The LeBron James Show

I know we haven’t even reached the halfway mark of the NBA season. I know there is still so much to decide. I know these things. I am aware of the dangers of making bold predictions less than 40 games into the season. Believe me, I am well aware. But now that I have all that out of the way, I think we can safely say that if things stay as they are, no one is touching the Cavs. There are so many reasons to believe this.


The Cavaliers are now 19-0 at home:

They won’t go 41-0 at home, but they are not just beating teams at home; they are demolishing them. The Q was popping last night and it gave the game a playoff-like atmosphere. I never thought I’d say that Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland would be a scary place to play, but it sure looked like it last night. How does Cleveland lose a 7 game series with home court advantage? If they lock up the number one overall seed, I really think they are going to win it all.


LeBron James has no regard for human life:

This header is pulled from Marv Albert’s call on one of LeBron’s vicious dunks in the Celtics-Cavaliers series last year. Here’s the youtube clip, including Marv’s fantastic call.

LeBron is unstoppable. The Celtics had no answer for him in any aspect of the game and they are supposed to be the best defensive team in basketball. He went for 38 pts, seven rebounds, 6 assists, four steals and three blocks. Those are, dare I say it, Jordan-esque numbers. He even went made all nine of his free throws.


The Celtics are struggling without a real outside shooting threat:

The Celtics second unit is a joke. Their starting five is still probably the best in the league, definitely the best when Rajon Rondo is clicking, but after those five, they have nothing. Last night was a good example of that. Eddie House, their supposed scorer off the bench went 2-7 in 19 minutes of play and didn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of the Cavs’ defenders. Big Baby Davis put up a whopping 0 points on 0 of 4 shooting and aside from 3 offensive rebounds, he was a non-factor.

The Celtics had this missing piece last year in James Posey. Against weaker teams, it is not a big deal, the Celtics overcome their offensive struggles with defensive dominance. However, as they are presently constituted, I don’t see how they break down the Cavaliers stunning defense. Heck, Orlando might even give them a run for their money if they played a seven game series today.


We can all calm down on crowning Rajon Rondo the best Point Guard in the East:

When the Celtics were rolling on their 19 game win streak, people started to get a little crazy about Rajon. I’ll admit I probably got a little caught up in the hype myself, but I think it’s time we all took a step back. Rondo did get 13 assists, no small feat, but he couldn’t hit the ocean with his jumper. As the game progressed, the Cavaliers started doubling off him to help on KG and sometimes on Pierce. A number of Rondo’s assists were just run of the mill passes that his shooters knocked down too. He wasn’t getting the kind of penetration the Celts need from him. During the Celtics 4 game losing streak, he is shooting 30% from the floor, 55% (!!) from the FT line and he has only 27 assists to 14 turnovers. It’s been ugly folks and without a serviceable back up PG, the Celtics live and die with Rondo.


I had hoped last night’s game would be a classic between two very good basketball teams, but it turned into a bit of a lopsided victory. It’s just one game, but I can’t help but see this as a microcosm of where the Celts and Cavs are at right now. If I had to put my life’s savings on one team, it would be the Cavaliers. A month ago, I would have said the Celtics. If they acquire an outside shooting threat, say a Jason Kapono, then I might have to go back to Boston. For now though, it’s LeBron and the Cavs’ world and we are all just living in it.

Cleveland - Boston: TONIGHT!

I've sufficiently recovered from my ACL surgery so that I don't need to be drugged all day. I'm planning on watching the Celts-Cavs game tonight and doing a mini post-game synopsis after the fact. It's the second biggest game of this season and should be highly entertaining. There are tons of subplots:

What's wrong with Boston lately?
Can Cleveland continue its undefeated start on home court?
Does this year's edition of the Cavs have way it takes to take down the Celts?

The post will probably go up sometime tomorrow in the early afternoon. Should be a great game.

20 Second Timeout

I'm taking a little time off from writing while I get back on my feet (literally) for the start of the semester. I recently had major reconstructive surgery on my left knee and the pain killers are making me exceedingly dopey, which in turn makes it hard to write. I'll be back as soon as I can manage to hold a coherent thought for more than 20 seconds at a time. Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far, you are all great. 2009 is going to be sweet.