Cavaliers pull vanishing act in Game Four

       The Cleveland Cavaliers were so awful in the first half of game four of their series with the Indiana Pacers that I did what I rarely do- I quit watching the game.

Indiana led by FORTY-ONE at the half and cruised to a twenty-point win, 129-109.

Darius Garland led Cleveland with twenty-one points.

I will keep this brief since I didn't watch the second half.

I'll give DeAndre Hunter credit for knocking down Bennedict Mathurin after he was cheap-shotted (Mathurin was ejected from the game) 

Donovan Mitchell injured his ankle, didn't play in the second half, and will undergo an MRI today.

That's what I have after a pitiful game from Cleveland, who has one choice- win the next three games or their season has ended.

Boxing Challenge: Navarrete slips by Suarez

   The boxing weekend didn't see any major upsets, but the action was pretty good, with a little controversy as well.

In the only title match, Emanuel Navarrete retained his WBO junior lightweight title with a technical decision at the end of round seven over Charly Suarez in San Diego.

In a nip and tuck battle, the beginning of the sixth round saw Suarez land a hard left hand and then graze Navarrete's head with his own.

As the fighters separated, Navarrete bled profusely from a cut over his eye, which the referee ruled was from a headbutt.

The fight was stopped before the start of round eight and moved to the scorecards with Navarrete winning by 68-65 and 67-66 times two (my score agreed with the latter).

California uses instant replay, so they could have changed the ruling, but said the replay was inconclusive.

If the cut had been ruled by the punch landed by Suarez, the halting of the fight would have given the win and the championship to Suarez.

The fight was close and hard fought, and Suarez deserves a rematch under the circumstances, but it may not happen as Navarrete needed six (yes, six) tries to make the division limit, and he might be forced to move up in weight.

Should Navarrete decide to move up, I hope the WBO places Suarez in the fight to fill the vacated title; he deserves that, at least.

In the co-feature, Raymond Muratalla won a unanimous decision over a tough but outgunned Zair Abdullaev.

No knockdowns, but Abdullaev's face was bruised and swollen after the bout, and Muratalla was way too much for Abdullaev.

Muratalla won by scores of 119-109 times two and 118-110; my score was 119-109.

Muratalla won the IBF interim lightweight title, and while I normally hate interim titles, this is a situation that is acceptable with champion Vasyl Lomachenko idle for a year, doesn't have a fight in the works, and is considering retirement.

If Lomachenko returns to the ring, he must face Muratalla, and should he decide to retire, Muratalla will be installed as the full champion.

Earlier in the day, from Nottingham, England, former IBF junior lightweight champion Anthony Cacace stopped former WBA featherweight titleholder in the ninth round when Wood's corner tossed in the towel of their surrender, with their men taking a beating.

Cacace scored a technical knockdown early in the ninth when only the ropes allowed Wood to remain standing.

As the round progressed, Wood fought back, but Cacace hurt Wood again, and on unsteady legs and with Cacace in pursuit, the Wood corner made the decision to stop the fight.

In Equatorial Guinea, Souleymane Cissokho won a unanimous decision over Egidijus Kavaliauskas in a WBC welterweight eliminator.

Cissokho was dropped in the second and fifth rounds, but otherwise managed to box and move his way through the fight.

Scores for Cissokho at 114-112 (same as mine), 115-111, and 116-110, who will now be the mandatory contender for WBC champion Mario Barrios.

I'll be back Monday with the two remaining bouts over the weekend, which I've been unable to watch yet.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 72 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 70 Pts ( 5)

Vince Samano: 30 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

  The boxing weekend may not be as heavy as the previous weekend, but it does have many competitive bouts and one with a world title at stake. 

The world title defense is from San Diego, as Top Rank and ESPN near the end of their agreement, with Emanuel Navarrete defending his WBO junior lightweight title against Charly Suarez.

Navarrete is a heavy favorite after stopping Oscar Valdez in the sixth round last December, while the unbeaten Suarez, who is thirty-six, has fought no one of world-class ilk.

The co-feature is for the IBF interim lightweight title, which I rarely give recognition, but with champion Vasyl Lomachenko idle for a year and may not fight again, this title is merited.

Should Lomachenko retire, the winner of the Raymond Muratalla-Zaur Abdullaev match will be promoted to full champion, and should he return to the ring, it will be against the victor.

Muratalla knocked out Jesus Campos in two rounds last November and holds a win over Tevin Farmer.

Abdullaev lost his only fight to Devin Haney in 2019 but owns solid wins over former champions Jorge Linares and Roger Gutierrez and title challenger Dejan Zlaticanin.

Muratalla is the better of the two, and I think he'll get the nod here.

The day starts with DAZN from Nottingham, England, and a match of two former champions who didn't lose their titles in the ring, at junior lightweight.

