"Poll question: How many games will THE LAND win this year?"
Now that the opening acts have warmed up the season, it's time for the headliner to properly usher in the 2014-2015 season tonight on TNT.
Just how many games can Kang, Ky, BIG LOVE & Co. win in their first year assembled as a unit?
Everyone remembers the Heat's 9-8 struggle to open Kang's tenure in Miami in his first season there. Will Cleveland face similar struggles? Can they get to the Finals and have the instant success Bron was able to manufacture w/ a healthier Wade in their first season as a unit?
I'm predicting 61 wins this year for THE LAND, en route to a Finals berth that mad-makes considerably along the way.
It's going to take time for everyone to gel. Dion has to stop ball hogging.
Anything over 30 games is a victory. Yes, I am underselling with this team. No, I don't believe we will win "only" 30 games but just in case we do......
9. "We know 60+ is out of the equation in all honesty. " In response to Reply # 2
That heat team won 60+ games ONCE with all that talent. Remember the talk about how they would break the wins record in their first year. It was supposed be easy right?
This Cleveland team is very young to an extent and needs time to gel. I can't say they'll win more than 50 games their first year at best.
The Lakers aren't winning more than 40 games for the record.
10. "How many games did Bron win in CLE prior to his Miami stint?" In response to Reply # 9
right, 60+.
>That heat team won 60+ games ONCE with all that talent.
This Cleveland team has more talent than Bron's Miami team.
Now, it's certainly not going to be easy by any means - but I expect this team to gel much faster than Bron did w/ Miami. That first year there featured an identity crisis for LeBron and Wade - Bron is so much more comfortable in his skin having gone through championship adversity that no other current star has experienced - he's beyond prepared to lead this team, unlike when he was in Miami in 2010.
You won't see this team struggle w/ a 9-8 start. And it's absolutely reasonable to assume they'll win 55-60 games, this year.
37. "That was legitimately the (L)eastern conference" In response to Reply # 10
There aren't a ton of easy outs anymore. The Bulls, Raps, Wiz, Hawks, Hornets and Heat are all good. The Bucks are my pick as "this year's Suns", and the Knicks and Pistons should both be better.
39. "Quite true. But also, those Cavs teams weren't *this* Cavs team" In response to Reply # 37
>There aren't a ton of easy outs anymore. The Bulls, Raps, >Wiz, Hawks, Hornets and Heat are all good. The Bucks are my >pick as "this year's Suns", and the Knicks and Pistons should >both be better.
I think the east will be fun to watch, and unexpectedly competitive. I picked Miami to be the 3rd seed.
11. "we've been over this, Doc." In response to Reply # 4
and we've united the Kangdom, haven't we?
I will be in Cleveland for some games, and I might even rock the ABA Floridian Bron jersey while there, just to remind Cleveland fans of what a true, loyal fan (of players) looks like.
Celebrating Lebron's success has been one of my favorite moments of being a sports fan - and I'll continue to do so in genuine, authentic fashion. I've been consistent about my fandom and am entitled to these years in Cleveland as a fan as much as you are.
You on the other hand, are wildly inconsistent and fairweather -- cursing Lebron one year, then being forced to welcome him back the next...so have fun being bitter and beholden to your lord and savior, Danny Gilbert.
24. "RE: you gonna be ok?" In response to Reply # 23
>Celebrating Lebron's success has been one of my favorite >moments of being a sports fan - and I'll continue to do so in >genuine, authentic fashion. I've been consistent about my >fandom and am entitled to these years in Cleveland as a fan as >much as you are. > >You on the other hand, are wildly inconsistent and fairweather >-- cursing Lebron one year, then being forced to welcome him >back the next...so have fun being bitter and beholden to your >lord and savior, Danny Gilbert. > >-->
Given the way LeBron left, don't you see why a Cleveland fan would be upset with LeBron for leaving the team? Granted the Dan Gilbert reaction was too much, but given the sports history of the city and the bugled way LeBron handled leaving, you don't see why a Cavs fan would be upset with LeBron while he was on the Heat?
>Given the way LeBron left, don't you see why a Cleveland fan >would be upset with LeBron for leaving the team?
Of course...in 2010, or 2011....but in 2014 - when that same guy has returned to your team in a historic display of redemption?
Absolutely not. At some point - you have to get over acting like a jilted lover.
Where I take issue is in those Cleveland fans who try to render Lebron fans inauthentic. That's lazy and without merit. In fact, the definition of a true fan is someone who is consistent during the ups & downs. As such, any true Lebron fan who was there in 2010 when he was the most hated player in the game, and had a meltdown in the Finals v. Dallas, deserves to enjoy his subsequent success.
If you are a die-hard Cavs fan, fine. But you don't then get to have the right to be the arbiter of who is a real fan and who isn't based on your residual bitterness over The Decision.
