The Cavaliers wrapped up their season last night, and LeBron James wrapped up his first scoring title, averaging a beautifully symmetrical 30.0 points on the season. Throw in the 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.84 steals and a block per game and you have the most astounding single season ever put up by a Cavaliers player. But then what?
He won’t win the MVP, and the team is facing a second round date with KG and the Celtics, which means they won’t get asked upstairs for a nightcap, and may be lucky not to catch one upside the head before it’s done. And even if, by some wild upset, the Atlanta Hawks defeat the Cs, then there’s likely a hungry, personally offended Pistons team ready to whup them up.
Their 45-37 record (in the EASTERN CONFERENCE!) is an affront to good basketball; it’s a C- season when they needed an A. They did exactly as much as they needed, having apparently conceded the top two seeds to Detroit and Boston long before “The Trade” happened. This team still hasn’t gelled, and the injuries are sure to be a factor when the Wizards come to town woofing and yappin. Boobie Gibson isn’t himself, Sasha is out, Ben is balky (and mediocre) and the team is a fluke LB injury away from being able to scapegoat the entire season.
So, while LeBron is the single most unstoppable force in the league, the TEAM is mediocre, with no true third scorer (if Gibson doesn’t step back into that role) a historically gimpy center in Ilgauskas and a bunch of uncertainties, just getting to the Celtics might be the best this team can hope for. A return to the championship round? Unlikely. But I’ll watch, because it appeared just as unlikely last season that the team would make it that far, and they did. But it appears this team has petered out, and the race has just begun.
NEWS AND NOTES
- I like Tiger Woods, but his surgery right after the Masters feels like a subtle excuse for his poor play. I suppose he could be telling the truth about the timing, but it feels like he kept that one in the hopper for such an occasion. Maybe that’s why he felt fine about popping off about the Grand Slam. Now the story is his knee, and not how he squandered all those potential birdies and ended a disappointing (YES, for him it is) second in the Masters.
- You know who’s glad to be out of the spotlight I bet? Bill Belichick. No matter how “Teflon” he appeared, I imagine the heat from Spygate and the glaring loss on their schedule had him melting under the lights. The game likely won’t rank on any greatest upset lists, but it should.
- Webgems disease. If you watch Sportcenter during this time of year, you’ll likely see about 20 highlights of some fielder diving to make a catch, then throwing out some runner.
The anchors will act overly excited about this, but the truth is, they’ve seen it 300 times in this young baseball season, and will have to see it 3,000 more times, and still act like it’s special. They go so far as to call these spectacularly common plays Webgems. But, as Americans are discovering with regards to the dollar, too many of a thing reduces its value, and I, for one, hate having to watch diving catch after diving catch, not because they aren’t spectacular, but because of the sheer volume of them I’m forced to endure.
The only thing worse than this is having to watch a hockey highlight. ANY hockey highlight that doesn’t include Gretzky or Mario or Crosby or Iglinia. That’s it.
Each team plays 162 games, which leads to a whole lot of repetition. The baseball season is LONG, and often BORING. I like the sport, but unless I’m at a game, I treat it like a soap opera, just checking in every so often to see how things are progressing before sweeps week.
BONUS ITEM
The NFL’s toughest quarterback is retiring. Steve McNair is finished taking a ridiculous pounding, and I wish him well. I don’t like the Ravens, but he’s one of the players on their team I liked to watch. Well, that’s not exactly true. I liked to see him play, but it always made me cringe because he never learned the physics of taking a hit. Most of the licks he took were brutal blasts from linebackers and linemen, and he kept getting up, like Rocky or something. He needed a little more Apollo Creed in him.
But that’s not the point of this entry. Talking heads are already talking about his replacement, and no one yet has mentioned my main man Troy Smith, who did a good, if not great, job filling in last season. Kyle Boller is not the answer, and the draft, unless they trade up, will likely not provide relief either. So why isn’t Troy a viable option? His height? What then? Give Troy a chance. He’s proven to be a winner, proven he’s tough, and proven he can handle adversity. And, and this is important to note: HE’S FROM GLENVILLE!
