Cavs Post Mortem & More

Back to The Drawing Board
There are times when an opponent either outplays you and/or has your number. That was the case with Orlando beating the Cavaliers in six in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cavaliers’ coaching staff also needs to do some soul searching after this series, including why it took so long to figure out that poor Z and company simply couldn’t guard Dwight Howard one-on-one in the blocks or why LeBron wasn’t defending Hedo Turkoglu, the Magic's offensive facilitator in this series, from start to finish.

Regardless, there are times when you simply don’t match up well. We were wrong - the better team clearly won.

Now the good news - The Cavaliers won a team-record 66 games and the core is young and intact - James, Moe Williams & Delonte West. Everyone else is either old or expendable.

The team also has wiggle room to wheel and deal in terms of an expired contract (i.e. Wally Z.), a potential sign and trade commodity (i.e. Anderson Varejao) and two expiring deals in 2010 (i.e. $25 million between Z & Ben Wallace).

The needs are clear – a young, multi-dimensional post player and some size/athleticism on the perimeter to off-set the small backcourt.


Self-Pity
No whining please – there’s nothing worse than hearing Cleveland fans and media complain about not winning a title since 1964. Your team lost. It wasn’t even close. Self pity is not an attractive trait.

Pulling A LeBron
There's no excuse for LeBron James' hissy fit after the Magic eliminated the Cavaliers. He needed to shake hands and address the media afterwards.

Shaking hands shows sportsmanship - even 9-year olds are expected to do it after losing. As for the post-game press conference he skipped, that's part of the job description.

As we have said in the past, anyone can answer softball questions after winning, you find out a lot more about people after a tough loss.

And I don't buy the excuse James was devastated after expecting to reach the Finals and coming up short. Anyone who followed this series and knows baskeball saw this coming after the Cavaliers went down 3-1. James has a very high basketball IQ and he had plenty of time to prepare for a potential early exit.

In fact, this corner didn't even watch most of game #6. By that point, it was clear the Cavaliers were up against a hotter/better team (take your pick).

And no one has mentioned that James made matters worse the next day (Sunday) by not manning-up and admitting his mistakes (plural).

And no, I don't give him a pass this time because he's been a solid citizen and positive role model during his career to date. Sunday's performance sealed that deal for me.

The guy is the best player on the planet and has been for several years now, but he was wrong. Period.

Until he admits his errors, not shaking hands after a loss, from here on out, will be known to many as "pulling a LeBron." That's not good for the near-perfect public image LJ and the NBA have worked hard to cultivate.

As for the NBA, we'll see now if the league has the guts to slap a large fine on him for shunning the media - but I doubt it.




MASH Unit
This season is spinning out of control fast. First, the Tribe comes out of the gate slowly – again, and now players are going on the DL faster than Tribe hitters are fanning at 2-2 breaking balls down and away. Grady Sizemore is the latest to go down.

We’ll say it again - clear the deck and play the kids. No one is going to show up this summer to watch this product either way. You might as well let your best prospects get their feet wet and see who is ready and who needs more seasoning.


Power Shortage
My boy J. Peralta has hit exactly one more home run for the Tribe than I have this season. Why Eric Wedge has him hitting in the middle of the order right now is a mystery to me.


Discipline & Organization
Those two words keep popping up when you hear players talk about their first impression of the Mangini regime in Cleveland. That’s got to be a good thing.

Hopefully, it will translate into players being held accountable for both mental and physical miscues in games, and we won’t have quarterbacks taking multiple timeouts because they couldn’t get the plays off in time.

Lakers
Yes, we like the Lakers in six over the Magic. Too much size and length up front, enough perimter size/athleticism to keep Orlando from consistently knocking down 3s and the best player on the court - Kobe.

U.S. Economic Demise
I heard a wise man the other day say "It's not what your economy consumes but what your economiy produces that matters."

That says it all and also creates a scary scenario ahead as the U.S. goes deeper and deeper in debt with no end in sight.

I'm not a economic expert - far from it. But I know you can't just keep printing money without massive inflation facing you right around the corner. Even the communist Chinese, who own much of our debt, are begging us to stop the madness.

This wise man went on - describing the 19th century as the "European Century," the
20th century as the "U.S. Century," and the 21st century as "the Chinese Century."

At this point, who can argue with that?

The good news - an election is less than two years away. The tough part is finding good candidates, regardles of party affiliation, who have the guts and knowledge to put forth the right plans to start the process of getting us out of this mess.