Damnit, Michael Redd.

Are you kidding me? A fade away-three with someone guarding you up in your face from 38-feet? And even worse, nothing but net. Why is it that whenever someone is born and raised in Ohio he has to kill a Cleveland team every time they play them? It's not fair.

It's a shame that Boston has to face Cleveland tonight, because LeBron is still gonna be quite pissed from what happened at the end of last nights game. Sucks for Boston.

But enough about basketball...tomorrow Spring Training officially gets underway for the Tribe! Preseason game number one tomorrow afternoon down in Florida. I know it means nothing, and bums will play most of the game, but still....BASEBALL IS BACK!

Praise the Lord.

GO CAVS! BEAT BOSTON!!

A trade? No way!

Well, at exactly 3 p.m. today, Danny Ferry pulled off a pretty big trade, right at the deadline, for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's not exactly one that people are going crazy over, but it's a damn good one, even though it might not seem like it. Let me explain all the good things that come from this trade.1. Larry Hughes is gone.
2. Drew Gooden and his worthlessness is gone.
3. We got rid of 6 guys, four of which (Hughes, Marsh, Gooden, Simmons) had long-term contracts.
4. We received four guys, with only one having a contract past next year.
5. We cleared up a ton of cap room for the 2009 free agent market.
6. The 2009 free agent market has Michael Redd, Antawn Jamison, Elton Brand and Gilbert Arenas in it, among others.
7. Ben Wallace will give us the defensive presence that Gooden can't. Ben Wallace can shut down KG in the playoffs.
8. Wally Szczerbiak can really shoot the ball when he's open. Which LeBron will provide him many open shots.
9. Donyell Marshall is terrible, and he's gone.
10. Joe Smith is another big man that will help with rebounding, plus, he isn't a bad scorer.
11. Ben Wallace has a pretty damn sweet 'fro.
And lastly...
12. Larry Hughes is GONE!

All in all, a pretty good day for the Cavaliers. LeBron should be happy with what went down.

Also, the Browns signed Jamal Lewis to a 3-year deal, so that's more good news.

It should be interesting to see who suits up tomorrow night against the Wizards. As of right now, we only have 6 guys on the active roster. (LeBron, Damon Jones, Devin Brown, Z, Dwayne Jones and Eric Snow.) The league requires eight players to suit up for a game, so hopefully the Chicago guys can get here in time. If not, I hear Ron Mercer is available.

Until next time.

16 hours left...

These next 16 hours could very well determine whether or not LeBron leaves in 2 years. He's made it pretty clear that he wants to win, and he wants to win NOW. Well Danny Ferry, you now have 15 hours and 50 minutes until the trade deadline. Hopefully he works a deal that makes LeBron want to stick around, and hopefully it's for someone who can shoot the damn ball.

According to BW, beat writer for the Akron-Beacon Journal, there's the potential for a blockbuster trade, and it's for someone no one would expect....here are his exact words:

Folks, I have not watched a second of the first half as I pursue some hot trade rumors with the Cavs. They are being very active and are in talks over a blockbuster that has not been reported yet. It does not involve Mike Miller. More to come later. So this will surely disappoint some of you and also anger some of you, but I cannot yet say what player the Cavs are considering making a deal for. I have to protect sources. But I can tell you that I have talked to two different people in different organizations that have confirmed the talks are serious. I know you want more, but I just can’t give it to you at this point. I am not trying to build up ratings here, I am reporting what I can report. Just know that Danny Ferry is serious about trying to upgrade the roster. Whether or not it gets done though is up in the air. Here is what I can tell you, it is a trade that would change the dynamic somewhat of how the Cavs play but not directly affect the way LeBron James plays. Also, if this deal goes through, it would potentially allow the Cavs to make another deal.

Stay tuned....please Danny Ferry, we all want a Championship!

MVP 2.0

Did any of you watch the NBA All-Star Game? Yea, me neither. It's not that real to me. But I did catch the highlights, and I did catch ANOTHER Cavalier winning ANOTHER MVP award. This time it was that LeBron guy. He only played a little more than a half, but still managed to drop 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Oh, and the dunk of the year.

