Two All-Stars on a new mission - 'Bron & Mo

What an All-Star weekend! Two Cavs representatives holding their own respectively (James: 20 pts, 5 boards, 3 assists - Williams: 12 pts, 2 boards, 5 assists), new 3-point champ (Daquan Cook), new Slam-Dunk champ (Nate “Kryptonite” Robinson, and a landslide West victory in the feature game and…we’re back to the ultimate mission of getting a new ring on every Cav finger – something big enough to make a Jared’s employee blush. Don’t let me stop the celebration, I mean, I’m glad that LeBron got his face-time (and a U.S.A. Basketball ring at halftime) and Mo finally got the recognition he deserved, but we have only a couple of months before the road to the championship glory known as the playoffs comes to fruition. There are a couple of things that are on my mind as we go into this crucial part of the season:

1. Are we trading or not?

There’s so many questions around this trade deadline that’s closely approaching. The biggest of them all with the Cavs is if Amare Stoudemire is coming to town. I personally think that Amare’s an awesome player (one of my favorite non-Cavaliers to watch) that would not fit our blueprint for success. Don’t get me wrong, the guy can play! He’s one of the game’s premiere big men, can play power forward or center if need be, hasn’t even hit his prime yet, but his lack of desire to reach his full defensive potential as of late is a big chink in his otherwise solid credentials. Granted, his defensive lapse could be from falling out of love with Phoenix, but I still don’t think that it’s enough to build a case to bring him in. Besides, this guy is free to move in 2010 - it might be more reasonable to grab him then!

2. Can we stay healthy?

Obviously, we don’t have much control over this one. Fact is, I know that the Cavs are arguably the deepest team in the east (for those disagreeing, note the word arguably), but an injury here or an injury there can make things a little tougher than we’d like. True, we’ve had some injuries to Z, West, and even Big Ben from time to time and still managed to hold our own, but I don’t think that we can ill-afford to have one or too many M.I.A.’s in this home-stretch. We’re gunning for position and we’ll need all hands on deck to take on the Celtics and the Magics of the world and then the Spurs and the Lakers of the world when we go for total world conquest. Let’s cross our fingers on this one!

3.  Do we believe?

I know that I can’t speak for everyone when I say that I believe that this team is capable of winning it all. If I could speak for everyone, then this wouldn’t have even been a point to mention. The way I see it, this is the best Cavs squad that I’ve seen since ‘92 when we were a play or two away from meeting the Blazers in the finals (if only Chicago’s #23 had missed a shot or two). I sometimes joke that teams have to be like decent hands in poker, have a couple of pairs at your disposal. We have two players deep at almost every position and we have MVP-to-be LeBron James leading the charge. Throw in Mo Williams at the point, a top-tier team defense, and strong team chemistry, and I think we have the tools to make it happen. So now that I’ve said all of that, now that I really think about it, you can disagree if you want, but this third point is actually null and void as of now.

So let’s get ready for an interesting ride! I’m sure there will be a lot to talk about - a lot of “oohs” and “ahhs”, and maybe a banner of championship quality to put up next to those great Cavs jerseys in the Q. I’m anxious to see what’s to come and know that we will bear witness to something special. Stay tuned!!!