Cavs Season Wrap and Outlook

Cavs Looking Back:

How they did in 2010-2011: Terrible, as expected after Lebron left. They traded most of their weighty contracts for picks or cap relief picking up one monster in return (Baron Davis). The Cavs picked up castoffs and D-Leaguers to fill out the roster. They somehow lost a record 26 games in a row as the pathetic yet interesting highlight of the year. Managed to play .500 ball the last 12 games to hand Minnesota the worst record. By another miracle they won the draft lottery.

With a roster full of virtual no-name players, the Cavs
came out on top...of the lottery standings

Cavs looking forward:

The Cavs would obviously love to somehow land both
Kyle Irving and Derrick Williams

Draft: They currently have the #1, #4, and #32 picks. The #1 will go to Kyrie Irving. Irving is an elite college PG and they sorely need someone like that after years of Mo Williams and Lebron running the point. Pick #4 is the bigger decision for the Cavs management. Do they stick with #4 and go big euro (Kanter/Valanciunas/Vesly) or do they trade up to get Derrick Williams? They need to pick a guy with sure talent and develop him the next 2-3 years. Trading up doesn’t change that fact so my hope is they stay pat. John Krolik brings up a great point that the Cavs will be picking #28-40 many times in the next 5 years (thanks Miami). These guys need to be solid rotation or project guys. This plan also tells me the Cavs won’t try to contend immediately.

Roster: Salary-wise things look good. Only Chris Eyenga and Andy Varejao have contracts longer than 2 years headed into the 2011-12 season. Antawn Jamison and Baron Davis can be traded easily now that their contracts are expiring or soon-to-be expiring. Both have something left in the tank and a contender might want to take them on to shore up their bench or fill in for an injured starter. JJ Hickson becomes an interesting trade piece if they draft a big man. After that things don’t look so good. I would count Varejao and Eyenga as the only pieces the Cavs have for the future. If Eyenga develops over the next 2 years that helps but look for him to be participating in dunk contests and coming off the bench for athleticism. If you’ve read my Draft synopsis then you know the Cavs plan is to build a contender slowly over 3-5 years. They could throw in a smart trade here or there but don’t count on them trying to put together a Big 3 (or any FAs even wanting to come to Cleveland for that purpose).

One of the few brights spots of the 10-11
season, JJ Hickson has developed nicely

Coaching and Ownership: I’m sure any coach could have put together a 19-63 season but Byron Scott was brought in to teach. He seemed to help with the younger players over the course of the season. That is possibly why Mike Brown was let go. His defensive game plan would have probably helped the Cavs record into the 30s but the younger guys would have not become any better (i.e. Hickson in 2010 playoffs). I see him coaching the Cavs until they reach the fringe of contending for a title and then he will probably be let go as he was with all his other teams.

Dan Gilbert is a smart man even if the media gives him hell for his tweets, emails, and letters. All his blather is for the fans and media. It seems to work as Quicken Loans had a decent year in attendance (probably just as good as Miami pre-playoffs). But from the moves the front office has made, it looks like they know the best plan for the Cavs is a long term draft and develop scheme. Bonus: His prognosis about a Cavs championship before Lebron holds true for another year.

Outlook for 2011-2012: The Cavs win more games but barely threaten the 8^th seed. I could see them winning handfuls in the beginning and end of the season when teams are off guard, resting, or in lottery mode. Prediction of 31-51.

Coming soon: Team Recaps, Outlooks

Just so you know, I plan on spending the boring NBA-less summer looking at each team's 2010-11 season and what to look forward to this offseason as well as next year.  In that, I will include my reaction to the too-corny-to-be-a-movie-but-that's-how-great-it-was NBA Finals in the Mavs and Heat assessments.

Also, since I realized how hard it was to maintain a blog alone, I am adding my friend Dave as a contributing author.  He's one of the very few Cavs fans left that I know, so his insight will be valuable.

The Legacy of Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq.  The Diesel.  The Big Daddy.  Superman.  The Big Shamrock.  Shaqtus.  The Big Aristotle.  The list goes on and on.  Now, he’s going to be the Big 401k. 

