ducks
07-24-2005, 10:48 AM
Cavaliers still not in a championship realm
BY TERRY PLUTO, Knight Ridder Newspapers
July 24, 2005
AKRON, Ohio - (KRT) - No matter how their roster looks heading into training camp, the Cavaliers won't be playing for the NBA title next season.
Someone needs to tell the fans that despite a strong summer of free-agent signings, this team is not championship caliber. It still competes in a league that rewards experience, both in terms of age and postseason games played.
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Someone needs to explain that if the Cavaliers make the playoffs next year and perhaps win a round, that should be considered a successful season.
Someone has to explain that the signings of Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are designed to put the team in contention over the next few seasons.
It's not this year or never for the Cavaliers.
Does anyone realize that LeBron James will not turn 21 until Dec. 30?
What did Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and virtually any other current star win in their early 20s? Well, Tim Duncan was 23 when he won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs, but he teamed up with a 33-year-old David Robinson to do it.
Magic Johnson won a title at 20, but had a couple of veterans named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Norm Nixon to help. Kobe Bryant didn't win a championship without O'Neal and a coach named Phil Jackson, who arrived with six championship rings.
The Cavaliers have a rookie coach in Mike Brown. No matter how well prepared, he's still in his first year. He'll still make some rookie mistakes, he'll still have to learn some things the hard way.
Consider what happened to Miami this spring. The Heat won more games than any Eastern Conference team. They added O'Neal to Dwyane Wade, who is Miami's LeBron James. But they still lost to the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs, and no doubt second-year coach Stan Van Gundy didn't win every X-and-O duel with Detroit's Larry Brown.
With the Cavaliers, the idea is for Mike Brown and his players to mature together. Get better every season. James is a restricted free agent in the summer of 2007, meaning the Cavaliers can match any offer he receives. He can't leave until the summer of 2008, when he'll be unrestricted.
That gives the Cavaliers three seasons to show James they are a serious contender.
Everything doesn't have to happen now. But the Cavaliers must be stabilized. James is on his third coach in his third pro season. The only players left from when he joined the Cavaliers are Ira Newble and Ilgauskas.
Before coming to the Cavaliers, James played at St. Vincent-St. Mary High for four years. He played for the same core group of coaches (Dru Joyce II and Lee Cotton) from fifth grade through high school and thrived in a system with continuity and stability.
Northeast Ohio is home to James, and he wants to stay here, assuming the franchise is run and coached in a professional manner.
Like Cavaliers fans, James is not just looking for a reason to believe in this year - but also the future.
General manager Danny Ferry seems to understand it.
His big signing is Hughes, who is 26. He's entering his prime and should be a terrific player for all five years of his contract.
Ferry also brought back Ilgauskas at about $9 million for the first of a new five-year deal. While it seems the 7-foot-3 center has been around since George Mikan first threw up a hook shot, Ilgauskas just turned 30 in June.
He should have several good years left.
Marshall is 32, and could be a Robert Horry-type who plays forever because of his outside shooting.
The Cavaliers still need a point guard. They need a defensive presence at power forward. They need experience. They won't get it all this summer, regardless of what moves are still to come. But some solid pieces are being assembled around James, and that really is progress.
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© 2005, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).
Visit Akron Beacon Journal Online at http://www.ohio.com.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=knight-_WWW_SPRT_12201876&prov=knight&type=lgns
BY TERRY PLUTO, Knight Ridder Newspapers
July 24, 2005
AKRON, Ohio - (KRT) - No matter how their roster looks heading into training camp, the Cavaliers won't be playing for the NBA title next season.
Someone needs to tell the fans that despite a strong summer of free-agent signings, this team is not championship caliber. It still competes in a league that rewards experience, both in terms of age and postseason games played.
ADVERTISEMENT
Someone needs to explain that if the Cavaliers make the playoffs next year and perhaps win a round, that should be considered a successful season.
Someone has to explain that the signings of Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are designed to put the team in contention over the next few seasons.
It's not this year or never for the Cavaliers.
Does anyone realize that LeBron James will not turn 21 until Dec. 30?
What did Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and virtually any other current star win in their early 20s? Well, Tim Duncan was 23 when he won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs, but he teamed up with a 33-year-old David Robinson to do it.
Magic Johnson won a title at 20, but had a couple of veterans named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Norm Nixon to help. Kobe Bryant didn't win a championship without O'Neal and a coach named Phil Jackson, who arrived with six championship rings.
The Cavaliers have a rookie coach in Mike Brown. No matter how well prepared, he's still in his first year. He'll still make some rookie mistakes, he'll still have to learn some things the hard way.
Consider what happened to Miami this spring. The Heat won more games than any Eastern Conference team. They added O'Neal to Dwyane Wade, who is Miami's LeBron James. But they still lost to the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs, and no doubt second-year coach Stan Van Gundy didn't win every X-and-O duel with Detroit's Larry Brown.
With the Cavaliers, the idea is for Mike Brown and his players to mature together. Get better every season. James is a restricted free agent in the summer of 2007, meaning the Cavaliers can match any offer he receives. He can't leave until the summer of 2008, when he'll be unrestricted.
That gives the Cavaliers three seasons to show James they are a serious contender.
Everything doesn't have to happen now. But the Cavaliers must be stabilized. James is on his third coach in his third pro season. The only players left from when he joined the Cavaliers are Ira Newble and Ilgauskas.
Before coming to the Cavaliers, James played at St. Vincent-St. Mary High for four years. He played for the same core group of coaches (Dru Joyce II and Lee Cotton) from fifth grade through high school and thrived in a system with continuity and stability.
Northeast Ohio is home to James, and he wants to stay here, assuming the franchise is run and coached in a professional manner.
Like Cavaliers fans, James is not just looking for a reason to believe in this year - but also the future.
General manager Danny Ferry seems to understand it.
His big signing is Hughes, who is 26. He's entering his prime and should be a terrific player for all five years of his contract.
Ferry also brought back Ilgauskas at about $9 million for the first of a new five-year deal. While it seems the 7-foot-3 center has been around since George Mikan first threw up a hook shot, Ilgauskas just turned 30 in June.
He should have several good years left.
Marshall is 32, and could be a Robert Horry-type who plays forever because of his outside shooting.
The Cavaliers still need a point guard. They need a defensive presence at power forward. They need experience. They won't get it all this summer, regardless of what moves are still to come. But some solid pieces are being assembled around James, and that really is progress.
---
© 2005, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).
Visit Akron Beacon Journal Online at http://www.ohio.com.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=knight-_WWW_SPRT_12201876&prov=knight&type=lgns