Posts
By: Slam
We’re here at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio getting ready for the Cavaliers vs. Olympiacos game. I’ll be giving you a live diary during the course of the game, while Freaknick will be live tweeting. Excuse any spelling errors as this will be updated immediately as the game is going, and as always comments are always appreciated.
9:23- Slam is out, I will see you later tonight with an article after Freaknick and I hit up the Olympiacos locker room. Keep the comments coming and thanks for those who followed the diary, thanks for hanging with me for the night.
9:20- Olympiacos Highest Scorer- Childress and Kleiza with 16, and yes they both had that many in the 3rd quarter.
Player I’m most Impressed with: Kostas Papanikolaou, he finished with only 7 points and 3 rebounds but he was all over the court with energy and hustle you like to see. He didn’t back down from guarding Lebron and even showed us some outside shooting along with finishing ability near the basket.
9:19- GAME OVER Final Score: Cavaliers- 111 and Olympiacos- 94. They brought it back to 17, but it just wasn’t enough
9:17- Pat Beverley is just doing work, he doesn’t care what the score is because his motor is always running. NBA teams beware
9:16- Are NBA players on steroids now or is Darnell Jackson just not fat anymore? Or is it a mystery to everyone why he is playing so well? Ok that’s enough on Darnell
9:15- 107-90, down 17 maybe there’s a chance?
9:14- Kostas for 3, I guess someone must be reading my live diary
9:13- Pat Beverley, Kostas Panaikolaou: show me something
9:09- 105-85, it’s a 20 point game with 2 minutes and 53 seconds left. WE CAN GET THIS UNDER 10, I KNOW WE CAN! BELIVE OLYMPIACOS, BELIEVE!
9:08- ONE bright spot right now, Olympiacos is 7 of 16 from the NBA 3 point line, which is 2 feet behind the Euro line. Watch for them to light it up from behind the arc during the season.
9:06- JJ Hickson with 11 points and pretty much all of them in the 2nd half, he has looked dominant, that should not happen.
9:04- Can I transport back to the 1st quarter when this game was close and there was hope. Please, pretty please
9:02- Cleveland hits the century mark and stays up by 24. It’s been all Halperin and Vujcic with the scoring in the 2nd half, and I mean ALL of the scoring, like no one else
8:57- Andre Barrett fouling Yo-Yo off the ball, it’s cause he scared, you can’t stop the Yo-Yo
8:52- Down 25 with 1 quarter left, Olympiacos can salvage this game with really pushing the ball and playing with some intensity. It looks like Shaq and Lebron probably won’t come in for the rest of the game, so let’s get something going towards the basket. I need a big Patrick Beverley dunk
8:54- Active, active, active, that’s what Kostas Papnikolaou brings you. Go get it young fella
8:51- Third Quarter over Cavs: 90 and Olympiacos: 65
8:50- Holler at me Yotam and Nikola, they have the last 4 Olympiacos buckets. Then is all comes crashing down as Papanikolaou looks lost on the fastbreak and travels
8:47- Just give it to Vujcic 4 feet from the basket on the sideline for a hook, its automatic. The man may move slow but it is percise
8:42- Is all the security here for any possible problems or just in case Delonte West shows up?
8:41- Kleiza and Childress with 16 each, but no one else with more than 7. Kleiza with a layup on the fastbreak, yea I would of really hated a dunk there. LET’S GET SOME EMOTION GOING OLYMPIACOS!
8:39- 78-50 Cavs, all I an say is what happened?
8:35- Finally someone stands up to Shaq on defense, thank you Ioannis. But wait then you go and pick up a moving screen on the other end, I guess no one is perfect Ioannis
8:31- If Milos Teodosic doesn’t look like a stoned surfer, then I don’t know who does
8:30- That would be Sofo’s 2nd offensive foul because he bowled over a Cavs player on a moving screen. I have no problem with him bringing some toughness
8:28- Channeling past Euroleague glory Anthony Parker with a dunk and a jumper, as he has 8 points. Just face it Anthony you miss Europe
8:25- This is an actual statistic the Cavs are shooting 57% from the field. We need some fastbreak defense. Well this doesn’t help Josh Childress gets a technical foul
8:23- Olympiacos needs to start protecting the rim better, getting back on defense and being more aggressive on offense to get back into this game. No better way to do that than playing Patrick Beverley more, as he comes out and starts the 2nd half.
