{"id":3658,"date":"2016-07-08T06:46:56","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T12:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/?p=3658"},"modified":"2019-01-11T07:45:49","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T13:45:49","slug":"cleveland-defies-the-odds-ends-title-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/cleveland-defies-the-odds-ends-title-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"cleveland defies the odds, ends title drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

the cleveland cavaliers<\/strong><\/span> were crowned\u00a0champions of the nba last\u00a0month. matt moore<\/strong> at cbssports.com<\/strong> <\/p>\n

it caps<\/em> an absolutely incredible run in which the cavaliers defied odds<\/em> and history.<\/h4>\n

cap<\/strong><\/em> means complete<\/em>. \u00a0odds<\/em><\/strong><\/a> are probabilites<\/em> and defy<\/strong><\/em><\/a> indicates that the result was improbable.<\/p>\n

\"cleveland<\/p>\n

cleveland defied the odds<\/em> because they trailed<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (were losing to) the golden state warriors<\/span><\/strong> three games to one in the best of 7 series before winning three games in a row<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (consecutively) to take \u00a0the championship. \u00a0this is the first time in the history of the nba finals that a team has come back from a 3-1 deficit.<\/p>\n

\"jim<\/h6>\n
the 1964 browns were the last\u00a0cleveland sports team to win a championship.<\/em><\/h6>\n

the cavaliers\u00a0defied<\/em> history in more ways than one. as mid-day.com<\/strong> reports<\/a>, they also<\/p>\n

claimed<\/em> their first league crown in their 46-season history, ending a major sport title drought<\/em> that had haunted<\/em>\u00a0cleveland since 1964.<\/h4>\n

claim<\/strong><\/em> in this context means take<\/em>, NOT say<\/em><\/a>. a\u00a0drought<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>is an extended period with no rain<\/em>, but in this case it refers to a 52-year period in cleveland in which no professional sports teams won championships. haunt<\/em><\/strong> is what a ghost does, but in reference to cleveland means disturb<\/em> or bother<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"drought\"<\/h6>\n
the original idea of drought<\/span> (indiawaterportal.org)<\/em><\/h6>\n

rachael larimore<\/strong>\u00a0at\u00a0slate.com<\/strong>\u00a0admitted that there were uneasy moments during the cavs mostly briliant postseason. she\u00a0related<\/a> the angst<\/strong><\/em> (worry)\u00a0of\u00a0being a cavs fan\u00a0during the team’s title\u00a0run<\/p>\n

even as the cavs swept<\/em> detroit and atlanta and got by the raptors with relative ease, i couldn\u2019t shake that lingering<\/em> sense of dread<\/em>……..and so it was that the cavs went down 2\u20130 with two underwhelming<\/em> performances in oakland<\/a>. the desperation was palpable<\/em>.<\/h4>\n

sweep<\/strong><\/em> means winning a playoff series 4 games to zero<\/em>. \u00a0neither detroit nor atlanta won a game against the cavs. \u00a0the irregular past tense of sweep<\/em> is swept<\/em>. \u00a0linger<\/strong><\/em> means persist<\/em> or continue. dread<\/em><\/strong> is a strong feeling of anxiety or fear<\/em>. \u00a0palpable<\/em><\/strong> means real<\/em>.\u00a0underwhelming<\/strong><\/em> means unimpressive<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"sweeping\"<\/h6>\n
sweeping<\/span>. and showing off his ass.<\/a><\/em><\/h6>\n

in contrast to cleveland’s underwhelming<\/em> showings in games 1 and 2 of the finals, after their exciting victory in game 7, mid-day.com<\/a> ran this headline<\/p>\n

2016 NBA Finals: Some amazing numbers and overwhelming<\/em> images of ‘King’ LeBron James<\/h1>\n

overwhelming<\/strong><\/em><\/a> means immense<\/em>, overpowering<\/em> or too much to handle<\/em>. in addition to amazing, the article describes the numbers surrounding the cavaliers championship season as mind-numbing<\/em>;\u00a0<\/strong>so incredible<\/em> that it makes the\u00a0mind go numb<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (lose feeling). the most mind-numbing<\/em> number is that cleveland’s\u00a0lebron james<\/strong><\/a> led all players in the five major basketball statistics in the final: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.<\/p>\n

and possibly the most amazing highlight of the finals\u00a0was lebron’s\u00a0overwhelming<\/em> block near the end of game 7.<\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Nba-Finals-2016-Game-7-Lebron-James-Block-On-Andre-Iguodala.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

during the celebration that the city of cleveland held<\/a> in honor of the cavaliers’ winning the championship, james gave a speech<\/a> that was widely reported.<\/p>\n

\"lebron
king james gave a speech to the city of cleveland that emphasized the importance of his teammates.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

he\u00a0said this\u00a0about teammate kevin love\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

u guys saw his struggles<\/em> throughout<\/em> the finals\u2026and everybody just burying him alive<\/em> throughout<\/em> the finals. and to be able to respond like he did in game 7, that\u2019s what real men do, they respond at the most adverse times<\/h4>\n

struggle<\/strong><\/em><\/a> refers to love’s poor play during\u00a0much of the series. \u00a0throughout<\/strong><\/em> <\/a>means from start to finish<\/em>. bury alive<\/strong><\/em> means love was heavily criticized<\/em> for his struggles<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"lebron
lebron, overwhelmed<\/span> by emotion, hugs kevin love as matthew delladova celebrates with them after winning game 7.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

lebron remembered\u00a0seeing\u00a0center timofey mozgov<\/strong>\u00a0for the first time\u00a0after he joined the team in 2015. \u00a0james’ reaction was<\/p>\n

he\u2019s a big motherfucker, ain\u2019t<\/a> he<\/em>?<\/h4>\n

ain’t he?<\/strong><\/em> is a tag question<\/strong><\/a>. ain’t<\/strong> <\/em>replaces isn’t and can replace all negative forms of be<\/em>. (mozgov has since signed with the los angeles lakers<\/strong><\/span>).<\/p>\n

\"timofey<\/h6>\n
timofey mozgov is a big mother fucker, ain’t he<\/span>? (getty images)<\/em><\/h6>\n

and lebron also shared\u00a0that olympian kyrie irving\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

thought i was blowing smoke up his ass<\/em>\u00a0when i said earlier this season that he could be the best point guard in our league, and also be an mvp\u00a0in our league.<\/h4>\n

blow smoke up his ass<\/strong><\/em> means kyrie didn’t believe the positive reinforcement lebron was giving him. \u00a0he thought it was false or exaggerated.<\/p>\n

\"kyrie<\/h6>\n
kyrie irving hit the\u00a0gamewinning three-pointer in game 7.<\/em><\/h6>\n

are u impressed with how cleveland defied the odds<\/em>? or with lebron james mind-numbing<\/em> performance in the nba finals? \u00a0share your comments under leave a reply<\/strong>.<\/p>\n