Cavaliers Pre-season opener 1st half Running Blog

Excited about doing this; a complete spur of the moment occurrence. I decided at roughly 7:04 that this was gonna happen, so I apologize if I didn't properly prepare for it. Let it begin!

7:05: Mike Brown interview: Al Roker lookalike jokes commence.
7:06: That was a really fast interview.
7:07: First Cavaliers "all for one, one for all" ticket promotion commercial of the new season! The new announcer sounds a little bit like Michael Reghi, but obviously can't fill those shoes. Oh well - I'd love tickets, but school is far from home.
7:08: FSN high school football game of the week is St. Ed's vs. St. Ignatius: if that's gibberish to you; read someone else's blog.
7:09: We're back! Austin's filling us in on all sorts of contradictory statements - good to see some things never change.
Also, there appears to be a slightly mis-shaven patch on the back of Drew Gooden's head - I wonder who cut his hair? ...probably had nothing to do with Brittany Eskew...WG people should get that reference.
7:10: Bron just did the chalk clap...bitchin.
7:10: tip-off, Z vs. Ratliff...awful tip, Celts get it.
7:11: ARE YOU KIDDING?? Bron rips a pass out of the passing lane, takes it down on the break, slams it down 23 seconds into the new season. Austin Carr points out that LeBron "usually" finishes strong in the open court. ...Thanks Austin. Great point.
7:13: Larry Hughes gets bucket #2 for the Cavvies, good looking jumper.
Next possession, Bron flicks great over the head pass to Drew, who gets the and-1 layup (brick's the FT)
7:14: Bron hits from 18, 4 points in 3 minutes: at this rate he'll have 64.
7:16: Ridiculous left-handed layup by TheBron on a fastbreak as he now has 6 early points. The New Announcer makes the revelation "imagine what it's like to have LeBron James bearing down at you on the fast-break." Yeah...I'd never thought of that...except every time Michael Reghi reminded me of LeBron's "Manly takes" to the rim...I'm just desperately trying to make fun of this new guy cuz I miss Michael - who just so happens to be appearing on the current commercial for Browns Table TV show. I digress, back to the game.
7:19: Eric Snow misses his first open jumper of the new year...Cavalier fans everywhere cringe. However, Damon Jones enters the game for entertainment purposes only.
7:20: "Everybody's all strong on the strong side of the basketball." -Austin Carr. Some things you just can't make up (Z just sunk 2 FTs...lovely as we're now up 14-4)
7:22: Missed FT by Pierce, offensive rebound for the Celts...memories of the playoffs come back and I shed a little tear.
7:23: Great pass by Z to a streaking Gooden - who took about 4 shuffle steps before the layup; luckily, that counts as a foul on Boston.
7:24: Donyell Marshall and David Wesley check in - Marshall lost weight, and Wesley is jacked.
7:28: Gooden's got 12 in the 1st, (not?) including 2 missed free throws.
7:29: Another offensive rebound off of a FT miss, and both times they've converted for bonus points.
7:30: Mark it, Anderson Varejao enters...promptly receives a 3-second call. Follows it up with a blocked shot - what a go-getter.
7:32: "Donyell Marshall's body fat dropped like 30 percent!" -New Guy...what a jackass.
7:36: We've got some great passing goin on - Hughes just had a great dish inside toe Andy for an easy finish - giving him 4 in his first 2 minutes. By the way, Hughes looks weird without a headband and with more hair...I don't know if I like it.
7:38: Andy steals, follows Hughes down the floor, grabs the offensive rebound before the no-call foul. Even if we didn't end up with the ball there, how can you not love that hustle?
7:39: "Boston has drafted 4 of those." in reference to "former high schoolers." ...has Boston ever drafted someone who didn't go to high school? I don't understand this guy, but he's definitely trying to sound like Reghi.
7:40: Austin Carr makes reference to Anderson being used to the European league rules for basketball, despite the fact that he's from Brazil and played the FIBA championships in China...proof that you don't need to know geography to announce basketball.
7:43: Brian Scalabrine is ugly.
7:45: 1st quarter ends with a comfortable 34-26 lead. I'd like to see a little more defense, because 26 points in the first isn't that great. I realize that the game will slow down in the 2nd, but still, defense works better than fast-break offenses as everyone knows.
7:46: I realize I'm posting way too many points on here, but damn it, it's my blog, I can do what I want.
7:48: Bron learned how much USA basketball really means...shame they still couldn't win.
7:49: Gerald Green gets up.
7:50: Marshall shows that he's more mobile, but I still think he sucks. He just threw it away...take that Marshall supporters.
7:51: Back to back airballs by the Cavs...that ain't good, it's now 36-33 or 38-33, my TV is small.
7:52: Gooden is outta control, 7 for 7 from teh floor.
7:53: Gerald Green throws down an awkward dunk, and we're now only up 1, 40-39.

