Just another crushing loss. Browns fall to Dolphins 30-24 in OT
September 25, 2016Cleveland Browns Week 3 Winners and Losers
September 26, 2016If it feels like the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season just ended, well—that’s the difference between finishing a season in the middle of April versus having one trickle into the third week of June. When you factor in the fan fare that surrounded the Cavs championship, one with a palpable feeling that carried well into the late summer, the fact that Monday afternoon is Media Day for the 2016-17 season seems crazy.
Come this time Tuesday, the Cavaliers will be practicing at Cleveland Clinic Courts. The gang will be back together, this time with guys like Mike Dunleavy (potentially the most forgotten addition over the last several seasons), Chris Andersen and a host of kids looking to crack the bottom of a championship roster.
Last season around this time, the Cavs were dealing with a litany of injuries. Kyrie Irving had no timetable. Kevin Love spent the entire summer rehabilitating his shoulder in Utah. Iman Shumpert hurt his wrist dunking the day before. We didn’t know it at the time, but David Blatt was already on a short leash. Tristan Thompson was unsigned. This time, however, the only question that looms is what can this team do for a repeat performance?
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Point is, what more can you ask of these guys?
Point is, what more can you ask of these guys? They’re champions. Sure, the competitors in them will continue to do just that. There is no way they’re satisfied with one. Anyone who’s followed LeBron on his Instagram stories over the last several months knows that the guy has been working out harder than any 30-something should. He’s never satisfied. But all of the pressures and what-if scenarios and discussions about the magnitude of the coming months all feel so much more subdued than in recent years.
The team obviously has their own expectations. It’s looking more and more like a two-horse race that will expand over the next eight months. But what about the fans? The angst of “Will We Ever Win?” is gone. No longer do we have to treat every isolation play and timeout and errant pass as if they are referendums on something larger. For the first time in recent history, a fan of a Cleveland team gets to enter a season as the hunted rather than the hunter.
Long gone are the days of pub tables with Luke Harangody and Manny Harris and his cousin Joe. Firmly in place is a podium where every player is treated like a star. Long gone are the days of hoping, waiting and wish for the city’s fortunes to change. Firmly in place is a team that is roughly one month away from standing on the floor at Quicken Loans Arena, watching as a championship banner gets lifted in to the rafters.
Basketball is back, yet this time, it’s much more relaxing.
22 Comments
No. 1 question for today:
Where’s Delly?
Where’s JR?
https://media.giphy.com/media/a1cCNAOGJpupO/giphy.gif
Oh, and while we’re at it…
Baseball players, quit celebrating Divisional Championships like it’s the freakin’ World Series.
Just stop.
Everyone knows where J.R. is…
in unrelated, completely tangential topic, did you know that you cannot be drug tested while not an official member of the NBA such as an unrestricted free agent?
No
Here’s my question for any of the Cavs: if last season, when you had something to prove, it was hard to not mail it in until like March, how will any of you even feign interest for a December 23 game against Brooklyn?
Or this: if home court advantage in the Finals was awarded on a rotating basis rather than best record, etc., would either LeBron or Kyrie play in February?
thanks for keeping the shot waist up. Because I always found Robin’s outfit a tad disturbing.
Houston, enjoy Tom Herman while you have him.
You can send hate mail to Auburn.
And speaking of Auburn, did anyone see that jagoff set one of Toomers Corners trees on fire? In case none of you have had the pleasure of living down here, southern football fans are the worst.
Ok. Where’s JR’s $15m offers?
The Cavs have carte blanche from me this season. LeBron wants to try for a triple-double average for the season? Cool. Kevin Love has a dance routine he wants to work into the halftime show? Show us your moves. Kyrie wants to set a record for fewest assists over an 82-game season? Be my guest, young blood. Hell, get J.R. re-signed and let him take a run at Curry’s 3-point record from last season–it’s all gravy at this point. A repeat title would of course be incredible, but I plan to find out what it’s like to experience a care free Cleveland sports season for the first time in my life.
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j322/cawalkerokay/parks-and-recreation-Jean-Ralphio-the-worst-worst-woooorst-1372637673p.gif
Can’t wait to raise that banner.
be interesting to see how much he gets. Tristan got near his asking price after waiting into October for a deal.
But, didn’t TT at least have the threat of a real tangible offer or interest to use as leverage to get his price?
he signed Oct 22 – how tangible could any other offer really have been?
I wonder at what point a coach will say something like (to use this particular instance as an example) “I’m already in Houston, and have easy access to a whole bunch of great Texas recruits, I can beat up on this conference that is not so awful to keep me out of the playoffs, and I don’t have to beat Saban and that Alabama juggernaut”
Sure, he’d get paid a lot better at LSU, and have a lot more resources, but I think Herman at Houston has a better shot at postseason success than Herman at LSU.
The way USC’s season is going….Hermann might have a bit of a choice to make.
He might. But, part of the reason these guys are great coaches is that they don’t think that way. He wants access to the best athletes, resources, and facilities and will think he can compete with anybody if he has it. That is part of the wiring.
Now, if the BigXII decides to add Houston in the next couple months and the Cougars offer to match any LSU $$$ deal and upgrade facilities? Perhaps that helps.
I think that last part goes against what I’d be interested in seeing. I’m talking about a coach specifically passing on resources and big paychecks to stay at a place that has a good shot at playoff appearances. I’d like to see more guys try to be the next Schnellenberger, but agree with that first part 100%.
If LSU goes after D’Antonio, I wonder how quickly MSU calls Herman.
How funny would it be for LSU to grab another MSU coach?
If LSU is smart, they’ve already got a dump truck full of cash doing drive-bys at the Herman residence.