Rebuilding Cavs will take time, patience

[John]

alan t wrote:

Ferry should be fired based upon the headline alone. Come to think of it, based upon what I've just read, maybe so should Windy. "Rebuilding?" You've gotta be kidding me. LeBron James and $30 million of cap space!!! But Windy still refuses to utter a peep? Precisely what was Windy doing in those lurid photos locked inside Ferry's wall safe?

Alan T, did Ferry screw your wife or something, must be a good reason for all your hatred. First of all, you already stated in anotehr post that Windy doesn't write the headlines, so I don't think he should be fired. I would say 'rebuilding' was not a good word to use for a team coming off back-to-back 50 win seasons (this year it will be about 45 wins and another Eastern Conference Title). Retooling would have been a much better word. With all the expiring contracts in the next two offseasons, there is no choice but to retool. I am willing and patient enough to give Ferry the next two offseasons to surround Lebron with enough talent to win a championship. Have some faith basher. In all your criticism of Ferry, you never mention once who he should have signed instead of Marshall, D. Jones, Hughes, that would have made the team better than it is now. Every single GM has made a move/trade/signing they regret, even the best GM's.
There are many players with half the talent of Hughes, who have a worse contract than Hughes (Starbury, Szczerbiak, just to name a couple) Also keep in mind that Cleveland is really never a free agent's top destination choice. Never has been, never will be.

[Veezy]

You fans amaze me. Here we go with all the crystal ball lookers who saw that all these free agent signings would be busts and notified Ferry not to sign him. Every guy we signed had good seasons prior to coming here. Is it Ferry's fault they did't pan out? Idiots.

[Keith]

This is great to hear as a Cavs'fan.

[Dylan]

I think we should trade Larry Hughes for a PF and we should just let Gibson get better.

[maustuh]

YEA YEA

[alan t]

John wrote:

<quoted text>
Agent Fegan is a total piece of sh$t. Ferry made one last attempt to sign AV without Fegan involved. It didn't work out, so what. He didn't cave in to Sasha and AV's demands. If he did cave in, they would have signed for more money and more years, putting the Cavs in worse salary cap shape than they already are. Is that would you would have preferred Ferry to do Alan T?

Ferry proved he is a lowlife scumbug who can't be trusted by any player nor any agent. You don't circumvent an agent under the cover of darkness, let alone bang on a player's parents' door to beg for their son. It was unbelievably unprofessional, it was incredibly wrong, it was simply pathetic.

[Pistons Fan]

DEEEETROIT BASKETBALL, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE LEBRON
(Why the Cavs should stand pat)
1. The Cavs don't have a damned thing to offer any team who would be willing to move a talent at the point, but they will when contracts (are about to) expire.
They just don't. If you think they do, you're an idiot.
2. The Cavs aren't as good as you think they are.
There's really only one thing one can look at in thrusting any sort of greatness upon this Cavs team. It isn't beating a Wizards team that could only put one of its three tenors on stage, and it can't be beating a Nets team that that, for all the talk about Jason Kidd and his triple-doubles, has a frightfully terrible offense (and hasn't been a real contender in the East since their '03 Finals loss). And it certainly can't be due to pushing a talented, perhaps dynastic Spurs team before succumbing to their superior talent (because they didn't--the Cavs got rolled. The Finals were awful and I knew they would be awful because I saw enough of the Cavs-Nets series). So it must be the Pistons series.
The Pistons, the year-in, year-out gatekeepers of the Eastern Conference for the last half-decade, the team that gave the conference a bit of respectability back in '04 in winning the championship, finally ending the horrible post-Chicago Jordan era when the Eastern Conference champion was a Christian to the Western Conference champion's lion. Oh, those Pistons.
But those Pistons weren't quite those '04 Pistons, were they? Hell, they weren't even the '08 Pistons, which have managed to find vitality in their bench and have come, finally, to realize that no matter how robust their offense, it is their defense which matters.
Those '07 Pistons, they stood around dumbly while LeBron danced around them like it was warm-ups--you remember that Game 5, a disgusting display from a team that prides itself on defense, and, to be fair, a wonderful display of the talent and leadership of LeBron, who might one day be rival Jordan and Chamberlain when basketball conversations stray into the no-man's-land of "Who is the greatest basketball player ever?"
And to the Cavs credit their role players stepped up to help LeBron close out that series, but don't be daft, Cavs fans. That '07 Pistons team was full of hubris, and had a near-fatalistic opinion about the outcome of their Eastern Conference playoff series', as they have had for quite some time (and I surely hope that particular attitude has been exorcised, though only time will tell).
That '07 Pistons team which talked to the refs more than they talked to each other. Beating them was an accomplishment, but it was not a pronouncement. If this '08 Detroit team can focus on playing the game hard an entire series, the Cavs fall well short of beating them. The Cavs similarly fail to measure up to the Celtics, a team that can rely on three proven scorers to lead it. And surely whoever survives what is sure to be an insanely good Western Conference playoffs would dispatch of your beloved Cavs, if the Cavs somehow make it past the only two teams in the Eastern Conference who have anything resembling a legitimate claim to 'Title Contender'.
Don’t mistake Detroit's inability to really make someone other than LeBron step up as
a) a chronic illness on the part of the Detroit team (time will tell though, won’t it).
b) an illness that has infected any of the other ‘contender’ level NBA teams.
c) any indication that this Cavs team is well-rounded enough to win a championship.
4. As long as you put some good pieces in place before LeBron's contract is up, he won't leave. I've never heard him really indicate that he wanted to leave anyway, I don't see why he would. I mean, he's from Ohio, right? Or is being from Ohio really as bad as they say it is?
P.S. Ferry, whatever his faults, did right by Varejao. You can't make rich men (well, at least not very rich men) out of the Ben Wallaces of the NBA. Just ask the Bulls.

