My Apologies

My deepest apologies to Brain (sugknight114) for mistaking your Insider information with Mark's plebeian (non-insider's) analysis.  To be honest, I really just got excited that I could finally link to Zack Morris' homepage.  It looks like I need to take a giant step back and realize that life can not be controlled by the greatest TV show to hit the airwaves in the past two centuries. 

Once again I am sorry.  As you can see not only I, but Zack apologies as well. 

 I'm sorry and I've been nothing but a loser post SBtB..

Dis is very very nice..

you gotta love waking up to 2 reviews of last night's game sitting in your mailbox/comment field.  Thankyou to my buddies Mark and Paul (no, not Mark Paul Gosselaar) for offering their insights into last night's action..one from inside the Q and one from inside the brain of a mad man..

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Mark...

I have never exprienced a better sports moment than when LeBron James recieve the alley oop from Donyell Marshall, and watching the entire Quicken Loans arena errupt into what some might describe as a riot. This group is not fully together on the court as you can tell by some un-needed turnovers, missed oppurtunities and they just don't see the extra pass quite yet, but it is comming.

  As for the rest of the Quicken Loans, as Gilbert promised they are working on the new seats. The enitre lower bowl is now Wine color, and it looks amazing. The scoreboard is out of this world, and absolutly amazing.

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Paul..

So last night another Cavs domination.   The Cavs look mighty comfy at the Q, as we have pounded our two opponents there (and we have 6 of 9 to get some more home cookin in).  First and foremost, LeBron was a stud as usual, as he totally dominated.  He is postin up more, and there ain't no small forward that can guard the King on the Box, and there aint no big man who can guard his highness on the perimiter.  Pretty much making LBJ unstoppable, as the Royal one went to the line 11 times (and made all 11, of course). 

Big props also go out to Drew "Double-Double" Gooden, who barely missed another one with 11-9.  And the other half of the Double-Double brothers, Donyell, put up 13 and 9. Big props also go out to L. Hughes, who doesn't do anything totally that blows your mind, but got 13-5-5 in an efficient 32 minutes.  

The key to this game was the Cavs total domination on the glass, 56-21.  If we can pound the backboards like that, then no one is gonna be able to stop us.  We even had 21 on the offensive side.  Big Z and Alan Henderson each had 9, so it was a total team effort in controlling the glass- just like Mike Brown wants it.

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Thankyou gentleman for your insights..I think it's quite obvious this year is special and as far as I can tell..people really do believe.

One final note here..in the DC area you can actually pick up the Clevland broadcast of 1100AM which is totally random, but sick.  My buddy recently pointed this out and last night I tuned in on the drive home to hear the sweet sweet sounds of Joe Tait.  Wow..was this a treat.  Only Swenson's will bring you closer to home than Mr. Tait. 

That's it...

I've Got a Feeling

You might be asking why I didn't post after the opening night domination of the nomadic Hornets.  Well..while I was crazy excited after the victory, I knew it was still just the Hornets.  Our team was in synch..Donyell, Damon, and Hughes all played their part.  At times it was quite easy to forget LeBron was actually the team's star..well until the 3 point parade.  One thing I noticed is that the media coverage was light after the opening night victory.  While CLE fans had already placed the Cavs as important as Jesus, most of the sports world knew it wasn't yet time.  And they were right.  Then the next game rolled around.  Now granted it was vs the Spurs, but we just couldn't hang post halftime.  It was very rough..  First the Spurs, then the Grizzlies, then the skeptical press. 

Even though we handled the Raptors quite easily last night, I think this team is gonna need a good 20 games to get their rhythm.  There are just too many new players introduced before each game.  Keep in mind Anderson would have probably been our starting PF if not for his injury (remember Gooden had a scoring mentality last year).  The one thing Cavs fans should be happy about is that our bench is deep.  I mean I will argue with anyone that our talent is better top to bottom than any other team in the Association. 

