This afternoon, the Cavaliers came back in stunning fashion to defeat the Raptors in Toronto 93-90. Although the first 14 minutes or so were horrific, most of the Cavaliers' struggles happened early. Recently, rather than experiencing backbreaking 3rd quarters, the Cavs have spotted the opposition leads to start games. While poor starts proved to be too much to overcome against the Warriors and Hornets, these slow starts have worked over the past week. As the Cavaliers have seen, poor play can be overcome during the course of a game as long as there is time on the clock. That is, no matter how well or badly things go early, games truly are not over until the final buzzer sounds. In time, hopefully this Cavaliers team will only need comebacks to win every now and then. For the time being, though, it is nice to see that the team is alive and fighting and getting wins to show for it.
In accordance with the release of the new NBA 2K11 basketball video game, legendary Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan has returned to the media's spotlight. That is, Michael Jordan has caught the sports world's attention by saying that today's NBA rules would have allowed him to score 100 points in a game. No one is questioning Michael Jordan's uncanny ability to make plays, create shots, and score points. Michael Jordan is right in saying that, overall, today's rules favor offensive players, particularly guards. Much less contact is allowed in defensive play; some of what was legal when Jordan played (such as forearms and handchecking) is now deemed personal foul-worthy. Furthermore, with a 30-team league, talent is spread out more than it used to be, and players--while on average are more athletic today--come into the league much less fundamentally sound. However, Michael Jordan has forgotten about the re-emergence of zone defense in the NBA. True, ...