Cleveland's Cavalier approach

There is no greater rags-to-riches-back-to-rags story than the LeBron James saga in Cleveland. Everyone knows about how he spent his first seven years with the team before leaving in the most unceremonious way possible, and then going on to win his first title last year with Miami. This is a black mark that no team would be able to recover from quickly. With that said, I was very impressed with the way Cleveland handled themselves last offseason, one season removed from The Decision. They drafted PG Kyrie Irving and PF Tristan Thompson with the first and fourth overall picks respectively. Irving is on his way to becoming a superstar, and Thompson brings Tyson Chandler- like toughness. They traded J.J. Hickson to Sacramento for Omri Casspi. Ramon Sessions was entering his second year in Cleveland after coming over from Minnesota, and he had already proved to be highly productive. Coupled with team's solid nucleus of Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, and one time talent Daniel Gibson, things were looking up.
   All of this is why I'm so disappointed in the way this team handled the offseason this year. Firstly, I completely thought they botched the draft. They passed up on Thomas Robinson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, and Austin Rivers to draft Dion Waiters with the 4th overall pick. I was baffled by that, considering Waiters wasn't even a superstar at Cuse. I also did not understand them picking Tyler Zeller at #17, when Terrance Jones, Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo, and Perry Jones III were still available. I did like the free agency pickup of C.J. Miles. He is a good scorer (9.1 ppg last year), and has the versatility to play shooting guard or small forward. Jeremy Pargo seems to have a decent upside. And lets keep it real, getting rid of Antawn Jamison was addition by subtraction. Last year, he took 1044 shots, and made 421 of them. That is a joke.
   The fact that this team passed on some really good big men in the draft shows that they have a great deal of faith in their frontcourt. Anderson Varejao set career highs last season with 10.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, and he had a stellar 23 rebound performance in this year's opener. The guy plays with a passion that makes everyone around him better. Tristan Thompson will take a further step into becoming a starting power forward. He averaged 8.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and one block per game last year while only averaging 23.7 minutes. Very solid numbers for a rookie.
   On paper, this team does not appear to be particularly skilled outside of Irving. It appeared that their hands were forced to trade Ramon Sessions midseason last year, but it was silly that they recieved Luke Walton and Jason Kapono in return. This team can be competitive, however, if they play with a level of intensity on a nightly basis. I believe they will play very well against the lesser teams in the league, much like they did in the opener against Washington. Byron Scott is the right man to coach this team, considering he had success with some pretty untalented Hornets teams. Kyrie Irving is a stud, and is clearly the face of this franchise. But this team will only go as far as Varejao takes them. He is the only one who can set a physical tone on a regular basis. Rebuilding takes time, especially in the NBA where all of the good player want to team up with each other because they are BFF's. Cleveland is moving in the right direction. Despite the fact that they could have done more this offseason, there is still reason for some optimism in Cleveland.

