Thursday, May 7, 2009

Why The Cavaliers Are Going To Win The Finals...

If you disagree bring a stack with you. A whole fucking stack. I'm taking all of it.

#10 - The Hunger For More

As exceptional as the Cavaliers have been this season, the team knows that it’s capable of even more. "We're letting teams get too comfortable," LeBron James recently told reporters. "That's something we don't want to do. It's something we know, and it is something we have to get better at." That’s a frightening prospect for the other 29 teams in the league.

#9 - A Title Is Beyond Past Due

Few franchises have had a longer record of futility than the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since joining the NBA in 1970, the Cavs have appeared in the playoffs only 16 times and have reached the finals just once. According to that rationale, the Cavaliers are finally due for their first championship in franchise history. "We believe that any opponent we go against in these playoffs and throughout the playoffs, we have an opportunity to win," LeBron James said recently. "...We're a very confident team, a very confident ball club -- everybody as an individual and it all goes into the team. We look forward to the challenge."

#8 - Bench Is Too Deep For That Ass

Nets coach Lawrence Frank is just one of many NBA insiders who have been blown away by the Cavalier’s depth this season: "They have a great, great player, and they've surrounded him not only with shooters, but size," he says. "Offensively, when you overplay against LeBron, the personnel is different. They make you pay." Indeed, from the outside marksmanship of Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West to the interior versatility of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and new acquisition Joe Smith, the Cavs have one of the most balanced lineups in the NBA. "We're confident this year that we have everything we need to be the favorite and be the team that comes out on top," Williams says.

#7 - Celtics Ain't Shit Without KG

Despite winning its division for the second consecutive season, the 2009 version of the Celtics is considerably weaker than the team that hoisted the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy last June. Gone from last year’s squad are James Posey, P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell, a trio of battle-tested veterans who provided the Celtics with the defensive intensity and, in the case of Posey, the timely shooting the team sorely needed to edge out the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Taking their places are Tony Allen, a slasher with a questionable jump shot and Stephon Marbury, a scorer with a questionable psyche. Any team relying on Marbury to win a championship should start booking golf vacations now.

#6 - What Is Bynum Doing?

Although the Lakers may be the team to beat in the West, their ability to bang with the East’s elite is done for. Andrew Bynum had a torn medial collateral ligament and WILL NOT play as well, thereby depriving the team of the one player able to out-muscle Cavs big men Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace. Plus Big Z is gonna bust his ass from midrange [||]

#5 - So Much Chemistry They Need A Beaker

The Cavaliers had the opportunity to move Wally Szczerbiak's $13.8 million expiring contract at the trade deadline but instead chose to keep its core intact in the interest of persevering the team’s rock-solid chemistry. That decision has already paid dividends as the Cavs recently shattered their franchise record for most victories in a season. "It’s just a feeling of trust that you have with this group,” says Head Coach Mike Brown. "It's at a level that exceeds, that definitely exceeds, the level of the previous three teams.” That sense of cohesion could be a huge X-factor as Cleveland storms into the playoffs.

#4 - Nobody Can Handle Our Defense

As impressive as Cleveland has been on the offensive end this season, the team still defines itself by its ability to stymie opposing teams. In 71 games this season, the Cavs have held opponents to an anemic 91.3 points per game on 43% shooting while forcing 14.2 turnovers per contest. “It’s been unbelievable what we’ve been able to do,” LeBron James has said. “It just means a lot to see the growth that we’ve had since I got here to now; where we are as a franchise and what we’ve been able to do year after year. We’ve gotten better every year. This is a special year that we should all be proud of.”

#3 - Got The Streets On Lock

The Cavaliers had the best record in the NBA and were a staggering 39-2 at Quicken Loans Arena where the team has been holding opponents to 88.8 points on just .418 shooting. The Cavs’ dominance is particularly fortuitous since the team’s record will ensure a home court advantage throughout the playoffs. It will also allow the Cavs to sidestep the Orlando Magic in what could be a very challenging second-round series (but I highly doubt it). Opposing players have never enjoyed visiting Cleveland, but now for the first time in years the reluctance to visit “The Forest City” is due to the Cavaliers’ strength rather than Cleveland’s abysmal lack of allure.

#2 - Mo Williams

LeBron James didn’t mince words last season after the Boston Celtics eliminated the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals. "I think I was pretty good in that series as an individual," he said. "I [thought] team-wise we could improve. I stressed that right after the [seventh] game in Boston, how much I think our team needed to improve, personnel-wise and as a team.” General Manager Danny Ferry got the message loud and clear and bolstered the team in the off-season by acquiring high-scoring combo-guard Mo Williams. Since joining the Cavs, the University of Alabama NBA product has averaged 18.0 points and 4.0 assists while relieving James of the burden of being the team’s principle ball handler. His ability to hit clutch shots has also given LBJ more room to operate than ever before. “I finally have something complementary to myself and to this team that we needed and we haven't had since I got here: a point guard that can create for himself and create for others," James has said. "It's kind of fun to have a guy who we can give the ball to and he can make things happen."

#1 - LEBRON JAMES CAN NOT, I REPEAT, CAN NOT BE FUCKED WITH

With the possible exception of Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce, no player has shown a greater ability to elevate his play in the postseason than LeBron James. In 46 playoff games, King James has averaged 27.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists while routinely dominating smaller defenders with his devastating inside-out game. As if that weren’t scary enough, James has also shown a new-found ability this season to shut down the opposing team’s top player. In one particularly telling game against the Celtics, James held Paul Pierce to just 11 points. "Paul Pierce is a tough cover," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said afterward. "The last few games, he has had our number. I thought LeBron did a nice job of continuing to pursue Paul even when he got screen after screen after screen. I thought he just kept pursuing and trying to make Pierce work for his shots." MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...
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Like i said.... a stack.

-HD

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