The Tribe returns home this evening for a seven game home stand against the Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers.  A key home stand this early in the year, indeed.  Hopefully, the bats get going, and the burden that has been placed on the starting pitching will be lessened.  The twelve hits gathered by Cleveland hitters in the last game of the Angel series is a good sign.  Perhaps some of the hitters are getting back in the groove.

 

As usual, the fans are starting to develop some whipping boys because of the team’s so-so start, although 4-5 after nine games isn’t bad.  Some of the criticism is merited, much of it is not.  The main target for people is the leftfield platoon of David Dellucci and Jason Michaels, and it is amazing that much of the vitriol is reserved for Dellucci.  Sure, he isn’t batting .300, but he is drawing walks.  His on-base percentage is .474, meaning he is getting on in almost half of his at bats.  More importantly, it means he is not making outs in those plate appearances.

 

Meanwhile, Jason Michaels is hitting .095 and has walked just twice.  Granted, he’s hit in tough luck so far, but the bottom line is he is contributing nothing at the plate.  It has been written on the DiaTribe that it is Michaels who is keeping Ben Francisco and Andy Marte out of the lineup, and I agree.  A left field platoon of Casey Blake and Dellucci with Marte at third couldn’t give the team less production than it is getting now.  The Indians need to find out if Andy Marte can be a contributor at the major league level.

 

There is another reason to give Marte a chance is his defense.  Yes, he made a ton of errors in spring training.  However, he has always been rated as an above average defender at the position.  Blake had a good season with the glove last season, but remember, the Indians signed Aaron Boone a few years ago for a reason.  Blake made over 20 errors at third base in 2004, and he has been an adventure at the hot corner so far in 2008. 

 

Another recurring problem for the offense is the strike out.  Cleveland ranks third in the AL in whiffing this season, behind Boston and Oakland, each of who have played one extra game.  Travis Hafner has struck out 11 times this year, followed by Grady Sizemore with 10.  The only Indians who have walked more than they have fanned are Dellucci and Ryan Garko.  Striking out does not allow a team to drive in runs even when making an out.  The Tribe could have added on during their ninth inning rally against the Angels on Monday, but Sizemore struck out with the bases loaded.  An extra run could have given Joe Borowski a bigger cushion.

 

The Cleveland attack has had problems so far this year, but one of those problems isn’t really David Dellucci.  We would all like him to hit .400 with 35 HR’s this year, but at least for now, he’s been fairly productive.  If you want to complain about Michaels, or the fact that Franklin Gutierrez has one hit since opening day, then fine.  There are other troubles right now than the veteran outfielder.

 

KM

 

 

Travis Hafner’s two out, ninth inning home run spared the Cleveland Indians from clinching a losing road trip, their first sojourn of the season.  The 4-3 victory squared the Tribe’s record at 4-4 on the young season, a pretty good mark considering the offense has been dormant since the second game of the season.  For all of the Indians’ struggles, it could be worse.  The Tigers, who I still think will contend for the division title, have started off 0-7, so the fact that Cleveland sits at .500 isn’t a bad thing.

 

However, there are some things that are cause for concern even though the campaign is very, very young.  Notice, the word used is concern, because there is no time for panic. 

 

Last year, Rafael Betancourt was dominant as the Tribe’s set up man.  He was as automatic as death and taxes.  This year, he has struggled.  In his four games thus far, he has pitched 3-1/3 innings and has allowed nine hits!  Remember, the even though Raffy Right picked up the win on opening day, he had to get out of a bases loaded, nobody out situation to do it.  Saturday afternoon in Oakland, Betancourt gave up four hits in one inning, last year he wouldn’t have given up four hits in a week.  This is just another example of how volatile a bullpen can be.

 

That’s not even mentioning Joe Borowski’s performance on Monday night.  After the game, there was some question about the closer’s velocity, but Eric Wedge and Carl Willis said they know nothing about a possible arm problem for the right-hander.  Borowski had a couple of games like this last year (in April against the Yankees and in May vs. the A’s), but recovered from them.  The problem didn’t seem to be the speed of his pitches, but rather the location.  He couldn’t throw strikes.  He basically walked himself into a problem.  If JoeBo throws strikes, he should be fine.

