First off, the big news: Fox Sports Ohio play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod loves Reese's peanut butter cups and hates candy corn. (!!!)
This heart-stopping revelation came out in a Halloween-themed text-in poll, which asked viewers to vote for their favorite candy. Not sure what Fred has against candy corn, he merely explained that he'd "never taken a liking to it."
OK. All kidding aside, the big news was that Delonte West was made active for Saturday night's home game against the Charlotte Bobcats, and Mike Brown played him. And Delonte played . . . very well.
He didn't start, naturally, but he subbed-in halfway through the first quarter and the fine Cleveland fans at The Q gave him a loud, standing ovation. My dad, who was lucky enough to be at the game, text messaged me immediately to let me know what an amazing moment it was.
[And I sent him a message back, happy, but subtly letting him know that I didn't want too many details on the game before I had a chance to watch it. You see, I was busy getting my Halloween on, L.A.-style.]
Of that moment, LeBron James later said: "We've got great fans. They get behind you and I think that was great for Delonte because they didn't have to."
When I watched it, I'll admit . . . there were tears in my eyes. Laugh at me if you want, but Delonte is one of my truly favorite players across all sports. He's been such a solid player for the Cavs ever since they brought him over in Danny Ferry's ingenious Larry Hughes trade.
I love his hustle, I love his grit, I love his demeanor on the court, I love his "basketball IQ", I love his intensity, I love his shooting, I love his passing, I love how he only plays in top gear. And I also love his sense of humor, and I love the honesty he displayed when he publicly and candidly talked about his issues with his mood disorder last year.
And I wouldn't be surprised if he talked about it again, soon.
Yes, I'm worried about him. He's made some big mistakes, and doesn't always handle himself and his issues all that well. As much as I like to see him on the court, I want to him to be healthy, first. Maybe I'm cutting him too much slack, but everybody is human . . . and we all deal with a lot of stuff.
In some ways, it's a shame that the things he's going through have to be on display . . . both in Cleveland and throughout the sports world. But in other ways, I think it's good thing to have the true humanity of athletes come through every now and then - even if it isn't as rosy as an "NBA Cares" commercial.
So, yeah, I was a little choked up when he took off his warm-up shirt and walked onto the court . . . in front of fans that were going even more ballistic than they do for those free Taco Bell chalupas.
And Delonte responded by playing like he's in mid-season form. Apparently, he doesn't need a "preseason." [Delonte has been practicing and traveling with the team for several weeks, but this is his first "game"-action all season. He missed all eight preseason games and the first three regular season games.]
In 24 minutes, he had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. And, one of those misses was when he got the ball with one second on the shot clock and had to throw up a quick three. He also had two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Outside the box score, he made a nice hustle play just over a minute into his arrival on the court.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas made a huge block, and Delonte ran across the court to save the ball from going out of bounds. He made it just in time, and tipped the ball back in play to LeBron, before crashing into the scorers' table. [LeBron then scooped the ball over his head to Anderson Varejao, who threw down a two-handed dunk. This description doesn't do it justice.]
Delonte also played tough and active defense . . . and seemed to settle the Cavaliers rotation a little. If you're curious, he took minutes from Anthony Parker, who had been playing way too many, and Jamario Moon.
If Delonte is here to stay, it'll be interesting to see how Mike Brown handles everyone's minutes. Jamario played under two minutes on Saturday, and didn't get in until the garbage time at the very end.
So . . . is Delonte here for good? Hopefully. Danny Ferry says they're taking it one day at a time:
"This is the next step of his process. We're taking it one day at time, but he's doing well. We'll continue to support him and put him in the best position to succeed. We'll see where it goes from there."
And this is pretty interesting: Even though Delonte did have to be cleared to play by the team's doctors, Shaquille O'Neal says that Delonte asked him and LeBron to lobby for his activation. Shaq says:
"He's kind of been on me and LeBron that he's ready, so me and LeBron went and had a conversation with the coach and Danny Ferry and they gave him the [OK]. He's looked excellent and I know he's going to get better and get his weight back up and it is going to be an energetic and fun season."
The Cavs won the Charlotte game 90-79 (although it really wasn't even that close). That makes them 2-2 on the season. It was another great offensive game, and encouraging defensive game.
Charlotte and Minnesota aren't the L.A. Lakers, but things are starting to come together.
[By the way, I went to Staples Center to see the Lakers game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday . . . and they got hammered. It was a mess. Interestingly enough, they seemed to be plagued with the same problems (and general sloppy-ness) that the Cavs went through in their first two games.]
The Wine and Gold Rush Awards:
[We'll be giving these out after each game.]
Most Valuable Player: Mo Williams.
Mo has arrived. After a good game in Minnesota on Friday night, he had a game-high 24 points against Charlotte. He did it on 9-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. He also had three assists and a steal.
In watching the game, it seemed like he had more assists than that, but he did keep the offense fluid . . . and away from the stagnation of the first two games.
LeBron James had a slight off-night, scoring wise. He had 14 points (on 5-of-11 shooting). But he almost had another triple double with seven rebounds and nine assists.
Least Valuable Player: Daniel Gibson.
Gibson seems to be running hot and cold this season, which is probably not good for him. He didn't have a bad game on Saturday, but he didn't score any points (on 0-of-3 shooting) in over 14 minutes.
He also had no assists.
The two previous games, he was lighting it up from the 3-point line . . . but with Delonte coming back, he, Jamario Moon, and J.J. Hickson are going to be scrapping for the remaining minutes. Boobie needs to be more consistent to secure his time on the court.
"The Diff Award" (for the difference maker, even in defeat): Delonte West.
Varejao had some really nice hustle plays, including three steals . . . and Z had 5 blocks . . . but Delonte's grand entrance into the 2009-2010 season was just so solid, overall.
It's sort of ironic. The Cavs are just now working themselves into shape after a really rocky preseason. And Delonte . . . who contributed to that rocky-ness . . . debuts in Game 4, in near mid-season form.
(Photo by Tony Dejak / Associated Press)
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