Police interview Damon Jones for possible sexual offense

Cavaliers G Damon Jones has been interviewed by police after an Arizona woman filed a complaint concerning a possible sexual offense.

“I am fully aware of the false accusations that have been made against me,” Jones said. “I’ve been very cooperative with the Westlake police and their investigation of this whole matter.

“When the investigation is over I feel like I will be vindicated of all charges.”

Earlier in the day, police in Westlake — a suburb 15 miles west of Cleveland — released a statement saying that they were investigating a possible sex offense. According to an incident report from the agency, the incident is to have occurred late Friday or early Saturday and did not involve a weapon.

In the statement, the police did not identify the complainant or Jones.

“It is unclear at this time what behavior [if any] took place in Westlake and whether that behavior constitutes an offense,” the statement said.

Eric Snow might be the answer at point

“The reality is veteran Eric Snow is in the chair and the Cavs and Brown are starting to realize they need to attempt to maximize his talents and stop looking elsewhere for the time being.” Brian Windhorst from the Akron Beacon Journal says.

At least that has been the plan the past two games as Brown has put the ball in Snow’s hands in the fourth quarter.
Averaging less than 30 minutes per game this year, Snow has played 36 and 40 minutes in the past two games, both victories over the Chicago Bulls. In those two games he’s averaged 9.5 points on 50 percent shooting and has piled up 15 assists and just two turnovers as the Cavs’ offense has been effective enough in the fourth quarters to clinch the victories.
Whether this strategy will last or remain worthwhile is yet to be seen, but it has cured some of the ills that plagued the Cavs during the recent five-game losing streak.

“One of the things I’ve needed to do playing LeBron so many minutes is take the ball out of his hands a little down the stretch,” Brown said after practice Tuesday. “Eric has been great getting us into the right spot offensively. Defensively he’s been making winning plays and a guy like Eric is going to be hard to keep off the floor.”

It has become clear that Brown often coaches on feel. Monday night was a prime example. After a smaller, quicker lineup went on a huge run to take the lead for good, he sat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas for the entire fourth quarter.
Snow knows that delivering in his recent extended minutes doesn’t guarantee they will continue. But he’s hopeful the trend of letting him set up James and others in the fourth quarter continues.

“I think we need to be in a position where LeBron is still you’re No. 1 guy and you have to get him the ball in places where he’s most effective,” Snow said. “I think there are times when he can bring it up and parts when he gets winded or they change their defense it is better for other people to handle the ball.”

Brown has sometimes been reluctant to play Snow because of his offensive limitations, a common cry from some fans as well. But as the past two games illustrate, when the system is working Snow can be efficient.

“There’s more to the offensive side than just making a shot. You don’t have to score a great deal of points to be effective,” Snow said. “You have guys in this league where the box score doesn’t tell the whole story and I’ve always considered myself one of those guys.”

Damon Jones ill, Martynas recalled

Damon Jones missed practice Monday with flu-like symptoms. The team is listing him as questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Toronto Raptors. Also, the Cavs recalled rookie Martynas Andriuskevicius from the Arkansas RimRockers of the NBDL on Monday. In his second stint in the D-League this season, Andriuskevicius averaged 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in just 10.7 minutes per game. In his seven games with the RimRockers, he’s averaged 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Andriuskevicius Reassigned

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reassigned forward/center Martynas Andriuskevicius to the Arkansas RimRockers of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.

Andriuskevicius was assigned to Arkansas on Jan. 22 and played in four games for the RimRockers. He averaged 12.5 points on .536 shooting from the field (15-28), 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game. Andriuskevicius was recalled by the Cavaliers on Feb. 1. He has played in six games for Cleveland this season and has grabbed four rebounds in nine total minutes.

5 Question Hughes

Branson Wright from the Akron Beacon Journal fills us in on Hughes.
Larry Hughes was the biggest free-agent catch for the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer when he signed a five-year deal worth about $65 million. There were a number of free agents available, but Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown said their focus was on acquiring the best complement to LeBron James, and that was Hughes.

Hughes was also the defensive stopper the team craved. Last season, Hughes, a former star at St. Louis University and CBC, was all-defensive first team and he led the league in steals with 2.89 swipes per game. But he has been haunted by injuries throughout his career. He had two surgeries on his right middle finger this season and he’s not expected to return until the end of next month. The Cavs are 15-16 without Hughes.

Last year, he suffered a broken right thumb. He also has suffered an injury to his left wrist, a sprained right ankle and a strained right shoulder over his eight-year career. Hughes has not played a complete season since 1999-2000.

On Thursday in Chicago prior to the Cavaliers one-point victory over the Chicago Bulls, Hughes took time to answer five questions for the Post-Dispatch:

You’ve missed significant games over your career due to injuries. How have you dealt with not playing?

“It’s tough, but I find the positives out of everything that happens. Last year, I came back from the injury and I was fresh for our stretch run into the playoffs. I’m thankful that’s not my ankle or my knees or anything like that where it can be chronic. I just deal with it basically.”

When do you plan on coming back?

“I plan on getting back before the playoffs start. That’s my goal. After these next two weeks, I’ll have a better understanding of where I am. If everything goes the way we plan, I can get back working.”

What’s the worst thing about the injury?

“The worst thing is that I’m one-handed. I haven’t done anything with my right hand for three months. I’ve been doing everything lefthanded. I mean everything, from eating to putting on my clothes. The hardest thing is washing myself with one hand. It’s so hard trying to wash under my left arm with my left hand. … I don’t have a problem driving because I don’t like to drive anyway. I own eight cars and I hate driving. Luckily, the arena is only 10 minutes from my house.”

LeBron James is considered one of the bright new faces of the league. He’s one of the most popular players in the NBA. What is it like playing on the same team with James?

