The Ben Wallace Trade

I love the trade, but Nester brought up a point I never thought about. We will rely heavily on Eric Snow and Delonte West on defense because Boobie and Wally aren't good defenders.

Offensively, I think the best lineup the Cavs could put out there is LeBron, Boobie, Wally, Ilgauskas and Joe Smith. All offensive threats. You can't leave Ilgauskas open within 12 feet cause he has a very reliable jumper or he's under the hoop with the best tip back in the NBA. Joe Smith stands 12-18 feet away to knock down open jumpers. Wally and Boobie sitting on the wings hoping for an open look. Even if Wallace is in, he can take Z's spot and look for easy dunks and offensive rebounds. Joe Smith is the biggest addition in the deal and fairly underrated. He can hit open jumpers with more consistency then Drew Gooden, which is probably why he has been involved in every Cav rumor the last two seasons. Sad to see him go, but for now we're improved.

It's nice to have a guard like West who can control the offense, especially with LeBron on his side. He doesn't need to play make, just needs to play some solid defense and knock down open jumpers if LeBron creates it for him.

The Cavs are going to be very tough on the interior. I loved this trade for the sole reason of picking up some extra bodies guessing the Cavs find themselves matched up with Kevin Garnett and the Celtics in the second round. Both Wallace, Ilgauskas and Varejao can bang with him although I'd be worried if KG went outside. As long as Wallace, Ilgauskas or Varejao is patrolling the paint I feel pretty good on our interior defense.

With that all said, I think this trade makes the Cavs a better all-around team. LeBron has much more reliable shooters then he has had in his career. With LeBron and this cast of characters, I think the sky is the limit especially since LeBron gets "it" now. He's a competitor, he's a killer. He's the best talent in the NBA. Could his team be better? Yes. Is this the best group of players he's ever been around? I'm pretty sure. I expect big things and a very entertaining second round to the playoffs.

The Larry Hughes Theory

Danny Ferry has been working on a special project for the last few years, which also explains the lack of moves that the Cavaliers make. Danny Ferry intentionally put Mike Bibby rumors out there all this time to distract the media that Ferry was doing nothing. But really, Danny Ferry was in the basement of the Q working on his project. Non-stop, day and night. He would do nothing else besides watch the Cavaliers play. As Danny watched the Cavaliers play, he showed no emotion because he knew this wasn't the team he'd be cheering for soon. A team where Larry Hughes sucked up and down the court was soon to be forgotten.

That's when it happened. On January 24th, an off day for the Cavs, Danny made an unexpected visit to Mr. Hughes suburban home. He didn't come alone. At his side were Drew Gooden and Dwayne Jones. Danny said a few words and chatted up Larry, until Gooden and Jones swung a bag over Larry's head. The Cleveland Cavaliers had just kidnapped their starting shooting guard, Larry Hughes.

The next night, Larry Hughes was in the starting lineup against the Pheonix Suns. He did something very unexpected, Larry had a great game. Larry followed that up with a very solid performance against the Lakers. The next game in Portland, Larry was up to his old ways again, playing terribly. You would think Larry would be back to normal, right? No! A 28-point effort against the Sonics, followed by one more bad game. Then he broke off four solid performances in a row. What was going on? Larry finally living up to his contract (kind of). Larry was tearing down boards (for Larry Hughes), playing good defense and not taking his normal amount of awful shots.

Then the unthinkable happened. The day was February 11th, 2008. The location is Orlando, Florida. The Cleveland Cavaliers are here to battle with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Little did they know they were in for history....

A LARRY HUGHES 40-POINT GAME!!!

How could this happen?!?! Larry Hughes is terrible! Then I saw it, Danny Ferry in his skybox with a smirk on his face. Right then, I knew something was up. Then I noticed something weird about Larry. His head was sparking as he was walking into the tunnel after the game. This couldn't be. Larry Hughes is a....

ROBOT!!!!

Yes, the real Larry Hughes has been kidnapped by the Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry. Danny finally completed his project which he named "Larry Hughes 3000MAX". Right now he is set to have a bad or average game now and then. Which will last the rest of the season. Next season, Larry Hughes 3000MAX will be set to "destroy" and that's when the NBA is in for some biiiiiiiig trouble.

The Worst Year of My Life

Well, it's official. 2007 is the worst year I'll ever live. For those who don't know I'll list four of my favorite sport teams and how they ended their season.

Ohio State Football-Lost to Florida in the National Championship game 41-14.
Chicago Bears-Lost Super Bowl to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17.
Ohio State Basketball-Lost the NCAA National Championship 84-75 to the Florida Gators.
Cleveland Cavaliers-Got swept (4-0) vs. the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

As you can see by my previous post, I said the Cavs would win the NBA Finals in seven games. Clearly, I was blinded by the greatness that is LeBron James and I refused to believe anyone could possibly lose four championship games in a year, but I did it. The only team of mine that has completed a season that has not played for the championship was the Chicago Blackhawks, who instead locked up the #1 pick in the upcoming NHL entry draft. I'd like to thank Bill Wirtz and the Blackhawks organization for not getting my hopes this season, although I was hoping for a playoff push, but when can you do when your one offensive weapon (Marty Havlat) had injury problems throughout the season. Oh well, Patrick Kane will be the savior!

