CAVS.SPACE

After catching the second half of Saturday’s WNBA showdown between the Detroit Shock and the Indiana Fever, I watched as the teams lined up to shake hands after a well-played competitive game. The ‘good game’, good will gestures that happen at organized basketball leagues everywhere, from NCAA Basketball all the way down to leagues such as CYO, no longer occur regularly in the NBA. After end-of-game fights such as the Malice at the Palace Brawl in 2004 and the playoff skirmish between the Heat and Knicks in 1998, the NBA has phased out end-of-game handshakes. Sure, numerous opposing players in the league are friends and greet each other before the game. However, within the past couple of seasons or so, it has become quite rare to see more than three or four opposing players shake hands before quickly marching off the court to their own locker rooms. In the presence of a league with non-high school draftees that are supposed to be more mature, and who must now observe a much s

As the Cavs wait for training camp to arrive, their Cleveland football relatives, the Browns, have recently begun their preseason. As many Clevelanders know, Coach Romeo Crennel took a lot of criticism from NFL analysts over the past week because he reportedly decided on a starting quarterback for the preseason opener the Chiefs by flipping a coin. Sure, criticism should be expected if Crennel had flipped a coin to decide the QB for the Browns- Steelers season opener. However, this game was, as already stated, the preseason opener . Fans that have watched the Cavaliers in the preseason have noticed that, in crunch time, the guys getting the minutes are mostly second-stringers. The preseason is meant to provide ‘in-game practice’ for the regulars and evaluation time for the guys filling out the rest of the roster spots. This is especially the case in football. With that said, what is the big deal with Crennel ’s coin flip? He simply tried to find the fairest way to

All off-season, the focus for the Cavs has been finding a new point guard. Fans and analysts alike have called for a perimeter shooting, playmaking veteran point guard. Mike Bibby matches this description, but at what cost? He already makes a ton of money and is at the end of his prime. If the Cavaliers do convince the Kings to take Gooden and Jones for Bibby, what would that leave for the Cavs in the post? Also, with Bibby being as offensive-minded and successful as he has been, would he be able to take fewer shots to accommodate the other Cavaliers, especially LeBron in the clutch? As things stand, whether or not the shot selection is good or someone else is open, LeBron takes about 90% of the Cavs shots in the closing seconds of games. Another guard, Steve Blake, is a younger point guard that fits this description fairly well. However, in returning to the Blazers, Blake took a bigger contract than the Cavs could have, would have, or should have offered. On his