8:22- 2nd Half about to Start
8:05- It’s Halftime and we have Cavs:60, Olympiacos: 44. That was just an on-slot of points in the post by the Cavs. Leading scorers at the half: James and O’Neal with 10 and for Olympiacos Childress has 12. Coach Giannakis needs to bring the fire in the locker room to get his team going, see you in the 3rd quarter
8:02- Theo Papaloukas can only properly be appreciated in person. The way he is always one pass and one second ahead of everyone on his team is amazing. He has 5 assists, know I’ll stop gushing
7:58- Were still waiting on a Von Wafer appearance, but after tweaking his ankle in practice it looks like he might be taking the night off. 51-38 Cavs 2 minutes left in the half
7:57- Stockton to Malone, Theo to Beverley as Pat hits to long bombs courtesy of Theo
7:55- Shaq is back and I think I saw Sofo go run and hide in the team tunnel
7:52- And now we have the scream team during a timeout, what’s next “Stomp” is going to perform. Let’s get back to the game as soon as possible
7:51- Bron-Bron back in, does Olympiacos counter with Papanikolaou?
7:47- Freaknick says “That’s us” as the Cavs knock the ball out of bounds. Yes a Euroleague team win would be awesome. AND BAM Sofo with the flush!
7:46- Cavs male dancers, sorry but this is not my cup of tea get me back to some basketball
7:44- 43-29 Cavs, what happened? Not getting back on defense happened
7:42- The Cavs are just eating Olympiacos alive down love. Varejao, Z, Shaq, and even Darnell Jackson are just putting back and dunking everything around the basket.
7:41- And the replacement refs strike, god I hope this isn’t a long night. Bourousis gets called for a foul against Z when he went straight up
7:40- Theo Papaloukas and Nikola Vujcic are in, let’s get ready for a lesson in passing
7:36- Patrick Beverley just asked Andre Barrett, “Can I use as a whipping rag as I take you right to the basket, thank you.” And at the end of 1 quarter its the Cavs 31 and Olympiacos 25, I’m loving this up and down basketball
7:35- 2 Three’s for Childress for 12 points, after scoring 16 against the Spurs, he’s ready for this year people. Watch out Euroleague competition
7:34- Coby Karl Airball, and now all has been restored in the world
7:33- Coby Karl for 3, just come back to the Euroleague where you belong. Oo wait JChill decides to wind up and match him, 3 ball.
7:31- Yo-Yo Halperin in, lets go Israel
7:30- Kleiza and Childress matching each other with 6 to lead the Reds, guess they need to keep the American rep up
7:29- Quick break in the action and with 2:26 left in the first it’s the Cavs 23 and Olympiacos 15, YES WE HAVE A GAME FOLKS!
7:28- Coby Karl sighting, Coby Karl sighting, we have a Coby Karl sighting
7:26- 3 Ball, yep Teodosic is alive
7:19- Make that 6 points and 4 rebounds on what would be 7 shot attempts for Kleiza. He might be forcing his offense but at least he’s showing some energy out there. Yes, I’m looking at you Milos Teodosic
7:18- Shaq burning Sofo right now with 2 baskets in a row and a defensive stop on him. Sofo has to let him know that he earned the nickname “Baby Shaq”
7:15- Olympiacos started Papanikalaou to guard Lebron James, wow that is a lot to ask of the youngster
7:14- Linas Kleiza already with 4 shots does he know he’s not playing for an NBA team anymore
7:12- Sofo vs. Shaq, new vs. old, BUT here we go Linas Kleiza needs 3 tries but Olympiacos is on the board 2-2
7:10- Papanikolaou with the start, I guess it’s trial by fire for the 19 year old
7:04- We’re finally settled in at the arena, look up to section 128 above the Cavs tunnel to see the best pick and roll combo on the planet (Slam and Freaknick)