Former champions Anthony Cacace (IBF Junior Lightweight) and Leigh Wood (WBA Featherweight) face off in what should be an entertaining scrap.

Cacace won his title last year in an upset stoppage of Joe Cordina but chose to defend against Josh Warrington (winning via decision) rather than face mandatory challenger Eduardo Nunez, causing it to be taken away.

Wood hasn't fought since his knockout of Josh Warrington in October 2023, vacating his title after the victory.

This should be a very good fight.

ProBox is back in their Florida home with an IBF junior middleweight eliminator and veteran bomber Erickson Lubin meeting unbeaten Ardreal Holmes.

Lubin has knocked out many, has been stopped in both of his losses, and has a victory (a controversial one over contender Jesus Ramos) in his last fight in October 2023.

The unbeaten Holmes is a tall boxer who doesn't hit hard (six knockouts in his seventeen wins), but he should keep Lubin on the outside.

The question here is, can Holmes hit Lubin hard enough to keep him off him?

The victor will become the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.

The next two fights currently do not have American TV/Streaming but are important matches.

From the boxing hotbed of Malabo, Guinea, a WBC final eliminator at welterweight between Souleymane Cissokho and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

The winner will become mandatory for WBC champion Mario Barrios, a mediocre champion who plans to next face forty-six-year-old Manny Pacquiao.

The unbeaten Cissokho hasn't fought above the European level of opponents but owns good wins over Keiron Conway, Roberto Valenzuela, and Isaias Lucero from that level.

Kavaliauskas is the better-known of the two from his title challenge of Terence Crawford in 2019 and his loss to Vergil Ortiz in 2021.

Neither man has fought since late 2023, and it likely comes down to Kavaliauskas's aggression versus the skills from distance of Cissokho.

From Japan, we have a rematch of the great junior bantamweight unification fight between Fernando Martinez and Kazuto Ioka from last July.

Martinez won a unanimous decision, but only the WBA title is still owned by him, as he gave up the IBF title to take the more lucrative paycheck for an Ioka rematch.

The winner will hold the only title not held by the winner of the upcoming three-title unification between Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez and Phumelele Cafu.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Lightweights 12 Rds 

Anthony Cacace vs Leigh Wood

All: Cacace Unaninous Decision

WBO Junior Lightweight Title 12 Rds

Emanuel Navarette vs Charly Suarez

R.L: Navarette KO 9

TRS: Navarette KO 7
V.S: Suarez Unanimous Decision

Lightweights 12 Rds

Raymond Muratalla vs Zair Abdullaev

R.L: Muratalla Unanimous Decision
TRS: Muratalla KO 8
V.S: Abdullaev Unanimous Decision

Junior Middleweights. 12 Rds

Erickson Lubin vs Ardreal Holmes

R.L: Lubin Unanimous Decision
TRS: Holmes Unanimous Decision
V.S: Holmes KO 6

Welterweights. 12 Rds

Souleymane Cissokho vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas

All: Kavaliauskas Unanimous Decision

WBA Junior Bantamweight Title 12 Rds

Fernando Martinez vs Kazuto Ioka

R.L and TRS: Martinez Unanimous Decision
V.S: Ioka KO 8 

Cavaliers pound Pacers, win Game Three

   Donovan Mitchell scored forty-three points, but the three missing players from game two played in game three as the Cleveland Cavaliers spanked the Indiana Pacers 126-104 in Indianapolis.

Max Strus scored twenty points while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen each posted double-doubles for Cleveland.

Indiana leads the series two games to one, with game four Sunday night in Indianapolis.

Swashbucklings

1)  After three days of criticism and questions, the Cavaliers came out firing, and other than a small chunk of time in the second quarter, the Cavaliers led the entire game.

They did the same in game two and lost, but this time was different; it didn't have the feel of a team watching the clock and hoping to hold on.

2) Cleveland's three missing players from game two all returned for this game, with Evan Mobley having the most success with eighteen points, thirteen rebounds, and three blocks.

3) Darius Garland struggled with foul problems but finished with ten points and three assists.

Garland will be a big key should Cleveland win the series.

4) Cleveland's three-point shooting improved in success, if not percentage, as the Cavaliers hit fourteen from long range.

5) Max Strus played well with twenty points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

Strus's game has picked up in the playoffs, and he is hustling all over the floor.

6)  Ty Jerome's struggles continued, hitting one of eight from the field, and Kenny Atkinson's patience in such an important game was short as Jerome played thirteen minutes.

Sam Merrill played more than Jerome (twenty minutes to thirteen), and it'll be interesting to see if the trend between the two continues.

7) Cleveland controlled Tyrese Haliburton as the Pacer star scored only four points on two for eight shooting.

