBron can do it at the end.

* On a related note, I really hate Sasha Pavlovic. There's just nothing more I can say. LeBron is clearly hesitant to pass it to him which is not the case with Delonte. The chemistry was so good when everyone was healthy because everyone was where they belonged and LeBron trusted them all. Now, when he sees Sasha open for 3 or Varejao open for a 15-footer, he hesitates. The balls stalls and it's back to LeBron on 5 offense. The next month or so is going to be much different than the juggernaught we all got used to watching early this season. We needed to be brought down a peg though, and this is the time for it to happen (if there is one). On the bright side, this tough streak we're about to go on will adjust the gambling odds on a Cleveland championship in the Cavs' favor. For all of you who were pissed off they missed out on 12-1 odds to start the season, don't be discouraged by this stretch we're about to go on, just be thankful for the more favorable odds.

* I really hate that Lakers team, and it's not even all Kobe. In fact, Kobe might be the second most decent guy on the team (behind Fisher). Bynum, Gasol, Radmonovic, Vujacic, Odom, Farmar...ughhh. There's really no information here, I'm just so angry.

* In the end, I'm sickened but not worried. It sucks to lose to a team that is so clearly on the wrong side, but the things the Cavs struggled with would be fixed by Zydrunas Ilguaskas and Delonte West playing. Let me reiterate, there are going to be struggles with those two guys out of the line up and the Cavs will probably end up the two seed at the highest. No big deal, but I think it's true.

* Has Kenny Smith lost his marbles? While trying to defend the Kobe Killer Instinct Myth, Kenny actually said, "Forget the playoffs, just look at what he's done this week." He also said that it's clear from this game that the Lakers are the better team without mentioning the loss of Z. That seems like just lazy reporting. I'm not sure that show is going to last too much longer with the Barkley situation and the rise of Chris Webber as an analyst on NBATV. It had a good run.

* Honestly, I'm so pissed off right now even though I know I don't have good reason to be. Ugghhh...I'm going to sleep.