Cleveland's Long Road To Rebuilding

A central theme of Miami and Cleveland's fourth and final match-up of the season Tuesday night was "showing up." Most observers, including myself, felt all Miami had to do was show up in order to win. They'd won the previous three match-ups by an average of 20 points, more than tripled the Cavs win total this season, and flat out possess more talent on their roster.

LeBron James also failed to show up for the pregame introductions, launching a thousand speculations as to why. The least likely among them is that James was scared to face the chorus of boos waiting for him. Unlikely because James has been serenaded with boos from every city this season and took part in the introductions on December 2nd, the last time the Heat played in Cleveland.

James claimed he was in the restroom during the introductions. Obviously, an eight-year veteran who hasn't missed a pregame introduction in his career shouldn't be granted the benefit of the doubt in this case. James most likely skipped the introductions in protest of some of his friends and associates being denied access to an underground parking garage at Quicken Loans Arena. The privilege, routinely granted to James' entourage when he was a member of the team, isn't typically granted to visiting players.

James hogged the pre-game and much of the in-game conversation, posting the 36th triple-double of his career. But Tuesday night was undoubtedly about the Cavaliers and their 102-90 win.

In their first meeting in Cleveland, the Cavs were rightly accused of cowering to LeBron. They joked with him as he approached their bench during free throw attempts and offered very little resistance on the defensive end. The Cavs went on to lose 35 of their next 36 games. Followers of the team pointed to the Miami game as the one that rocked the Cavs' confidence.

Heading into Tuesday's game the future of both teams was already decided. The 14-58 Cavs were headed for the draft lottery and the 51-22 Heat were gunning for the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A win figured to mean more to the Heat, but no one bothered to mention that to the new look Cavs.

Ryan Hollins shut Bosh down, holding him to 10 points on 5-14 shooting. He provided the defensive intensity that was sorely lacking during their December match up. Anthony Parker hit four three-pointers, all of which either prolonged a Cleveland run, or killed one of Miami's. Luke Harangody came off the bench looking to score and poured in seven 2nd quarter points. He was the biggest reason the Cavs held an 11-point lead at halftime. All unlikely heroes indeed, which seems only fitting for Cleveland's Herculean toppling of the supposed Miami super team.

I'm reminded of a quote from 1994 children's movie classic Little Giants, which coincidentally took place in Urbana, Ohio, about 200 miles southwest of Cleveland. Giants coach and perpetual loser Danny O'Shea addresses his depleted team at halftime of a blowout at the hands of the Cowboys, coached by his older brother Kevin. 

Danny O'Shea: ...you guys belong out there with those Cowboys. You know how I know that? Because I belong out there with my brother.


Rudy Zolteck: Give us a break, coach. You could never beat Kevin O'Shea at *anything*!

Danny O'Shea: That's not true. I did beat him once.

Jake Berman: When?

Danny O'Shea: When we were kids. We used to race our bikes down Cherry Hill every day after school. We raced every day and he always beat me, but one time, one time... I beat him.

Jake Berman: You beat Kevin down Cherry Hill?

Danny O'Shea: Yes, I did. He ate my dust.

This was the Cavs' one time.
 
It is now important for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland to move on. Even the Packers had to get over the hump and beat Brett Favre before they won the Super Bowl. The LeBron James chapter is now closed. Continuing to curse his name and sell out only the games he plays in just shows how dependent they are on the idea of LeBron.
Tuesday night was about the Cleveland Cavaliers and no one else. They showed up and beat a team they didn't deserve to be on the floor with. The city of Cleveland can be proud, if only for one night. This feeling, even more important than the upcoming 2011 Draft, is the first step towards the rebuilding process.

