Cavs
-The Jamison trade has been a huge plus for this team. He has developed into our second scorer as he is averaging 15 ppg and about 8 boards since his arrival to Cleveland. He is very creative around the basket, and can shoot.
-The return of Z was great and I am very happy to see him back here. He will be very valuable against the Lakers and the Magic come playoff time. We need his height and rebounding ability against the likes of Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum.
-The injury of Shaq hurts us somewhat because the Cavs were playing great with him in the middle. He was getting in a groove and he was providing the low post threat we craved. Also, our interior defense has suffered since the in jury of Shaq. While we are scoring more, we are giving up more points as well. My only concern is that when he comes back there will be a little bit of an adjustment period. We saw the Cavs come out of the gate at 3-3 when Shaq first came on, and the Cavs dropped 3 straight when Jamison was first acquired. According to sources, Shaq is healing quickly and he is looking to come back for the last few games. If I am the Cavs, I lower the minutes for all of our starters and main rotation players. I give more minutes to Powe, Moon, Jawad, and Green. I would like to get Shaq acclimated back with the starting lineup for a game or two, so they can be prepared for the playoffs.
-Getting homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs this early is great because it allows us to slowly rest our starters. Homecourt advantage will benefit us most in the NBA Finals because of the 2-3-2 format. If the Cavs win the first 2 home games, they just have to steal one in LA (which they can do). Homecourt against the Magic isn't as effective because as they showed last year, they can beat us in Cleveland. They will shoot great whether they are in Cleveland, Orlando, Montreal, or Paris.
-The playoffs are coming up in a couple weeks and it is going to be great. The biggest threat to the Cavs title hopes to me are the Orlando Magic. I saw this team play against the Dallas Mavericks last thursday and I came away very impressed. Howard can rebound and finish at the basket with ease, Lewis can still shoot 3's over most players, Nelson can zip through defenses, and Pietrus can light it up anytime (he was 6/6 from 3 point land vs. the Mavs). Not to mention that Vince Carter can run hot and cold. They have a frantic, but effective coach in Stan Van Gundy. The key to the Cavs beating the Magic is getting Howard in foul trouble. If he gets in foul trouble, the Magic become a perimeter team. I put Shaq on Howard and let them battle by themselves. I do not double Howard at all, and I try to minimize the amount of 3's taken. As Brian Windhorst described, a potential series between the Cavs and Magic will be an "all out war".
-Mo Williams has played better as of late, after struggling for a couple of weeks (past 3 games he is averaging 20 ppg). He is averaging more assists, but less points this season. I think there are a few reasons behind this, one, his shoulder still might be bothering him. Two, the acquisition of Jamison takes away touches for Mo. The Cavs need Mo to be aggressive and hit his shots. The Cavs are 16-3 when Mo scores more than 20 points. He is the best shooter on the Cavs and we need him to bury big shots come playoff time.
-Free throw shooting is killing this team. The Cavs need to continue to work on their free throw shooting during practice and not take the issue lightly. You can not afford to lose games in the playoffs because of free throw shooting. The coaching staff must make it a priority to work on this during practice.
-Do I think the Cavs will win the championship this year? I am not sure yet because I have to see how Shaq get re-acclimated. If the Cavs are playing to the best of their abilities, then I believe we can win it all, but our margin of error is pretty small, especially against a team like the Magic. Also, when you have a battle tested team like the Lakers, with a great coach in Phil Jackson, they will always be a tough out.
Browns
-Team president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert have done a pretty solid job thus far. We have 10 draft picks in the NFL Draft. LB Scott Fujita will provide a solid defender and OT Tony Pashos will add depth to the right side of our offensive line. Both signing are low risk and provide good depth for the team. TE Ben Watson gives our offense a solid receiver. I don't really like the Delhomme signing, but he is simply a stop gap at QB. I compare it to the signing of QB Trent Dilfer a few years ago. The Browns are certain to draft a QB in April.
-Possible QB's the Browns could draft include Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Tony Pike, Dan LaFavour, John Skelton, and Tim Hiller. The QB's I want the most are McCoy, Pike, and LaFavour. I will discuss this in the NFL Draft preview next week.
-I am hoping that S Eric Berry falls to the Browns at the #7 pick. He is a great playmaking safety who would help shore up our secondary. Again, I will discuss this later.
-The trade for LB Chris Gocong and CB Sheldon Brown was a good one too. We had extra draft picks, and Alex Hall didn't get much playing time. Brown is 31 and he probably only has 2 good years left, but he is a definite upgrade over Brandon McDonald. Chris Gocong can provide solid depth at LB and could even start. Don't be surprised if D'Qwell Jackson gets traded, especially with the addition of Fujita and Gocong. He has solid value and he could get us some more draft picks.
-The Browns need to add a S, QB, CB, WR, RB in the draft. We need playmakers in the secondary and on offense. Massaqoui is a solid building block, and Jerome Harrison showed good potential. Robiskie did not see the field much, and the Browns need to add more big play threats on this team.
-You can get the sense the Browns are on solid footing with Holmgren and Heckert at the helm. Holmgren explains his actions very clearly, and he seems to be getting along very well with Heckert and Mangini. They seem to have a sense of direction, and they aren't trying to fool anyone. They addressed the needs of OT, CB, TE, and LB this offseason, and I hope they address the need of S, QB, and WR in the draft.
Indians
-While I don't expect the Indians to destroy this year, they do have a pretty solid young team. We should be able to score runs with Choo, Asdrubal, Valbuena, Grady, Branyan, LaPorta, Brantley, and hopefully Hafner.
-The rotation is a major concern of mine. Fausto was not good last year, Westbrook is coming off Tommy John surgery, Huff and Masterson are inconsistent, and Talbot is an unknown. If the pitching staff can keep things together and put together 6-7 solid innings a night, the Indians can do some damage.
-It will be interesting to see how Chris Perez does in the closers role. The injury of Kerry Wood opened this up for Perez. Perez struggled greatly after he came over in the DeRosa trade, but he seemed to settle down as the season progressed. The bullpen was horrible last year and I don't think it can get much worse. It is important for the Indians to get off to a good start and the bullpen will be a key to that.
-Hiring Manny Acta was an ok move. He is very good at dealing with Latino and Hispanic players. While he did not have a great record in Washington, he did not have a lot of talent to work with. In Cleveland he will have better players, and we can see what he is made out of.
-The Indians have a lot of young promising players in the wings that fans should get excited about. Beau Mills, Lonnie Chissenhall, Carlos Santana, Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, Lou Marson, Alex White, and Hector Rondon. The Indians consistently have one of the best farm systems in baseball and its very sad that we cannot keep these guys together.
I think that wraps it up. I will soon write my NFL Draft preview, along with some thoughts on the Indians and Cavs playoff matchups. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!
-Raz
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