George O'Brien
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Cleveland Plain Dealer
Even with losing record, Cavs have a playoff pulse
02/06/04
Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Cavaliers' three-game home winning streak on Wednesday, and Shaquille O'Neal dominated behind a season-high 37 points. Unlike recent history, this Lakers victory over the Cavs was not easy.
O'Neal has noticed a change in the Cavs.
"They're a good team," he said. "They have a lot of young guys on their team and they play hard. I see them being a dangerous team two or three years from now, maybe even next year or maybe even this year. I don't know what place they're in, but there's not that many great teams in the East, so I'm sure if they go 20-10 during these next 30 games, they have the potential to get into the playoffs."
The Cavs (19-30) certainly do have a chance. They head into tonight's game at Minnesota with 33 regular-season games remaining. Eight teams from each conference will make the playoffs.
Right now, the Boston Celtics are in the eighth spot at 22-28. The Cavs are 2½ games behind them.
The Cavs will be hard-pressed to finish the season over .500. That would require at least a 23-10 finish.
A 22-11 finish, giving the Cavs a 41-41 record, would almost certainly put them in the postseason.
Even a record below .500 could mean a berth in the playoffs, especially in the East.
It wouldn't be the first time a team has made the playoffs with a losing record.
In fact, the Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings played each other in the 1980-81 Western Conference Finals and both teams were 40-42. Houston advanced and lost to the Celtics in the Finals.
The team with the worst record to advance to the playoffs was the 1952-53 Baltimore Bullets, who were 16-54. The second-worst was the 1959-60 Minneapolis Lakers at 25-50.
The Cavs have certainly played better than those teams, especially since the trade that sent Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart to Boston for Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams. The Cavs are 13-12 since that trade, and they're 5-2 since acquiring guard Jeff McInnis from Portland.
But the keys to the Cavs' playoff run are Carlos Boozer and rookie LeBron James.
O'Neal likes what he's seen in James. He also said that James deserves all of the hype he's gotten.
"I like him because he's one of the first young superstars that comes in and plays the all-around game," O'Neal said. "Most of the young guys that come in want to do all of that dribbling stuff. . . . But this guy comes down and if it's two-on-one, he'll give it up. He plays good solid basketball. He has a lot of poise for a [19-year-old] and I wish him well."
Old school/new school:
O'Neal wants to put a stop to players being compared to legends from the past.
"I'm not saying to forget about the past, but let's move on," O'Neal said. "That's a problem with the upstairs people in the NBA, they want to keep the game the same but the game won't be the same. So just market LeBron, market T-Mac [Tracy McGrady] and market Vince Carter. Just like when Magic [Johnson] and [Larry] Bird were here, you didn't say, 'Oh, he was like Oscar Robertson or he was like Wilt [Chamberlain].' The guys that we have now, just market them and let's make this money, man."
Even with losing record, Cavs have a playoff pulse
02/06/04
Branson Wright
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Cavaliers' three-game home winning streak on Wednesday, and Shaquille O'Neal dominated behind a season-high 37 points. Unlike recent history, this Lakers victory over the Cavs was not easy.
O'Neal has noticed a change in the Cavs.
"They're a good team," he said. "They have a lot of young guys on their team and they play hard. I see them being a dangerous team two or three years from now, maybe even next year or maybe even this year. I don't know what place they're in, but there's not that many great teams in the East, so I'm sure if they go 20-10 during these next 30 games, they have the potential to get into the playoffs."
The Cavs (19-30) certainly do have a chance. They head into tonight's game at Minnesota with 33 regular-season games remaining. Eight teams from each conference will make the playoffs.
Right now, the Boston Celtics are in the eighth spot at 22-28. The Cavs are 2½ games behind them.
The Cavs will be hard-pressed to finish the season over .500. That would require at least a 23-10 finish.
A 22-11 finish, giving the Cavs a 41-41 record, would almost certainly put them in the postseason.
Even a record below .500 could mean a berth in the playoffs, especially in the East.
It wouldn't be the first time a team has made the playoffs with a losing record.
In fact, the Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings played each other in the 1980-81 Western Conference Finals and both teams were 40-42. Houston advanced and lost to the Celtics in the Finals.
The team with the worst record to advance to the playoffs was the 1952-53 Baltimore Bullets, who were 16-54. The second-worst was the 1959-60 Minneapolis Lakers at 25-50.
The Cavs have certainly played better than those teams, especially since the trade that sent Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart to Boston for Tony Battie, Kedrick Brown and Eric Williams. The Cavs are 13-12 since that trade, and they're 5-2 since acquiring guard Jeff McInnis from Portland.
But the keys to the Cavs' playoff run are Carlos Boozer and rookie LeBron James.
O'Neal likes what he's seen in James. He also said that James deserves all of the hype he's gotten.
"I like him because he's one of the first young superstars that comes in and plays the all-around game," O'Neal said. "Most of the young guys that come in want to do all of that dribbling stuff. . . . But this guy comes down and if it's two-on-one, he'll give it up. He plays good solid basketball. He has a lot of poise for a [19-year-old] and I wish him well."
Old school/new school:
O'Neal wants to put a stop to players being compared to legends from the past.
"I'm not saying to forget about the past, but let's move on," O'Neal said. "That's a problem with the upstairs people in the NBA, they want to keep the game the same but the game won't be the same. So just market LeBron, market T-Mac [Tracy McGrady] and market Vince Carter. Just like when Magic [Johnson] and [Larry] Bird were here, you didn't say, 'Oh, he was like Oscar Robertson or he was like Wilt [Chamberlain].' The guys that we have now, just market them and let's make this money, man."
