The Cavs were the best regular season team last year, winning 66 games. They went a 2009 Playoff-Best 8-0 through the first two rounds... to be upset by Orlando. Badly. Both of the Cleveland wins were caused directly by Lebron: one was a truly amazing buzzer-beater and the other was a legendary performance in which LeBron scored or assisted on, and no this is not a typo, Cleveland's last THIRTY-FREAKING-TWO(3freaking2) points and shook all doubts that LeBron is King of today's basketball era(unless you are an ignorant Kobe fan).
But the Cavs fell apart in 2 ways: The Guards and the big men. So basically everybody but 'Bron. The Cavs have a better chance of stopping Superman with the recent Shaquille O'Neal Trade(http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/shaq_trade_090625.html) and are considering signing Rasheed Wallace or trading for Zach Randolph. They also slightly need a guard who can still score even when his jumpshot isn't falling. I'm left thinking that a sign and trade for CryptoNate Robison would suit this team perfectly. If they had Robinson, West, James, Randolph, and O'Neal... look out. This lineup can easily challenge the Orland Magic's all-star studded lineup.
So you think Williams is not going to get it done for them? I don't think the guard play is there main issue, they just have no post presence at all on offense or defense. They simply sucked at guarding the pick and roll because their post players are terribly slow, so adding shaq is not going to help that problem since he is even slower.
ReplyDeleteShaq is too slow to guard the pick and roll of the magic, so the real Superman will still dominate the Cavs even with Shaq.
I agree, Lebron is better. just has better all around numbers....besides, kobe is a bad person
The guards missed shots and the posts got themselves eaten by Superman
ReplyDeleteDon't count on Shaq to be part of the solution in Cleveland. As Daniel stated, watching Shaq not defend the pick and roll with any of the Cavs' guards won't be any different than watching him not defend the pick and roll with Steve Nash. And that is death against the Magic or the Celtics.
ReplyDeleteBesides, even by Shaq's own admission, it was the Suns' training staff that was directly responsible for his healthy resurgence in the desert. Without that support, you can expect the former Big Cactus to regress into the player he was the four or five years before he arrived in Phoenix. The 15 to 18 points per game may still be there, but soon he'll be spending half the season on the end of the bench in street clothes.
Out of curiosity, did T, K, E, L, or B. Do E, L, and B even like basketball. Does K follow NBA or just WNBA? I know T and K are WNBA fans.
ReplyDeleteT responded here. T follows NBA, but not as much as before. Becoming more jaded about pro sports as the prima donnas and criminals multiply, and the prices spiral out of reach of families and the working class. K roots for home NBA team, but not exactly an NBA follower. Energy is focused on WNBA. E & L normally run into the other room, stay there and cower for the duration when basketball is on TV. B doesn't care. About anything. As long as there's food twice a day.
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahabhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha !!~!!
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Lucas, What did Phoenix get for Shaq? Our mountain newspaper (Western North Carolina) only reported that Shaq was traded to the Cavs. Was it a good trade for Phoenix?
ReplyDeleteAlso, keep an eye on those Bobcats, 2009/10. They are full of NC and Duke players. Grandpa
Unfortunately, Phoenix got Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovich. Ben Wallace will most likely retire this offseason, freeing up 16mil in cap space, and Sasha Pavlovich will becone the starting or backup Shooting Guard/Small Forward. IF Big Ben retires, then it will be a good trade for Phoenix. If he decides to hand around for another $16Million, then it will not pay off for the Suns until 2010.
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