Time to preview the 2010 Cleveland Cavs
Music to listen to: Notorious Thugs by Bone Thugs and Biggie Smalls
Anytime I do a post about Cleveland, it comes back to Bone Thugs.
Last season/offseason changes: Last year, the Cavs finished with 61 wins, the best record in the East and the top-seed in the playoffs. They than proceeded to flame out against the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals.
Oh yeah, the Cavs lost a potential all-time top-10 player ever to play basketball in a disgraceful public forum this offseason. Furthermore, the owner of the team decided to air his grievances in a way that may deter future top talents from coming to play for them.
Where do the Cavs go from here?
Strength: The Cavs will have to rely on its backcourt to be the main offensive cog for them. Guards Mo Williams, Ramon Sessions and Daniel Gibson have all had good moments in the NBA. Each of them has the potential to be top three-point shooters. Unfortunately, they are going to get less looks because of the departure of Lebron James.
Cleveland also has the benefit of having center Anderson Varejao still on the squad. He will be the best defensive player on the team and the most reliable rebounded on the squad. Varejao has developed into one of the better post players in the Eastern Conference.
Weakness: The Cavs just got smaller in the offseason in a major way. The departure of James, Shaquille O’Neil and Žydrūnas Ilgauskas will hurt the Cavs in many aspects, especially on defense.
The Cavs were one of the top defensive units in the NBA the past few years, which masked the ineffective offensive cast on the squad outside of James. With the departures this offseason, the defense will have to be even better with smaller players.
Most important player: The Cavs need to score points to win and that onus will come upon Antawn Jamison. While he’s probably best suited to be the third option offensively on a championship-caliber team, Cleveland doesn’t have that luxury. You will see Jamison probably creep back up to scoring around 20 points per contest because someone has to score the points, but those will be empty points if he doesn’t take it to another level on the court.
Celebrity crush from the city: Its hard to go against Halle Berry and I won’t in this category.
Coaching: I was the biggest critic of former Cavs head coach Mike Brown just as much as anybody for his ineffective offense, over-reliance on James and the lack of in-game adjustments, so I was pleased when Byron Scott was picked as a replacement. I’m not sure if Scott is pleased anymore.
Remember, he took the job BEFORE James made his free agency decision. Now, Scott gets to be part of a rebuilding project for a city scorned by its native son.
The Cavs fans will not sell out every home contest and show the team much love, but if they’re patient, they will see an improved squad over time because Scott has proven to be a good coaching commodity.
Scott has won in his previous two stops of New Jersey and New Orleans, even taking the Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
What the fans can expect is an up-tempo offense that would have been great to have last season with that roster but that’s over now.
The guards, Jamison and especially most-likely starting power forward JJ Hickson will benefit greatly from Scott’s offensive schemes. Of course, you have to play defense and rebound to run effectively, both of which can become weaknesses for the Cavs but at least the team will be more pleasing to watch.
First memory of team: I remember Cleveland having decent teams in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s with Hot Rod Williams, Mark Price, Brad Dougherty, Ron Harper and coached by Lenny Wilkins. Of course, they always seemed to lose to Chicago in the playoffs.
However, the signature moment was this one. Sorry to the Craig Ehlo family in advance…
Best case: Sneaking into the playoffs as an eight seed where they will most likely face Miami in the first round. Ouch.
Worst case: The departure of James is too much to overcome for this season and the Cavs fall back to a 20-win squad.
Uniform grade: I’ve heard that the Cavs are going back to their 1970’s colors of wine and gold. Red wine, not white. I’ll have to get a look at it before making an ultimate judgment but if it looks like what they’ve worn on their retro days the past few years, it won’t be a big change. Grade: C
Overall outlook: Cleveland won’t fall off the face of the NBA landscape but the attention that the franchise has gotten in the past will obviously be less than the James era. I don’t think that the Cavs will bottom out like the Nets did last year but expectations beyond 35 wins have to be tempered. However, with some patience and good roster moves, the Cavs can be a playoff contender next season.
Those are my thoughts, what about yours?
2010 Backdoor Cut Previews:
Atlantic Division
The Sports Inquirer 
Leave a comment