Our Deepest Fear is Not the We Are Inadequate (Part 2)

It’s time to focus our attention on what we do have. And somewhere, buried under all of that distaste for our former King, there’s a Cavalier Fanatic that believes this team can still compete this season. I’m not claiming that we have what it takes to win a championship right now because, as optimistic as I am, I don’t even believe that. But the Cavs have some very steady pieces that, if they work together, could finish the regular season in the top eight in the Eastern Conference. (For those of you that don’t follow me, that means they’ll make the playoffs).

So I am going to take the next couple weeks to break down our current team so that, by the end of this series, maybe we can all see just how dangerous this team can be.

Remember: We’re Clevelanders. There is no counting us out!

So without further ado, let’s take a look at #2 Mo Williams.

Mo Williams – Guard (6’ 1”, 190)

It’s almost unfortunate that I even have to take the time to explain the importance of Mo Williams to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Almost every thread that I look through, fans are calling for the removal of Williams from our opening day roster via a trade. We seem to forget everything that MoGotti has brought to Cleveland over the last two seasons – he offers an entirely different dynamic from the point guard position.

Let’s get one key thing out on the table right off the bat and state the claim that Mo has not played up to par in the playoffs in either season that he has been with the Cavaliers. He has shot the ball extremely poorly from the field and committed far too many turnovers for the average point guard. We get that. But that in and of itself does not disqualify Mo as the all-star caliber player that he is and has been throughout the regular season.

Let us not forget that during the entire LeBron James saga, Mo Williams was the odd man out for much of the discussions. He was disrespected by news media outlets across the globe and, to top it all off, was disrespected by both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. So I’m looking forward to watching the sweet shooting Alabama native scorch the nets while averaging more than 20 points a night for our beloved Wine & Gold ballers.

Like Daniel Gibson, Mo Williams is a shooter. He has a keen sense for finding a opening and getting himself in proper position to knock down the three ball at a high percentage. But, unlike Boobie, Mo has proven his ability to play a mid-range game if the opposition crashes too hard on his outside attempts.

Also like Gibson, Mo Williams has been criticized over and over for his lack of production on the defensive end of the floor. At six feet-one inch, Mo finds himself in a match-up problem nearly every night due to his lack of size and strength. But, within Byron Scott’s run-and-gun system, Mo Williams could flourish on the offensive end, nixing his inability to impact a game on defense.

If there’s one thing that I like about Mo Williams, it is that he plays the game of basketball with a lot of emotion. Sometimes that emotion forces his hand during a rough shooting stretch but, all in all, his emotional style of play makes for a strong, vocal leader from Scott’s floor general. He is a former all-star in his own right and will be out looking for blood every time he takes the floor this season.

And to keep on keepin’ on with the Coach Carter theme here, I leave you with this: “When we step on the floor every second that clock is ticking, we are pedal to the metal, we run the ball, and most importantly we control the tempo of the game. We make them play [Cleveland Cavaliers] ball.”

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