ORLANDO -- Mo Williams just scoffed at the suggestion Wednesday afternoon that his Cleveland Cavaliers won't be as good this season because of the changes they made to the roster.The biggest change was adding center Shaquille O'Neal. The Cavs won a league-best 66 games last season before losing in the Eastern Conference final to the Magic, their opponent tonight.
"It's too early to tell anything,'' Williams said after practice, almost miffed at the suggestion that they have gone backward. "But obviously, we can be better. We have the personnel to be better. You can't make any assumptions this early.''
The Cavs (4-3) go into Wednesday's game looking mediocre. By comparison, they started last season with a 20-3 record. They didn't lose their first home game until Feb. 8. They already have lost two home games this season.
Williams is averaging 15.7 points and 4 assists, second only to LeBron James. O'Neal is averaging just 11.1 points, the lowest average of his long, NBA career.
"(Tonight) is another regular season game, but I'm not going to say just another regular season game. This is one you better be ready for.''
- Mo Williams on playing the Orlando Magic "We've got some different players, and it just hasn't clicked yet,'' Williams said. "But it will. The regular season isn't what it's about. Our goal last year wasn't to win 60 games in the regular season, and it's certainly not our goal this season. We've here to win a championship.''
The game against the Magic will be watched closely Wednesday night for a number of reasons. The Cavs last season breezed through the regular season. They breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs, sweeping both Detroit and Atlanta before being upset by the Magic.
It was the series against the Magic that convinced the Cavs they needed to add a front court player – O'Neal – if they wanted to win a championship.
"It (tonight) is another regular season game, but I'm not going to say just another regular season game,'' Williams said. "This is one you better be ready for.''
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
NOT WITH THAT COACH, LOVE YOU MIKE AS A PERSON, BUT AS A CHAMPIONSHIP COACH, IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. OFFENSIVE PLAYS NOT THERE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP RUN. BRON GO TO NEW YORK AND BECOME MORE FAMOUS. LOOK LIKE THE SAME TEAM OF DRIBBLE DRIBBLE, 3,2, FIRE AWAY WHEREVER YOU ARE OR PASS IT TO A TEAM MEMBER
That doesn't bold well, usually whatever Mo Williams said goes the opposite way lol.
Shaq, separated again, and Del "Wild" West have obviously had off court problems which have presumably affected Shaq on court, and kept Del off court. But we all have various physical and/or emotional injuries, it is just part of life, in and out of sports. The Nba has a marathon long season, neither a good start nor a bad start is critical. As the song says, "It`s not where you start, it`s where you finish", and the Cavs will still probably finish on top in their division. If Shaq is able to elevate to all star again, like last season, he and El Zyd will still probably be replaced, Varajao possibly moving to center, for a small ball, speed squad, or the team possibly picking up two centers rather than a power forward and center. But that is next summer. We don`t know if gossip about Coach Brown having strained relations with James are true or not, like the strained relations between Del and Shaq and their wives. Both would probably say NO, but we`ll see whether James and/or Brown stay or go. But O`Neal, James, Parker, Gibson, and Williams would make a pretty good speed line up. Problem with that is the Cavs will eventually have to beat the Lakers, and Varajao is small to match up with Bynum or Gasol. They need El Zyd on Bynum and Shaq on Gasol, unless they can trade two or three for one additional quality big. And there aren`t many quality bigs in the association to be able to trade for. So that is why Coach had to try starting Varajao to start the season. Unfortunately, while A V didn`t do badly, the team did do badly. So while coach will continue to try A V off the bench, that may not be the anti Laker solution the Cavs need. So now Hickson has had a start, speed rather than size, James at 4 not 3, which will be fine if all D James can defense Gasol, who is 1/3, maybe 1/2 foot taller.