The tricky part will be how to layout our offense.  I think after a few games it's quite clear Damon Jones will shoot from anywhere on the court no matter how many people are in his face.  And now we have Donyell who wants to shoot plus we have the King who apparently practiced his shot (a lot) at the JCC this summer.  Then when Luke gets in, that's all he really wants to do (although he made a few sweet drives to the hoop last night).  I mean we went from a team where Z was one of the top shooters to basically a Three-Point Contest roster.  This obviously isn't a bad problem to have and I have no doubt Mike Brown will cleanup everyone's role in thenext few weeks. 

This season the Cavs have more rebounders, stealers, shooters, and slashers than I have ever witnessed in my lifetime as a fan.  Right now, I am just excited to watch our team grow together and with time this team should start to take shape with roles being ironed out.  Until then..we just have to watch the beginnings of something really special.  Think of it like being in Liverpool at the Cavern Club in the early 1960's ...yea, that ended up working out pretty well..

Dolla Dolla Bills

LARRY HUGHES -  $10.3 million

ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKA -  $9.2 million

ERIC SNOW -  $5.48 million

DONYELL MARSHALL -  $4.8 million

LEBRON JAMES -  $4.62 million

DREW GOODEN -  $4.065 million

DAMON JONES -  $3.5 million

IRA NEWBLE -  $2.95 million

LUKE JACKSON -  $1.95 million

SASHA PAVLOVIC -  $1.27 million

ALAN HENDERSON -  $1.13 million

ANDERSON VAREJAO -  $866,000

ZENDON HAMILTON -  $850,000

MIKE WILKS -  $700,000

MARTYNAS ANDRIUSKEVICIUS -  $398,000

Pre-Game Notes

And here we go..  Will the addition of a few stars mixed in with a few average players equal success for the Cavs?  We shall see.  It took Jordan a while and a supporting cast, but as we all know too well..he rose to glory.  LeBron has the ability, the attitude, and now the cast to bring it home. C'mon now..

Given the Cavs haven't won an opener since 2000, I am hoping for a W tonight as a sign of what's to come.  We got the Hornets this evening and Spurs manana, so we will be tested early.  Granted we have players and coaches who really haven't worked together, but I am hoping that's just part of the fun.   Go Cavs..

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Drew Gooden will start as well alongside Snow, Hughes, Bron, & Z.   But this might be his last season starting for the Cavs given the team declined him a contract extension.  Yesterday was the final day to extend his contract and it looks as though he was left in the dust.  Since he is now an unrestricted free agent at the close of the season, expect a big contribution for the make-shift Loozer.  Just to clarify, next summer the Cavs can match any offer, but depending on how good he does, the Cavs have to be careful and not match over the salary cap.

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Apparently the third most burning question from SI.com about the NBA season is as follows: 

3. Who will make more news in Cleveland -- LeBron James or flashy new owner, Dan Gilbert?

Answer:  If it's Gilbert, the Cavs will be in trouble; if it's James, I think they have a chance to finish as high as third in the conference.

While Gilbert is somewhat flashy, he is no where near Cuban style.  He will be more outgoing as far as Cleveland owners go, but I think he knows his place.  Oh and I do agree with the tail end part of the answer...Third or even Second place will be fine. 

Ahh..Chief

When Sheryl Swoops announced she was gay, you knew it was only a matter of time before NBA players were asked how they would handle the same situation.  Well, after this spectacular answer by Robert Parish, I would hope those questions come to a screeching hault:

“No time soon,” Parish said. “It would be a very, very uncomfortable environment to step forward in. It would probably make someone retire, because they couldn’t take the heat. Men in general are more homophobic. Society is more accepting of woman-on-woman sex than man-on-man. Women on women? That’s a man’s fantasy right there.”

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So Snow is our starting PG.  Seems as though his defense skills put him on top.  Expect Snow and Jones to split time evenly. 

The contract on Sasha Pavlovic was extended through the 06-07 season.

Boozer is placed on the inactive list...poor baby.

Let's Go

Wednesday baby..Wednesday.  It begins.  A new season not too mention a new era of Cavs basketball.  This year it's big names and big paychecks.  Something rather new to our teams history since 1971.  Our track record isn't pretty, but that is behind us and this season is our chance to turn things around. 

To kick off the season, the newly redesigned and rather pimp looking cavs homepage has served up the first of many Cavaliers commercials to come.  Glad to see the front office minds are thinking big.