Rebuilding Cavs will take time, patience

[Steve G]

Old Man Grump wrote:

<quoted text>Thank you for joining me in the frustration of living in Northeast Ohio, and being a Cleveland Cavs & Indians sports fan.
CC Sabathia will be gone after next season to CA, Bos, or NY. LeBoob will be gone after more seasons to NY. The teams will have gotten close, but no cigar [championship] will have been won, and their cheap a$$ed owners will say it's time to rebuild again. Talk about not needing a crystal ball to see Cleveland Sports future.

Why be a fan of Cavs and Indians if you never have anything good to say about them. And think that they will never win anything. You are the most annoying sports fan I have ever met online. And I would say that even if you were not a Steeler fan.

[Motown Mo]

"Rebuilding" implies the CAVs are returning to championship contention. So far, Ferry has done little in three years except tread water and add Hughes, whose jury is still out. Ferry had better get it right and soon or the CAVs will be drafting high right after LBJ leaves.

[Gain Some Reality]

Do you really think that if Ferry was unhappy with playing time for players that he would not speak up?

basketball guru wrote:

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.

[Gain Some Reality]

Salaries must match up. And who really wants Hughes?

Raw baller wrote:

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.

[Gain Some Reality]

I am not sure how you can call advancing to the Finals as only "treading water"? That does not say much about all the other teams in the league if that is your view.

Motown Mo wrote:

So far, Ferry has done little in three years except tread water and add Hughes, whose jury is still out.

[Pistons Fan]

alan t wrote:

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.

I haven't seen any articles where Varejao or his agent characterized the media's positions about his salary demands to be erroneous, so whether you buy it or not is up to you. The key thing is that Varejao wanted more than what the Cavs wanted to give him at the beginning of the season, and I don't think he's worth all that much, to be honest. When you consider how many top-notch players may be willing to take a little less money to be on a team with LeBron--a team that he led to the NBA Finals (from the weak Eastern Conference, but nonetheless) with a mostly forgettable supporting cast, I think continuing to overpay for role players, even one as dedicated to hustling and doing dirty work as Varejao, may be a mistake. Hughes hasn't worked out, Ilgauskus is getting old, and Gooden doesn't bring enough to the table for the money.

The brightest spots for this team are LeBron himself, obviously, Gibson, who may well develop into a solid and reliable second or third scorer in his career, and Pavlovic, if he can channel those flashes of Ginobili that he showed during the latter parts of last season, although I have reservations about Pav due to his Varejao mimickry.

LeBron certainly has showed his ability to lead, but you need to put this current Cavaliers team in perspective. Here's an example:

Take the top few Eastern Conference teams of the last few years and put them in the Western Conference. Forget the regular season, as even Cleveland has shown an ability to maintain at the very least a nominal winning record against the Western Conference; I'm talking playoffs.

I can see the 04-05 and 05-06 Miami Heat maybe doing well in those playoffs. I can certainly see the Detroit Pistons teams of the past few years--when they weren't looking past their opponent (were properly motivated/focused)--faring well in the Western Conference playoffs, and I can see this year's Boston Celtics team doing the same. Keep in mind that I'm not claiming that they would have won the conference or anything--just that they wouldn't be reminiscent of the Yao-McGrady show in Houston. I'm talking about success at lest at the level of the Phoenix Suns, who have by all accounts done pretty well considering they have only succumbed (repeatedly) to the two best teams the Western Conference has fielded the past few seasons.

Now, ask yourself honestly, how well does that Cleveland team fare against the sorts of teams we've seen make it out of the first round in the Western Conference playoffs the last few years?

And if you are tempted to reference my Detroit Piston bias, keep in mind that their Finals against the Spurs pretty much could have gone either way, especially if someone had managed to cover Horry in that game five.

None of the other opponents of the Spurs in their title runs have been nearly as competitive as those Pistons by any stretch of the imagination.

[Pistons Fan]

I like the Cavaliers. I should state that explicitly so people don't think I'm just some Pistons fan who is upset about last year.

I was upset about last year's result in the playoffs, mostly upset with the Pistons losing focus and not playing to the best of their abilities, but I was definitely hoping that the Cavs could pull off an upset in the Finals (now, the Spurs--them I don't like--my father is a Spurs fan).

And I like LeBron. I am tempted to say that he is the best player in the league, but part of me still thinks Kobe deserves that honor, at least until LeBron can hone his outside shot (three-point shot) to the point where his raw percentage doesn't cause you to objectively respond that he should be taking a bit fewer shots behind the arc, and until he really takes advantage of the free stripe, consistently hitting at least 80%.

To be clear, my Pistons team rose back to prominence at a time when the Cavs weren't a factor, and I thus hold no real animosity toward them. The Pacers I held a bit of contempt for for a while, but as they are one of the many Eastern Conference teams that serve as cannon fodder right now, there's not on my radar. The Spurs I have mostly begrudgingly respected but consistently and increasingly disliked since my father is a fan and they've been so successful (h8rade is delicious), and I am hoping that the outside chance of them not even making the playoffs comes to fruition (if their last 30 games of the season resemble their previous 30 games, that may come true).

But most of my animosity has been reserved for the Miami Heat, though that too is waning as their season has progressed from hilariously miserable to unhilariously miserable, in my opinion.

Oh, and I'm from New York, as you can see, so laughing at the Knicks and Nets has been pretty enjoyable.

Anyway, I just wanted to say all of this stuff so at least no one would think I was taking a dump on the Cavs because of any sort of nascent rivalry that has developed between them and the Pistons... that's not the case. I'm trying to be objective here and I'm sure I've failed to be so absolutely, but don't chalk anything you read up to hatred of the Cavs or any sort of underestimation of LeBron's talent.

