He's Still BOO-zer to Me

(cross-posted from my new gig on www.numbersdont.com)

All seems to be righting itself nicely in Cavalier land after a trip through Florida that saw the Wine and Gold beat the Magic and Heat in a tough back-to-back set. We found out that Shaq can be effective in neutralizing the dominance of Dwight Howard in the paint. We found out that Delonte West still cannot be counted on to be part of the rotation, but that other guys (Jamario Moon) can step up when needed. We were reminded of how entertaining the LeBron vs. Wade matchups always seem to be. We witnessed how much better the offense looks when Mo is aggressive and hitting shots. And we saw that this JJ Hickson kid can play when Mike Brown's leash is lengthened a bit. The two solid Florida wins have the Cavs now sitting at 6-3 and a strong 4-1 away from the Q.

The team will return home to face the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. And as we ponder things here on this Friday the 13th I'm reminded of a form of evil that will be visiting along the Jazz this weekend. Of course I'm referring to the one and only Carlos Boozer, and for some reason my hate for him is like Jason Voorhees. No matter what, it just won't seem to die. Old wounds never really heal for us in Cleveland and I'd like to think that Boozer will never truly be forgiven for what he did to this franchise, short of a far-fetched scenario like him rejoining that Cavs and helping to win a title.

I know it's childish and petty to still hold such a grudge more than five years after the man took the money and ran to Utah. I know the Cavs have moved on and had great success without Boozer here. But I can't help thinking what could have been had Boozer decided to stay here. He was loved by fans for his blue collar work ethic he displayed as a second-round pick. He was pretty much the lone bright spot in the pre-LeBron season of 2002-03 when the Cavs mustered just 17 wins (yes, I'm denying that the Ricky Davis era ever happened). Then we saw a resurgence and a reason for hope again the next season when the team climbed to 35 wins and it looked like LeBron and Boozer could be the NBA's next great young star pairing. But Boozer wouldn't let that happen.

I hope those of you that will also be in attendance tomorrow night at the Q will join me in giving Boozer a warm Cleveland welcome. Don't let him forget what he did to this frachise. He stabbed a blind guy in the back. He turned his back on a city that embraced him and a chance to team up with a once-in-a-lifetime star. All for some more money and a mountain view. To that I say "BOOOOOOOOO" and I will say it loud and often, every time time he puts his money-grubbing hands on the ball tomorrow night. This is Cleveland and we hold grudges. Besides, it makes an otherwise ho-hum November game in a long 82-game season a little more fun, right?

Another good weekend

Although greatly aided by the fact that the Browns didn't play yesterday, we made it through another Cleveland sports weekend without a blemish. The Cavaliers took care of the Jazz on Saturday night with a 105-93 win (highlights here) at the Q. That makes seven in a row for the good guys and they now sit atop the Central Division at 8-2, one game ahead of the Pissed-ons.

1/8th of the way home and looking good...

This was one of the funner regular season games that I can remember attending in quite some time. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that old friend Carlos Boozer was in the building (his team now 0-5 in Cleveland since his backstabbing departure). My personal favorite moment of the night was when LeBron soared high to reject a shot attempt by Boozer midway through the fourth quarter. It was part of a highlight-reel fourth quarter by James and Mo Williams that had the Q rocking.

LBJ hit some daggers in the 4th on his way to 39 on Saturday night

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - stick with this team. Enjoy them. They won't disappoint you. This is truly a talented squad, ready to reach new heights for this franchise and this city. And for those of you that like to complain about Mike Brown and his lack of offense, this team currently sits fifth in the league in scoring at 101.1 ppg. Mo Williams and Delonte West in the starting line-up make this a very formidable bunch. And the bench is contributing greatly to the cause. And they will get better too.

Other Cavs Notes: Just to expand on what I touched on last week, the Cavs can offer LeBron one more year and $31.5M more than any other NBA team in the summer of 2010. How do I know this? Because the great Brian Windhorst laid out all the numbers today. So suck on that national media... Bob Finnan has a nice piece today on Boobie and his unwavering confidence... And George Thomas gives some more details on the Cavs' new high-powered offense.

