Dawgbeat 06/05/2007
Let the good times roll
by Eric Brown
I waited a few days to write this article to temper my excitement...a little. I mean their is another series yet to be played. But sitting out front of the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel on saturday night was like a dream come true. To see people joining in celebration, running up to vehicles and slapping hands, people hugging, people crying, and just everyone with smiles on their face or tears in their eyes was in one word...satisfying.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will win the NBA championship. I'm sorry San Antonio you are a very good, experienced, well-balanced team, but the Cavaliers are a team of fate and they have one very determined leader ready to burst onto the NBA championship scene. LeBron James makes the players around him better. As I watched the conference finals, and especially game five , it became very apparent to me that something is in the air in Cleveland Cavalier basketball. James has shown the unique ability to adapt his style of play according to what is needed to win NBA playoff games. If he needs to be the best player in the league and take over a game he can do that. If he needs to get his teammates involved and spread the scoring out, he can certainly supply his teammates with the jaw-dropping assists we have grown accustomed to seeing. His rebounding prowess is another quality that justifies him being the best player in today's game. His blend of talent and ability to become a different type of player according to what is needed is something the NBA has never seen. The best comparison to him at this stage of his career would be a cross between Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Not bad for someone just 22 years of age. But the most astounding quality that you cannot compare, is his knack for making the rest of his team feel needed, wanted, and able to step up to the next challenge.
At times this season the likes of Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskus, Donyell Marshall, Sasha Pavlovic, Larry Hughes, and others have benefitted from the unselfishness of the man known as "the King". Certainly none of these men can be considered all star talent, yet here we are in the biggest series the NBA has to offer. In the Piston series Daniel Gibson was the recipient of James' giving nature, and he made the Pistons pay dearly. Gibson offers hope for the future along with Shannon Brown, Pavlovic, Anderson Varejao, Hughes, and Gooden. This core of players are likely to see many championship banners raised at Quicken Loans Arena. There has never been a squad that defines playing as a team more than this Cleveland Cavalier ballclub. Sure, when you think of the Cavs, you think LeBron James, but that stereotype is far from the reality. He raises up the rest of the team and each player does his part to get the job done. Cleveland basketball is here for good, and with a solid core of young players, I believe our championship drought is about to be terminated, Let the good times roll.