The Celtics: Green and still mean

   The Boston Celtics are the second best team in the Eastern Conference behind the Miami Heat. I am of the belief that youth is essential in today's NBA, and the Celtics clearly do not have a young nucleus. But they have young role players, and they are deep. Really deep. The Lakers should have taken a page from Boston's book, considering how abysmal LA's bench is. The biggest player the Celtics lost this offseason was Ray Allen. Allen is a legendary 3-point shooter, and he is still effective at the age of 37 due to his specialized role. But he was replaced by Jason Terry, who will do a very good job as a bench player because of his scoring ability. He was a critical part of the Dallas Mavericks 2011 title run, and he will bring some of that intensity to Boston. They also added Leandro Barbosa, another solid shooting guard.
   This team got way deeper in the frontcourt. I noticed a glaring lack of depth in that regard last year, considering that Greg Stiesma and Ryan Hollins got significant playing time. They signed Darko Milicic, they are getting Jeff Green back from the aortic aneurysm that sidelined him all of last year, and they drafted Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo with consecutive picks. This team was out-rebounded by about five a game last year, but I highly doubt that will happen again this year. They were a superb defensive team last year, allowing only 89.3 points per game, and I believe they will be at least as formidable this year.
   On to this team's nucleus. It is outstanding. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are hungrier than Kirstie Alley at an all-you-can-eat buffet. KG puts the fear of God in my heart, and I am not even religious. Paul Pierce still has a chip on his shoulder due to the years of deficient basketball he endured in Boston before the big 3 was assembled. The Celtics made one of the best trades of last season, by sending Glen Davis to Orlando in exchange for Brandon Bass. Bass has a superb combination of skill and intensity. He averaged 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and made almost half of his shots. His ability to play the power forward position so effectively is what allows them to put KG at center. Although Avery Bradley is not expected to return until mid-December, his lockdown perimeter defense will be greatly appreciated when he does come back. Rajon Rondo is an unbelievably dexterous point guard. He averaged 11.9 points and 11.7 assists per game. Those are superstar numbers. Watching him play is like watching poetry in motion. I am a Knicks fan, and yet I am constantly in awe of Rondo's focus and court vision. He is not the world's greatest scorer, but he steps up in critical moments. He averaged 17.3 points in the playoffs last year, 5.4 more than his regular season average. This guy is simply a baller.
   This team has great internal leadership. If they do get out of line, however, they have coach Doc Rivers to set them straight. He is one of the two best head coaches currently in the NBA, with Gregg Popovich being the other. He garners the respect of all of his players, and he knows the best way to utilize each of them. The Boston Celtics are the NBA's best combination of skill, experience, depth, and coaching prowess. I still think the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are better because of their superior talent, but the Celtics are not far off. I expect another trip to the Eastern Conference Finals this year. They will probably lose to Miami again because no one can stop LeBron James. But there is no shame in that at all. This team is still elite, without a doubt.

The 76ers: New look, same results

   The Sixers really put a lot of eggs into the Andrew Bynum basket, didn't they? Granted, it was a really good move. Elite big men are hard to come by, and there is no big man in the league with a more complete skill set than Bynum. Andre Iguodala was solid, but they definitely upgraded in the trade. With that said, I am not sure how well the new look 76ers will click this year. They are young and inexperienced. They brought in veteran Jason Richardson to add some leadership, but his career is clearly on the downturn. He is 31 years old. The 11.6 points a game he averaged last year is significantly lower than the 21.8 he averaged in 2007-08, or the 19.3 he averaged in 2010-11. He is a wonderful role player, but not a superstar by any means. He is basically a replacement for Lou Williams, the teams' leading scorer last year.
   This team has a bunch of guys who are talented, but not quite as productive as they should be. Evan Turner has not looked nearly as exceptional as this team would have liked since they drafted him #2 overall in 2010. It was a pretty thin draft (Derrick Favors and Wesley Johnson were the next two picks), but he has still been a bit of a disappointment for being picked so high. Spencer Hawes is a formidable big man, but 9.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game do not drop any jaws. Thaddeus Young does his job very well, considering that he averaged 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last year. Lavoy Allen clearly has a nice upside, but it will take some time for him to live up to his potential. Jodie Meeks heading to the Lakers was a big loss. I do like the additions of Dorell Wright and Nick Young, who are both talented scorers. Last year this team was stout defensively, allowing only 89.4 points per game. I think losing Elton Brand will make a slight difference in this regard, but they will still be sound on the defensive side of the ball. From an offensive stand point, I always question teams who jack up jumpshots all the time. Teams like this are too inconsistent. This is why the team will still have its struggles despite having superb talent.
   The x-factor for this team is point guard Jrue Holliday. I have always been a fan of his game since his UCLA days. He averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 assists per game last year, which is solid for a third year player. His upside is tremendous. With that said, he will have to make the leap to stardom this year if the Sixers wish to make any noise. I do not see that happening. His game is still a little too unpolished. Whether or not this team makes an impact in the East is contingent on the effectiveness of the new face of the franchise, Andrew Bynum. By exchanging him for Iguodala, they gained skill but lost leadership. Bynum is not a leader. When he feels like it, he can play like a absolute stud. But I have trouble believing that he will fire up his teammates. His persona is too lackadaisical. Also, he is injury prone. It seems doubtful that he will play most of the season.
   The leader of this team is clearly coach Doug Collins. He is a exemplary coach, which was particularly evident last year. But he is not on the court. He can only do so much from the sidelines. I foresee this team having a similar season to last year, when they earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They were really talented, but lacked a superstar. They have one now in Bynum, but they lack direction. Just like I concluded about the Golden State Warriors, this team is good, not great. Dr. J and A.I. ain't walking through that door.

