The Sky is Falling

Yes, the Cavaliers are 0-2 to start the season. Yes, they've already lost at home while it took until February last year for them to lose their first home game. Yes, Lebron James is already carrying an extraordinary load, averaging 42 minutes in the first two games. And yes, Shaq is 37 years old, terrible at the pick-n-roll defense, and a horrendous -25 in 25 minutes of play last night. We're two games into the season and the sky is falling in Cleveland. Brown is gonna get fired, James is gonna bail to NY this summer, and old Shaq has just ruined another championship contender. I say it's time to panic and blow everything up!

But wait! Maybe history can give us some perspective. Hmmm, if the Cavs win their next game (Friday @ MIN), they'd have the SAME record after three games as last year, 1-2. And you know who lost their first two games last year? To teams such as the Hawks and Grizzlies? If you guessed the reigning Eastern Conference Champs, the Orlando Magic, well, you'd be right! Oh and there's that team 4 years ago that opened the season with 4 straight losses and still ended up with a 67 win season and the best record in the NBA. Though of course we're hoping for a different postseason result than THAT team ;-)

Anyway... I say give the Cavs some time to gel and don't jump on Shaq's early disappointment too much. They'll get it together. Come back and re-evaluate in a couple weeks. Actually, just 13 days to be exact. That'll be a good evaluation point then.

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Oh and a quickie fantasy update... boo on Anthony Randolph and Spencer Hawes coming off the bench, WTF!?! Hopefully those situations don't last long. At least Hawes still played starter minutes. Hot pickups for me include Danilo Gallinari and Marreese Speights. Cold drops for me include DJ Augustin and Anthony Morrow. And if you're just looking for a temporary pickup, Ryan Anderson seems to be the primary beneficiary of Rashard Lewis' suspension. And keep an eye out for Chris Douglas Roberts. He had a pretty meh game last night, but he is starting and was pretty effective for the Nets in pre-season. I've picked him up in my deeper league (15 man rosters), but you can probably wait for a breakout game before snatching him up. Still, keep checking those Nets box scores. I think he can be a good sleeper candidate.