Columbus Cavs

The Cavs have jumped to #1 in ESPN’s Power Rankings.

Ben from Random Thoughts has (almost) nothing but good things to say about the Christmas win in LA and wins in Phoenix and Sacramento.

The Cavs are looking good…
- Won 9 out of their last 10 games
- Mo is playing great ball
- Shaq, Hickson, Varejao, and Z combined for a pretty solid big man unit.
- They’ve beaten the Lakers by 15, Dallas by 16, Phoenix by 18, Houston by 25, they led Orlando by 20 after three quarters (won by 9), they lost to Boston by 6 but it was the very first game of the season.

There’s room for improvement…
- More offensive movement practiced and displayed in games
- JJ’s consistency. He’s averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds a game, but has 10 games (out of 32) where he averaged 14 points and 6.5 rebounds. A nice round 10 points and 5 rebounds a game would be nice to be able to count on from our sophmore power forward.
- Figuring out the best possible rotation between Delonte, Parker, Moon, and Boobie

There are tough tests ahead before the trading deadline…
- Atlanta back-to-back today and tomorrow
- Road trip including Denver, Portland, and Utah
- Pissed off Lakers coming to Cleveland
- Orlando looking for revenge

This year’s playoffs are going to be monumental. Every playoff run with LeBron is going to be great to watch for the next 15+ years until he retires, but in this final year of his contract here, with everybody doubting Cleveland’s chances of winning a championship (let alone their chances of keeping him in Cleveland), there is going to be a fierce battle against tough competition every single game, and LeBron is going to play his heart out and show us why we love the game of basketball - not with the greatest supporting cast, but with a much improved one - and he’s going to try and win it all.

I’m trying to say it’s going to be one hell of a fight, and we are one hell of a fighter, and wouldn’t it be nice to be the last one standing when every other team has been knocked out?

I apologize for the lack of updates to Columbus Cavs and for such a long time since our last get together. We will be celebrating playoff victories together this year, I promise you that! Go Cavs!

Just like that, the season starts again.
7:30pm tonight on TNT vs. the Celtics.

Forget what happened last year, that’s old news.
It might take some time to get used to playing with Shaq, Parker, and Moon, but we’re about to witness one hell of a season…

Taking the minutes of Wally and Sasha, the two newest Cavaliers…

Anthony Parker.
Parker won 5 Israeli championships, 2 Euroleauge titles, and was a two-time Euroleague MVP before coming back to the NBA. He’s a good shooter, solid defender, and still athletic for a 34 year old. Check out #4 and #2 on this video.

Jamario Moon.
After playing in the NBDL, USBL, CBA, ABA, WBA, in Mexico, and on the Harlem Globetrotters, Moon started 60 of 80 games last season in the NBA.

He’s 29 but this will be just his 3rd season in the NBA. He’s long, quick, plays tough defense, and has a lot of practice dunking in transition.

“People ask me how high I can jump, and I tell them the truth: I just jump as high as they throw the ball. I just go get it where it is.”

Jamario Moon dunks: youtube video

Story on Moon: youtube video

“I don’t know how Shaq is going to feel coming off the bench” - Andy Varejao, joking after resigning with the Cavaliers for 6 more years.

Z will come off the bench this year which will be good for him. Varejao and Shaq will start. They are going to have a LOT of fun this year with Shaq, LeBron, and Andy. Delonte is hilarious also! Mo always enjoys a good time. Hickson and Boobie are loving every minute of it. Z is hilarious too, just in a quiet way.

Hopefully we can add Matt Barnes, Linas Kleiza, or Joey Graham. Go Cavs!

Shaq: “I don’t really consider myself a superstar. … Everyone knows this is LeBron’s team. I’m not trying to come in and change that. … I’m now in the security business. My job is to protect the King, and that’s what I’m here to do.

“My motto is very simple. Win a ring for the King. That’s my motto. That’s my focus.

“We definitely have all the pieces here. It will be no excuses. Expectations are very high and we want them to be high. It motivates us. We’ll be ready.”

Reporter: “You say you have three years left. How confident are you that LeBron will be here all of those years?”

Shaq: “I learned from my great uncle Jerome, never worry about tomorrow, worry about today. In a perfect world if we win and take care of business, he has no choice but to stay here. He’s an intelligent young man, I’m sure he’s going to do what’s right. As I look around, Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Ferry have given him the world here.”

Orlando added Vince Carter (but lost Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston, and Courtney Lee). The Lakers added Ron Artest (letting Trevor Ariza go). San Antonio added Richard Jefferson (gave away Bowen). Boston is trying to add Rasheed Wallace.

Shaq thinks the Cavs will hold their own just fine - “We don’t have any matchup issues. We will not have to double anybody. We will be playing teams straight up. Teams will have matchup issues with us. We will never have to double team anybody again.”

Richard Jefferson had this analysis of Shaq to the Cavs: “It takes one-and-a-half maybe two people to guard LeBron on a given night, and it takes one-and-a-half maybe two people to guard Shaq on a given night. So now that gets even more open shots for other guys.”

Mo Williams, Delonte West, Boobie Gibson, and whoever is the next player the Cavs will sign are going to get a lot of open looks this season. They’ll just need to make them.

The Cavaliers got their very own Shaquille O’Neal!

He might not be the Shaq of 2000 who averaged 30 points and 14 rebounds, but he pulled off 18 points and 8 rebounds last year for a Phoenix team with plenty of scoring options like Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson, and Steve Nash.

At 37 years old, in the last year of his contract, and with a fantastic sense of humor, Shaq will have a good time playing alongside LeBron. Z will get to rest his tired legs and our shooters will get many more open shots. Damon Jones averaged 12 points per game (3 threes per game) playing with Shaq. Jason Kapono averaged 11 points per game playing with Shaq.

I don’t think Danny Ferry is done quite yet, but for now - WELCOME SHAQ!

Let’s get you that fifth championship ring.