Showing posts with label Byron Scott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Byron Scott. Show all posts

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Points of Interest

Kobe Bryant is the Sam's Club of scorers - he buys buckets in bulk. Last night, he joined an elite club, becoming only the fifth player in league history to exceed 30,000 points. He is the youngest to reach the record, but that's because he passed on college* and entered the association at an earlier age, which wasn't an option for the others - and isn't allowed anymore, either. And before you offer a high-five for him being among the famed five of Jordan, Malone, Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain, consider that it actually took Kobe the most games to meet the milestone - 27 more than "the Mailman" needed to stick his forever stamp on the sacred scoring scrolls (which, if they don't exist, should). Still, the accomplishment represents both quality and quantity. That Kobe's achievement came against the Hornets, the team that traded him on draft day 16 years ago, meant on Wednesday he was making a point that won't show up on the stat sheet.

Guys and Dolls: We segue from Kobe to Barbie. Byron Scott isn't babying his young players, he's giving them babies. The Cavs coach has doled out dolls and strollers to the team's three rookies without a word as to why. We think coach confused the buddy system with the My Buddy system.

*See? Kobe passes sometimes.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Russian to Judgment on the Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost an exhibition game to CSKA Moscow Saturday night. No, that's not the new name for the New Jersey Nets, it's a formidable Euroleague team that came state-side to play a few NBA squads this week, including Miami Thrice and the should've stayed in Charlotte Hornets (because the league was a better place before the Bobcats existed).

Preseason results should be taken with a grain of salt, although that's difficult when LeBron is using the same shaker to pour and rub sodium into the wounds of his hometown team. Don't think it was only Cavs fans and their livid, letter-writing owner who were devastated when LeBron left, it affected his former teammates as well and will continue to so for awhile. Some of them may even be wondering why LeBron handpicked Z to join him in South Beach and not them -- probably because LeBron wanted to give Z an opportunity to finally get a tan or a championship, neither of which seemed possible in Cleveland (or maybe LeBron's thought process was that it's always cool to have friend with an accent; it makes you seem more worldly).

Even if he wore a racist tie on media day (now we know S&K Menswear must mean Swastikas and Klansmen), we don't envy the work that lies ahead for new coach Byron Scott. Straightening this team out is going to be more challenging than straightening Anderson Varejao's hair.