“He’s a good guy. I’d understand if he’s not as responsive to everybody all of the time because people want to get close to him and talk with him. But he does his share of letting people get to know him. . . . We all have to remember that he’s still a kid. He’s still a young guy joking around and trying to learn how to win in this league. He’s coming along.”

Can St. Louis support an NBA team and would you back the city in any effort in bringing a team in?

“Yes, definitely. Whenever a team considered moving, St. Louis has been in the running, and their name has come up for expansion. I would support the effort because I plan to live in St. Louis when I retire. After basketball, I plan to be involved in basketball in some way. An NBA franchise in St. Louis would be good for the city. We support the Rams, and we’ve always supported the Cardinals. I wouldn’t mind being involved with bringing a team to the city. Downtown is really nice and continuing to improve. Bringing in an NBA franchise would also encourage other business to come into the city.”

Clevelanders Look Stupid Booing James

Mark Barnes from Sports Central has plenty to say about the Cleveland fans. I’ve always had a problem with stupid people. Ignorance is acceptable, because it can be cured with knowledge. There is, though, no excuse for stupidity. The Cleveland Cavaliers fans who booed LeBron James last week, when he went 0-8 from the field in the second half of a game and 8-19 from the free throw line, demonstrated historic stupidity.

What is it with you boobirds, anyway? You go to a sporting event to watch your favorite team and your favorite players, and the second a player makes a mistake, you start booing. Have you ever even considered how stupid you sound when you boo? It’s like someone with a speech impediment, attempting to impersonate a cow.

But I digress … back to the numbskulls from Cleveland. Of course, these people have never been known for their intelligence, but let’s take a careful examination of just how truly stupid they are. As previously stated, booing athletes in and of itself is a ridiculous act, but booing LeBron James because he misses a few shots in one game is tantamount to cursing a nude Halle Berry because she flubbed a line during a love scene. It just makes no sense.

Since these brainless fans obviously don’t understand much of anything, let me make a couple of things very clear. Unless you are old enough that you saw Jim Brown play football in Cleveland, you have never seen the likes of a LeBron James this close. You’ve never had the good fortune to watch the greatest at what he does, night in and night out. You’ve never seen this many eye-popping, jaw-dropping, seemingly-impossible plays by one individual every time his team takes the floor.

Oh, and by he way, he’s 21, and he is in his third year in the NBA. Booing LeBron is unconscionable (excuse the boobirds from Cleveland, who just went scrambling for their dictionaries). He makes more spectacular plays every time he puts on the wine and gold uniform than the rest of the Cavaliers have in the combined history of the franchise. Yet he mises a few free throws in one contest, and possibly the stupidest people on the planet earth start booing.

For his part, James can’t believe it. He’s far too mature, though, to ever complain about it, but he may not forget, especailly if it continues when other poor nights come, which they inevitably will. Then, when the time comes for him to sign a new contract, he may decide to take his uncanny talent to a city where the fans will apprreciate his greatness.

In the event that you boobirds forgot or just never paid enough attention to know, let me point out a few other reasons to sew your lips shut, the next time you think about booing LeBron.

First, in just three years, he’s already the best player in the NBA, bar none. He’s 31 points, nearly 7 rebounds, 7 assists per game, and shoots better than 48 percent from the field. Kobe Bryant doesn’t do this, Allen Iverson doesn’t do it, and neither does Tracy McGrady.

This year, LeBron is in the top 10 in virtually every offensive category — the only player in the NBA with this distinction. He can shoot the three, attack the basket against players both big and small, and he is the most unstoppable player since Michael Jordan.

If all of this isn’t enough, consider that with career averages of 25 points and better than 6 rebounds and 6 assists, LeBron James is in a category with just one other player in the history of the NBA — Oscar Robertson.

Now, I know the Cleveland boobirds are a little slow, so let me just mention once again that King James is just 21. His legend promises to grow to heights that may transcend the sport, especially when you consider what a fine person he is in addition to his on-court prowess.

After his 8-of-19 free throw shooting night, LeBron and his Cavaliers had a difficult game at Detroit. After several more superhuman moves in the first quarter, LeBron was driving to the basket in a two-on-two fast break. Just as he passed the free throw line, he looked at his teammate, speeding alongside him on the left. James picked up the basketball in his right hand, put it behind his back, as if to make a spectacular around-the-back pass, then pulled it back and finger-rolled it up onto the rim.

The ball danced around the iron, tantalizing the crowd and millions in TV land, and then rimmed out. I gasped in amazement and tried to think of another player who could be special enough to make me sit breathless when he misses. Of course, I could think of none.

Then I wondered how many of the morons in Cleveland where watching their televisions, cursing LeBron for missing a lay-up.

Will the stupidity of Clevelanders never end?

AT&T connects Wi-Fi deal with Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena

Cleveland Cavaliers fans will be able to access the Internet on their laptops and personal digital assistants when they’re not watching LeBron James dominate the paint.

AT&T’s Wi-Fi service is available at the arena’s bars, restaurants, press lounge and work areas. The telecom company’s Wi-Fi service offers speeds that are up to 50 to 100 times faster than dial-up connections.

Patrons will be able to access the Internet by buying a $7.95 day pass at the arena for a 24-hour session. Or if someone is already an AT&T Wi-Fi monthly subscriber, that fan can automatically access the Internet at the arena or at more than 10,000 hot spots nationwide.

How Detroit Dethroned LeBron

Charley Rosen from FOXSports.com talks about how LeBron must learn how to play outside the spotlight.
“For example, the Pistons must have eagerly anticipated facing off against LeBron James and his playmates in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

What better challenge than to contain an explosive player whom the media has dubbed “The King?”

On their way to a carefree 90-78 victory, here’s a closer look at Detroit’s specific strategies that were designed to dethrone LeBron. “