I don't know how many of you guys remember this team. But they were one of the most consistent teams of my recent memory. I think their longest losing streak of the season was 2 games. Played tough defense and had three guys that could light you up(Price,Harper and Daugherty)at a moments notice. Magic Johnson was extremely impressed with these guys calling them the team of the 90's. But having said that it has said that the '89 Playoff series against MJ & the Bulls was the series of games that spelled this teams demise. I've heard alot of people/experts/analyst say that after that game these teams switched places..(Chicago from a team with superstar talent but no direction to the Rulers in waiting of the NBA & Cleveland went from the Rulers in waiting to a talented down with no direction whatsoever)..anyway...the Bulls and Cavs met for the '89 Playoffs and engaged in one of the most memorable play-off series in recent history. Keep in mind,the Bulls at this team were truly almost a one man team. This was before Pip and HoGrant came into their own and Mike had to put the team on his back every night to get them where they were. On the flipside the Cavs were a team with 3 bonafide superstars and a deep bench and had been tabbed by many around the League as the face of the NBA in the 90's. Before the series started Jordan knew his team was in trouble. It was a 6 cylinder engine running on 1 cylinder most of the time(injuries and ineffective personell was the root of this problem)and Jordan knew they would be swept if they didn't get energized and pumped up for this series...so Mike did something uncharacteristic he predicted that the Bulls would win the series in 4. The Cavs in turn shrugged it off as the last gasp of a team in a no win situation,because they were supremely confident in their young and powerful squad. The series opened as Mike and Co. immediately jumped out and bloodied Cleveland's nose with a 95-88 win in Cleveland. The Cavs repsonded by thoroughly outplaying the Bulls(led by Ron Harper who outplayed Mike)and winning 96-88. Game 3 started close,but Price was in effective going 1-12 from the floor)and the Cavs sank in the face of Jordan's 44 point onslaught. Going into game 4 Cleveland knew they had underestimated Chicago and were now neck deep in dog fight. The 4th game was possibly Cleveland's best game of the year,they fought back inspite of Jordan's 50 point effot and played great team basketball to win a 108-105 OT war. Now,it must be said,in this series Jordan had taken the mantle of point guard because Sam Vincent was so ineffective. During the 5th game Jordan was able to pour in enough points,14 to be exact,to keep his team close to the Cavs. Price who was normally reliable,had seem to run out of gas and sputter but the Cavs were saved by a suddenly hot Craig Ehlo. Ehlo,normally the 7th man in the rotation,exploded off the bench in the 2nd quarter. The game was back and forth,Cleveland took a one point lead(95-94) with 2:06 in the 4th that seemed to emotionally drain the Bulls but Pippen came back with a clutch 3 put the Bulls back on top. Not to be undone,the Cavs and Ehlo came back. Ehlo hit a 3 of his own to put his team ahead once more. The lead continued back and forth,the emotional crecendo building. Until a Larry Nance backdoor lay-up gave Cleveland a 100-99 lead,and seemingly the game,with 3 seconds left to play. A Bulls timeout only seemed to provide Cleveland with a short celebration before the real one began in the locker room. As Chicago prepared their last second attack the Cleveland bench was alive with energy,smelling the victory and smelling the beginning of their destiny as the Next. Finally,Chicago returned to the court followed by Cleveland. A smiling Harper seemed to give the prelude to certain victory,but a grim faced and determined Jordan made others think otherwise. Now we've all seen it many times now. Jordan getting the inbounds,dribbling twice to center court before rising in the air and dropping in the winning shot. But what everyone seems to forget is the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers just deflated like a burst balloon. The emotion and energy gone in an instant. The future of the franchise had seemed to vanish before it began. It has been said that this series alone gunned down what could have been for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It led to Harper being traded and a complete retooling of the team. They were still a talented team,but the next season told the complete story. They played different with less energy and exhuberance. They seemed to play enough to just get by. They continued their slide season after season,the team of the 90's tab nothing but a memory. Cleveland fans should be proud though..the 1988-89 Cavaliers were a great team. It's just unfortunate they had to make their rise at the same time as His Airness. In any other era these guys would have been champions.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Big Nasty:</div><div class="quote_post"> In any other era these guys would have been champions. </div> Same can be said for a handful of other stars too. That was MJ, the best ever.
Great post man, nice verbage..........the emotional crecendo........i like it! Yeah, MJ was and is my fave player of all time, and I remember that last game like it was yesterday. After he hit that shot I ripped every MJ poster off my wall in a fit of rage.....man I wish I still had those posters.......Classics!
I just hope that the LeBron era can get to that Price, Nance, Daugherty level when they were playing. Great teamwork, unselfish, and very skilled. I would kill to have a Richfield late 80's away (blue) Cavs retro night. I would pay a lot of money for a LeBon in orange and blue
well I always found it very interesting how one series could have impacted a whole organization like it did. Their inability to beat the Bulls was said to make the organization take a long look at their team as a whole. They shipped out Harper(possibly the closest player to Jordan,in terms of ability at the time,to ultimately bring in Danny Ferry)and totally reshuffled their playbook and style of play. Plus constant pressure from the office undoubtedly took its toll on the court. They got blown out a few times(something that never happened the previous season)...and a couple of 5+ losing streaks told you that these guys were sliding downhill. Don't get me wrong they were still talented(and even though I wasn't a Cavs fan I saw 'em and appreciated 'em enough to know how good they were and how good they could become)and were still a good team but Harper meant more to them than they had realized and subsequently paid the price. Had they stayed the course,kept Harper and kept the 88-89 squad intact I think they would have been a big roadblock in the Bulls' pathway. This is one team that I wish would have stayed together,I would have loved to see Jordan and Harper going at it with everything on the line a few more times.
I hear that Nasty, "the trade" will forever doom this franchise. The only thing that makes it forgiving was that MJ and the Bulls were around. Without MJ, I feel the Cavs could have beat anybody for the title.
The only somewhat redeeming part of that Harper trade was that his knees eventually gave out and he wasn't half the player he once was. It was always weird to see him playing on those Chicago championship teams alongside MJ. Loved the description of the game and the part that a lot of people forget. Everyone remembers seeing Ehlo in "The Shot" but most forget that he had a huge game and really kept the Cavs in it. I wonder how that team would have fared in a series against the Pistons that year.
