Another reason to root against the Heat

Kudos to the Dallas Mavericks for their stirring comeback last night in the NBA Finals! I didn't watch it, since I really have no desire to see LeBron James play in an NBA Finals, but I understand it was really something to behold.

I received this email today from my friend Jeff Brown, who messages me every couple of days, and whose emails are usually relentlessly negative about the Indians or Cavaliers or Cleveland's population or what have you. This one is a bit unusual in its topic, and I found it interesting enough to paste it in its entirety:

I figured out why (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) hasn't been playing the NBA finals so far -- the Heat didn't even include him on the finals roster!

This isn't a very noble way for the big fella to end his NBA career -- his team, despite starting him for 51 games in the regular season, and 8 out of 9 games to begin the postseason, has eviscerated him from the roster altogether and he doesn't even get to wear his uniform to the game, much less get in and play.

This would have been Z's second trip to the NBA finals, and a chance for him to earn some redemption for losing in four straight to the Spurs a few years ago.

Now, even when he wins his ring, it will be a hollow victory because he's sitting on the sideline wearing a suit and tie, rather than a basketball uniform.

Doesn't Z deserve better, Steve?

Well, I would stop short of saying he "deserves" better. But it does seem a bit odd that the Heat would play Z all year and then leave him off the Finals roster. He also didn't play in the Eastern Conference Finals. Maybe fallen out of favor with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra for some reason. Regardless, Z would be the only reason I'd ever want the Heat to win a title. Now that he's not even on the roster, ... yeah, I hope they get creamed the rest of the way.

Z leaves too; other thoughts

• OK, in my last post, I said that I hope my next post about the Cavaliers would be about the players we do have, rather than the ones we don't. Then Zydrunas Ilgauskas signed a contract with the dreaded Miami Heat — the same team that managed to land a somewhat more prominent ex-Cavalier. Z has long been one of my favorite players, and I'll miss him, but I don't begrudge him the chance to go gunning for a title in Miami. His situation is totally different from that of his teammate (whom I've chosen not to name in this post, for my own childish, petty reasons). If Miami does win a title next year, Z's presence on the roster will be the only saving grace, for me.

• The Cavaliers signed erstwhile Houston Rockets guard Kyle Lowry to an offer sheet yesterday. Under the NBA's labyrinthine salary-cap rules, the Rockets have a week to match the offer, if they so choose, because Lowry is a restricted free agent. Lowry is a tough defender who averaged 9.1 points and 4.5 assists in 21 minutes a game last year. ... Is he a high-impact guy? Heck, no. Let's hope this isn't the only move the Cavs make this offseason.

• Last night, the National League won its first All-Star Game since 1996, thanks to a three-run double by the Braves' Brian McCann — who's on my fantasy team, but I don't get any credit for that hit, which I think is BS. If the All-Star Game counts for something (home field advantage in the World Series), I think the stats should count in fantasy leagues. I'm dead serious about that.

• As I predicted, the Indians' lone All-Star, Fausto Carmona, did not get into the game. He wouldn't have gotten in unless the game went to 15 innings or so. But I hope he had a good time watching it from the bullpen.

• Overshadowing the All-Star Game, of course, was the death of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, 1930-2010. Steinbrenner was born on the Fourth of July in Rocky River, the son of a world-class hurdler. Long before he bought the Yankees, he revitalized the dying Kinsman Marine Transit Company and parlayed that into a majority share in the American Shipbuilding Company, in which he made enough money to buy the Yankees for $8.8 million in 1973. Never mind what the Yankees have done on the field since then — that was a remarkably sound investment. The team is now worth an estimated $1.5 billion, with a B. That's a 17,000% return on his initial investment. Steinbrenner owned the one team in American sports that I hate the most, but I've never held that against him. In fact, I kind of liked the old poop. The good news is, now that he and Billy Martin are reunited in the afterlife, he can hire and fire Martin again.