Haliburton fell hard on his wrist in game two, and it could have affected his shooting.

8) The road team has won each of the three games in the series, and the win took Cleveland off the hot seat going into Sunday's game.

Win Sunday, and it's a best-of-three with home court advantage.

Lose it, and there is no room for error. 

Cleaning out the Inbox

      The inbox may ebb and flow, but it never stops, so it's time to clean and move some things out adequately!

Ryan sends this from the 13th Dimension on the greatness of Frank Gorshin's portrayal of the Riddler on the original Batman series.

Dan Greenfield's thoughts on the Gorshin Riddler are all similar to mine, and I've thought for years that if you were creating a Batman series or film and you could magically pluck anyone from any time that played a role in any Batman related vehicle, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler is the one slam dunk to retain that role above any challengers that was originally from the 1966 TV series.

Gorshin's Riddler is that good.

The Premier League is changing its game ball manufacturer.

Puma will provide the official league ball for the 2025-26 season.

Nike had been the provider of the official ball for twenty-five seasons and, along with Adidas, had been the top two companies involved with worldwide soccer, but Germany-based Puma has begun to make strides in an attempt to catch up.

Puma has been supplying the game balls for Serie A (Italy) and La Liga (Spain), but the English Premier League brings even more prestige and visibility as the most widely watched league in the world.

ABC News wonders about the ethics of bringing back extinct animals.

Recently, scientists announced the revival of the Dire Wolf, and the article questions (without judgment either way) if it is ethical to bring back animals that became extinct.

It's interesting to consider, although I'm more concerned with returning a dangerous predator that may not have a natural enemy to the modern environment!

The Athletic writes of one of the better shots that you will see by someone off the floor.

In 2013, photojournalist Gary Knox tweeted to keep an eye on sixth-grader Paige Bueckers, rating her as the best player of her age he had ever watched.

Twelve years later, the Dallas Wings selected Bueckers as the top overall pick in the WNBA draft.

Good call. 

KC Yesterday writes of the story behind the June 1979 roof collapse of Kansas City's Kemper Arena, which hosted the NBA's Kansas City Kings at the time of the incident.

The article discusses the engineering issues that led to the collapse and how equipment that could have been replaced might have avoided the problem.

Kemper would reopen within a year, and the Kings would play their games at their previous home, Municipal Auditorium, until the roof was fixed.

Kemper Arena is still around after being converted to a youth sports facility. It is now known as Hy-Vee Arena, and a local grocery chain owns the naming rights.

Cleveland Browns Draft Review

    The Cleveland Browns needed a great draft, and I'm not sure they got it, even though some picks will help the team.

Overall, I have to say I liked the trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it's also disappointing to miss Travis Hunter as a standout with the Cleveland Browns.

I think Mason Graham was a top ten player, and I have no issues with his selection, although I'd love to hear how Andrew Berry has changed his philosophy on defensive tackles in just a few years, as in the past (pre-2023), Berry had given very little importance to the position.

Graham was the best defensive tackle in the draft, and while I don't think he will be an Aaron Donald type that dominates games, since he isn't an elite pass rusher up the middle, he will provide some pass rush and shut down the run.

As of now, the trade stands as the Jaguars with Travis Hunter and Bhayshaul Tuten (4th round pick acquired from the Browns, a running back from Virginia Tech) for Mason Graham, Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson, and whomever the Browns select in next year's draft with the first rounder from Jacksonville.

I'm cautiously optimistic, but it's Andrew Berry making the selections, so I'm not guaranteeing success.

The Browns' selection of UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger to start the second round is polarizing.

In a weak linebacker group, the Browns are looking at the loss of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and with a desperate need for an athletic linebacker who has similarities to JOK, I can see the need for the position.

And if the Browns had Schwesinger as the last linebacker who could make an impact, the pick makes sense.

However, there were superior players available, and Schwesinger only started for one season with the Bruins, although his season was incredibly productive, so there are reasons to wonder about the value of Schwesinger at this pick.

I did like the Browns' second-round choice that they acquired from Jacksonville, Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins.

I would have been happy with either Buckeye running back (Judkins or TreVeyon Henderson), and each has their strong points.

Henderson is the faster and more explosive of the two, Judkins the more powerful and might have the edge as far as an every-down back.

This is another hit, I think, and by the season's end, Judkins will be the Browns' top running back.

The first of their two third-rounders might not make an immediate impact, but could be the long-term tight end in Bowling Green's Harold Fannin.

Fannin never played tight end until reaching Bowling Green, and with his physical skills, could be a strong replacement when David Njoku moves on.

Fannin wasn't only a Group of Five destroyer, as he had big games in Bowling Green's close road losses to Texas A&M and Penn State.

It may not be this year, but I think Fannin will eventually become a starter.