News flash: this is still the Nets people!!!

   I don't care if they are playing in Brooklyn, New Jersey, Tokyo, or Timbuktu - they are still the Nets. Many people seem to have forgotten this. The team has undoubtedly improved, but I still have questions about them. This team has the same nucleus from last year, along with some nice new complementary pieces. Deron Williams is one of the best players in the league. He averaged 20.5 points per game, 8.5 assists per game, and 37.1 minutes per game. These are very impressive numbers. Some of the new players include Andray Blatche, Josh Childress, Reggie Evans, C.J. Watson, and their most coveted addition; Joe Johnson. The Nets are probably hoping Blatche catches Javale McGee syndrome, meaning that he starts playing better simply because he doesn't play for the Wizards anymore. Blatche is solid, but I doubt that he will ever average 16.8 points per game like he did in 2010-11. Childress has not been very effective ever since he returned to the NBA in 2010, so his impact for this team will be limited at best.
   Joe Johnson is the new robin to Deron Wiliams' batman. He is obviously a special talent, considering that he has averaged near 20 points per game since 2003. But he is 31 years old, and does not appear to have the explosion he once had. Despite his skill, adding him cannot turn the Nets from bottomfeeders to title contenders. The Atlanta Hawks were a reputable yet underwhelming team with Joe Johnson at the helm. I do not see him adding anything more to Brooklyn. Gerald Wallace is extremely talented and gives a level of intensity, but he is not quite as good of a scorer as I would like. Kris Kardashian (excuse me, Humphries) is an acceptable basketball player, but I do not see many intangibles from him. His size and strength is seldom matched by a high level of intensity. If you are a Nets fan, read these words very closely; the only reason Shaq claimed that Brook Lopez is the second best center in the game is because he wanted to take a jab at Dwight Howard. Also, there are hardly any true centers left. But Brook Lopez is no superstar. His last full season was 2010-2011, where he averaged 20.4 points per game. This is worthy of respect, but he only averaged 6 rebounds per game and 1.5 blocks per game. I would prefer more out of my starting center.
   The x-factor for this team is second year guard MarShon Brooks. He averaged 14.8 points per game, along with 4.4 rebounds. He seems to have the "it" factor, and he is fun to watch. He will have to take another step forward this year, but he is more than capable of doing so. All in all, I do doubt that this team will finish better than .500. They are a prime example of the whole being lesser than the sum of its parts. Deron Williams loves to run an inside out offense, but that will be almost impossible when Lopez is not on the floor. They do not have big man depth. Allowing 98.8 points per game does not make this team stellar defensively, and they lost their best on-ball defender in DeShawn Stevenson. They will not get enough scoring from their bench. Outside of Reggie Evans, this team will not exude a great deal of toughness. They have enough skill to be the 7th or 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, and I see a luminous future ahead. But chill out and wait a little bit, Brooklyn. The Barclay's Center is beautiful though.