[GetReal]

Poor LeBron. There he sites in rust town with the likes of Larry Hughes, Eric Snow, and Damon Jones while DWade already has a ring.

[alan t]

Pistons Fan wrote:

P.S. Ferry, whatever his faults, did right by Varejao. You can't make rich men (well, at least not very rich men) out of the Ben Wallaces of the NBA. Just ask the Bulls.

He did right by Varejao? How? Varejao is being traded this summer because of that incredible f*ck-up, as he's going to opt-out the following season. And given the reality of that opt-out clause, who's going to give Ferry anything of quality for Varejao without a guaranteed extension already signed with the team he's being traded to? I hope Ferry at least got to bang Varejao's mom while he was down there crashing through her patio door, otherwise that secret trip was kinda worthless.

[John]

Pistons Fan wrote:

DEEEETROIT BASKETBALL, OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE LEBRON
(Why the Cavs should stand pat)
1. The Cavs don't have a damned thing to offer any team who would be willing to move a talent at the point, but they will when contracts (are about to) expire.
They just don't. If you think they do, you're an idiot.
2. The Cavs aren't as good as you think they are.
There's really only one thing one can look at in thrusting any sort of greatness upon this Cavs team. It isn't beating a Wizards team that could only put one of its three tenors on stage, and it can't be beating a Nets team that that, for all the talk about Jason Kidd and his triple-doubles, has a frightfully terrible offense (and hasn't been a real contender in the East since their '03 Finals loss). And it certainly can't be due to pushing a talented, perhaps dynastic Spurs team before succumbing to their superior talent (because they didn't--the Cavs got rolled. The Finals were awful and I knew they would be awful because I saw enough of the Cavs-Nets series). So it must be the Pistons series.
.
Don’t mistake Detroit's inability to really make someone other than LeBron step up as
a) a chronic illness on the part of the Detroit team (time will tell though, won’t it).
b) an illness that has infected any of the other ‘contender’ level NBA teams.
c) any indication that this Cavs team is well-rounded enough to win a championship.
4. As long as you put some good pieces in place before LeBron's contract is up, he won't leave. I've never heard him really indicate that he wanted to leave anyway, I don't see why he would. I mean, he's from Ohio, right? Or is being from Ohio really as bad as they say it is?
P.S. Ferry, whatever his faults, did right by Varejao. You can't make rich men (well, at least not very rich men) out of the Ben Wallaces of the NBA. Just ask the Bulls.

Rasheed? Is that you? You still having a tough time getting over last year? Cavs only made it cause that is what the NBA wanted right?
Your Pistons are a fine team (although I absolutley hate 'Sheed), but if the Cavs are at full strength come playoff time, I am not worried about your team, nor the Celtics. When healthy the Cavs D will keep them in every game, and I like having the best player in the planet on the Cavs during crunch time.
The Cavs have beat the Celts twice already (once with their big 3, once minus Garnett). Celts beat Cavs once with Lebron out for the game.
Hope the Pistons team and fans underestimate the Cavs again this year.

[John]

GetReal wrote:

Poor LeBron. There he sites in rust town with the likes of Larry Hughes, Eric Snow, and Damon Jones while DWade already has a ring.

