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Cleveland Cavaliers 2007-08 Season Preview
A quick note: As of this writing the Cavs have not yet re-signed Anderson Varejao or Sasha Pavlovic, but are expected to do so before training camp opens. This preview is written under the assumption that both are re-signed.
One cannot even say that the Cavs had a honeymoon of a season last year because the regular season in no way set-up the eventual success this team would see during the playoffs. The Finals sweep notwithstanding, this team had perhaps the most unexpected spring out of any team not located in the Bay Area and all of the credit is due to a 22-year-old veteran going into this fifth NBA season.
LeBron James continually redefines what one player is capable of in this predominantly team sport. His abuse of Orlando, New Jersey and Detroit last spring was truly an effort worthy of the 'Witness' signs that dominate the landscape at the Quicken Loans Arena.
As is the case with any team that rolls through the playoffs in the manner that LeBron…I mean the Cavs did would be foolish to assume he doesn't have it in him…I mean they don't have it in them to do it again. While this team may be no closer to being able to knock off one of the Western powers, one must remember that even Jordan needed six years before he broke through and won his first title.
All kidding aside, though, the Cavs as a team caught a lot of people off guard last year and it is somewhat troubling how little they've done this off-season to try and build on that momentum. Their on-again-off-again pursuit of the Kings' Mike Bibby makes a lot of sense from the perspective of Bibby being the perfect compliment to the way the Cavs use James, giving him the primary ball-handling responsibilities and letting the point guard act as more of a finisher. However, if the cost for Bibby is Drew Gooden, then it is a price the Cavs cannot pay. As trendy as Anderson Varejao is these days, he is no where near as well-rounded a player as Gooden, and the Cavs are far better off with the depth they have now up front than importing a potentially over-the-hill point guard that makes such an insane amount of money.
What this team could still use, though, is some depth. Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones have hardly panned out for this team since they signed on and Shannon Brown didn't show a ton last season to make anyone think of him as a primary backup on a Finals team. While money is tight for this team right now, they have to learn to exploit their status as a title contender in the way that San Antonio, Phoenix and even Boston do and get some title-hungry vets on the cheap. The trick here isn't trying to maintain their position in the East so much as it is trying to make sure up-and-comers don't leapfrog them before they've had their day in the sun.
The fact is that this team still needs LeBron James to be superhuman each and every game in the postseason to have a shot at winning just about every series. With his summer commitments to Team USA and - ideally - many more long playoff runs in the future, the physical toll this could exact on James could knock him out before his time. A gift like LeBron is not one to be feasted on ravenously, it is one to be savored and accented and drawn-out for as long as possible.
Make no mistake, James is this team's meal ticket, and if he ever catches wise to the fact that they are just wearing him out instead of complimenting him then all of those never-ending rumors detailing his exit strategy from Ohio may prove to be not so far off the mark after all.
PROBABLE STARTING LINE-UP
PG - Larry Hughes
Head coach Mike Brown managed to hide Larry Hughes and his hugely disappointing stint as a Cavalier here late last season and it mostly worked for the team, until they reached the playoffs. Hughes has had one exceptional season to his name - in Washington - and yet people still act like his stabilizing persona is just around the corner. Face it, Hughes is a wildly inconsistent player who may be able to look as though he's shaken out of his career-long slump long enough to make someone think he's turned a corner, but then he just goes ahead a falls into his slump again. It should surprise no one if Daniel Gibson finds his way into this spot permanently before the end of the season and watch Larry Hughes come off of the bench at $12 million per year until his contract expires is 2010. He's been given such latitude so far on this team because of his contract but now that this team is really playing for something it can't worry about whether or not they are going to get a return on their investment.
