One of the few bright spots for the Cavs fans this year has been watching Anderson Varejao play basketball with reckless abandon. I love that guy for going out every night and working his butt off. I would hate to see him go, but his destiny is to be the sixth or seventh man on a championship team.
It’s sad when Mary Schmitt Boyer has to write articles about how the Cavs are coping with just how depressing their season has been. It’s like the Cavs’ locker room is an orphanage or something.
“No matter how Scott rearranges the pieces, this roster is riddled with holes. Every adjustment reveals a different flaw. The only way to really patch things up is to make additions, and the only way to make additions is to start cutting salary and cashing in on what value the roster has left.” [Rob Mahoney]
It turns out, as one you guys in the comment section pointed out, that when you start your best players, your bench gets worse. Weird.
“In 16 words, Byron Scott finally conceded Sunday night what the organization has hesitated to say since LeBron James left. The Cavaliers are rebuilding.” [Jason Lloyd]
“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH MILK AND COOKIES IF YOU VISIT US THIS CHRISTMAS EVE” [Not Dan Gilbert]
On The Twitters
“I’m working on a project that is forcing me to read the players tweets… Gibson is sounding a lot like Creflo A Dollar.” [realcavsfans]
“Knicks say eddy curry didn’t practice because he has a cold.” [Barbara Barker]
“Shouldn’t we all be blasting Cliff Lee for leaving his team to join up with a bunch of superstars for a little less money?” [Kurt Helin]
“Shouldn’t we all be blasting Cliff Lee for leaving his team to join up with a bunch of superstars for a little less money?” [Kurt Helin]
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Do people still not get this? Cliff Lee didn’t set aside an hour on ESPN to announce his decision.
…it also helps to mention that Philly has the best children’s hospital in the country, which is extremely convenient for the troubles his child has.
I have no idea who Kurt Helin is but if he’s a reputable media person, he needs to get his stuff straight.
@Kurt Helin:
I agree because Cliff Lee’s hour long promotion on ESPN last night was just as self serving as the former KIngs. Especially when he began referring to himself in the 3rd person, and never thanked the fans of the team and area he grew up in. Totally the same.
Cliff Lee was devastated when Philly let him go two years ago and wanted to rejoin the team….Henry Abbott even made same comparison with Lee and James…and really Lee joins a superstar pitching staff…if he joined the Yankees or Red Sox that would be like joining a superpower…Phillies are good but Giants did beat them with Halladay and Oswalt and Hamels and they beat Rangers with Lee as their star…
Kurt Helin is my boss.
@ John Krolik:
Ain’t that a shame.
Wow JK, I feel kind of sorry for you. I’ve been lucky to not have incompetent bosses in my life, but apparently you have not been as lucky. Cliff Lee joining the Phillies is so incredibly unlike LeBron joining the Heat. Reasons:
1. Baseball is very different from basketball. Basketball thrives on the superstar. Baseball thrives on the team. 1 man can carry a basketball team to the playoffs. Can 1 man carry a baseball team into the playoffs? Don’t think so.
2. Lee didn’t do “A Decision” on national TV.
3. Lee has been a journeyman his whole career, and has not started in his hometown and turned around a franchise.
4. Lee in no way talked with Halladay and Oswalt 3 years ago and decided to pitch with them next year. (If they planned this, that would be some unbelievably amazing execution)
5. Lee does not refer to himself in the third person or speak of his “talents”
I will stop at 5, I think I have made my point.
“As for the notion that the Cavs aren’t used to this losing, while that may be the case in their time with Cleveland, six players other than Jamison have been on teams that won 31 or fewer games in a season. In Philadelphia his rookie season, Anthony Parker won 31 games in 1997-98. In Milwaukee, Mo Williams won 30 games in 2004-05 and 28 in 2006-07, and Ramon Sessions won 26 in 2007-08. In Toronto, Joey Graham won 27 games in 2005-06. In Boston in 2006-07, Leon Powe won 24 games. But Ryan Hollins owns the record for mental torture on this team after suffering through a 15-67 season.”
sounds like an orphanage to me.
@Erik – It’s worth adding one more reason the Lee-Lebron analogy is ludicrous: Lee wasn’t making a choice between his “original” team and the Phillies, because the Indians had long-since traded him. The Rangers were his 4th team, and he was there for just a half-season; they had no reason to expect he’d give them a “homefield advantage” in attempting to resign him.
Commenters are overly sensitive today. Some guy makes one comment on Twitter and all hell breaks lose.
It’s not “sensitive” to call someone out for making a asinine statement on a topic of widespread interest. I’m not angry at the man; the attempted analogy is just dumb. (Ironically, CC leaving Cleveland for the Yankees was a lot closer to resembling Lebron-to-South Beach. But no one’s burning his Indians jerseys, to my knowledge).
