The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently the #1 seed in the East, not overly surprising, it's a horrible conference and they're an OK team with an elite superstar. They also got the living piss kicked out of them last night in the Rose Garden by the now 16-24 Blazers. I've been accused at times of being too negative, whether it's my ranting against Nate's crazy playing time decisions, The All Star's general suckage, Subterfuge Stevie's everything, etc. So, I've decided to be positive today, on the heels of a shocking destruction of the Cavs, I give you the things I like about this team and the hope for the future:
Brandon Roy. Yes, I know this is like saying pizza is good. The best part about Brandon is that he appears to still be figuring things out on the floor, deciding when to go to the basket or take jumpers or feed teammates. He's clearly learning the game at this level on the fly, and if you're just learning and you're able to drop 19 points, 10 boards, 6 steals, and 4 assists against LeBron and Co., well you're obviously a pretty special player.
The Marcus Aldridge. After my crusade to get him playing time, Nate has graciously granted him time and he's done nothing but prove it made no sense at all to pile up DNP's for a month. He's fantastic. That high pick and roll with Sergio (more on him in a minute) is borderline unstoppable. He hits that jumper with ease, and I love the little Dream Shake he throws at people on the low block before hitting the turnaround. Even more impressive than his offensive game is his ability to guard the rim. A few of those blocks last night were out of this world, particularly the one in the 4th quarter when Drew Gooden was trying a wide array of pivots and fakes, then he tried to go up and got it deposited in the 3rd row.
Sergio. Look, he can't shoot, he's not even a streaky shooter, he's just a bad shooter. And no I don't want to hear about the 23 point game the other night, he simply isn't going to light up the scoreboard with points for himself. But...my God what a passer. He's lightning quick off the dribble, sees the floor amazingly well, puts the passes on the money all the time, and when you get the ball from Sergio the odds are you're going to be open or right next to the basket for a lay up. He's basically the point guard I thought we were getting with Telfair, who turned out to not have much court vision and just wanted to get to the basket himself. The more you watch Sergio run the half court sets, the more you start envisioning him as the point guard of the future and not the steady Jarrett Jack. You know who else was 19 years old and an all world passer that couldn't really shoot? Jason Kidd.
Kevin Durant...oh, sorry, I must have dozed off there for a minute.
Clearly, there is a future here and a foundation in place. Those 3 guys might be the 3 that lead them back to glory. I like Jack, I like Z-bo, but it's hard not to watch Roy, Aldridge, and Sergio and not think that we're onto something really special. And now, I return you to your regularly scheduled bitterness from me after they lose their next game.
I'd also like to point out that the spell checker didn't catch the Y in "happyness" in the title, the Fresh Prince would be very unhappy about this.
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