Injuries and the What If Season.

Cleveland's injury report right now looks like this:
Kyrie Irving: Contused/Sprained Right Shoulder; Out.
Anderson Varejao: Non-Displaced Fracture, Right Wrist; Out.
Daniel Gibson: Left Ankle Sprain; Out.
Semih Erden: Right Ankle Sprain; Out.

If you're keeping track, on that list are the Cavs two best players and another competent player off the bench. Irving has missed some games here and there, and this injury official will sit him for about seven games, if not the rest of the year. But there really is no reason to rush him back, the rookie of the year is his, there are no playoffs in sight so why risk hurting him further? Varejao, who should have been an All-Star, broke his wrist on February 10, and hasn't played since. Boobie Gibson played in just 35 games this year and is out for the remainder on the season. Cavs mascot Moondog even had to go to the hospital after being "playfully" punched in the eye by Indana's David West. Yes, even the mascot.

Once upon a time Cleveland was in the playoff hunt, but that was with Irving, Varejao and Gibson on the court. When injuries hit, Cleveland started dropping games that probably should have been won. With Kyrie out, the Cavs are missing their most exciting player and leader in points and assists. Without Varejao, they're missing roughly 11 points and 12 rebounds a game, not to mention a player that will give 110%. So the question that nobody can answer is how would the Cavs have fared with their two best players healthy all year? We'll never know, but looking to the future, the nucleus of Irving, Varejao, Thompson and Gee looks pretty promising.

To me the only thing to salvage the season is to nail one of those top three or four draft picks and get even more pieces to put in place. That's going to be easier now without those players. Lottery Balls, don't screw us!

Pacers 104, Cavs 98

Not too much to say about this one. Wasn't even fun to watch, even though the game went to overtime. Lester Hudson hit a game-tying shot to force overtime for the second game out of the last three. And for the second time in their last three games, the Cavs lost in overtime.

Pattern?

Anyways the closer this season comes to ending, the more and more I'm on board for the Cavs to drop every remaining game. I'm aware of the tanking debates, but at this point what do they prove by winning? That they can overcome mediocrity year after year? They aren't a playoff team yet, but I feel they are two pieces away from being very good in two or three years. If there is a realistic shot at getting Anthony Davis by having the second worst record, why not go for it? After that, a free agent signing of a wing scorer could be the final piece.

I feel like any pick in the top five could jump start what Cleveland wants to do, as there is talent there that could fill a need for the Cavs. They could use players like Davis or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Bradley Beal or Andre Drummond or Harrison Barnes. But I'll get into that later. The best thing the Cavs can do at this point, is to put themselves in a position to grab the best player in the draft. Even if they can't nab Davis at one, they can be in a better position to grab one of those other players with a top five pick.

Back to the game, this team is fairly hard to watch without Kyrie once you've seen him running the floor. He makes this team exciting, and that excitement is mostly gone while he's off to the side in a suit. I remember an 8-point lead in the fourth quarter and remember thinking, "We're gonna lose this game." Clearly I've seen a few Cavs games before.

But they're close, let me tell you. Kyrie has sped up the rebuilding process by at least three years.

Lester

There haven't been too many instances this season where I had to stop and wonder what the Cavs season would have been like if the Clippers pick didn't hit one, and Cleveland wouldn't have gotten Kyrie Irving. Since Kyrie has gotten hurt, I've had the chance to see and wonder what that would have been like. Would the Cavs be worse than the seven-win Bobcats?

Cleveland beat Charlotte Tuesday night, thanks in large part to a man that is presumably only playing because of Irving's injury, Lester Hudson. With the types of games he's compiled, he's drawing comparisons to New York's Jeremy Lin, comparisons that I hate, but that's for a different time.

In the last three games, Hudson has 74 points and has created plenty of opportunities for his teammates. Against Charlotte, Hudson led the Cavaliers in points, assists and rebounds with 25, 8 and 6. I have no doubt he'll finish the year with Cleveland, one ten-day contract at a time.

But where does he fit in the big picture, the rebuilding plan? How will he be used once Kyrie is healthy? Will he be a role player looking towards the future? Is he even for real?

At the moment I'm a huge fan of the 27 year-old guard, but how much longer until his play almost certainly goes south? He isn't the answer I don't think, but it's fun while it lasts.

So the short answer to my question: Yes, I do think the Cavs could certainly be worse than Charlotte, Kyrie has been so valuable already at this point in his career. Had the Cavs not picked one, or went a different direction, who knows what this team would look like.

On one other note, Anthony Parker has been playing better since Kyrie's injury than he has in a few years. But he's old and on the verge of retirement, and everything I've seen indicates Dan Gilbert wants to throw money at an Eric Gordon or O.J. Mayo. Then there is the possibility of a Bradley Beal or Jeremy Lamb on draft day. The thought of an athletic two-guard on the floor with Kyrie gets me giddy.