 

Another concern is the defense.  The Indians kicked the ball all over the field on Monday.  The Angels first run scored on Casey Blake’s error, and earlier Jhonny Peralta booted one.  Kelly Shoppach had a couple of passed balls over the weekend in Oakland.  Friday night, Paul Byrd should have given up one run in the fifth, not three. Yes, the Tribe starting pitching has been great, but the hurlers have to work harder to make up for the fielding behind them.

 

A bright spot, or a continued bright spot is the starting rotation.  When the reigning Cy Young Award winner is pitching the poorest of any of the starters, that’s a good thing.  Cliff Lee’s first start was encouraging, as was both of Jake Westbrook’s outings.  Fausto Carmona has seemingly picked up right where he left off in 2007.  If the bullpen can right itself, the Indians’ pitching will be just fine.

 

All in all, a win today gives the Tribe a .500 road trip, and an above .500 record on the young season.  For all that hasn’t worked out so far, that’s not bad.

 

KM

 

 

It was a disappointing sports weekend in Cleveland.  The Cavaliers are fighting injuries, including one to their franchise player, the Indians’ offense has hit the ground sputtering over the first week of the season, and the city’s sports fans lost a friend with the death of Gib Shanley, most notably the voice of the Browns in the 1960’s and 70’s.

 

Cavaliers.  Toward the end of the third quarter on Saturday afternoon, the wine and gold were leading Orlando 72-64.  The next thing you knew, the Magic was ahead, 84-75, after going on a 20-3 run.  Once again, the Cavs didn’t know how to handle success, something that is becoming more and more prevalent with this squad.  Certainly, it is something to be concerned about with the playoffs just about two weeks away.

 

Now, LeBron James has a bad back, and it is obviously affecting his game.  Ben Wallace missed another dunk, which I believe extends his current streak to three straight games, and Boobie Gibson cannot make an open shot.  This team treats the basketball like it is a wet bar of soap at times, and is trying to make the great pass instead of the basic one.  Since they don’t play until Wednesday and have three days off, perhaps James and Wallace can rest their weary backs, and emerge healthy for the last five games of the campaign.

 

Indians.  After scoring 17 runs in their first two games, the Tribe bats have gone silent, crossing the plate just seven times in the next four games.  The team has yet to get a hit out of its leftfielder, Franklin Gutierrez went 3 for 3 on opening day, and hasn’t had a hit since.  Not only have the Indians hit just four homers, but also they aren’t collecting any other extra base hits either, and they struck out a lot against the A’s. 

 

There is no question it is very early, and every team has a four game stretch were it doesn’t hit during the season.  Just look at the Tigers’ high-powered offense thus far.  Yes, Victor Martinez is important to the lineup, but not that important.  The only Indians who are hitting well thus far are Grady Sizemore and Ryan Garko.  That will change, but it was definitely hard to watch the Tribe over the weekend.

 

Gib Shanley.  Another sports voice from my youth is gone.  Gib Shanley was the voice of the Browns for many years, even calling the last Cleveland sports championship in 1964.  The Gibber also did Ohio State football, and some Cavs basketball on television during the early days of the franchise.  He was professional, but also understood that it was sports he was covering, so he added a sense of humor to his broadcasts.

 

That didn’t mean he was afraid to speak his mind.  He was critical of Ted Stepien’s ownership of the Cavaliers, and he is probably most famous for burning an Iranian flag on the air at the end of one of his sportscasts in 1979.  Now, Gib rests along side people like Pete Franklin, Nev Chandler, and Jim Graner as people who’s voices were part of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s who are now gone.  Our deepest sympathies to Gib’s family.

 

MW

 

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have six games remaining before they start the playoffs for the third consecutive year.  They are pretty much locked into the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning they will have home court advantage for the first round, but that likely will be it.  It also means they will have a second round match up with the Boston Celtics, if both teams advance.  However, what Mike Brown and the Cavs do in these last six games may determine how far this team can get in the post-season.

