Andrew wrote:I think shadowgrin and/or benji called that one.
Me too.
Spree#8 on September 10th wrote:I also consider healthy Bulls stronger than the Cavs, unless Cleveland somehow gets a quality and reliable rim protector. The three good defensive players on their roster either carry a huge load offensively and will likely coast on defense (James), will get injured sooner or later (Varejao) or are far past their prime and will be LeBron's backup (Marion). The rest of their rotation ranges from poor to horrific on defense. I wouldn't bet a penny on them even winning the East, let alone the championship.
Pretty easy to call, really. Even if you extrapolate his games played in 11/12 to an 82-game season, that would still give him an average of about 35.5 games played per season starting from 2010/11 and including the current season.
If Varejao is all you have at center, then you have nothing at center. Unfortunately, this guy simply cannot be trusted to stay healthy.
Another thing I called is that even with him playing the Cavs have a below average defense - 21st in the league right now. I suppose it will only get worse without arguably their best defensive player. So my points stand: until they can get some rim protection going, I'm not taking Cleveland seriously at all in terms of title chances.