The Case For Keith Bogans

Bulls fans are spoiled. As if six championships in the 90s and watching the greatest player ever wasn't enough, all I've been hearing for the last three months is the Bulls need to upgrade the shooting guard position. As if a 37-16 record without a full roster, and one game left before the All-Star break wasn't enough. We need to get better! And the only way is to get another shooting guard, anyone except Bogans. Rip Hamilton, Stephen Jackson, JR Smith, Arron Afflalo, Anthony Parker, Courtney Lee, OJ Mayo--ANYONE.
Derrick Rose can't just be considered one of the best point guards in the game, he has to be considered the best. Derrick Rose can't just be an MVP candidate, he has to be the MVP favorite. The Bulls can't just have one All-Star, they need at least two.
More. More More. Nothing has been good enough this year, has it Bulls fans?
I understand that the last 12 seasons have been tortuous, mixed with a little good here and there. It was fun watching Elton Brand compete with some pitiful Bulls teams early in his career. The 2007 playoffs in which we swept the defending champion Heat in the first round, and battled back from a 3-0 series deficit to take the Pistons to six was memorable, and left many of us foolishly thinking the Bulls had turned the corner. The 2009 first round series with Boston was quite possibly the greatest playoff series ever and best Chicago Bulls moment of the last 12 years--even though we didn't win that series.
I also understand the Miami Heat have created an "arms-race" mentality in the NBA. Three big names teamed up in Miami and the same will probably happen in New York. The Celtics already have their Big Three, now Big Four. Conventional thinking then says that in order to keep up with these teams, you need to stockpile the biggest names and most talent. This line of thinking is true to an extent, but disregards the issue of chemistry and a player's willingness to adapt to a certain role.
That's why I'll take Keith Bogans over any of the players I just mentioned above. He plays great defense and is rarely caught out of position. He's never once tried to do too much on the offensive or defensive end. Ask yourself if any of the above players be content with six shots a game? I doubt it, and that's twice the amount of shots Bogans takes per game. I'd rather not deny Rose the ball if it means the shooting guard replacement needs more shots.
The biggest critique of Bogans is that he doesn't score enough. On the surface, it's hard to argue with that. He averages 3.9 points per game. But lets look at this scoring "conundrum" a little closer.
With Noah back, the Bulls will average about 80 points per game from their starters, tied for the fourth highest total in the NBA. The only teams higher are the Knicks (85), Warriors (82), and Heat (81). The Knicks and Warriors push the ball up the court, take quick shots, and play very little defense. They also have thin benches. Their teams philosophies are perfectly suited to scoring a lot of points. I know, they're a combined 3-1 against the Bulls, but neither are championship contenders and wouldn't beat the Bulls in a seven game series. The Heat have the two best players in the NBA, who combine for 52 of those 81 points. In comparison, the Bulls' top two scorers, Rose and Boozer, combine for 44.
Hopefully, my point about Bulls fans being spoiled is starting to get clearer. How many points do they expect the starters to score? The fans seem to think we should be able to add a 12-14 point per game scorer to the starting lineup. If we did that, we'd not only have a starting lineup that averages more than 90 points per game, but outscores the 2nd highest scoring lineup by 7 or 8 points a game.
The average NBA team gets 70 points per game out of their starting lineup. The Bulls get 80, but the fans want over 90. Ludicrous!
Let's also acknowledge that Bogans has been shooting the ball much better of late. In the first 31 games of the season, he shot 37 percent from behind the arc, in line with his career average. In the last 22 games, he's shot the three-pointer at a 47 percent clip. How about the a happy medium, 42 percent? I think that's more than doable, considering nearly every Bogans three pointer is uncontested. He's seeing more wide open looks than he ever has in his career. A five percent increase from his career three-point shooting percentage isn't out of the question.
72 percent of Bogans' field goal attempts are threes, a number that I'd like to see closer to 80. He only attempts 2.5 shots per game, so the lack of scoring isn't his fault. There's simply not enough shots to go around, which is why it would be ridiculous to think a starting lineup could average over 90 points a game. If Bogans took even six shots a game, he'd be averaging 6 or 7 points, a number that is well in line with most fourth or fifth options. There's always going to be an odd man out and Bogans is that man. Why he's being criticized for it, I have no idea.
The Bulls have never won or lost a game because of Keith Bogans. They won't win or lose a game because of his potential replacement. We're good enough to contend with the team we have right now. It's been 12 rough years for God's sake. Stop trying to act spoiled now.