 

It’s amazing to think a team can play 76 games without having a set rotation, but with all of the injuries and the trade, the coaching staff is still trying to figure out who should play.  They know have six games to do it.  Mike Brown seems to want to replace Devin Brown in the starting lineup, but it seems he now understands that the latter Brown is the best fit for the team.  Does anyone else think it is odd that Sasha Pavlovic went right from the injured list to the starting lineup, and now has gone from starting to not even getting off the bench? 

 

It seems that now the coach has settled on a starting five of LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, and D. Brown.  The bench players he is using are Joe Smith, Anderson Varajao, Wally Szczerbiak, and Daniel Gibson.  However, last night’s loss to the Bulls still shows that something is missing.  Wallace has had back problems, but he is showing why Chicago was anxious to unload him.  Gibson is still recovering from his ankle problem, so he is not as automatic on open looks as he was before he was hurt.  Perhaps that will work itself out before the playoffs start, but maybe not.

 

Again, last night showed the sloppiness the wine and gold play with when they get a lead.  After going up by 17 points in the third quarter, the Cavs appeared to lose their focus.  They threw the ball away, took bad shots, and lost their attention to detail on defense.  The latter is probably most galling to the coach.  Mike Brown has always stressed defense, and quite frankly, this team isn’t playing well on that end of the floor right now.  There seems to be an inordinate amount of uncontested three pointers being made by the opposition.

 

This group of players seems to think they can turn on a switch come playoff time and start playing with defensive intensity.  That will not work.  The players who went to The Finals last year have to understand they reached that level by playing on the defensive end, and that you have to have that intensity every minute of the game.  Offensively, the Cavs have reverted to getting LeBron the ball, and everyone stands around watching.  And when Wallace is on the floor, it instantly gives the defense someone to double team James.

 

It is possible to be a better playoff coach than a regular season coach.  Mike Brown has demonstrated that both years he has been the Cleveland coach.  In the regular season, he has difficulty running an offense, and his defensive schemes are based on his principles.  In the playoffs, when you are playing the same team as many as seven games in a row, he has shown that he can put together a plan to effectively take away what other teams want to do.  That ability will be greatly needed in this playoff season.

 

Right now, it is doubtful the Cleveland Cavaliers will get past the second round of the playoffs, let alone get back to the NBA Finals.  The squad is too disorganized at this point, and that’s not all the fault of the coach, although he is part of the problem.  It might be taking a step back to take a leap forward in 2008-09.  With no holdouts, less injuries, and a year to play together, next season might be a better chance for this franchise.  However, keep one thing in mind.  Every time the Cavs take the court, they have the best player on the court.  It’s just asking too much of LeBron James to take this group back to the conference championship.

 

JK

 

 

After one day of the regular season, the Cleveland Indians are in first place!  They opened up at Progressive Field against the White Sox, and defeated Chicago 10-8 in a wild and wooly game to start the season.  On a day where the pitching struggled a bit, the bottom of the batting order came through as Franklin Gutierrez and Casey Blake each knocked in three runs in the triumph.  There was even controversy as a couple of disputed calls helped the Tribe gain the win.

 

Those calls came with the game tied at 7, and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning.  Orlando Cabrera hit a slow chopper to Jhonny Peralta, whose throw to the plate pulled catcher Kelly Shoppach off the dish.  Shoppach swiped at the runner, Joe Crede, coming home, and the plate umpire ruled that he indeed tagged the runner.  Replays were inconclusive; although STO’s Rick Manning’s opinion was that the tag was missed.  Jim Thome followed and hit a broken bat grounder to force Cabrera at second, but when he tried to grab Peralta’s leg, the second base umpire ruled a double play.  Since Cabrera tried to grab the SS, it was the correct call.

 

We even had our daily Joe Borowski anxious moment.  Handed a three run lead to start the ninth, JoeBo gave up a one out homer to Jermaine Dye, and a two out walk to A. J. Pierzynski to bring the tying run to the plate, before getting Crede to foul out to Blake to end the contest.  Borowski even joked about it after the game, saying he didn’t want to spoil anybody right off the bat by retiring the Sox in order.  At least he understands what he puts us through in watching the games.