He only dunked over four--YES, FOUR Western Conference All-Stars. At the same time. Dirk, Duncan, Chris Paul, and Brandon Roy all got posterized. On the same dunk.

He only did that because Duncan was there. The other three were just spectators in the way. You see, the Spurs made LeBron mad (see post from Valentines Day). And Tim Duncan just happens to play for the Spurs. LeBron couldn't think of a better way to start his revenge towards them than by dunking over Duncan, and making him look like a fool.

So it looks like the Houston Rockets are on a tear, winning--I think--something like 13 of their last 15 games. Luckily for my Cavaliers, they come to town tomorrow night. It's a shame that they are going to get humiliated when Larry Hughes has another one of those games he only has 3 times a year. Plus, Daniel Gibson was born in Houston. He's got a good enough reason to want to smack them around, since they passed on drafting him--not once, but twice!

One more thing on the agenda today, folks. SPRING TRAINING IS OFFICIALLY UNDER WAY!

Thank God. I'm sick of having to talk about the Cavs and their dominating ways all the time. Baseball can't come soon enough!

Shoot Boobie Shoot!

Did you happen to catch the T-Mobile Rookie/Sophomores Game on TNT tonight? If you missed it, you missed a performance by the Cleveland Cavaliers own Daniel "Boobie" Gibson that was incredible. Boobie finally got to show the world outside of us Cleveland fans that he's a monster. He finished the game with 33 points, on 11-20 shooting from 3-point range. He's just getting himself warmed up for the Three-Point Shootout tomorrow night.

Gibson has one of the sweetest strokes in the NBA, if not the sweetest. Hopefully Mike Brown was watching tonight, and will finally give Gibson more opportunities to shoot the ball in games.

Did I mention he was named MVP?

Be prepared for part two of the Daniel Gibson show tomorrow night at 8:00. I suggest you all tune in, because Boobie is going to put on a clinic. Again.

Manu, I hate the Spurs.

I hate Manu Ginobili. I hate Tim Duncan always looking for a foul every shot he takes. I hate the way Gregg Popovich looks. I hate Tony Parker because he's married to Eva Longoria. I hate Bruce Bowen and his Mr. Ed-like features. I hate how the Spurs always suck for the first three quarters, but still win games. I hate how the Spurs made my Cavaliers look like dog-poop in the NBA Finals last year.

I HATE the San Antonio Spurs.

Hate might even be an understatement. I despise them. I mean, come on San Antonio. Larry Hughes played GOOD. Again. And you couldn't just let us win? Hughes plays good three times a year, and you bastards had to ruin one of those games. Damn you, Spurs. Damn you all.

Now we head into the All-Star break with a loss to those hated Spurs. Yay! You know what, though? At the end of the game, when Manu was hitting fadeaway three after fadeaway three, you, San Antonio Spurs, did one thing. YOU made TheBron mad. That probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. You can bet your San Antonio asses that the next time you see LeBron, he's gonna be in that extra gear he only busts out once or twice a season.

Ask Detroit in Game 5 what that's like. Or, ask Toronto or Portland, when LeBron kicked it into overdrive because some fans were talking smack to him. You, San Antonio, are next.

Hope to God you don't make it to the Finals this year. Because if you do, there's no doubt you'll be seeing the Cavs there. And guess what, San Antonio? LeBron will be in fifth gear the entire series. All because you had to go out and make him mad last night. See chart to the left.

Happy Valentines Day, San Antonio. You successfully made TheBron mad.

Letter to the Nets...

Dear Rod Thorn,

The NBA trade deadline is on February 21st, which leaves you just 9 days to make a deal. I know you normally don’t answer phone calls from Danny Ferry, but I urge you to take his next call. It might just change the future of the Nets franchise and the World as we know it.

Let’s face it, your Nets are a rebuilding team. With a record of 22-29, you’re barely in the playoff hunt and nobody thinks you have a chance to advance past the first round. Your stars are getting old, the chemistry is a mess, and this team is going nowhere.