36. "but you established that you're a fan of the Redskins team." In response to Reply # 32 Thu Oct-30-14 03:17 PM by Vex_id
not necessarily RGIII (meaning that you wouldn't root for RGIII if he played for a diff. team, so you're not really a fan of his, per se).
>fans of teams root bc we're part of a community of fans, it's >part of our identity > >not necessarily rational but not everything is
and that's fine - I totally get that. However, not everyone views sports within that lens. I grew up around Chicago and my pops went to U. of Illinois, so that's really the only 'team' that I am loyal to, but I moved around so much from diff. state to diff. country that i never had that singularity experience as a fan of one team --- and then I came to the acknowledgment that franchises and owners aren't really entities that I want to pledge my support to.
Am I less of a sports fan because of that?
of course not - that's silly.
I only attack franchise sports fans when they claim that fans of individual players are somehow less worthy or authentic as sports fans - as super Fanboy OSU is doing in this post.
An obvious debunking argument to that would be to look at fans of tennis, or golf, or boxing - are they less legitimate because they cheer for individuals?
38. "basketball is a team sport, thats apples & oranges" In response to Reply # 36 Thu Oct-30-14 03:21 PM by CalvinButts
lets just say i do look sideways at "player fans" but its not that serious, im sure Quicken needs the money lol
i do get being a player fan in the NBA more than other sports due to MJ's god status in my youth
*shrug*
edit: i can understand osu's beef, he's from there & has paid his dues as a fan of the team so i totally get not caring for fans of that are only there bc of one guy, especially a team w/ so much negative history (ie a team where one really pays their dues in misery)
51. "RE: basketball is a team sport, thats apples & oranges" In response to Reply # 38
>lets just say i do look sideways at "player fans" but its not >that serious, im sure Quicken needs the money lol > >i do get being a player fan in the NBA more than other sports >due to MJ's god status in my youth > >*shrug*
The NBA also markets the individual players a lot as well, so I can understand somewhat wanting to root for an individual. I personally don't agree with it because I formed my fandom in my formative years and it will be hard to remove it, but I get where others will rock to a different beat.
>edit: i can understand osu's beef, he's from there & has paid >his dues as a fan of the team so i totally get not caring for >fans of that are only there bc of one guy, especially a team >w/ so much negative history (ie a team where one really pays >their dues in misery)
I think the mixture of the horid way LeBron initially left and the Agenda-Con theme of the majority of the basketball threads on this board is where osu's beef stems from given that his fandom isn't based on any agendas.
60. "basketball is also a sport where the best win ringS" In response to Reply # 51
a best player in the league, a once in a generation player, will more than likely get multiple rings and be on top for a while. in that sense, latching on to that player is kinda cheap because you're almost guaranteed to win. but whatever floats this guy's boat. the whole trying to be down with cleveland as a city with the slang and all that, is pretty sad though.
63. "again - you're upset, so you're talking reckless." In response to Reply # 60 Thu Oct-30-14 07:49 PM by Vex_id
the whole trying to be down with >cleveland as a city with the slang and all that, is pretty sad >though.
Never did I once try to 'be down with Cleveland as a city' -- I referred to the cavs as THE LAND. Why? Because that's what the Cavs players are doing - but none of them are from Cleveland, they just play for the Cavs, so should they not use that term either?
lol y'all are so whiny, but I love it, and remain entertained.
Also, re: the whole 'it's kinda cheap to cheer for a great player' non-sense. So silly, and interesting enough, I didn't hear you say anything about Kobestans who cheer for him (with no connection to Los Angeles or the Lakers) -- but you go after Bron fans because you're basic. That's neat.
Kinda like how I followed MJ when I >was a little kid
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
74. "y'all are just mad and wild'ing...and i love it." In response to Reply # 73
tons of people on this board express their fandom in hyperbole (O_E w/ melo, Ba w/ Ky, Shawn w/ Lin) - most sports fans reach into their inner-child when they enjoy sports, that's natural.
Only thing diff. here is i identified something that bothers people (Bron stannery) and took it to fairly obnoxious levels out of entertainment.
But i love seeing people try and act like 'it's childish to cheer for a player like you do!' when their screen names, avatars, and entire being is invested in their region's sports franchise.
41. "lolz...its sad if you really believe this." In response to Reply # 23 Thu Oct-30-14 03:25 PM by Cenario
That might have been true in Miami tho lol
<I've been consistent about my >fandom and am entitled to these years in Cleveland as a fan as >much as you are. >
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
>Please just understand that it isn't really yours.
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
46. "dude you are getting bodied by real cavs fans in your own post" In response to Reply # 43
maybe the mods will delete it if you ask nicely.
