LeBron James’ Improved Jump Shot Wasted, Cleveland Cavaliers Will Miss Sasha Pavlovic & Anderson Varejao

October 13 07

LeBron James discusses his expectations for the upcoming season:

"It could be, but it all comes with the team’s success," James said. "If I improve that much during the off-season, then our team’s going to improve, and I think that’s going to happen."

My Quick Take: LeBron James claims he’s gotten even better over the summer. That’s a scary proposition. After all, can a Ferrari get even faster? Can Jessica Biel get even finer?

(Seriously, can Biel get any finer?)

Ferraris and J-Biel are both pretty perfect. But this is what I love about King James. He subscribes to the theory that no matter how good you are, admitting to your own imperfections leads to constant improvement.

James, despite powering Cleveland to the NBA Finals, recognized his jumper was somewhat shaky. So the man-child put in work all summer and shot the lights out at the FIBA Americas Tournament.

But James’ improved jumper won’t help the Cavs this season. Those hours in the gym will have been wasted. You see the superstar may have gotten better, but his team has gotten worse.

Cleveland hasn’t re-signed or even replaced Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao. Pavlovic started at two-guard for most of the season; Varejao provided energy off the bench.

And the Eastern Conference has gotten better. Boston, New York, Detroit, and Miami have upgraded personnel, setting themselves up to pass the Cavs in the standings.

I don’t anticipate a Kobe Bryant -Jerry Buss style circus, but eventually James’ quest for never-ending improvement could clash with Cleveland’s mediocre organization. And remember, the King holds the ultimate Ace of Spades-an opt-out clause for the 2010-2011 season.

In three years, James, if he’s frustrated with the direction of the Cavaliers, can become a free agent and leave Cleveland. And his quest for perfection would resume elsewhere.

What do you think of Cleveland’s summer? Get at us in the comment box below with your thoughts.

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12 Comments: LeBron James’ Improved Jump Shot Wasted, Cleveland Cavaliers (...)

Posted by
Amamr is wrong
on 10.19.2007

Amar: we all know your Cavs signed Devin Brown. The author had him as his most slept-on free agent. Brown is more of a utility player, not a scorer Pavlovic provides a lot of offense. And Varejao, more so than Pavlovic, is key. There’s no way around it. You are wrong!!! .

Posted by
Socalhoops
on 10.18.2007

Y’all.....check out Nikebasketball.com/la for the latest cali hoops news. .

Posted by
Amar
on 10.17.2007

"Cleveland hasn’t re-signed or even replaced Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao."Don’t write things if you don’t know crap, and based on this above comment, you don’t know crap. We replaced Sasha with Devin Brown, who may be older, but had a better year last year than Sasha. Look up the numbers if you don’t believe me. And Varejao was replaced by Cedric SImmons, who was just the 15th overall pick out of NC State in 2006. It’s not like these two guys are world-beaters and irreplaceable. Some of you clowns who don’t follow the Cavs outside of the playoffs like to pretend like you know our team inside and out. All year we hear about how crappy our supporting cast is, and then when two guys from this "crappy" supporting cast hold out, you treat these players like they’re perennial All-Stars who are irreplaceable. Get a clue, dude. Get an effing clue. .

Posted by
Rick L
on 10.15.2007

KROFT: Went out, in fact, and helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews.

SOROS: Yes. That’s right. Yes.

Its easy enough to google and, yes, the issue is quite divisive and as such the web is filled with lots of biased and strident attacks and defenses from all sides.

Which is all the more reason to stick to balling, babes, and Biel. And ’bron-bron’s sore shoulder.

Posted by

on 10.15.2007

Hi Rick L, Thanks for feedback. In no way am I condoning what occurred in Hungary during WW2. In fact, sadly, that is a part of my own family history. If possible, please provide info on what you menitoned or a link. And thanks for the feedback .... OS .

Posted by
Rick L
on 10.15.2007

Your man George Soros is an admitted anti-Semite and Nazi collaborator (ref his wiki page and the 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft where he admitted participating in the taking of property from Hungarian Jews).You have a nice NBA blog. Don’t stink it up by bringing in the worst of politics. .

Posted by
Mike
on 10.14.2007

The Cavs are one lazy and incompetent organization. They do not deserve LeBron James.He is a more perfect basketball speciment than KG. Obviously, with a lot more brains. Its too bad he’s stuck with Danny Ferry and Mike Brown.http:// .

Posted by
PickNRoll
on 10.14.2007

Your man George Soros? That mf’er is a freaking James Bond super villain. .

Posted by
kingbron23
on 10.14.2007

cant blame lebron if he requests a trade or leaves the cavs for another team...lebron is working his tail off to improve as a player and the cavaliers should be working just as hard to improve the supporting cast around him... .

Posted by

on 10.13.2007

we saw how loyal james is during the mlb playoffs .

Posted by

on 10.13.2007

Cavs are a wreck and Biel is a cutie for sure .

Posted by

on 10.13.2007

The Cavaliers are a disaster. They’ have had a terrible summer, just terrible. .

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	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

LeBron James’ Improved Jump Shot Wasted, Cleveland Cavaliers Will Miss Sasha Pavlovic & Anderson Varejao

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