Didn’t Draw Iron - an NBA Basketball Blog

As you can read about HERE in FanNation, LeBron and the Cavs aren’t too happy about Mo Williams not making the All Star team. Ben Wallace channeled Shaquille O’Neal for a Diesel like response:

“It’s a tragedy,” Ben Wallace said. “I think it’s an injustice. It’s a fraud. We’ve got the best record in the league, and we’ve only got one guy going… It’s a travesty and a sham and a mockery. It’s a shamockery.”

LeBron is rather wisely playing the “disrespect card”. Said LeBron James: “It just shows the disrespect that basketball in Cleveland continues to get. I haven’t seen the All-Star list yet, so I can’t comment on who’s in it. But it’s definitely disrespectful that we continue to do work every year with nothing to show for it. “We all believe that Mo’s an All-Star and the reason we’ve had the best record in the NBA right now. Mo’s a big part of our team. Just look at the wins and losses from last year to this year with really only one addition - Mo Williams.”

Of course the impact you have on your team isn’t a key All Star qualifier. If it were, Mike D’Antoni would be coaching the East. Williams happens to be a perfect fit for what the Cavs needed, but Jameer is having a better year.

Still, it’s a very smart move on LeBron’s part. You look for motivation for your team anywhere you can find it. Questionable though, is a rumored response from LeBron and Nike for the All Star Game:

Dubbed the “LBJsayBigMO>Jameer” All Star Specials, they may or may not ever see the light of day. We’ll just have to wait until game time…

(don’t hold your breathe :-))

There has been a lot of discussion about whether or not Lebron traveled at the end of the Washington game when he performed what he called the “crab dribble”. The evidence has been inconclusive until now, but a new camera angle and step by step breakdown seem to prove LeBron was indeed correct. He didn’t travel…

I’m guessing this is going to find it’s way to the refs for their next training session, but who knows. David Stern can be hard headed (crab like in a way).

I admit it. I’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid too. Cleveland is among the 3 or 4 elite teams in the NBA and LeBron is a near lock for MVP. Right? The NBA community sure seems to think so. Just take a look at the latest power rankings:

Hollinger: #2
Stein: #3
NBA.com: #1

And the Hollinger ranking was made AFTER the Detroit loss. Any chance we might be jumping the gun on both LeBron and the Cavaliers? The evidence suggests we might…

Current record: 9-3

However, every one of their wins has come against bad teams (with the possible exception of Denver). They’ve beaten Dallas, Indiana, Milwaukee, Denver, Utah w/no Deron, NJ and Chicago twice. Their combined records are 43-48, and that’s with Denver at 8-4.

They’ve played 3 tough teams - Boston, New Orleans and Detroit, and lost to all of them.

Lebron’s current averages are 29pts/8rbd/7ast and shooting 48%. Amazing to be sure. But how has he done against the real title contenders?

vs BOS: 22/7/6 @ 42%
vs NO: 15/7/13 @ 40%
vs DET: 25/6/6 @ 38%

All off his average. Obviously you might expect his numbers to dip somewhat against better competition, but the shooting % is the most telling. When playing teams that don’t allow him to drive to basket like he’s merging onto the freeway, he’s only shooting 40%. And that’s with him drastically cutting down his 3pt attempts this year; taking just 39 so far (which he’s shooting at 25% btw).

That said, Cleveland is beating the teams they should beat. They’re clearly better than they were last year and LBJ might be the MVP come May. But I think it’s also clear that they don’t deserve the high rankings, or to be talked about in the same breath as Boston or Detroit in the East. Not just yet.

Unfortunately, we won’t find out how good they really are anytime soon. Cleveland’s easy schedule continues through December. The “toughest” games they have are Toronto, Houston, and suddenly struggling Atlanta twice. We’ll really see what they’re made of in January when they play Boston, NO, LA, Portland and Orlando.

Till then, the jury is out…