Shaq may have been the greatest at
 winning while entertaining in sports history

Only a legend would be able to acquire all these nicknames.  Perhaps the most prominent celebrity figure in the history of the game, Shaquille O’Neal is finally hanging up his sneakers.  As a huge fan of basketball in general, I wouldn’t be doing this blog justice by not trying to take a look back at his illustrious career.  As NBA commissioner David Stern says, he really is a true giant – both on and off the court.  He has established his legacy as both an entertainer and a Hall of Fame basketball player.  If you can get perspective on everything he’s accomplished, you’ll realize he truly is larger than life. 

What can you say about his basketball career?  He became a dominant force once he got to the NBA in 1992.  A 15-time All-Star, 4-time champion, 3-time Finals MVP (and somehow only a 1-time regular season MVP); his accomplishments make him rank him up there among the greatest big men ever to play the game.  His tremendous impact on the game was evident once he set foot on the court. In his rookie year, he played a game against Boston and was matched up with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish when they were still on board.  Stunned by the one-of-a-kind physical specimen that anybody has ever encountered before, McHale said he and Parish looked at each other during that game and both said “Yeah, it’s about time to retire!” 

More than any other basketball legend (except maybe Charles Barkley), Shaq was equally well-known for his hilarious demeanor and publicity stunts as much as for his basketball achievements.   Because of the attention he’s drawn to himself from the fans, media, and players, he has called himself “very quotatious” as a result.  One of my favorite Shaq quotes of all time happened when the NBA conducted a BMI study during the 2005-06 season and Shaq was asked about his high BMI (which was well in the obese category); his response:  “Top 50.  Three Rings.  Lotta Money.  Two Mansions.”  Of course, he has four rings now, and he goes down as the most dominant player the league has ever seen. 

Even if you rooted against Shaq, you had to
love his ability to entertain in other ways

For anyone who didn’t like his game (truth be told – for a long while, I was among this group), you had to love the guy off the court.  If you ask anyone that’s spent time with him, he is an absolute blast to hang out with.  Not only did he embrace the social media to cultivate his image with fans and the press, but he was very active (and interactive) with the community.  Very few famous people embrace being a celebrity the way Shaq does; he knew better than anybody that athletes are supposed to be entertainers as well.  Whether he's break-dancing, pretending to be a point guard, kissing Tracy McGrady, or intentionally throwing free throws off the backboard to do monster (but illegal) put-back dunks at All-Star games, he never ran out of ideas for giving everyone a good laugh. 

Since I’ve never met him personally, I’m only basing this off of general observation and the perspective of others:  he is one of the most approachable celebrities you’ll ever meet.  Most stars and icons are low-key and want to be left alone; they usually have bodyguards with them in public to ensure people don’t harass them.  Not that there’s nothing wrong with that, but Shaq never did mind being out in the open for anyone to come up close to him.  Of course, at 7’1” and 350 pounds, he’s not exactly someone who needs to fear for his security.  Still, if you see Shaq at say, a restaurant, he would come over to your table and grab something from your plate. He'd make sure you weren't shy about coming up to him to say hi.  Even though he was a true beast, he was gentle and friendly in nature.  

He also pulls a lot of publicity stunts, like his “Shaqtue” act –  where he sat silently at Harvard Square and let everyone there take pictures with him.  With the era of social networking blossoming, he is a very active “Tweeter,” always sending out public message videos and gives fans a chance to interact with him.   

With so much that went on during his storied 19-year career, I could go on and on about his memorable moments.  Instead, I’ll go through some of the common questions and misconceptions about his legacy:

Misconceptions

“Was Shaq really that good?  He only won because he was bigger than everybody.”  

When motivated, Shaq was a devastating force
that could not be stopped

This is the most common misconception among casual sports fans with regard to Shaq – that he was only good because of his size and strength.  While those were his two greatest physical assets, everyone must understand that he had many, many more skills than just his behemoth presence.  First and foremost, his mobility was absolutely remarkable for a guy his size.  Over the course of his career, he greatly improved his passing ability, especially out of double and triple teams.  his most dominant years were as a Laker from 2000-2004.  In fact, to get a true understanding of how skillful he actually is, compare him with Dwight Howard.  The two of them are very similar.  In fact, Dwight is actually more athletic than Shaq ever was.   But many of Dwight’s criticisms – lack of offensive moves, inability to hit free throws, etc. – were weakne