Here's my bold prediction for the rest of 2007 (seeing as I'm the unlucky charm of 07): Chicago Cubs win the NL Central, win the Pennant and drop the World Series to the AL representative, Cleveland Indians (continuing the AL Central's dominance of the AL).

It's 1:30 AM and I'm not tired and have nothing to do so I'm going to blog about something. Give me a minute to think, I'll probably talk about my second favorite June event (behind my birthday), the NBA draft.

Okay, so I got sidetracked by a bratwurst and an amusing chat about McGruff and frogs. Good times Dale, good times.

I have decided to stop the blog here for the night. Family Guy is on in seven minutes. NBA draft write-ups will follow in the coming days. Drafts on June 28th.

NBA Finals Prediction

Cavs 4, Spurs 3.

Book it.

RISE UP!

NBA Finals 2007: Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. San Antonio Spurs

The year 2007 has been one of sadness for me when it comes to sports. First, my favorite football team ever the 2006-07 Ohio State Buckeyes went into the BCS Championship game heavy favorites and walked out of Glendale, Arizona as the second best team in the land after getting obliterated by the Florida Gators. About one month later, I got to see the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl for the first time in my life, only to get worked by Peyton Manning & the Indianapolis Colts. Lastly, the Ohio State basketball team had an amazing NCAA tournament run, only to end up losing to once again, the Florida Gators. Now, I go into the NBA finals with the only believers seeing to be myself and the city of Cleveland. Maybe we have blind hope, maybe we should take our LeBron goggles off and take a look around. Regardless, we have hope. We have the best player in the world and the Q will be rocking. I'm excited.

I'm not sure how the Spurs plan to attack LeBron. Obviously, they'll throw Bruce Bowen at him and I expect them to try to trap LeBron up top. That means more open shots for Larry Hughes, Daniel Gibson, Sasha Pavlovic and the rest. Hughes has been great the last two games in the Pistons series during the opening moments, but wasn't able to keep consistency over the rest of the game, no help by his bum foot.

No one seems to care that the Cavaliers beat the Spurs twice during the regular season, but the playoffs are a whole new animal. The Spurs have been phenomenal since they drafted Tim Duncan way back when. They've won three titles since they drafted Duncan (98-99, 02-03, 04-05) and have never missed the playoffs. Taking down this Spurs team would launch LeBron into a God-like status and probably make him that Global Icon he so desperately wants to be.

Now, I'm going to be very optimistic about this series and I have full faith that the Cavs can beat the Spurs. Going into San Antonio and taking a game from the Spurs will be no easy feat, but neither was Detroit. We as an audience haven't seen all of the phenom that is LeBron James and I expect him to show us things we've never seen out of him in the NBA finals.

Prediction: Cavs in 7!

In the picture, that is LeBron James Jr. with his pops. Junior is 3 years old and probably already has scouts coming to look at his game. LeBron and his wife are expecting their second child (another boy) this month. LeBron has stated he will not miss a game for his child's birth if it comes to it because he damn well knows how important to this team he is (and by that I mean he is the team). Here's to the dynasty that will be the James family.

If there are people who actually read this and you haven't seen Knocked Up yet, go now. Get up and get in your car and drive to the closest movie theater. Knocked Up is easily one of the funniest, if not THE funniest movie I've ever seen. Witty humor, a bunch of pop culture references, just a great flick.

The King Has Arrived

Well ladies and gentlemen, the King has officially entered the building. What we've been expecting for years out of LeBron James is finally here and I've never been so happy about NBA basketball. LeBron's one man show in Detroit on Thursday was one of the most unbelievable sporting performances I've ever witnessed. LeBron took his below average teammates on his back, won the game and shattered the confidence of a city (not to mention the Indians continue to own the Tigers). I'd absolutely kill a man to be in the Cleveland for tonight's Game 6. Just put me in the Buffalo Wild Wings with a bunch of drunk, rowdy, championship starved fans and I'll have a blast.

In case you didn't know what Bron did to the Pistons, he scored 29 of the Cleveland's last 30 points (the last 25 points) over the last 16:35 (he completely took over the game midway through the 4th quarter). The man didn't even pass the ball in the first overtime. At one point, he crossed Mr. Big Shot behind his back and knocked down the J from the top of the key. My favorite moment of any game this series is whenever LeBron drives and Tayshaun Prince always does the same thing, get the hell out of the way. Prince has no intentions of seeing himself on a poster or a YouTube clip (see: Rasheed Wallace).

Tonight could mark the beginning of the Cleveland Cavaliers dominance of the Eastern conference. They could knock out the self-proclaimed best starting five in the NBA. It's put up or shut up time for Detroit, especially with Chauncey Billups continuing to run his mouth saying Dwyane Wade (with assistance of Shaq and a slew of championship ring starved ex All-Stars) had a better playoff run last year then LeBron (with assistance of rookie Daniel Gibson). Please Detroit, make the King a LITTLE more angry. Please knock down one his teammates like Antonio McDyess did to Anderson Varejao. This series ends tonight at the Q. RISE UP!

Prediction: Cavaliers 85, Pistons 79