SG - Sasha Pavlovic
While Pavlovic is hardly the permanent solution to this team's shooting guard spot, he is fine for now at knocking down open shots to keep his role for the foreseeable future. He shoots a decent enough percentage from behind the arc (40%) to open up the floor for LeBron's driving game and that is a huge improvement for this team, but he himself has serious issues putting the ball on the floor and his defense and rebounding are not nearly good enough for a 6' 7" player with his athleticism. His skill set is still painfully one-dimensional but he's the best they have at the moment so he's a starter by default, just so long as no one expects any kind of consistency in the post-season.
SF - LeBron James
There is actually nothing new or useful to say about LeBron James at this point. There is no story, no line of thinking, no words left unsaid when it comes to LeBron James. He and this team are synonymous with each other and the NBA just hopes that his game and his charisma can pull in more viewers than it did last June.
PF - Drew Gooden
The ever under-appreciated forward returns for another season to hear about why he should be dealt or replaced with Varejao or some other malarkey. Yes, anyone would wish for more than 11.1 points per game from Gooden, but Mike Brown runs such a horrendous offensive scheme - sixth least effective in the NBA - that it's a miracle Gooden still manages to get 11.1 points on 47% shooting, so it's hard to blame him for the output. Of course this team and the fans that support it wish that Carlos Boozer was still manning the paint Cavs, but he isn't. Gooden is what they have and given the contracts awarded shortsightedly to Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Larry Hughes, he is probably the best this team can afford. Trust is needed when one says 'it could be a lot worse', just ask Sacramento why they want him.
C - Zydrunas Ilgauskus
There is this sense that when Ilgauskus started battling his foot problems it was especially frustrating because he was one of the few truly talented centres left in the NBA. Little did he know that by the time he got himself healed and ready for action again he'd be doing so in an era where players like him are not only rare but rendered obsolete. It's an unfair reality that Ilgauskus must face each game but centres like him just aren't what teams are anchoring themselves with, anymore. Of course, Mike Brown could one day wake up and realize that he could use that fact to his advantage, but that seems less likely every time it's uttered, so we'll just pretend that it is an unfortunate affliction of the times that Ilgauskus, the longest-serving Cav, seems so irrelevant to their cause.
A quick note: As of this writing the Cavs have not yet re-signed Anderson Varejao or Sasha Pavlovic, but are expected to do so before training camp opens. This preview is written under the assumption that both are re-signed.
One cannot even say that the Cavs had a honeymoon of a season last year because the regular season in no way set-up the eventual success this team would see during the playoffs. The Finals sweep notwithstanding, this team had perhaps the most unexpected spring out of any team not located in the Bay Area and all of the credit is due to a 22-year-old veteran going into this fifth NBA season.
LeBron James continually redefines what one player is capable of in this predominantly team sport. His abuse of Orlando, New Jersey and Detroit last spring was truly an effort worthy of the 'Witness' signs that dominate the landscape at the Quicken Loans Arena.
As is the case with any team that rolls through the playoffs in the manner that LeBron…I mean the Cavs did would be foolish to assume he doesn't have it in him…I mean they don't have it in them to do it again. While this team may be no closer to being able to knock off one of the Western powers, one must remember that even Jordan needed six years before he broke through and won his first title.
All kidding aside, though, the Cavs as a team caught a lot of people off guard last year and it is somewhat troubling how little they've done this off-season to try and build on that momentum. Their on-again-off-again pursuit of the Kings' Mike Bibby makes a lot of sense from the perspective of Bibby being the perfect compliment to the way the Cavs use James, giving him the primary ball-handling responsibilities and letting the point guard act as more of a finisher. However, if the cost for Bibby is Drew Gooden, then it is a price the Cavs cannot pay. As trendy as Anderson Varejao is these days, he is no where near as well-rounded a player as Gooden, and the Cavs are far better off with the depth they have now up front than importing a potentially over-the-hill point guard that makes such an insane amount of money.
What this team could still use, though, is some depth. Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones have hardly panned out for this team since they signed on and Shannon Brown didn't show a ton last season to make anyone think of him as a primary backup on a Finals team. While money is tight for this team right now, they have to learn to exploit their status as a title contender in the way that San Antonio, Phoenix and even Boston do and get some title-hungry vets on the cheap. The trick here isn't trying to maintain their position in the East so much as it is trying to make sure up-and-comers don't leapfrog them before they've had their day in the sun.
