Date: October 27, 2010
7 p.m. Eastern
TV: NBA League Pass (free preview going on this week!)
Many believe that LeBron's inability to win a championship in Cleveland was not his fault, but was a byproduct of the players around him simply not being good enough. Whether or not you subscribe to that particular theory, you have to admit that a team built around LeBron's former "help" -- Mo Williams, 34-year-old Antawn Jamison, J.J. Hickson, and Anderson Varejao -- promises to be a pretty sorry outfit.
We really have little indication as to how the Cavs are going to play. Like most NBA teams, they were idle Tuesday night, so Wednesday night's game is their opener. Additionally, Byron Scott takes over this season as head coach, and it remains to be seen what changes he'll make from Mike Brown's tenure. Williams was a scoring point guard in Milwaukee during the early part of his career, and I suspect we'll see him back in that role this year, though he should pile up a fair number of assists simply by virture of being the one who initiates the offense, as he did with the Bucks. Hickson is a promising young power forward, and Jamison may play a lot of three to make room for Hickson at the four. Beyond that, there's very little to talk about re: the Cavs, at least until we see them play a few games.
Celtics-Cavs was very recently a marquee matchup, the opening game of the NBA season each of the last two seasons. With James' departure, it's now nothing more than a trap game for a contender, coming on the road the night after an adrenaline-sapping win over, of all teams, James' new squad. For the the Cavs and the city of Cleveland, it's the chance to show LeBron -- and the rest of the basketball world, but mainly LeBron -- that life goes on without him, at least for a night. There will be nights this season that a half-assed effort will beat the Cavs. Tonight is not likely to be one of them.
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