Golden State will lose the war of the West

   It seems that no matter what they do, the Golden State Warriors cannot quite get over the hump. Do not expect to see playoff basketball in the bay area this year. They are not awful by any means, but they are probably at best going to finish 10th in the West. Last season, the team raised many eyebrows when they essentially traded superstar Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Andrew Bogut. The surprise was not that they traded Ellis. The writing on the wall had been there for a while. The shock is that they received Bogut in return. He did not play for them last year, and it looks unlikely that he will have any impact this year. According to a report on the team's website from October 20th, his rehab for his surgically repaired left ankle is on schedule, but there is no timeline for his return. That does not sound very optimistic to me. Solid true centers are hard to come by, and Bogut is certainly solid if healthy. But that is a gigantic if.
   As for the players who will be on the floor, this team has a good talent pool. Stephen Curry has superstar potential. He averaged 14.7 points per game, and shot 45% from beyond the 3-point line. I am concerned about the fact that he averaged only 28.2 minutes per game. He does not seem to be extremely durable, considering he only played in 26 games last season. He rolled his ankle in a recent preseason game, but that does not appear to be too problematic. I am also concerned about the fact that he is a scoring point guard and only a decent passer, but the team addressed this issue by adding Jarrett Jack. Someone who played like a superstar last year was David Lee. He averaged 20.1 points per game, along with 9.6 rebounds per game. He also averaged 37.2 minutes per game. These stats are impressive, but Lee does not seem to have the intangibles that make a team great. This was evident during his time with the Knicks. His numbers look nice on paper, but the do not translate into wins necessarily.
   Klay Thompson and Brandon Rush are both very good, and seem to have a great upside. Richard Jefferson is no star, but he is a good guy to have on your team. Carl Landry was a formidable addition. I believe that this team had the second best draft behind the Hornets. Harrison Barnes was one of my favorite players in the draft, and I love the blue collar attitudes of Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green. Despite the positives, the weaknesses this team possesses are glaring. Getting rid of Dorell Wright made sense from a salary cap standpoint, but he still was a important piece for this team. I like coach Mark Jackson, but his lack of experience may be a hindrance. They still lack size, especially considering how limited Bogut will be (although their three draftees are 6'7" or taller). They allowed 101.2 points per game last year. They are not good shot blockers.
   The biggest ailment this team faces is something that is completely out of their control; the fact that they are in the Western Conference. I would give them a shot at the 7th or 8th seed if they were an Eastern Conference team. But they have very little chance to compete against the Thunder, Lakers, Clippers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Nuggets, or Mavericks. I think Utah and Minnesota are slightly better than them as well. I just cannot give my vote of confidence to a team that is this abominable defensively. They are fun to watch and they have exciting young talent (as well as stunningly gorgeous uniforms), but unfortunately they are still a mediocre basketball team. Plain and simple.

More dismal chapters for the Raptors

   The Toronto Raptors have made some nice moves, but there still seems to be little to be excited about. They have a pretty nice nucleus of Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozen, and Jose Calderon. They are not superstars though. Bargnani was their leading scorer last year with 19.5 per game. You need more out of your best scorer if you want to be a legitimate contender. As a whole, the team averaged 90.7 points per game, while allowing 94. They do not have a stout shot blocker. Their two best rebounders are Amir Johnson and Aaron Gray, and neither adds anything significant in the scoring department. They did add some new players, most notably Kyle Lowry. Lowry never averaged over 10 points a game before 2010, but he averaged 13.5 and 14.3 in the last two years respectively. Last season he averaged 4.6 rebounds per game, which isn't bad for a point guard. With all this said, however, it looks like he has reached his ceiling. He is not a great passer or defender. I think he will struggle to be effective when Bargnani is not on the floor.
   Toronto brought in former Knick Landry Fields, who is simply average. He has skill, but he lacks the "it" factor. He will never take over a game. He constantly seems to be going through the motions when he is on the basketball court. They had a solid draft, but I do not foresee superstardom out of Terrence Ross or Quincy Acy. Dwane Casey is a fantastic coach, as he illustrated while being an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks during their title run. But I doubt he can do much with this roster because it lacks talent. Throwing together a bunch of decent players does not equal greatness. Also, Aaron Gray is their only true big man. The x-factor for this team is Jonas Valančiūnas, their 1st round pick from 2011. He is supremely talented and athletic. I do question if he is a good fit however, considering that Bargnani is also a finesse big man.
   All in all, Toronto made some slight improvements. I personally love the stable of point guards they have in Calderon, Lowry, and John Lucas III. I wish my Knicks had those point guards (*sigh). Still, they clearly have not enough to be a actual threat. I will have more confidence when they get a real center.

