Disappointments

After the first couple of games, here is a premature and overly-analytical look into some teams that are not living up to the hype:

CLEVELAND:
LeBron James is amazing. I have said it before and I will certainly say it again. The Cavaliers are seriously disappointing to me, however. In what seems to be a silly attempt to get him to sign on again after this season, they signed Shaquille O'Neal. Now they have a triplet of misfits at the center position: one quick one who is scrawny, one old one who can't keep up on defense, and one very large, very over the top of his career man in the middle. I don't know what they were thinking. It is a shame, but at least we will get to see James in New York next season.

UTAH:
Although they really beat up on San Antonio tonight, the Jazz have disappointed so far. Boozer has played incredibly poorly, injury seems to be creeping in again, and they have played some of the worst fourth quarter play in recent memory. In all three of their losses, they were close, but got whipped in the last period. I don't know if it is conditioning, mental issues, or what, but if they are to make any splash in this immensely competitive conference, they need to step it up.

SAN ANTONIO:
Two losses, one at Utah and one at Chicago, are not devastating. This team is similar in many ways to the Spurs: a fantastic big and leader coming back from injury, and a stacked, veteran team that is championship tested. The Spurs haven't been as dominant as I thought they would be at this juncture, but I will still be shocked if they aren't rolling come playoff time.

PORTLAND:
The Greg Oden is an enigma. He played well in college, but I have never been particularly impressed with him. I did not think he deserved the first draft pick overall, and I certainly thought and still think that he will face injury issues throughout his career. What makes him puzzling is not his character, or even his style of play, but it is the hope and dreams that he seems to inspire in Portland fans. They keep waiting for him to turn into some basketball superstar, some KG over night. It won't happen. He will still be fumble-prone on offense. He will still get too many fouls. He will still follow a brilliantly athaletic (watch Charles Barkley) play with a profoundly dumb-headed one. My prediction: he will be what he is. He isn't going to change. He will be a good defensive presence and not much else. He will be a valuable asset, but not a savior or a ring-fetcher. I beg Blazers fans to cut the guy some slack. It pains me to see him work so hard to try to be something that he never was and never will be. I see this guy settling in with a coach like Doc Rivers, in which the coach asks realistic things out of him and gets them. He will never be Kevin, and it was silly to ever think he would be anything of the sort. That said, the Blazers have seemingly taken a step back from last year. They look one year younger and don't have the swagger that was theirs after last season. If they can regain that, they will be serious challengers in the West.