 

The pitching was shaky all day, but remember, it’s just one game.  C.C. Sabathia gave up two bombs to old friend Jim Thome, and struggled with other left-handed hitters all day.  He ran out of gas in the sixth inning, walking Dye and Alexei Ramirez, before giving up a cue shot to Pierzynski that eluded Blake for a double.  Jensen Lewis bailed him out with back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame, but gave up consecutive hits to start the seventh.  Rafael Perez retired Thome on a nice play by Jason Michaels, but gave up an opposite field double to Paul Konerko to tie the game. 

 

Rafael Betancourt came in and wasn’t the dominant reliever of a year ago, but he did prove to be Houdini in the top of the eighth.  It points out how volatile the relief corps is on a major league team.  Then again, he escaped without being scored on, while other high profile relief pitchers (Kerry Wood, Eric Gagne, and Tom Gordon) got torched yesterday. 

 

One reason for concern is the hamstring injury suffered by Victor Martinez in the second inning.  The Tribe called it tightness in the muscle, saying Martinez is day to day.  If Martinez is out for any length of time, that takes the team’s most consistent hitter out of the lineup.  It also means he likely would go on the disabled list because they can’t go with only one catcher for any length of time.  The probable call up would be Wyatt Toregas, who is already on the 40-man roster.

 

It was a fun game yesterday, mostly because the Tribe wound up winning.  Had they lost, it would have been a bitter pill blowing a 7-2 lead.  The best news is that baseball is back, and summer is just around the corner.

 

KM

 

Spring officially begins in Cleveland today, despite what the weather tells us.  It’s Opening Day at Progressive Field, and the Tribe takes on the White Sox for what seems like the 23^rd consecutive lid lifter against Chicago.  After winning 96 games a year ago and winning the Central Division title, hopes are high that the Indians can celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the 1948 World Champions by winning another one.  Here are five reasons why the Tribe will get back to the post-season in 2008.

 

The Return of Pronk.  Travis Hafner had a disappointing year in 2007.  Disappointing for him that is.  Pronk still hit 24 HR’s and knocked in over 100 runs last season, a far cry from his performances in 2004-06.  For the most part, baseball players seek their own level.  Guys who have a history of hitting .260 usually find their way back to around that average.  Every once in a while, very good players have mediocre years, and that’s what happened to Hafner last season.  He may not reach his lofty heights of three or four years ago, but he will smash over 30 HR’s and knock in close to 120, while getting on base 40% of the time.  That alone will help the Cleveland attack.

 

New Bullpen Additions.  Many baseball experts agree that the bullpen is the most volatile part of any team.  Last year, the Tribe relief corps was one of the best in the game, led by Rafael Betancourt, who Baseball Prospectus.com said had arguably the best year by a set up man in history.  However, GM Mark Shapiro did not stand pat, and that is a good thing.  He brought in Japanese free agent Masa Kobayashi, who closed overseas, and Jorge Julio, who closed in Baltimore several years ago.  He also changed the club’s situational lefty in Craig Breslow.  These guys will give the Tribe more depth not only with the big club, but also throughout the organization.

 

Twin Aces.  There was a lot of mileage put on the arms of C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona last season, but Eric Wedge and pitching coach Carl Willis will be careful with both pitchers early this season, and the two aces will both have good campaigns.  Already, C.C. will not start on Saturday as he could based on his normal rest, and that will be the norm early on.  Carmona’s stuff looked as good as ever in his last two exhibition starts, and again the skipper will be very judicious with him.  If the Tribe gets big leads in either of their outings early on, look for Wedge to pull them out and go to his deep bullpen.

 

Organization Depth.  The Indians have alternatives if things don’t work out in some areas.  If some relievers aren’t getting the job done, Tom Mastny, Scott Elarton, and later in the year, perhaps Tony Sipp can help out.  If the corner outfielders aren’t hitting, Ben Francisco and Shin-Soo Choo are just a phone call away.  If Paul Byrd or Cliff Lee don’t hold up their end of the bargain in the starting rotation, then Aaron Laffey, Jeremy Sowers, and maybe even Adam Miller can come up and help out.  That depth made the difference last season, and may just be it again in 2008.

