One Play

Coke and I were just talking about one of the most outstanding plays we've ever seen - Lebron's dunk over Rasheed Wallace. Now, my thoughts on Rasheed Wallace are not the topic of this article - if they were, someone would bound to be offended.
This article is about a question: Can one play change the outcome of a series?
Logic says no. I mean, really, one play? It was 2 points, granted it was late in the game, and yes it got the crowd fired up, but did that one drive to the basket (and the thunderous right handed flush that followed) really do enough to legitimately twist the fate of these two ball-clubs? It's time once again for a little bit of a comparison session:
The "no" argument:
Cleveland still trails 2-1 in the series. The Cavaliers were at home where they're much more likely to win. Detroit's back-court didn't show up to play (not including Billups' 2 gorgeous shots in the final 4 minutes). Cleveland had gotten a few calls going their way earlier in the game (Sheed's phantom blocking foul on Marshall - probably a foul, but not much of one, Sheed almost had the right to whine about that one). Games 5 and 7 (if necessary) will be back in Detroit where we've lost both games. They're still Detroit and they still have 1 of the top 5 players in the Eastern Conference at every position.

The "yes" argument:
Disclaimer: the series has a long way to go, so there's not a legitimate argument here, it's all speculation. Lebron single-handedly brought any Detroit momentum to a screeching halt and swung it immeasurably onto our side with that dunk. Without that dunk, who's to say he has the confidence and the ultimately killer-instinct to drain both of his threes and pop that beauty of a game-killer. Detroit now has the fear of Bron in them, which is 2nd only to the fear of god. They're officially completely focused on him, especially now that Hughes is out, thus giving the rest of the team tons of opportunities to rip it up. And yes, I feel that the sole reason that they're completely scared of him is because of that one dunk - or at least as a result of that possession.

So there you have it. Pros, Cons, the ins and outs.
Cavs take it in 7.

The Revival

When it comes to crunch time, I can't just sit back and not write about what's going on. That said, here's my analysis of things of late.

The Tribe is really good...seriously. Sabathia is enormous, and he's good at pitching, look for him as an AL Cy Young candidate with the seemingly perennial winner, Johan Santana.
Steve Nash is in my top 3 favorite players with Bron and Anderson Varejao. Except that, between you and me, Nash took a dive from Horry. Look at the size comparison between Nash and Horry; could Robert Horry ever knock Steve Nash down? I didn't think so. Exciting to see the Suns almost pull it out last night without those two guys; you know, Amare the overrated center who didn't deserve to be a first-team NBAer, and Boris the French guy with a decidedly Russian name (don't you remember Boris and Natasha from Rocky and Bullwinkle?).
As for the Cavaliers...their game 5 offensive set reminded me of a fish out of water except for the fact that dying fish flop around and move at least a little bit whereas the Cavs just stood around all night not doing much. The Cavs torched the Nets to the tune of a blistering hot 33% shooting night with only one player shooting over 50%, and that was Z going 6-8. Meanwhile, the Nets managed to go 1-15 from the field in the 4th quarter and we went ahead and decided not to make shots and come back. Infuriating, to say the least. The swagger needs to return a bit for game 6, but I'm still confident that we can take 1 of games 5, 6, and 7, and one's all you need. Meanwhile, best wishes to Lebron's baby's momma who is 8 months pregnant and needed to be hospitalized during game 5 - reportedly side-trackign Bron from the business at hand.
But I'm sick of talking about that disaster last night.
And my laptop battery is dying, so I can't really type a whole lot more.
We're pushing 3 weeks since the NFL draft and not a single Cleveland Browns player has suffered a potentially career-ending injury - let alone a season-ending one. So far, so good.
Nye.o.lator. out.

Tribe

I am only writing this as a memo that the Cleveland Indians took over first place in the Central Division on April 15...I assume that tomorrow - since the Tribe has the day off - someone will again tie them for first, but I plan on us never looking back from this point forward.
good day.