And that’s the big difference between the Cavs and the legitimately good teams. It’s only a matter of time before Hughes gets hurt and Marshall and Ilgauskas’ bodies start to self-destruct. Ron Murray is in Detroit. And no matter how you slice it, the Cavs remain a roster with some very, very bad defensive players getting the bulk of the minutes.

Besides, with all due respect to the oracle from the South Euclid News-Herald, or whatever it is, 57-25 and an 0-6 regular season record against your playoff foe is fairly meaningless. Although, I guess they don’t let teams play each other six times during the regular season anymore.

Unless David Wesley uses his pair of satellite dishes for purposes other than getting DIRECTV beamed directly to his brain, this is still the same roster, minus the Hughes clone. But James is great and still getting better, and he’d make any team in the NBA an above .500 team. So unless he gets hurt, I say 52-30. But if he rolls a couple of ankles while carrying the team for the fourth consecutive year, much like Luke Jackson and Michael Reghi’s used suits, the Cavs’ gift of Greg Oden will go to a needy family.

The Cavs will tease the local media and the fans during the regular season, but during a seven-game series, they’re exposed for what they are. About as serious as Ferry’s impending Ilgauskas for Dwight Howard swap.

I agree with that Dajuan Wagner thing, though. Talk about intestinal fortitude, both figuratively and literally. Compared to what he’s gone through, Ilgauskas’ feet were a walk in the park. And talk about irony, Wagner is probably better than the bench guards the Cavs have now. No matter how lucrative his rookie contract was, it is impossible not to admire and respect that guy.

What I like: Hughes looks MUCH more confident handling the ball and he is FINISHING! (did u see that facial he had yesterday!)

What I don’t like: Z should be instantly benched every time he opts for the womanly tip in when his hand is already above the rim. THROW IT DOWN! Take a lesson from GOODEN for God’s sake. His post game is all but gone. He’s left with a 17 foot jump shot and those akward looking tip ins from around the hoop. Varajeo better start learning to make free throws, because he’s going to get the crunch time minutes.

I’m going to go out on a limb here…I think the Cavs are going to win slightly more games than last year, but this is how the season is going to progress. Nov, Dec - they are going to be about a .550 team with the easy schedule but are going to suffer some depressing losses to some good teams. They are going to shake up the lineup and try to find the best fit and during that time, they will be about a .500 team. At some point, LeBron will go into TAKEOVER mode and propell them to an impressive win streak. By seasons end, Z will be a non-factor (except against shaq) and Shannon Brown will be getting regular minutes. I do NOT think LeBron will win the MVP award because I believe his stats will decrease slightly this year. He will get less minutes and concentrate on getting other guys involved even more than last year. I expect a 28-8-6 season from LeBron and I think D-Wade will win the MVP simply because his support cast will be worse this year and he will be forced to carry a huge load (like LeBron did last year). I’m predicting 30-4-6 from Wade with a higher Shooting % than Bron Bron

Cavs will put it all together come playoff time and might even have pulled a trade at some point in the season. I like the Cavs for 54 wins and a Finals appearance.

And LeBron should have been MVP last year, without a doubt.

Toronto has Chris Bosh but I don’t see how a couple Euro-dudes and TJ Ford are going to make them that much better than they were last year.

Orlando will improve because of Howard, but like Toronto they’re relying on a young point guard who seems injury prone. It looks like Milicic couldn’t beat out Tony Battie and they’re also counting on Grant Hill again?

The Bobcats seem confused and are a power struggle waiting to happen. Boston seems pretty blah again, the Knicks are still dysfunctional and Atlanta is Atlanta.

Some of these teams will probably improve a little bit, but some will fall apart. All in all, there just aren’t that many free agents or rookies who can make a big difference year to year.