UConn is UNacceptable

    I haven't posted anything in awhile. To be frank, sports have made me somewhat sick to my stomach lately. I consider myself to be anything but a fairweather fan, and thus I invest much of my emotion and mental health into the success of my sports teams. The Atlanta Braves had a stellar season erased in one game not too long ago. The 49ers were utterly outclassed by the New York Giants yesterday. The Knicks may be better than I give them credit for, but they do not excite me in the slightest. The New York Rangers were poised to potentially be the class of the NHL this year, but the season is all but cancelled at this point. Yet, considering all of this, nothing made me sicker than the way UConn football looked against Temple this past Saturday. Absolutely unacceptable.
    Let me start by stating that my vehement disgust for this game was greatly heightened by the fact that I witnessed it live. That's right, I wasted my Saturday at Rentschler Field watching the Connecticut Huskies play like trash. There are many UConn defenders who claim that we should still give them credit for the fact that the program has come a long way since it became Division 1-A in 2000. I, however, am no apologist. Why oh why did they lose to Temple? I could not believe what I witnessed. Firstly, Temple looked awful for the vast majority of the game, and they had no business beating anyone on that day. But UConn looked determined to lose that game ever since they scored their second touchdown of the first quarter. The offense took what the defense gave them during this period of time, which was basically the middle of the field. Well timed slant routes worked perfectly against this. But Temple closed up the middle after that, and UConn did not score again the whole afternoon. This team is unable to work the sidelines. Their receivers are not athletic. The only positive thing about quarterback Chandler Whitmer is that he's not as god awful as all the other UConn qb's since Dan Orlovsky. The only chance UConn ever seems at scoring points is by dominating the run game, and their rushing attack is less than stellar. You might have noticed that I have not mentioned the defense yet. The defense looks strong consistently, but can someone tell me why they allowed a touchdown at the very end of each half? The drive at the end of the game was abysmal because the defense looked entirely different than the one that had shut down the pass all day.
   I personally like Paul Pasqualoni, but the blame has to fall on him at some point. He's the head coach. This team makes way too many mistakes. As soon as Chad Christen missed his second field goal in the 3rd quarter, I knew the game was all but over, despite the fact that they were still leading 14-7 at the time. All they needed to do was score once more to make it a 2 possession game, which would have been more than enough to hold off the Owls. But they let it remain a 7 point game, and eventually Temple tied it. Temple was begging UConn to beat them, and the Huskies still came up short. I am baffled at the horrid level of play I saw. I am sure that most people have no feeling whatsoever about UConn football, and are thus amused by this rant. But I was born and bred in the great state of Connecticut, and by golly I just want some watchable football going on in my state. My goodness, is that asking too much? I'm not saying that I need them to be title contenders, but can ya beat Temple??? I observed this same team look anemic against NC State earlier this year, and I left with a similar sense of nausea. And they never led that game 14-0. This team has proven to be unworthy of my fandom. They never get into a rhythm offensively because they never seem to have any conception of what they are doing. The look like the New York Jets on their worst day. I admit that I did not stay for the overtime. Say what you will about my love for the team, but my heart was ripped out on the final drive in regulation where Temple tied it. Temple had all of the momentum going into overtime, so I knew UConn did not have a chance. All in all, the day was fun because seeing a live game is always fun. But it would have been nice to have seen some real football.


Note: Over the next two weeks I will do more NBA blogs in anticipation for the upcoming season, with the occasional NFL posts. I probably will not do any more baseball posts until toward the end of the postseason.