A.L Casoni Presents: Where would the Cavs be right now if they were LeBron-less?

A View From the Burgh...

I know its not a popular topic of discussion, but where would the Cavaliers be right now without LeBron James? Exactly where they are now? Recently eliminated from the playoffs? 24 beers deep in Cancun on vacation? The Cavs are rolling through the playoffs like a freight train. The Hawks and the Pistons were like a gigantic piece of cake in front of a fat kid, without a chance of survival. All this possible without the King? The Cavaliers certainly improved their squad in the offseason. The addition of Mo Williams has added another legitimate scorer to the lineup, and guys like Varejao and West have certainly earned their paychecks. But really, 8 games in to the playoffs without a loss? Truth of the matter is this, LeBron proved 1 man can take a team to the NBA finals a few years ago. He single-handedly put the team on his back, and carried them to the NBA finals. If you doubt this, please refer back to Game 5 against the Pistons. Regardless of the fact the Cavs were swept by the Spurs, it does not downplay how truly amazing this run was for LeBron and his minions. I think you know where I am going with this. With that said, the Cavs, in my opinion, would have limped in to the playoffs a 5 or 6 seed without the King, and would be sitting on the beach right now. They may have given someone a test, but they wouldn't have been a factor in the East. Reality is though that Cleveland is in the best position right now in the East, actually make that in the entire NBA. They are at home kicking it on their Lazy Boys in preparation of watching tomorrow's contest between the Celtics and Magic. Their biggest threat in the West is in a 7 game struggle, and their opponent is without the most coordinated guy to ever come out of China. The Celtics are a different team without Garnett, no doubt. They are even giving minutes to Brian Scalabrine? Seriously, Brian Scalabrine? So 2010 is obviously the year we are not looking forward too as Clevelanders. If we want to continue to watch the Cavs in to June, LeBron must stay. If not, we better hope the Tribe comes out better than they did this year...

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A.L. Casoni Presents: A View From The Burgh

A.L Casoni is a die hard Cleveland fan, from the East Side of Cleveland, he now is forced to reside in Pittsburgh...unfortunately. He will be offering his opinion of the Cleveland sports world, from the darkside...below is the first of a feature series from Casoni:

As we near the beginning of May, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the midst of something they have not experienced in over a decade and a half, a winning record. Even though the Penguins are in the heat of a Stanley Cup race, fans are still embracing the boys of summer, or make that spring. The problem is, the team is not any good. By the time summer rolls around, this team will be well below .500 as they have been since 1992, and they will continue their run of the longest losing streak in the history of sports. Pittsburgh is a city of "bandwagon fans". It frustrates me beyond belief that nobody has paid any attention to the Pirates for over 10 years now, and now they are all about them. Banners are flying, newspapers are reporting and apparel is being worn. As a Cleveland fan, I look for Pittsburgh teams to falter as most Cleveland fans do. Cleveland fans are loyal to their teams, and are still striving and yearning to see their first championship in their lifetime. With that said, I can't wait till the Tribe rolls in to the Steel City in mid June and brings these clowns back to reality. I'll be there in the second row on the Cleveland side with my Tribe gear. The question is, will the Pirate fans still be embracing their team by then, or will we already be seeing the dreadful terrible towels?