James, Varejao return, Hughes stars

When we signed Larry Hughes back in ’05, this was the kind of performance we hoped to see.

This one was over before it started. Actually, it wasn’t over until the Cavs’ trio of LeBron James, Larry Hughes and Andy Varejao took the court with 6 minutes to go in the first quarter. Then the rout was on. The Cavs slashed, dished and shot their way to a 118-105 victory, that really wasn’t that close. Larry Hughes led the way with 36 points on 13 of 17 shooting, including 5 of 8 from deep. He played only 26 minutes, but was very effective in his time on the floor. Hughes was free to roam the court playing a true shooting guard in his minutes tonight. According to coach Mike Brown, that is the role Hughes will play from now on. In fact, Brown said he intends to bring Hughes off the bench. Certainly he has the ability to energize the team and provide a boost coming off the bench. Now, let’s not get crazy and think that he will shoot 76% and score 30+ every night, but if he can provide that 15-20 point lift, especially when LeBron is resting this team is dangerous.

An Order of Crow With a Side of Humble Pie to go, Please

John returns with his state of the Browns evaluation, and this time it’s surprisingly optimistic. 

Hey everyone . . . So, last time you heard from me I was entertaining the idea of calling for Romeo Crennel’s head. OK, I admit I was a bit hasty; mostly because I was writing out of frustration after watching my beloved Browns give away a game to the Steelers. I have had some time to settle and have to admit that this team has made significant improvement this season.

At the beginning of the season, my hope was that the Browns would win 8 games. Well, Sunday’s win over the Jets was number 8, and with 3 games to play the Browns are staring at a likely playoff berth: they hold the second Wild Card spot with destiny in their hands (a good position to be in). There is even an outside (way outside) shot at the North Division Champion spot as Pittsburgh continues to struggle. When all is said and done, I believe the Browns have a really solid shot at winning 10 games.