The fact is that this team still needs LeBron James to be superhuman each and every game in the postseason to have a shot at winning just about every series. With his summer commitments to Team USA and - ideally - many more long playoff runs in the future, the physical toll this could exact on James could knock him out before his time. A gift like LeBron is not one to be feasted on ravenously, it is one to be savored and accented and drawn-out for as long as possible.
Make no mistake, James is this team's meal ticket, and if he ever catches wise to the fact that they are just wearing him out instead of complimenting him then all of those never-ending rumors detailing his exit strategy from Ohio may prove to be not so far off the mark after all.
PROBABLE STARTING LINE-UP
PG - Larry Hughes
Head coach Mike Brown managed to hide Larry Hughes and his hugely disappointing stint as a Cavalier here late last season and it mostly worked for the team, until they reached the playoffs. Hughes has had one exceptional season to his name - in Washington - and yet people still act like his stabilizing persona is just around the corner. Face it, Hughes is a wildly inconsistent player who may be able to look as though he's shaken out of his career-long slump long enough to make someone think he's turned a corner, but then he just goes ahead a falls into his slump again. It should surprise no one if Daniel Gibson finds his way into this spot permanently before the end of the season and watch Larry Hughes come off of the bench at $12 million per year until his contract expires is 2010. He's been given such latitude so far on this team because of his contract but now that this team is really playing for something it can't worry about whether or not they are going to get a return on their investment.
SG - Sasha Pavlovic
While Pavlovic is hardly the permanent solution to this team's shooting guard spot, he is fine for now at knocking down open shots to keep his role for the foreseeable future. He shoots a decent enough percentage from behind the arc (40%) to open up the floor for LeBron's driving game and that is a huge improvement for this team, but he himself has serious issues putting the ball on the floor and his defense and rebounding are not nearly good enough for a 6' 7" player with his athleticism. His skill set is still painfully one-dimensional but he's the best they have at the moment so he's a starter by default, just so long as no one expects any kind of consistency in the post-season.
SF - LeBron James
There is actually nothing new or useful to say about LeBron James at this point. There is no story, no line of thinking, no words left unsaid when it comes to LeBron James. He and this team are synonymous with each other and the NBA just hopes that his game and his charisma can pull in more viewers than it did last June.
PF - Drew Gooden
The ever under-appreciated forward returns for another season to hear about why he should be dealt or replaced with Varejao or some other malarkey. Yes, anyone would wish for more than 11.1 points per game from Gooden, but Mike Brown runs such a horrendous offensive scheme - sixth least effective in the NBA - that it's a miracle Gooden still manages to get 11.1 points on 47% shooting, so it's hard to blame him for the output. Of course this team and the fans that support it wish that Carlos Boozer was still manning the paint Cavs, but he isn't. Gooden is what they have and given the contracts awarded shortsightedly to Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Larry Hughes, he is probably the best this team can afford. Trust is needed when one says 'it could be a lot worse', just ask Sacramento why they want him.
C - Zydrunas Ilgauskus
There is this sense that when Ilgauskus started battling his foot problems it was especially frustrating because he was one of the few truly talented centres left in the NBA. Little did he know that by the time he got himself healed and ready for action again he'd be doing so in an era where players like him are not only rare but rendered obsolete. It's an unfair reality that Ilgauskus must face each game but centres like him just aren't what teams are anchoring themselves with, anymore. Of course, Mike Brown could one day wake up and realize that he could use that fact to his advantage, but that seems less likely every time it's uttered, so we'll just pretend that it is an unfortunate affliction of the times that Ilgauskus, the longest-serving Cav, seems so irrelevant to their cause.
It is a matter of time adapting with the Suns offense and i am sure Hughes will be better if he will be traded to Phoenix.
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