Dominique Hartman
Professor Mabry
Composition 1
11 October 2013
The Contending Cavs The Cleveland Cavaliers are a very young talented team and will be making a push for the playoffs for the 2013-2014 season. This team has plenty of talent, though their 24-58 record from last season doesn’t support them they have something special coming this season. they have acquired some serious talent this off season and the season even before then, so look out for a splash of wins in the NBA from this team this season. That being said I will show you exactly how talented they are and why many believe and know that they will push for a playoff spot this season. Cavs weren’t always a bad team, they were your usual every year playoff team unitl 4x MVP award winning Lebron James left and moved to South Beach Miami leaving Cleveland hanging high and dry. After the depart of Lebron James, the Cavs had the biggest single season drop in NBA history going from 61 wins to 19 wins the next year. They were the 2nd worst team in the NBA easily winning the 2011 NBA draft by getting the 1st overall pick. They used that pick on University of Duke’s star point guard Kyrie Irving. They also had the 4th overall pick and used it on (Austin) University of Texas star power forward on Tristan Thompson. That’s when the turning point began.
Going into the season it was a short season of only 66 games because the NBA had a lockout. Though it was a short campaign Kyrie Irving was named to 1st all-rookie team and invited to play in the rising stars challenge. Kyrie also went that year to win “Rookie of the year.” He got 117/120 possible first place votes to win. He put up a stat line of 18.5 points per game, 1.1 steals per game, and 5.4 assist per game. He also shot 87% from the free throw line, 45% from the field and 39% from the 3 point line; playing 30.5 minutes per game. He was also called by many commentators and currently still is because of his high level of clutch ability to win the game in the end, “Mr. 4th quarter.” Kyrie isn’t perfect though he, as well as any other player has his flaws too. He lacks a strong defensive ability and health issues missing fifteen games his rookie year. But he did manage to be named an all-star getting voted into the all-star game and the three point challenge and actually winning 1st place. Enough about Kyrie for now let’s move on.
Tristan Thompson was also a good player. He was forced to play out of his position for an injured center, Anderson Varejao. That caused him not being able to put up his true numbers. He didn’t do a bad job at playing the center when he is naturally a power forward. He was also named to 1st all-rookie team and invited to play in the rising stars challenge. His rookie season numbers were 8.2 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, and playing only 23 minutes per game. Though all his numbers as wells as Kyrie’s numbers went up that next year to 11.7 ppg, 9.4 rbg, and 31 mpg. That is nearly a double-double and it’s only his second year. His 3rd year he is projected to put up much higher numbers switching his shooting hand from left to right, First player in the NBA to switch shooting hands. Going into the 2012-2013 season the Cavs had the 4th overall pick and used it in the offseason on Dion Waiters. He was the star shooting guard out of Syracuse. He also made 1st all-rookie team and was invited to play in the rising stars challenge his rookie season. He had a consistency problem the first half of the season because his poor shot selection and he took ill advised shots. Not only that but he also couldn’t mesh with star point guard Kyrie Irving. The second half of the season they did develop a chemistry and Dion worked on his jump shot and shot selection which helped him put up some impressive numbers. He finished his rookie campaign with the stat line of 14.7 points per game, 1 steal per game, and 3 assist per game. All of this while only playing 28.8 minutes per game. The biggest