The most controversial selection came near the end of round three with Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Some like Gabriel's arm more than I do; he's older than most rookies (turns 25 before the end of the year), and at 5'11 is undersized.

Reportedly, Gabriel won over the Browns in the interview process (The Ivies have been fooled by this before), and his excellent college record gives him the tag of "winner".

I think Gabriel's ceiling is a long-term backup, and I don't see him as a regular starter in the league.

I'm open to being wrong, but I don't believe so.

In round four, the Browns grabbed another running back, Tennessee's Dylan Sampson. Sampson is a speedy back who can break the big run at any time.

Sampson will hopefully team with Quinshon Judkins to give the Browns two different types of backs and allow the team to impose the running game as the focal point of the offense.

Sampson will supplant Jerome Ford, either this year or definitely in 2026, as the team's speed back who will hopefully emerge as a gamebreaker.

Then the controversy began as the Browns traded with Seattle to move up in the fifth round (they gave their sixth rounder to flip fifth rounders) to grab Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

I liked Sanders entering the draft, but not as an early first-round pick, and I wasn't in favor of a first-round quarterback at all, considering the state of the franchise.

Sanders takes a lot of sacks, and he throws better long than short, but I think he has a chance of being an NFL starter.

I'm not saying Sanders will be a franchise quarterback, but he was worth the low cost of a sixth-round pick to find out.

Overall, this is a draft that I'm pleased with, but a few questions remain.

Did the Browns reach for Carson Schewesinger because the linebackers are a weaker class and, with the likely loss of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, caused them to panic?

Did the Browns once again reach for a smallish quarterback because the Ivy Leagues loved his rap in the interview?

And if they did, how long will Dillon Gabriel receive, and how will their Gabriel obsession affect the chances of Shedeur Sanders?

Will Mason Graham be a destructive force or merely a very good player who excels against the run?

The answers to these questions will come on the field, but for now, my grade is a B+

Until then, it's a year filled with watching and rooting against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Magnificent Mitchell not enough in Game Two

     Donovan Mitchell's forty-eight points weren't enough to hold off the late run of the Indiana Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton's three-pointer with two seconds to play gave Indiana a shocking 120-119 win in game two of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The crippled Cavaliers played without Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and DeAndre Hunter, which handicapped them but they don't grade basketball games on a curve, and the Pacers return home to Indianapolis for games three and four with a two games to none lead.

Max Strus finished with twenty-three points and Jarrett Allen with twenty-two, supporting Cleveland.

Swashbucklings

1) Donovan Mitchell is a warrior.

He left everything he had on the floor, and I'm unsure of his game two status, considering the pounding he took during this game.

2) Mitchell wasn't perfect; he's still struggling from three, hitting only one of seven attempts.

It's hard to criticize Mitchell, considering the game he played, but his game becomes much more effective when more of those shots from the distances drop.

3) I wasn't sure whether to tip my cap or be angry at Tyrese Haliburton for his "marbles" strut after drilling the game-winner a la Tanaka in Major League 2.

4) Ty Jerome played twenty-eight minutes, shooting one for fourteen from the floor.

Jerome had a fine season, but he's not the type of player who flourishes with more than fifteen to eighteen minutes.

Currently, he's forced to log higher minutes, and his deficiencies are showing.

5) Speaking of forced, Cleveland was also forced to give too many minutes to players who are afraid/ineffective in shooting the ball.

Dean Wade did grab ten rebounds in his thirty minutes, but scored three points on three shots.

Isaac Okoro scored five points and took two shots.

Indiana knows these guys don't want to shoot and aren't worried about them.

6) If you circle one play, it's Tyrese Haliburton's missed free throw.

Haliburton misses, charges the boards, grabs his own rebound, and takes it back to prepare for his game-winner.

Grab that rebound, Cleveland wins.

7) Cleveland did receive 23 points from Max Strus, who had a good game until his lousy pass caused a late turnover, and was given 14 points from Sam Merrill, who hit four three-pointers.

8) What concerns me is how Indiana is beating up the Cavaliers.

I'm not blaming the referees, I'm blaming the team for not standing up to the Pacers, and it's too late to bring someone in.

Jarrett Allen might be too nice, and outside of the washed-up Tristan Thompson, there is no one on the bench to push someone around.

Koby Altman has created a fun team to watch and one that is filled with players who are fun to root for, but that may not be a championship team without someone to bang around and take no quarter from opponents.

I'm not sure how Cleveland adds a player of that type, but they need one in the worst way.

9) Cleveland trails two games to none, so they must split in Indiana to avoid a sweep and have hope for a series win.

Which of Garland, Mobley, and Hunter can play in game three?

They need at least two of the three, I think.

Win game three and hope is back, lose it and it will be a long off-season in Cleveland.