Cavs Recap and What's Missing?

Pinch a little harder...little more...oooooh, that's the ticket!

This game was again much closer than it needed to be. They let the Wizards hang around way too long in my opinion. It was nice to see Lebron go off when he felt like it and Drew Gooden nail 6 straight jumpers, but what was that semi-retarded dance he did afterwards? Yikes. I found out afterwards that he was “making it rain”. Drew, I hope that works out for you. Yes, I am grateful that we won and this might sound like I’m nitpicking, but I just don’t see a championship level team here yet. On paper, it seems like we pretty much have all the tools as of right now to make a run at the title

-Game-changing premier player? Check.
-Sidekick that, when healthy, can provide a very credible scoring alternative? Check.
-All-Star caliber center? Check.
-Power Forward that rebounds in bunches and is capable of going off on the offensive end on any given night? Check.
-High-energy sub that gives you an instant spark on the court and is dedicated to defense? Check.

-Token white guy that can shoot and create his own offense? Check.

-Deep bench with more than one three-point specialist? Check.

So what’s missing? After thinking about some of the previous dynasties and championship teams, I was able to find one ingredient that was common with a whole bunch of them that we definitely don’t have. A thug.

I'd take him if he had a good low post game

A down and dirty, intimidating SOB that will kick your grandma in the teeth if given the chance. Someone who makes up for whatever skill he lacks with a bad attitude and then some. Of course, it’s a plus if your thug has both skill and a bad attitude, but I’ll take one with just the latter if that’s all that’s available. The Pistons had Laimbeer. The Bulls had Rodman. The Spurs had Rodman. The Rockets had Otis Thorpe. The second go-round for the Pistons had the Wallace boys. The Lakers and Heat both had Shaq (who I think is an extremely skilled thug, or just a brute force of nature). The only recent champs I can think of that didn’t have a thug on their team is the second go-round for the Spurs, but when you have 3 All-Star caliber players, Bruce Bowen can fill in nicely. Are the Cavs soft? Does a yinzer’s family tree only have two branches? I don’t know what they can do to address this now, but I think that the intimidation factor is a vital piece missing from our roster. Here’s to hoping they can get past this anyways.