Whatever the plan may be, it'll be interesting to see in Hudson can stay with the team next year and beyond, or if he's just at the tail end of his 15 minutes of fame.

Final Blog Component - Tyler Black

Colby Lopez had a dream. And it is his personal accomplishment that he was able to keep a hold of that dream. What he wanted to do was enough to make any set of parents laugh at their kids over a dinner. A professional wrestler. Lopez kept that dream alive at all costs. He worked as hard as he could at it, jumped over any and every obstacle that came his way, and now, in the eyes of most everyone familiar with Lopez, he's on his way to the top.

(Lopez [Fourth from left] and his backyard wrestling federation)

Lopez started out wrestling with his friends in his backyard. He would put on a show a month. It was at these backyard wrestling shows in Buffalo, Iowa that Lopez would figure out he wanted to be a pro wrestler. After the five years of wrestling in the backyard, Lopez's beloved wrestling federation, known as EHW, called it quits so everyone could go on with their life. Lopez then started training to become a professional. He is now done with training, as is quickly climbing up the ladder of who's who in professional wrestling.


Lopez is currently wrestling for quite a few wrestling organizations, most notably, Ring of Honor, or ROH. Lopez has wrestled all over America, into Canada, and even traveled to Europe to wrestle. He has a few shirts, and even has his own action figure. As a pre-professional, he set some goals for himself. As of now, he has accomplished two of them in the short amount of time he's been a pro.







The Bleacher Report also did an article on him.

Now meet the wrestler
Tyler Black.

He stands at six feet, one inch tall.
He weighs in at 210 pounds.
From Davenport, Iowa.
...Tyler Black.


(Black is the bigger of the two)

In his career thus far, he has held nine different titles, for seven different wrestling organizations.

His ultimate goal in wrestling is to main event Wrestlemania. For those that don't know what Wrestlemania is, it is the pinnacle of professional wrestling. At the rate he is going, it won't be a surprise to me to see him there in five or ten years.

Playoffs (Some more..it doesn't get old.)

(Photo from ESPN.com)

Here are my views of the Western Conference playoffs.

Dallas Mavericks v. Denver Nuggets
Fact: Denver is looking like one of the three best teams in the NBA right now. Perhaps only the Cavs and Lakers are better. The Nuggets are playing out of their minds, and have been all season. Why should they stop for Dallas?
Fact: Dirk Nowitzki is also playing out of his mind. Just not as good as the Nuggets are as a team.
Fact: The Nuggets win the series.
Opinion: The Nuggets win in five. Dallas wins a game solely because of the way Dirk is playing.

Houston Rockets v. Los Angeles Lakers
I don't even know what to say about this series. The Lakers aren't supposed to lose to the Rockets, but judging from the first two games, it's a real possibility. We all know Ron Artest and Yao Ming are good. But are they good enough to hang with Kobe? Only time will tell, and as a Cavs fan, I would LOVE a Rockets win. Take the Lakers out, Houston. In reality, the Lakers beat the Rockets in six. Good showing in game one by Houston though.

Round two.

(Photo from ESPN.com)

Here is my rundown of the second round in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta Hawks v. Cleveland Cavaliers
Well, a Cleveland five point lead at the half ended in a 26 point Cavaliers win...check that...beatdown over the Hawks. Cleveland is too well rounded to fall to a team like the Hawks. At this point I don't believe the Cavs get beat in this series. Cleveland will win in four. The Cavs can already start looking ahead to the Eastern Conference finals, where they will take on, and beat the Orlando Magic.

Orlando Magic v. Boston Celtics
I think the Bulls took just about everything out of the Celtics. Furthermore I am not convinced the Celtics (minus Garnett) are a better team than the Magic. Had Kevin Garnett been healthy, here is the scenario: The Celtics sweep the Bulls, and then everyone looks forward to the amazing Boston and Orlando series, where Boston wins in six, and then there would have been a better Eastern Coference finals than the Boston, Chicago series. In the EC Finals, Boston is taken out by Cleveland (Also another dream series) in seven. BUT...he isn't healthy, so the Magic win in six. By the way, the EC Fianls will still be amazing, when the Cavs win in six.

The Western Conference side will come tomorrow.

And on one totally unrelated note, don't do it Favre.

MVP

LeBron James became the second youngest player ever to win the MVP award.

LeBron finished the season with 28.4 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game, and 7.2 assists per game. He is also close to two steals per game and shot 49% from the field.

LeBron got 109 of the possible 121 first place votes in the MVP voting. James is the first Cleveland Cavalier to win the MVP award.

LeBron in his sixth year continues to get better and better. Everybody knows and is waiting and watching for the 2010 season. Will he stay in Cleveland, or will he go to elsewhere? In an interview on Sportscenter, LeBron assured everyone that he is very happy in Cleveland. Perhaps a Title will make him even more happy.

Fun fact about LeBron James: He won an MVP before Jordan, and took his team to the finals before Jordan. I know the comparisons will never stop, but that see-saw comparison isn't so one-sided anymore.