 

A Man Named Grady.  Travis Hafner was the whipping boy for what troubled the Indians’ offense in 2007, but Grady Sizemore didn’t produce the same power numbers he put together in 2006, either.  Although his on-base percentage jumped from .375 to .390, but his extra base hits dropped to 63 from 92 in ’06.  Look for a jump in power now that the Gold Glove centerfielder has a year of being more selective under his belt.  Sizemore will be a front-runner for the MVP award in the American League this season.

 

MW

 

With spring training ready to wrap up, in fact, the Indians are on their way to Atlanta for a pair of games with the Braves on their way to Progressive Field, it wasn’t a real newsworthy camp.  Cliff Lee won the fifth starter job, although he will probably start the series opener in Oakland, so Eric Wedge can split Lee and C.C. Sabathia in the rotation.  And as expected, Andy Marte made the ballclub because he is out of options and cannot be sent back to Buffalo without being exposed to waivers.

 

Jorge Julio was a non-roster invitee, and claimed the last bullpen spot over Tom Mastny, which was a slight surprise.  Aaron Fultz pitched his way off the ballclub with a putrid spring, coupled with a shaky second half of last season, and was replaced by Craig Breslow, picked up off waivers from the Red Sox.  Scott Elarton was a surprise out of the bullpen, but will start the year at Buffalo, and depending how he pitches, might be the first call up if someone currently a part of the relief corps falters or is hurt.

 

One overlooked battle, and one created by Wedge, is who will bat second in the batting order behind Grady Sizemore.  Asdrubal Cabrera finished last year hitting in that spot, and was very effective.  However, the skipper wants to ease the pressure on the youngster, and guard against a sophomore slump, by putting him at the bottom of the order.  Who is best suited to hitting second on the current roster?

 

Let’s go over the people who should not hit in the spot.  One candidate brought up by many is Casey Blake.  His supporters will point out that Blake takes a lot of pitches, and has the ability to take the ball to right field.  However, his lifetime on-base percentage is right around 33%, not good enough to hit there.  He is also prone to slumps and strikes out over 100 times per year.  Remember that Blake hit second the early part of last season, and the offense took off after he was dropped in the batting order.

 

If not Cabrera, I would favor the left field platoon of David Dellucci and Jason Michaels.  Yes, yes, this is a problem spot for the team.  However, let’s see if Dellucci can recover from an off year in 2007.  He has a lifetime OBP against right-handers of .355, and his counterpart, Michaels has a career on base mark of almost .400 against lefties.  In addition, since Dellucci is a left-handed hitter, he is a natural to pull the ball through the hole on the right side if Grady Sizemore is on base.  It’s worth a try to start the season if the manager decides to protect Cabrera.

 

That’s the biggest debate for the Cleveland Indians coming out of spring training.  Who should bat second?  In reality, it’s a solid ballclub, one of the best in the game.  They are deep, especially in the pitching department.  Think about it, the Buffalo pitching staff will include Jeremy Sowers, Aaron Laffey, Scott Elarton, Tom Mastny, and Adam Miller.  There are many major league teams who could use any one of those guys.  The Bisons line up will include Josh Barfield, Ben Francisco, Jordan Brown, and probably Trevor Crowe.  Don’t concern your self with the impending free agency of C.C. Sabathia, or whether or not the Dolan ownership is frugal.  Enjoy a very good summer of baseball, because the Tribe has a chance to end the 60-year drought.

 

MW

 

It seems we are always talking about the big trade when discussing the Cleveland Cavaliers.  The deal beefed up the outside shooting and the interior defense, both important components for teams chasing a title.  However, one weakness still remains for the Cavs, and that is how to defend quick point guards that can penetrate.  It’s the reason the wine and gold lost three out of four to the Milwaukee Bucks this season, and one reason why they were swept by San Antonio in The Finals. 

 

Tony Parker was the MVP of The Finals last season for a reason, the Cavs couldn’t stop him from going to the basket, and when they played off of him, he hit shots from outside.  In the teams’ recent struggles, the same problem has popped up; guys like Devin Harris, Raymond Felton, and Mo Williams have had big games against Cleveland because the Cavs lack the personnel to stop these types of players.