Catch some Z

By the time you read this, Zydrunas Ilgauskas may be a Cleveland Cavalier again. Yesterday was the first day Z could sign with the Cavs, after they traded him a few weeks ago for Antawn Jamison, following which the Wizards cut him so they wouldn't have to pay him. To be sure, it's a perverse result of the NBA's salary cap rules, but it works out well for my team, so I'm not complaining.

Z's agent, Herb Rudoy, negotiated yesterday with Danny Ferry — Z's former teammate, now of course the Cavs' general manager — but didn't come to terms. The Cavs could either sign him for the rest of the season for about $150,000 or use their "bi-annual exception" (more salary cap mumbo-jumbo) to sign him for two years at $4 million. But Rudoy says he's confident that either way, a deal will be done very soon.

I'm glad Z will be back in a Cavaliers uniform very soon — probably tomorrow night against the Hornets. I don't think I'd go so far as to say the Cavs need Z, because they've played pretty darned well without him, but he's certainly still a useful player, and with Shaquille O'Neal out, they can sure use a true center.

Belated thoughts on the big trade

This is my first post since the birth of my daughter Savannah on Feb. 13; just thought you might like to know why you haven't heard from me in a while. I probably don't have to tell you this, but that's her in the photo above. Isn't she the cutest?

While I haven't been writing about what's going on in the Cleveland sports scene over the last couple of weeks, I have been noticing, and I do have some quick thoughts about the biggest local sports story to have happened in that time frame.

As we all know, the Cavaliers are 0-3 since they traded Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Antawn Jamison. That three-game skid followed a 13-game winning streak that was the longest in the NBA this season. The Denver loss in overtime, which broke the winning streak, would likely have been a win had Z been there. It's hard to say that about Charlotte or Orlando. Both those teams are clearly inferior to the Cavaliers, but both have seemed to have the Cavs' number lately. Jamison was god-awful against the Bobcats, but bounced back for a nice performance against the Magic. He might start tonight against the Hornets. Either way, I expect him to perform well.

The Cavaliers obviously took a short-term hit by trading away the guy who's been here the longest and had a good on-court rapport with LeBron James and company. It'll take Jamison some time to develop that with this team, and there are just 25 games left in the regular season. Jamison is clearly a better overall player than Z, but that intangible is an important factor. I hope his talent can overcome the lack of familiarity.

From a sentimental standpoint, I was sorry to lose Z. He was here years before LeBron, and suffered through frequent injuries while playing on some terrible teams early in his career, and it would have been nice to keep him here to help fight for a ring. He also appears to be one of the nicest guys in the NBA. But business is business. Shaquille O'Neal and Anderson Varejao can handle the center spot for the rest of the year. Whatever happens, I wish Z the best.

Rumor has it that Z might come back to Cleveland this year, and I'd love to see it. In the bizarro world of the NBA's salary cap, the Wizards traded for Z just to buy out his contract. Their main objective was apparently to dump Jamison's salary. After Gilbert Arenas got suspended for the rest of the year for having guns in the locker room, the Wizards are going nowhere. There was speculation that the league might block Z from returning to the Cavaliers, especially if there was any sign that such a signing was prearranged between the teams, but the latest news is that there will be no such block. Apparently the Hawks are interested too, but Z spent 13 years here, and is married to a woman from Cleveland. But we'll see, I guess.

Despite the three-game losing streak, the Cavs still have the best record in the NBA, at 43-14, half a game better than the Lakers' 42-14. Home-court advantage in a hypothetical NBA Finals with said Lakers is at stake, but the Cavaliers would have to get there first. They'd better get it together, and quick.

Today in sports history

On this date five years ago, Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas played in his first NBA All-Star Game. Z played just four minutes, despite the fact that the game went into double-overtime. He didn't score, but had one assist and one steal.

The Cavaliers were one of the NBA's worst teams in '02-03, finishing 17-65, which tied for the worst record in the NBA. But it wasn't Z's fault; he had a fine season, average 17.2 points and 7.5 rebounds. And help was on the way; that awful record got them more ping-pong balls in the upcoming NBA lottery, which got them the first pick in the 2003 draft. They used that pick on a 6-foot-8 high school phenom from Northeast Ohio, and I won't tell you his name, but he's currently the NBA's scoring leader.