Thursday, August 14, 2008

Lebron gets a new friend! YAY! Mo to the Cavs


Another player with considerable talent was traded for absolutely no player of worth yesterday as we see the Cavs heist of PG Mo Williams. I don't care to look at the Bucks end of this deal. I hate the Bucks and I hate the continued and unflinching ineptitude of their front office. The Thunder (I can't tell if this is the stupidest worst fucking name for a team ever, or if I love it....I think I just miss the Sonics) get rid of Luke Ridnour which was VERY necessary for them so McMillan won't even get to think about sending him out to cut into the time of baby Earl or Rookbrook. Ridnour is also white, bad, unathletic, annoying, and stupid; I hate him very much. But anyway, the purpose of this post is to look at the Cavs. Since they won the Chosen lottery (get it? like, Chosen One, haha! YES) back in 2003 they have done a tremendous job of surrounding Lebron with horrible shit. Mo Williams will be the best player to wear a Cav uniform and share the floor with James. Even though those surrounding Lebron have sucked, he is the best player in the league, and was still capable of taking his team of scrubs and random parts to the NBA finals on '06 and one game within the Eastern Conference finals in '07. Adding Mo to the fold makes their roster significantly better.

Since the Cavs got Lebron they have not had a point guard. Trade rumors surrounding this team acquiring a PG have never been in short supply and even though Danny Ferry has proven to be a pretty bad GM thus far, you have got to give him some credit on this deal. First of all, he gave up nothing. Secondly, Mo Williams is a perfect fit on this team. Danny Ferry wins. But Ferry in the past? Nooooootttttttt so good. Not as bad as Shaq randalling him up the ass, but still, lose. This team is really, really, REALLY poorly assembled. It really is a testament to how insanely good Lebron is to see how far they have been going in the postseason these past couple years. But given the crap on this team, Mo improves them vastly.
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Mo Williams is a true point guard, and not in the sense that Eric Snow is, but in the sense that he is actually good and is a true point guard. He put up 17-6 his last two years for the Bucks, can stretch the floor with his 3 point range, and can take it to the rim as good as any point in the league. His acquisition will allow them to slide Delonte West over to the 2/combo G where he belongs and also takes the ball out of his hands more on offense which will also improve this team. He can just focus on playing D and whatever he gives you on offense is gravy. It also allows them to bring Booby Gibson off the bench and use him strictly as a three point specialist and offensive threat. Booby will now never, ever be forced to run the offense again, which is also a tremendous bonus for this team. Whether he is on the floor with West or Mo, he can just run up and down the floor and worry himself with draining threes. West and Gibson can both be shifted into roles more suiting their skillset with the addition of Mo. Mo also gives opposing defenses a player to worry about. He is an all-around offensive talent who is capable of scoring in a mulititude of ways. Everyone else on the Cavs not named Lebron are entirely one dimensional offensive players, more or less. West is probably the best all around offensive threat on this club before Mo, and that is not saying much. Wally is a shooter and is good at wearing suits to games, Gibson is a shooter, Pavlovic shoots and is also good at getting hurt, Varejeo is just awkward, Z is huge and just does things on the block that they teach in Eastern Europe, and Ben Wallace doesn't know how to score anywhere but on the free throw line where he is like drainage on the Bandy tract. While most teams are trying to put together trios of genius, the Cavs now have theirs. Lebron, Lebron and Mo.

The addition of Williams assures the Cavs that they will be over the cap for next offseason but under the luxury tax. They will, therefore, not be able to add anyone through free agency. However, they do have Wally's massive expiring deal which they could trade to get someone who isn't worthless prior to this years trade deadline. Outside of that, their hands are pretty tied. Given how fucking bad Ben Wallace was for them last year, it looks like they won't be able to rid themselves of Z. But, mortgaging their cap space for a young talent like Williams looks to be ok. He is very, very underrated, largely because he plays in Milwaukee for a horrible team, and point guard was definitely the biggest hole on this team. So for Lebron's final two years with the Cavs, they are making a push at it now. I would be surprised to see them not be able to get some type of actual good player for Wally's contract to some team looking to relieve cap space once they drop out of contention as this season progresses. The only, ONLY conceivable way that the Cavs would be able to resign Lebron would be if they surround him with enough non-dead weight pieces of shit and he carries them to a championship. We'll see how far he can carry these humans now.

There is no doubt that Mo will fit in nicely with this club. He will score and stretch the D and all that good stuff, but I believe the one thing that this team needs more than anything is Ben Wallace. If (a HUUUGEEE if) his body isn't completely broken down as it appears, some for of the old Ben would be tremendous. They need the rebounding, defensive intensity, et. al. that Wallace is known to bring to the table. Now more than ever, with scoring at the 1,3, and 5 spots, defense at the 2 (which they already have in Delonte) and 4 is absolutely crucial. Z is an immobile huge ogre who gets boards only when the ball bounces off the rim and directly to where he is standing. Wallace, obviously, is one of the leagues best rebounders when healthy. He is a tremendously active defender and a fierce competitor. I do not think that Varajeo is the answer there and I think that 30 minutes per game of Ben Wallace is what this team needs to take that next step. Their team defense would be so, so much better. Lebron is an outstanding defender, as is Delonte, and between them they can more or less shut down any swing men / guards on the opposition. They need Wallace to be a similar force on the interior.

Points and scoring was never REALLY a problem for this team. I mean we all know what Lebron did in the Pistons series in '06, so obviously, he can score enough regardless of the incompetence surrounding him to beat some teams in the playoffs. Mo Williams will undoubtedly take some pressure off and make things easier for him on offense. What I'm trying to say is, is Mo really the difference maker that vaults this team into some new echelon in the East? No. Definitely, absolutely not. But, it is a step in the right direction and was badly needed. If Ben Wallace sees a resurgence of sorts this year and can stay somewhat healthy, then I think this team is serious. A starting 5 of Mo-West-King-Wallace-Z with Booby, Varajeo, Wally and Pavlovic off the bench would be a terrific rotation. Wallace, in my opinion, is the lynchpin and their team defense will be merely average if he is not in there. Mo will improve the fluidity of their offense but not really improve them defensively at all. But, if Wallace is right this year, their defense will be really, really good and the addition of Mo to improve the offense will prime the Cavs to make a deep run in the playoffs.

1 comment:

Gir said...

Very funny post. Like the blood reference very much and the reference to the Cavs' new trio. Good work gir