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http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8119 ... ame-2-loss

I feel bad for LeBron, and as I've been saying the Cavs are a LOUSY team without him. I especially agree with this segment:

"Don't blame LeBron. Blame the Cavs management.

I'm still in utter disbelief.

Not that the Boston Celtics have taken the first two games of their playoff series against LeBron James and the Cavaliers, but that this is the same franchise that advanced to the NBA Finals a year ago.


How in the world did that happen? Take away the top player on every playoff team and tell me who has the least amount of talent.

It's a no-brainer

I don't feel bad for him. He is a pro basketball player making millions of dollars. But, it isn't his fault. When your next best players are Big Z and then Wally, that doesn't say much. Then having basically no offense on the bench does speak volumes about the Cavs management. The series is far from over though. Cs still need to win on the road, which they haven't done yet.

Same situation KG was in when he was in Minny.

That was a BAD trade that Cleveland made. I don't think they can win a championship with Delonte West and Wally as starters. They are not starting caliber players, at least not for a championship team.

I didn't mean I felt bad for him in the sense that I pity him. Far from it, since he makes millions playing a game I play for free for fun while I bust my ass working to support my family and actually CONTRIBUTE to society.

But to have the expectations of becoming the "BEST EVER" and to win multiple rings, and now it looks like he'll spend his career as the proverbial great player on **** teams...well, that's gotta suck for him a *little*, no?

And I agree, if C's can get a split in Cleveland, I'll be happy...

cisco wrote:That was a BAD trade that Cleveland made. I don't think they can win a championship with Delonte West and Wally as starters. They are not starting caliber players, at least not for a championship team.

Cisco, I panned that trade from day 1, although there are some people on here who seem to like it for Cleveland....

Since the salary cap every superstar has through this situation. Maybe the exception is Shaq. He always had a good team. Even the early years in LA they were at least good. Name a superstar in this L they have all gone through it.

Add Duncan to the Shaq list. Those 2 are about it.

Ferry ruined that team as soon as he started spending on guys like Larry Hughes with star contracts when he definitely was NOT a star.

Sad to say but seeing how much worse Clevelands interior D was, Wallace might be their third best player. That's really bad news for any team. I think Lebron, like Duncan, complains too much but either way he's a great player. He keeps trying to make his players better, you can see it, but they just suck balls too much. All their guards and wings save Lebron are a bunch of bench players (and not even great ones at that) and he has negative post presence. I've yet to see a legit post up in two games so far!

Gomes, you are spot-on on your assessment of the Cavs. It's scary to think how good LeBron would be with even a halfway decent team around him, making his job easier. All he does is take jumpers or drive hard to the hoop. There's really no one to set him up, which is what should happen with a great offensive player like LeBron. As good a distributor he is, he needs a facilitator to get him to his spot so he doesn't have to muscle his way in and beat three or four guys off the dribble EVERY POSSESSION. It's absolutely brutal basketball to watch.

mzepol wrote:Same situation KG was in when he was in Minny.

if this is the case, maybe we can trade for him in 5 years and put him next to rondo and a lottery pick!?!?! do it up, danny! haha

Hey now guys, all's not lost, they might pick up Marbury out of FA next year!

Ferry is doing the same mistake Otis Smith is doing in Orlando. LeBron was 21, you don't need to keep dealing future picks and giving out a plethora of bad contracts to surround the guy so soon.

The slow and steady approach would have made more sense for Cleveland. The Ricky Davis deal was bad for them. They could have gotten future picks for he and Chris Mihm (who's value was high at the time of the trade) and Wagner as well.

LeBron is still very young, but time is running out in the sense that he may bolt for free agency. The Cavs need a miracle Gasol type deal to turn things around. They have many expiring deals and the 19th pick and Varejo to play around with to net a star type player. That may be enough to acquire Michael Redd.

Polarizing overreactionizing dumb article.

It's all about matchups. We can handle Cleveland better than any other team in the league. Nowitzki couldn't do **** against Stephen Jackson and Barnes either in 2007. We have Posey and Pierce who have the right bodies and defensive skills to matchup with LeBron.