 

They are hoping to resolve this when Daniel Gibson returns from his ankle injury, hopefully tonight.  Still, will his quickness be compromised by the injury?  If it is, the team could have a problem come playoff time when they play a team with a drive and dish point guard.  It won’t come into play against the Pistons, but a first round match up against Toronto could be a problem because of Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford, and the Celtics have lightning quick Rajon Rondo, who could give the Cleveland guards fits.

 

Coach Mike Brown likes size, especially in the backcourt.  It’s one of the reasons he moved Sasha Pavlovic into the starting lineup last season to pair with Larry Hughes.  It gave the Cavs two starting guards over 6’5” for opponents to contend with.  This year, he has Delonte West, listed at 6’4” with long arms and Pavlovic starting, with Devin Brown coming off the bench.  However, none of this trio can defend someone with a decided quickness advantage against them.  Unless Gibson steps up, and he is not regarding as a great defender, Cleveland will continue to have problems against teams with the Tony Parker type point guard.

 

Danny Ferry and Brown feel the Cavs don’t need a traditional point guard because of the presence of James, who of course, is a marvelous playmaker.  However, from a defensive standpoint, that type of guard is needed because other teams have them.  Another option is to play zone defense against teams that have penetrators, but it seems the coach is loath to do so.  That is a weakness of a young head coach.  Even Bob Knight used zones as he advanced in his coaching career.  The job is to win the game, right?

 

It looks like as much as the Cavs need Gibson’s perimeter shooting (All Star weekend showed he is one of the league’s best pure shooters), they need his defensive ability more.  Quite possibly, he is the only guy on the roster who can possibly stop guys like Calderon and Rondo.  A lot of responsibility for a second year player, no?  However, stopping these types of players might be necessary if the wine and gold want to get back to The Finals.

 

JK

 

 

Ever since the Cavaliers made the colossal 11-player trade at the deadline, the performance of the team has gone up and down like the proverbial roller coaster.  The first game the new players participated in was against Memphis, when the wine and gold got off to a very quick start, leading by as many as 20 points in the first quarter, but the game grew close in the third quarter, but eventually Cleveland pulled away.  In retrospect, that game was the beginning of a trend.

 

Although this weakness is most evident on the road, where the Cavaliers have lost every contest since LeBron James scored 50 points at Madison Square Garden, it also happens at the Quicken Loans Arena.  Cleveland continues to win at home, but they have had consistent problems putting teams away.  Think back to the Saturday afternoon game played in the blizzard against the Pacers, another of the NBA’s struggling teams.  The wine and gold had a big lead in the first half of that game, and needed the fourth quarter heroics of the King to hold on to that one.

 

It seems that the Cavs currently can’t stand prosperity.  This struck me the other night when I was watching the game against the Raptors.  Cleveland played very well in the third quarter, and had a seven or nine point lead toward the end of that stanza.  Toronto took a timeout, and after the stoppage in play, the Cavs proceeded to turn the ball over several times, not because of great defense, but more because of sloppy execution.  It is a basic basketball tenet that you cannot score without shooting the ball.  Any possession where you don’t get a shot off is a waste.  And to do it when you have a chance to put a team away is particularly galling.

 

What happens when personnel is changed apparently is lack of focus and determination.  The new players haven’t succeeded in a tough situation with LeBron, Z, and the rest of the holdovers from opening night.  That could explain why they are struggling on the road, and can’t sustain success at home.  The turnovers that are plaguing the team is result of poor execution, but also poor decision making.  The squad seems to get up by around ten points, and then seems to forget how they got to that point.  They take ill-advised shots; try to make difficult passes, in short, not doing the fundamentals a championship team needs to do.

 

It doesn’t help the situation when Damon Jones is playing the point.  Jones is a shooter, who plays the spot because of his height.  He lacks the instincts a good point guard needs, and when he is on the floor, James has to start the offense and make sure the correct pass is made to the right person.  This puts too much of a burden on #23.  Also, Jones is the type of player who feels the need to do the spectacular when the basic is needed.  Even though he is shooting very well this season, his shot selection makes me wince from time to time.  When you have a lead, the need to take good shots is even more important.