[Wishfull thinking]

The above sounds about right. Given their tradable assets, the only way I see to speed up the process would be for the CAVS to eat some contracts and go into the Luxury Cap League. Yet,with the current housing crisis, would Mr. Quicken be willing to pony up for such. If you don't have the bodies to trade you gotta throw
Big Money into the pot to make it work.

[JON B]

WHEN COMES TO CLEVELAND SPORTS TEAMS, IT ALL STARTS WITH THE OWNERS BEING CHEAP. THEY ALWAYS HIRE GM,S AND COACHES WITH NO EXPERIENCE. TAKE THE CAVS--THEY HIRE A HEAD COACH WITH NO EXP. BEFORE THEY HIRED A GM W/NO EXP. I CAN GET BY WITH MIKE BROWN BECAUSE I LIKE HIS DEFENSE. HIS BIGGEST DOWNFALL IS HE REFUSES TO HIRE AN OFFENSIVE MINDED COACH.
DANNY FERRY CAME HERE WITH NO GM EXP. AND ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS HE DID WAS SIGN HIS BEST FRIEND "Z". GRANTED MOST OF THESE GUYS OUT HERE TRYING TO PLAY FOR A BIG PAYDAY AREN'T WORTH IT. THERE WAS NO ONE RUNNING AFTER Z, THEY COULD'VE SETTLE FOR SOMEONE LIKE JEROME JAMES, AND JAMAL MACGLOIRE AT C, THEN WENT AFTER JOE JOHNSON AND CALL PHOENIX'S BLUFF LIKE ATLANTA DID, AND THEY STILL WOULD'VE HAD ENOUGH CAP TO PICK UP A (PG).
DANNY FERRY DOESN'T HAVE THE RESPECT AROUND THE LEAGUE TO MAKE ANY QUALITY MOVES. EVERYONE KEEPS HARPING ON THE CAVS DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO TRADE. IF THE CAVS HAD A GM LIKE JERRY WEST, TRUST ME, WE WOULD HAVE A (PG) BY NOW. WE NEED A GM WITH SOME EXP. WHEN IT COMES TO GM'S MAKING DEALS, ITS ALL ABOUT FAVORS AND RETURNING FAVORS. YOU OR I JUST DON'T SEE BEHIND THE SCENES.
THE TIME FOR THE CAVS TO ACT IS NOW. WHAT PEOPLE FAIL TO REALIZE IS THAT THERE ARE AT LEAST 4 TEAMS THAT HAVE FREED UP 20 TO 35 MILLION IN CAP SPACE TO MAKE MOVES FOR THE OFF SEASON. MEMPHIS, MINNESOTA, AND MIAMI TO NAME A FEW. SO , YOU SEE ONCE AGAIN THE CAVS MAY BE ON THE OUTSEDE LOOKING IN WHEN IT COMES TO NOT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY OR NOT BEING ABLE TO MAKE A TRADE.

[Brittle Fingers]

It looks like they're gonna take so much time and use so much patience that LeBron will be gone before they know it.

Mike Bibby got traded to the HAWKS. The HAWKS!!! Ferry, you gotta be kidding me. And it looks like they won't even try for Kidd.

Unbelievable. This town really is cursed if we can't get a title with a once-in-a-lifetime player like LeBron.

[Gain Some Reality]

Brittle Fingers wrote:

IAnd it looks like they won't even try for Kidd.

How do you know what they are trying? Do you work in the GM's office?

[Pistons Fan]

I should have posted this earlier, but...

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/tradema...

Cavs fans, see if you can pry Jason Kidd from the Nets with this tool.

[Pistons Fan]

Then, uh, after you do pry him, realize how much the Nets don't want those players or contracts. (I traded Kidd straight up for Pavlovic, Ilgauskus and Snow.)

[Brittle Fingers]

Gain Some Reality wrote:

<quoted text>
How do you know what they are trying? Do you work in the GM's office?

Past performance typically predicts future behavior. All we've heard are rumors and speculation, but there's been no action.

[Gain Some Reality]

You said "trying" not succeeding. They are always trying, but when you have pieces no one else wants than it is not easy.

Brittle Fingers wrote:

<quoted text>
Past performance typically predicts future behavior. All we've heard are rumors and speculation, but there's been no action.

[Long Gone]

Danny Ferry is starting to look like a joke. He claimed to be chasing Mike Bibby but Atlanta gets him for 4 players that aren't worth much. The Cavs could've given up as much as Atlanta did and would've been better for it.

[Gain Some Reality]

Long Gone wrote:

Danny Ferry is starting to look like a joke. He claimed to be chasing Mike Bibby but Atlanta gets him for 4 players that aren't worth much. The Cavs could've given up as much as Atlanta did and would've been better for it.

The problem is this right here: Atlanta passed on "three players with expiring contracts". We could not have offered that to Sacramento. It is not always about the talent that people receive.

[hdawg]

Gain Some Reality wrote:

<quoted text>
The problem is this right here: Atlanta passed on "three players with expiring contracts". We could not have offered that to Sacramento. It is not always about the talent that people receive.

Exactly, the Cavs don't have what other teams are willing to give up. It's not Ferry's fault right now, you don't build a championship team in 1 or 2 years, it takes time.

[Fighting Irish]

We have the chance to pick up Mike Sweetney, unrestricted free agent. At 6'8 and a power forward we could use him. Makes about 4M.
Beano Udrih from Sacramento is in his last year and he could help at the pg spot.

[Jacob]

How can you say they are rebuilding when they have James, (an awesome offencive weapon and big Ben Wallace ( several times defensive player of the year) Eric Snow and Varejao there's a couple pieces they're missing maybe but Honestly they're not too bad off