And please wait before those two games at Cleveland are over. If we steal a win I'll be very confident, but that's not the time to depriciate LeBron's supporting cast.

edit:

ah and by the way... the trade for Ben Wallace was a first step. Look out for the Cavs of March 2009, when they get Michael Redd.

They are definitely a better team when they have a PF who can score the ball in the post. The Boozer situation really screwed the team up. Having Gooden was a big step down from Boozer but he was still able to score at a decent clip and always seemed to kill the Celtics. Now they've got Ben Wallace, who is probably the worst offensive player in the league. He doesn't seem to have the defense or rebounding to offset his poor offense anymore either. His peak was in 02-03 and his numbers have dropped about 50% from that year.

Mahoney_jr wrote:Polarizing overreactionizing dumb article.

It's all about matchups. We can handle Cleveland better than any other team in the league. Nowitzki couldn't do **** against Stephen Jackson and Barnes either in 2007. We have Posey and Pierce who have the right bodies and defensive skills to matchup with LeBron.

And please wait before those two games at Cleveland are over. If we steal a win I'll be very confident, but that's not the time to depriciate LeBron's supporting cast.

edit:

ah and by the way... the trade for Ben Wallace was a first step. Look out for the Cavs of March 2009, when they get Michael Redd.

Seriously? Everyone thought LAST YEAR the Cavs were horrible...they are arguably worse this year...

The interesting thing to me is the failure of the Cavs STRATEGY. Each time we hear how they are surrounding Lebron with jump shooters. But it just doesn't seem to work as the Cavs have a putrid offense.

Pete

Guys its easy for us to call their team out when we're sitting a far and looking from a distance....but we don't really appreciate or understand just how much the injuries and contract issues really played apart in their team's chemistry and cohesiveness this past year.

The team still ended up winning 45 games despite really upgrading significantly at any position and LeBron was hurt for a few games this year as well.

Sure we can say that Wally and Delonte aren't suppose to be starters in this league but they're playing with freaking LeBron James so yeah that can mask a lot of problems especially during the regular season.

Those guys can shoot the ball and they're not horrible players like some of you guys are making them out to be....they're serviceable players who have started before so they know what to do.

The real problem that has hurt their franchise is losing Boozer and then getting Larry Hughes w/broken hand and he's never recovered and is nothing like he was pre-injury.

LeBron has literally raised his game to Jordan and Big-O status to carry that team and if they were healthy and playing together from Day 1 they could very well win 50+ games again and be more of a threat in the East.

But in the end....wih a guy like LeBron you always have a chance so you can't count them out no matter who is suiting up with him.

Cavs are an underrated team defensively. Offensively, they could use a better coaching staff, and maybe some more post offense. Maybe Gooden was better than the alternative, but he wasn't gonna get them where they needed to be.

I like the trade for the Cavs. I believe Wally's an expiring contract next year, and Ben Wallace can serve a purpose as Big Z is not a huge shot blocker. If anything, I think Pavlovic should be starting for Wally, but maybe they are also seeking to boost Wally's trade value. I think Delonte fits well enough, a step up from last year's Eric Snow at least

Athanacropolis wrote:Gomes, you are spot-on on your assessment of the Cavs. It's scary to think how good LeBron would be with even a halfway decent team around him, making his job easier. All he does is take jumpers or drive hard to the hoop. There's really no one to set him up, which is what should happen with a great offensive player like LeBron. As good a distributor he is, he needs a facilitator to get him to his spot so he doesn't have to muscle his way in and beat three or four guys off the dribble EVERY POSSESSION. It's absolutely brutal basketball to watch.

KG and Lebron on the same team would be INSANE. The passing would be out of this world.

I like the trade for the Cavs. I believe Wally's an expiring contract next year, and Ben Wallace can serve a purpose as Big Z is not a huge shot blocker. If anything, I think Pavlovic should be starting for Wally, but maybe they are also seeking to boost Wally's trade value. I think Delonte fits well enough, a step up from last year's Eric Snow at least

Well see. I don't think winning teams can carry ANY deadweight and that's what Ben Wallace is. He has a HUGE contract.

Pete