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
50. "lol gee what an objective assessment by Cenario" In response to Reply # 46
maybe I should inbox Dan the OK president and ask him to delete it for me. "Dan, Cenarior said i'm getting bodied by his friends who hate Lebron. HELP!"
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
12. "Blue. They prob win the east but I'd bet against a title this year. n/m" In response to Reply # 0
My boy in Cleveland is a die-hard fan of all their teams. He got season tickets 4 rows back from the Cavs bench BEFORE Lebron announced he was going back.
That cat stumbled upon one of the greatest come ups in history. I bet he got those seats for next to nothing.
Those Miami teams were lazily coasting to wins during the regular season, admittedly conceding the best record to Indiana when it was well within reach.
42. "not about effort, it's about offensive firepower" In response to Reply # 34
how well the cavs play defense will only matter against the top 5-7 teams in the league. the rest of them just can't keep up with the scoring barrage that bron, love, and kyrie about to unleash.
---- bshelly
"You (Fisher) could get fired, Les Snead could get fired, Kevin Demoff could get fired, but I will always be Eric Dickerson.” (c) The God
30. "High 50's. 60+ games is really fucking hard. " In response to Reply # 0
Now granted, I think Lebron's teams have had 2 60+ win seasons (maybe it's only that 09 Cavs team) - but still, I think he knows that winning regular season games is so much less important than gelling together. Especially in the East where they're basically guaranteed a 2 seed at worst.
33. "RE: High 50's. 60+ games is really fucking hard. " In response to Reply # 30
> I >think he knows that winning regular season games is so much >less important than gelling together.
I wonder if LeBron wants to limit the number of regular season minutes he logs in this season. He's still relatively young and been free from major injuries, but if he's smart, he should want to lessen his load.
49. "I almost forgot he skipped college" In response to Reply # 47
which means he's not really all that young either when you think about it. He's under 30, which means he should recover from the wear and tear of the regular season, but you're correct in that he's accumulated a ton of minutes in the regular, post-season, and Olympic run years as well.
I'm aware of Kyrie's injury issues, but does Kevin Love have any serious injury issues that could re-occur this season? I doubt LeBron wants to bear the torch for the regular season like he was forced to the last two years in Miami.
55. "rightfully so. This was another reason why Bron went home" In response to Reply # 53 Thu Oct-30-14 04:26 PM by Vex_id
he was sustaining the lionshare of mileage in Miami while Wade was taking every other night off, and Bosh was playing a relatively pedestrian role as third leg. In Cleveland, Kyrie is starving to be 'the guy' - and he'll get his chance to do so on select nights w/ his young legs. Love will play a more prominent role in this triangular equation than Bosh did, and the complementary pieces (Andy, Dion, Marion, Thompson, Miller etc..) are more formidable than the complementary pieces Bron had in Miami (Cole, Chalmers, Shane, Ray).
Given Bron's ridiculous mileage that he's put on his body since he came into the league (mentioned by Ryan_M above) - he really had to make a change as the work-horse absorption impact he had to carry in Miami was simply not sustainable.
Dion Waiters Doesn’t Want to Be a Catch-and-Shoot Player for the Cavs SLAM Online by Marcel Mutoni
LeBron James was busy preaching about playing unselfishly and breaking out of bad habits following a road loss Tuesday night, but not all of his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates may be ready to fully listen just yet.
Guard Dion Waiters fought for his place in the team’s starting lineup, and figured he was in for an easy ride this season.
Waiters isn’t all that jazzed about his new role on the Cavs -– primarily that of a spot-up shooter -– and his poor play against the Portland Trail Blazers landed him on the bench (in favor of backup Matthew Dellavedova, who suffered a knee injury.)
Per the Akron Beacon Journal: It has been made clear to me in recent days by Cavs deep thinkers they’d like Waiters to really concentrate on two areas: defending like crazy and shooting catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. Waiters’ catch-and-shoot numbers last season were much better than I would’ve predicted: He made 42 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts last season (72-for-173). That ranked 35th in the league (minimum 100 attempts), which was higher than Kevin Love (40 percent) and (Kyrie) Irving (32 percent).
So when Waiters stayed behind after the team’s morning shootaround Tuesday and worked out for another 40 minutes, after the bus and rest of the players were long gone, it wasn’t surprising to watch him working primarily on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. Yet when I asked him about focusing on that this season, he dismissed it.
“That’s not my game,” he said. “I can do it, but you know what I’m effective at: pick-and-roll and things like that.”
___
it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes
86. "oh I got no dog in this... I ain't taking sides..." In response to Reply # 84
I'm just praying for at least one year of dysfunction so the factions on OKS can form and start the agendas... lolololololol
If they only struggle for 1/4 to 1/2 the season that's not longer enough for people to spazz out. They have to know that there's a legitimate chance that this shit won't work out like they thought & shit will be on on poppin.
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