Browns Update: The orange and brown continue the beginning of the Brady Quinn era tonight as the kid gets his first taste of Monday Night Football at 8:30 in Buffalo. I've been avoiding talking about the Browns for the last week because frankly, I'm a little sick of all the blind love they get in this town. That's not to say I don't love this team and root for them no matter what... but I just think they get too many free passes for their bumbling ways.

There aren't many things to look forward to when watching a 3-6 team that actually had Super Bowl-type expectations a few short months ago. But we can be excited about Quinn finally getting his shot now that the season is officially in the toilet. The Bills have also been somewhat of a disappointment, losing four of their last five after starting the season 4-0.

So what should we expect when a 5-4 team hosts a 3-6 team tonight in what could be some very sloppy conditions? Perhaps a replay of the Ice Bowl last year in the Stadium which resulted in an 8-0 Browns victory? Probably not that bad, even though that was one of the more memorable sports experiences of my lifelong Cleveland fanhood. The Browns are obviously (to me anyway) a much more talented team than the Bills. We are certainly better than our 3-6 would indicate. But there's also a reason we are 3-6... we just can't finish teams off as evidenced in the last two fourth quarter debacles. So taking all that into account I still think the Browns will find a way to win this one tonight. I'll go with Browns 20, Bills 17. And I'm also going with Billick on the sidelines in '09.

Draft Day is Almost Here

We're two days away from the 2008 NBA Draft and with the Tribe off last night, I want to focus my attention on improving the Cavaliers. I'm excited since this is our first first-round pick since 2006 and the Shannon Brown Experiment. Actually, the first round hasn't been very kind to the Cavaliers over the years - take a look for yourself. The last decade, aside from Andre Miller and the King himself have been notably painful. But then again, Jim Paxson was prominently involved in most of that, so hopefully we are onto greener pastures with Mr. Ferry heading things up.

This draft is of particular importance to the long-term and short-term future of this franchise. Ideally you'd like someone that can step in and help right away since the team is so close and LBJ will be deciding on his own future in two short seasons. For that reason alone I do NOT want to take on another project. So my short list includes the following players I think can immediately help this team get to the next level. Keep in mind, I am no expert and these are solely my own opinions. And I do realize that in order to get some of these players we would obviously have to work our way up via trade:

• Russell Westbrook, PG, UCLA - He would finally give us a 'true' PG and wouldn't be overwhelmed stepping in and starting for this team right away.
• Brandon Rush, SG, Kansas - I got to see him play in person in the NCAA tourney in Detroit in March and I love his game. He would be a great scoring threat next to LBJ.
• D.J. Augustin, PG, Texas - Again, a 'true' PG and he's used to the limelight coming from a school with big expectations in a great conference.
• Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG, Memphis - A great scorer and big-bodied SG that would also give us another scoring threat from the perimeter.

I'm sure there are others who would help but I think these four are safe bets. I would be happy to walk away with any of them. And yes, I'm staying away from soft Euros and white guys. Sorry but those are the rules I play by. I've also heard some talk of the Cavs getting back into the 2nd round for another pick. Hopefully that is the case because they've uncovered some gems there in the past (Carlos Loozer and Daniel Gibson immediately come to mind).

For fun, here is ESPN's latest mock draft. I always enjoy going back to these after the fact to see how wrong all the 'experts' are. And here's a quick draft blurb from today's PD, with a quote from Ferry. I didn't expect him to really tell us anything.

Will we find LeBron's Pippen on Thursday night?

Tribe Update: More talk about CC's future and a look at past deadline deals from the PD today. And it looks like Jensen Lewis and Asdrubal Cabrera (.408 BA) are finding themselves in Buffalo. This is good news to me for two reasons: 1) our bullpen is awful and 2) I honestly don't know how much longer I can watch Jhonny Peralta play shortstop.

Browns Update: Not really an update, just me wasting some time at work reviewing some great highlights from 2007. If this, this, and especially this don't get you excited for 2008, well, you suck.