I am sure Wade is loving life right now with a Heat team that is 9-40. Must be a joy being on the worst team in basketball. Wade's ring rightfully belongs to the Dallas Mavericks, but I digress. At the end of their careers, I think Lebron will have more rings than Wade.

[Hakim]

Cavs known for bad deals let's hope that all changes soon.We shoulda got Garnett but that's old. I still believe Let's go Danny!!

[Pistons Fan]

alan t wrote:

<quoted text> He did right by Varejao? How? Varejao is being traded this summer because of that incredible f*ck-up, as he's going to opt-out the following season. And given the reality of that opt-out clause, who's going to give Ferry anything of quality for Varejao without a guaranteed extension already signed with the team he's being traded to? I hope Ferry at least got to bang Varejao's mom while he was down there crashing through her patio door, otherwise that secret trip was kinda worthless.

Varejao wanted too much money. The Anderson Varejao's of the NBA are not worth nearly eight figures a year.

John wrote:

<quoted text>
Rasheed? Is that you? You still having a tough time getting over last year? Cavs only made it cause that is what the NBA wanted right?
Your Pistons are a fine team (although I absolutley hate 'Sheed), but if the Cavs are at full strength come playoff time, I am not worried about your team, nor the Celtics. When healthy the Cavs D will keep them in every game, and I like having the best player in the planet on the Cavs during crunch time.
The Cavs have beat the Celts twice already (once with their big 3, once minus Garnett). Celts beat Cavs once with Lebron out for the game.
Hope the Pistons team and fans underestimate the Cavs again this year.

Oh, I think I specifically mentioned that the Pistons underestimated the Cavs (and everyone else--'hubris').

But let's be clear here--history shows us that the best TEAM usually wins, and a team comprised of LeBron & the D-League All-Stars does not a championship team make. Think about past champions and recognize that again and again the teams that win have multiple All-Stars (80s Celtics, 80s Lakers, 80s Pistons, 90s Bulls, 90s Rockets, 00s Spurs, 00s Lakers, 06 Heat) or a team with players on the cusp of becoming All-Stars (04 Pistons), and a depth of excellent role players, often players coming off the bench who could start most anywhere else.

The Cavs have LeBron. That's it. Larry Hughes' pretty big Monday notwithstanding. I'd love it if Hughes continued to step up and if Gibson developed into an All-Star player but I won't hold me breath. Will you?

[JulioF]

Kobe will never catch LeBron in the scoring race this season. With all the injuries, LeBron knows he needs to keep pounding the hoop.

[osmark]

great job. any other analysis on other teams?

[alan t]

Varejao wanted too much money. The Anderson Varejao's of the NBA are not worth nearly eight figures a year.
<quoted text>

Pistons Fan, yes, I really buy that "nearly eight figures a year" smear campaign perpetrated by the Ferry camp and his media conspirators. Technically, I suppose the word "b*llshit" has eight figures in it, too.

[basketball guru]

I find it surprising that Mike Brown makes Danny Ferry look bad. Do those guys talk to each other? He has 2 young players with potential, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons who are not being developed. Brown had the ordasity to guard Mello with E.SNOW in Mondays game and play Newbil at center and forward.

How about moving Snow to head coach and M Brownie to the bench.

[Raw baller]

Are the cavaliers gonna make a move by the trade deadline. They can trade Larry Hughes, Damon Jones and Shannon Brown for Mike Bibby or a player like Jason Kidd.

[Steve G]

Old Man Grump wrote:

No championship for you Cavs fans !!! Ferry will be rebuilding again next year. He has no intention of signing the needed point guard for the playoff run this year.

Because there is nothing to offer those teams that have the piece that we need. Didn't you read the article? Or are you another one of these people that think they know so much more about things than those paid to do the job.

[Steve G]

Minor-Deal Miner wrote:

Once again BW proves why he's the best Cavs reporter in the area, great article... If the Cavs do anything, it'll be something along the lines of the Flip Murray deal, so look for PG's and/or big-men-with-potential rotting on the ends of NBA benches. Ridenour? Reddick? Smush?
I may be a headcase for this suggestion: Artest for Gooden. Headcase for Headcase. When Artest is on his meds he's among the best defenders in the league, and among the few who can keep LBJ relatively in check one-on-one. Ron's offensive #'s aren't bad either. Lebron wasn't too disappointed when Ron went to the left-coast. Imagine if Lebron went up against Ron in practice everyday. How much better would LBJ become? If it could happen, would the benefits out weigh the obvious disadvantages? Food for thought. Talk amongst yourselves. I'm late for my shrink appointment.

How is Gooden a headcase?