But Danny Ferry could change all of that.

If you watched the Cavs-Magic game last night, you witnessed the future of the Nets franchise. The futures name is Larry Hughes. Larry is a 40-point-scorer. He’s a slasher. He even has tattoos - very cool tattoos of tough things that give him street-cred. And 3 years ago, when he played for the Wizards, Larry had a lot of steals. THOUSANDS OF STEALS. More steals than any player every recorded in the history of the NBA. You like steals, don’t you Rod?

It’s time to admit that Jason Kidd is a bad shooter. How bad? He’s only shooting 37% from the field this season. Yes, 37%! And if the season ended today, Jason Kidd would have the lowest shooting percentage of any player in the history of the NBA. That’s a fact - look it up.

And what do you pay this guy who is the worst shooter in the history of the NBA? $20 million a year? Are you crazy? It must be hard to show your face in public. But Danny Ferry could change all of that. Because if you ask nicely, Danny might give you the young and talented Larry Hughes for the crappy old guy you call Jason Kidd. And because Larry is so affordable, you get him PLUS another player!

Think I’m crazy? Fine. But before you click away, check out the head-to-head statistics for Larry versus Jason Kidd:

AGE
Jason Kidd: 34
Larry Hughes: 29
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES
At 34 years old, Kidd is older than Robert Parish when he was 33 and got traded. And we all know that Robert Parish sucked.

TATTOOS
Jason Kidd: unknown
Larry Hughes: More than 15, including ones with skulls and bad-ass religious passages.
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES

WEIGHT
Jason Kidd: 210
Larry Hughes: 184
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES
This is basketball, not Sumo wrestling! And all of that extra weight means more jet fuel for the team’s charter. Larry is not only skinnier, he’ll save you gas money. Think about the total cost of ownership!

POLICE RECORD
Jason Kidd: Yes. See mug shot on Google.
Larry Hughes: unknown.
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES

NICKNAME
Jason Kidd: Mr. Triple Double
Larry Hughes: Smooth
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES
WTF is a triple double? I have no clue, but that nickname is way too long. Smooth is easier to pronounce and it will cost less to get it as a tattoo.

STEALS
Jason Kidd: Occasionally
Larry Hughes: 3 years ago in Washington, Larry broke the all time steal record for planet Earth by averaging 12 steals a game. That’s right, 12. You don’t need to look it up - just ask any Cavs fan about Larry Hughes’ defense. And he broke the record while playing one-handed. And halfway through the season, he stopped trying to get steals because it was just too easy. This record will never be broken. Ever.
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS
Jason Kidd: 1
Larry Hughes: unknown
Advantage: Not Applicable.
Rod, are you the GM of the Team USA or the New Jersey Nets? That’s what I thought. Kidd needs to stop re-living the past and realize that gold medals don’t mean a damn!

POINTS SCORED ON FEBRUARY 11, 2008
Jason Kidd: Zero, zilch, none. That just shows you how far Jason Kidd has fallen. He scored zero points last night!
Larry Hughes: 40
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES

HEROIC COMEBACKS FROM INJURY THIS SEASON
Jason Kidd: Zero
Larry Hughes: 2+. Larry has overcome a bone bruise, a stubbed toe, and many other minor injuries. These comebacks build character. And when Larry gets injured in the playoffs, you can bet your ass he will make a heroic comeback after he is healed!
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES

HEIGHT
Jason Kidd: 6-4
Larry Hughes: 6-5
Advantage: LARRY HUGHES
Have you ever heard the expression “you can’t teach height?” Well you can’t! And Jason Kidd will never learn to be 6-5!

FINAL SCORE
Jason Kidd: 0
Larry Hughes: 9
Winner: LARRY HUGHES

Rod, it’s simple. Jason Kidd sucks. Larry Hughes is awesome. Are you going to save the franchise, or are you going to sit back and watch Larry Hughes lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to 10 consecutive championships?

Sincerely,

Believeland's resident writer.