@Brian in DC
That’s because CC was traded to Milwaukee first. Plus, everyone pretty much agrees that the Indians ownership is cheap. The Cavs did everything possible to keep LeBron… including mortgaging their future.
It was a poor analogy. I honestly think he wasnt trying to be profound, probably just ironic.
@ getting better: I’m honestly not sure what teams would be wanting Cavs players. Not many teams are in the market for a 6th man type PG. Maybe Charlotte Clippers Lakers Memphis Portland. How many of those teams need a 6th man for the stretch run?? But in fiddling around on the trade machine I saw this — NY could use a big man. I set up a trade with Jamison for Curry’s expiring contract, Gallinari and Bill Walker. It makes a lot of sense to me. Gallinari cant defend all that well (but is he that much worse than what we have?) but he would be a revelation on offense at the 3, and Bill Walker has shown flashes of talent. We would also probably be able to get a future 1st round pick out of it.
@Justin
I don’t know why NY would give all that up for Jamison, whose contract doesn’t expire until next year.
NY wouldnt give up Gallo for Jamison. They put up the same numbers and they are the same size (more or less). Besides, the one problem with Gallo is that he’s not great defensively… but Jamison isn’t helping that flaw because he’s probably worse defensively than Gallo. No, just doesn’t make sense from New York’s perspective.
All right, enough about “how he left”. The problem I have with LeBron departing is that he’s not on our team anymore.
The Decision was tacky, and sure enough was in poor taste and was a dagger and everything else. I don’t forgive The Decision, nor will I forget, and LeBron will always be a punk for pulling it, but cmon.
It happened almost half a year ago, though, and it is really ridiculous to still read jilted fans’ comments about LeBron that still bring it up. We’ve got big problems with what remains of our own basketball team. Quit clinging to some shred of moral high ground about it and talking about it all the time. It’s pathetic at this point.
I mean no disrespect to any other commenter and don’t intend to start a flame war with anybody. It is the opinions of all the readers (and excellent writers) that make this such an entertaining site and the best place on the web to follow the team.
Respectfully submitted,
Shiney
After Dec. 2, my anger has somewhat abated towards Bron Bron. Sure, he’s still an immature ass, but he always was. We can still give him ten tons of (expletive deleted) whenever he comes to town. Done and done.
I’m more concerned with the “woe is me” attitude around here. Debate should circle around ways to improve this team moving forwards i.e., would Sonny Weems/ O.J. Mayo help us out at all, and should we dump Hickson, etc.
Am I the only person out there who likes Sonny Weems? Anybody?
+1 for Shiney.
It’s hard enough having to deal with the reality of the futility of this team, let alone having to constantly read a rehash of how big of an ass Lebron is in the comments.
I’ll ask all you whiny losers again, how was the biggest name in the NBA suppose to leave? Would you idiots really have felt better if he announced what he was going to do on twitter? Would a 30 minute press conference been appropriate? Should he have gone door to door and whispered softly in your ears? You morons are pissed because he dropped your asses. And the funny thing is, you idiots seem to hate Lebron so much, but you are still crying and calling him names. Why are you hurt that the ego maniac who refers to himself in the thrd person and is immature would leave you? Celebrate it morons.
@Eric:
Internet tough guy.
The team is just dreadful and now sports writers are taking pot shots at the city? That’s what I don’t get. Yes the way LeBron left was tacky and yes he said he wouldn’t leave the team until he got a championship and yes he waited until near the end of FA to make his announcement (that ‘prevented’ the cavs from possibly making a pick-up), and yes he had the right to do all this. Besides Lee and LeBron both having the right to leave their respective teams and taking that option, I don’t really see too many similarities in the two situations. Although I do get the analogy at a basic level, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth for a writer to go out of his way to make a statement like that. And yes, the writer had the right to do so.
In all honesty I believe the majority of Cavs fans are over the ‘decision’. We haven’t forgotten it and it stil bothers us when it comes up, but I don’t know anybody who really thinks about it on a daily basis. It seems that writers, commentors and other ‘outsiders’ want to make fun of the city, the fans or just the situation in general. We already know our team stinks and that it would be much better if Lebron was still around, but most of the comments (outside of response to a LeBron type article/statement) I’ve seen on Cavs boards are around who to trade, how to get a draft pick (lottery), who makes since on the team etc., how to improve our Defense, how JJ isn’t developing the way we hoped, let’s play Manny/Samuels/Eyenga etc. All these things are what the majority of boards have been about. I wish writer etc. would pay more attention to that stuff that fans are saying today, than what happened months ago.
@Eric:
Whiny losers? Really? And you answered your own question. Yes, he should have done a press conference. He should have let Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Organization know beforehand. He should have at least tried to have some class. He should have thanked the fans and the city for all the support. That’s just the right way to handle his decision, with the magnitude of the consequences. Period. I find it hard for you (or him, looking back) to logically disagree. It’s not rocket science. So maybe before you start calling people names, you should reconsider the situation and put a little thought into it.