Commercial: I'd like to point out that I know that black kid sitting on the end of the Cavaliers bench, next to Mike Brown.
The commercial was for the Cavalier girl swimsuit special. I'm so watching that - those girls are incredibly attractive.
7:56: "I used to have to play on courts where the nails would stick up out of the floor and...hit you...uh, in the face!" -Austin Carr. Please god...let them bring back Michael Reghi. At least when Reghi's around, Carr has less chances to sound like an ass.
7:57: Carr makes reference to the Cavaliers' "Big People." Thank goodness he's politically correct; Z may have been upset to hear himself be referred to as a big man.
7:59: Bron charges, and we're losing 44-43 while Carr rambles about incoherent shit again.
8:00: Perkins just passed the ball inside, only to discover that it manages to go in...that's bad karma.
8:00: Gerald Green can jump out of the god damn gym - and he tried on the way to that put-back dunk; Cavs now trail by 3 as Larry Hughes continues to throw sloppy passes.
8:01: Our 3rd defensive 3 second penalty.
8:05: We just continue to not play defense and fould people, as Paul Pierce gets in for an easy and-1 layup to make it 52-45 Boston.
8:06: Damon Jones rights his previous transition jumper miss by m aking a similar shot on the next possession. However, Boston counters with another score and it's 54-49.
8:08: Bron is probably done for the night, considering he has his jersey off...why the hell would you take off your jersey?
8:09: David Wesley hits his first jumper in a Cavaliers uniform...unless you count practice, where he's probably hit a jumper before tonight.
8:15: Finallyt something worth mentioning as Snow drives hard to the basket and makes a tough layup as the shot clock expires.
also 8:15: Drew Gooden makes the rejection at one end and hits a Kareem-esque hook shot to bring the Cavaliers back within 1 at 58-57.
8:16: If I had TiVo, I'd go back and count how many times in this opening half Austin Carr has responded to the new announcer with "Right! haha!" and uncomfortable laughter. I'd put the over/under at 23.5...and I'm betting the over
8:17: Sebastian Telfair must have really had some voodoo shit going on with that "Through the Fire" movie because he's looking far better than he ever has before.
8:18: Snow gets knocked down from behind on a break and slid about 20 feet...that was fun. He'll head to the line with 5.9 seconds left in the half.
8:19: Wally Szczerbiak is wearing # 55...Don't really know if it's worse that he's wearing that # or that it took me the entire first half to realize what # one of their starters was wearing.
8:19: Telfair just brought the ball the whole length of the court in less than 4 seconds, barely missed the layup - though he was fouled - and proceeded to make his first of 5 FTs this half.
8:20: HALFTIME!
A huge 2nd quarter has the Boston Celtics winning 61-59, showing that my 1st quarter assessment of the defense needing to tighten down was dead on. For some reason, NBA.com has it at 59-57...which is just flat-out incorrect.
Gooden ended the half with 16 and 6, very solid - especially considering it was in 17 minutes. Bron went 3-5 with 6 pts, 3 assists and a couple of rebounds in those same 17 minutes. Overall I'm mildly pleased...but really not that well, considering we're losing. I'd like to see us stop throwing around really shitty passes.
Iduno. I'm pretty sure the starters are out and done, so I'm off to "study" for "midterms." I look forward to doing this kind of thing again some time.
back to the basics: Go Cavs, Browns and Tribe!