 

In short, it means that as a team, the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have the mental toughness to succeed on the road, or in the playoffs for that matter.  They have 11 games to get it back.  If you can’t beat the Bucks away from home (although this might have something to do with not being able to stop Mo Williams), how can you beat Detroit or Boston in a key playoff tilt?  LeBron James and Mike Brown have to straighten this out in the next couple of weeks, or it will be a short post-season for the wine and gold.

 

JK

 

 

There is no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers have not had an especially glittering history.  That is, until the day they picked LeBron James with the first pick in the 2003 NBA draft.  They had never been to the NBA Finals, and had only reached the Eastern Conference finals twice, losing to the Celtics in 1975-76 and to the Bulls in the early nineties.  The franchise had more losing seasons than playoff years, and never had a singular great player.  All that changed when LeBron James put on the wine and gold. 

 

Last night, James became the franchise’s all time leading scorer, passing Brad Daugherty for the record with a layup in the first quarter of the Cavs’ 90-83 win over the Toronto Raptors.  The Chosen One did it in just five seasons, 170 some games less that the former North Carolina great.  James passed the #3 all time scorer, Austin Carr, just a couple of weeks ago.  It is ironic that all three were the first pick in the NBA draft.  Both Daugherty and Carr were hampered by injuries during their time in Cleveland, or #23 would still be short of their totals.

 

Carr was the first pick in the draft after the team’s inaugural season in 1971.  The Notre Dame product still holds the NCAA record for the most points in one game in the NCAA Tournament with 61 against Ohio.  He was an incredible scorer, but almost instantly after being drafted by the Cavs, he started having injury problems.  He missed the start of the season with a broken foot, and then missed more time later in the season with more problems with his foot.  In his second year, however, he averaged almost 22 points per game, and appeared to be destined for greatness.  Early in the 1974-75 season, Carr had pushed his scoring to over 24 points per night when he suffered a knee injury and missed most of the rest of the season.  He returned in 1975-76, but was used as a reserve, albeit a key one, by Bill Fitch.  We never saw how great Carr would have been without the knee problems.

 

Daugherty was made the #1 pick after the Cavs traded for the selection with Philadelphia by dealing Roy Hinson.  Unfortunately, the big man was criticized by the fans for what he wasn’t (a shot blocking, defensive presence), than he was praised for what he was, which was a five time All Star.  He was a key component of a team that was one of the league’s best until the ownership forced the trade of Ron Harper to the Clippers.  Even so, the Cavs were the chief challengers to the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bull teams, at least in the Eastern Conference.  The current NASCAR commentator averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds in a career that ended prematurely due to back problems at the age of 29.  It’s interesting to think the big man could have been playing with the Cavs until the turn of the century without the injury.

 

Carr probably would have been a superstar had he not wrecked his knee, but Daugherty was not the poster boy for a franchise.  In fact, more Cavs’ fans probably think more fondly of Mark Price and perhaps Larry Nance from those Cleveland teams, that they do the 7 foot center, who was a solid, fundamentally sound player.  However, the current Cavs not only have that superstar, they have likely the best player in the sport in James.  The NBA writers will probably vote the MVP award to Kobe Bryant, more as a "lifetime achievement award" than for this season.  But think about this, it took a trade for Pau Gasol to lift the Lakers into one of the best teams in the West.  Before the deal, they would have made the playoffs, but were destined for probably no better than a 5th seed.

 

Simply put, LeBron James is the best player in the league, and make no mistake, no one in the Eastern Conference wants to play the Cavaliers in the playoffs because the King could win the entire series by himself.  Do not think for one minute that the Celtics or the Pistons would like to avoid #23 for as long as they can.  LeBron’s combination of scoring, power, and unselfishness is unmatched in the sport, and he is still just 24 years old.  The national guys can talk about Kobe Bryant all they want, and convince themselves Bryant is better, but they are fooling themselves.  James isn’t just the best player in Cavs’ history, he’s the very best in the world.

 

MW