The Cavs and the playoffs

I stopped blogging about the Cleveland Cavaliers a while back, primarily because every time I talked about them seriously, they'd lose. I believe that it may have been my fault. Now's the time to test that theory again, because I'm going to want to blog about them in the postseason, and if I am bad luck, I want to find out for sure BEFORE they enter the playoffs.

So here goes.....

I think the Cavs were an amazing team last year and went further in the postseason than anybody expected them to. As long as LeBron James is on this team, I expect them to improve a little bit each year, and win an NBA Championship by his sixth or seventh season.

The year before he was drafted (02-03), the Cavs were 17-65.
His rookie year (03-04), the Cavs improved by 18 games to 35-47.
His second year (04-05), the Cavs improved again to 42-40, just shy of the playoffs.
Last season (05-06), they improved again to 50-32, and made the playoffs. But then they took an additional step in the same season and made the second round of the playoffs.

So this year, I expect more improvement. It doesn't necessarily have to be through their record, but it does have to be in playoff advancement. They need to make it past the second round and into the Eastern Conference Finals....AT LEAST. Then they can make it to The Finals next year, and win it all in two years.

Consistent improvement. It's been a trademark since LBJ donned the Cavs uni, and it needs to continue. I believe it will.

By the way, the Cavs are 2 games better than they were last season (they are 39-25, last year they were 37-27 at this point). To be better than they were in 05-06, they'll have to go 12-6 the rest of the way.

Oh, and not that making the playoffs is in doubt...but their magic number is 9.