Watching the Cavs lose to the Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals reminded me of one thing; Carlos Boozer screwing over Cleveland. Sure, it was no Art Modell move-the-Browns-to-Baltimore screwjob, but it sucks regardless.

According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, a metaphorical reminder played out last night. Normally a team sends out two players to the press conference after the game. The Spurs always send Duncan and Parker. But who do the Cavs send besides LeBron? They ended up choosing Rookie Daniel Gibson. More on him later.

In 2004, Boozer agreed to a 6-year, $68 million dollar deal with the Utah Jazz. This followed a verbal agreement Boozer made with Cleaveland GM Jim Paxon to a 6-year $41 million contract. Simple math tells you why he left. Paxon screwed the pooch on this one by not picking up the team's 3rd year option with Boozer upon Boozer's agents request. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Attention Cleveland, you are not Orlando but you are Cleveland. Remember that.

Much like the Boozer and the Jazz looked overwhelmed in the Western Conference semi-finals against the Spurs, LeBron and the Cavs could not handle the Spurs in Game 1. Boozer would give the Cavs an inside force to bang around Tim Duncan and the pinball wizard, a.k.a. Tony Parker. He would add double digits in points and rebounds on a nightly basis and the Cavs may have been ready to win a title this year.

As it stands, the Cavs will probably lose, although they could make a series out of it. As Lebron goes, so does Cleveland. Apparently that was not good enough, for Boozer.

Clarett not crazy? Not possible.

This brings me to the "what if" game. What if Pippen left Jordan and the Bulls? What if Randy Moss played on FSU in the 90's? What if Maurice Clarett was sane? Michael Redd could have come to Cleveland as a free agent but chose to stay at Milwaukee. What if? It's an annoying game of pointlessness.

Bottom Line: The Cavs need to find or develop a surrounding cast for LeBron and King James needs to step it up.

Last Night's Highlights

Daniel Gibson's got America's Got Talent talent, Napoleon Dynamite skills and American Inventor creativity. What I'm saying is, get this dude a reality show fast on the court fast. He is a 21 year old rookie out of Texas and is proving to be a huge lift off the bench. His 31 points in Game 6 against the Pistons woke everyone up and he played a solid series. He chipped in 16 last night. I'm not saying he could be like Jordan's BJ Armstrong, I'm saying he'll be better. After averaging only 4.6 points per game for the season, it's obvious things are just now slowing down for this former Texas star at a crucial time; the NBA Finals. So much of the game is mental it's ridiculous. If I'm LeBron James I'm trying to find shots for myself and for Daniel Gibson. Tell everyone else to crash the boards with agression, kind of like a Carlos Boozer. D'oh!

Aleksandar Pavlovic

Did anyone see his reverse lay-up type of thing against Tim Duncan. Earlier, Pavlovic drove to the hoop on Parker, awkwardly planted his foot and shot near the hoop, resulting in an easy swat by Duncan and an arrogant smirk. For the laid back Tim Duncan, it was the equivalent to Dikembe Mutombo waving his finger. A few plays later, Pavlovic drove to the hoop and again Duncan was waiting. This time though, Pavlovic soared past Duncan to the other side of the bucket, shielding him from a block and sort of reached back for a reverse dunk/layup thingy-ma-jig that was sick. The first time seeing it, I did not realize how nice of a move it was.

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NBA fan said:

	Yeah, Clevland sucks... LeBron is a choke artist. Jazz vs. Spurs was the real finals.
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June 16, 2007
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los Lobos said:

	Verbal agreements don't mean sh#% in the NBA. But I'm sure you would take 20 million less to play on 2nd rate team.
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June 16, 2007
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NBA said:

	man think cleveland with boozer and lebron.. scary
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July 21, 2007
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E said:

I agree. We all know Booz was a beast at Duke. Booz and Deng are probably the Only DUKE players i see that can really play ball. sorry G hill but you have been injured 85% of your carrier. Anyway. Cleveland should know better. The fundamentals of the game has not change. INSIDE - OUT. Inside presence open up the outside and lebron can roam more. PAY the man, he avg a DDBL since he was a rookie, PAY THE MAN. Dumb move. Selling tickets dont mean a thing when u dont win a championship. Ask the NY Knicks of the 90s.

report abuse vote down vote up

September 06, 2007
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