Time for your best Guesstimates

by AncientMariner on Oct 25, 2010 4:44 PM CDT

Well, this has been an interesting few days. First, it seemed as if I was going to be without a computer for an extended amount of time. You could say I thought for a while that my PC had decided to take its talents to Hawaii or something. Then it was fixed, then it wasn't, and now it is again, and just in time for the season.

Here we are, on the very cusp of our first season without you-know-who, and I am trying very hard, from my vantage point in Pennsylvania, to get a handle on how the Cavs might do this year.

The exhibition season was pretty good, and we saw some glimpses of future brilliance, and also flashes of what might translate into long nights or weeks. A 6-2 record is nothing to snort at (unless, of course, you're Mr. Ed), but just when such a preseason record feels good, I remind myself that the San Francisco 49ers went 4-0 in the NFL preseason and are now cruising along at 1-6 in games that count.

So how many games will the Cleveland Cavaliers win this year? And more importantly, will they make the playoffs?

I am really -- really -- going to have to rely on you guys this year. I will not get to see many games, since our Tom Hanks is no longer on the marquee and has been replaced by Don Knotts, and the Cavs will thus not be drawing the interest of national television very often. In other words, a lot of what I glean will come from your impressions of the games, your honest opinions of what you see on the court, and your instincts about what you see and hear. I will have to rely on box scores and game stories to write my own stories, and that is going to suck a little, the not-being-able-to-see-the-game-and-write-about-it-in-the-white-heat-of-having-just-"witnessed"-it.

All that being said, I am going to give you my gut feeling guess here of what we will see wins-and-losses wise and whether or not I think we will make the postseason...

...and I need your guesses and predictions as well.

Me first.

I think the Cavaliers will surprise a little this year, win more games than most experts think that they will. I would be surprised if Cleveland won less than 30 games, startled if they win more than 40. So, splitting the difference, I am going to predict that the Cavs go 35-47 and miss out on the playoffs by four games.

Of course there are those who think that, if we are going to suck, we should suck Big Time and get the best chance for a top lottery pick. I can see that line of reasoning, but I just can't "hope" for the Cavs to lose any game.

So there you have it, my "blind guess" for the coming season.

And now, give me your predictions, both for wins and for playoffs/not playoffs.

I am counting on your wisdom in this matter being greater than mine, since you can actually -- sigh -- see the games live.

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Comments

hmmm you beat me to it with your prediction AM.

I’ll choose 38-44, finishing in the 9/10 position in the East.

And then Stern will rig it so that we get the #3 pick in the Lottery (the #1 overall would be too obvious) like he did when Ewing went to the Knicks, and when we got LWSNBN.

by talonk on Oct 25, 2010 5:12 PM CDT reply actions

42 – 40, Playoffs

Anderception [an·der·cep·tion] -noun
1. the logical end result of a Derek Anderson pass

by Simmsinns on Oct 25, 2010 6:01 PM CDT reply actions

Prediction sure to go wrong

cavs 42-40 8th seed in the playoffs vs the 1 seed heat and beat the heat in 7 and then lose next match up. GO CAVS!!!

by Shaffdog on Oct 25, 2010 6:47 PM CDT reply actions

I like it anyway. Talk about Nirvana!! Or at least Guns ‘n’ Roses!

by AncientMariner on Oct 25, 2010 6:55 PM CDT up reply actions

I hope 35 at the very least!

I'm a diehard Cavs fan, proud to say I never owned a LeBron jersey.
Seattle Storm: 2010 WNBA Champions!
2010 Finals MVP: Lauren Jackson!
God bless Sue Bird, who is 10x classier, 100x more persevering, and A THOUSAND TIMES more clutch than LeBron could ever hope to be.

by WaveOcean on Oct 25, 2010 6:58 PM CDT reply actions

Same.

I will get to watch one Cavs game this entire year, and that’s when LeBron comes back. It sucks.

by emily522 on Oct 25, 2010 10:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Well,

there is the ESPN game against New Orleans…

But yeah. The media will just toss anyone in the trash once they don’t sell anymore.

by WaveOcean on Oct 26, 2010 12:58 AM CDT up reply actions

40 -42 record

play miami in 1st round 8 seed

by Sean Browning on Oct 25, 2010 7:29 PM CDT reply actions

Call me an optimist....

But I would have to say the Cavs make the playlets as an 8 seed. Due to the negative media coverage, the underdog mentality, and the something to prove drive from within, this team will play hard every night. Although we lack a true superstar, the ability to play at a faster tempo and share the ball may help more then people seem to realize. 43-39

by FTSMatthew on Oct 25, 2010 9:05 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

Playoffs....sorry on the mobile device

by FTSMatthew on Oct 25, 2010 9:09 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

44 wins, playoffs

Im the poor man's corey maggette!!!

by Chucky Brown on Oct 26, 2010 9:32 AM CDT reply actions

Playoffs! LeBum wasn't worth >20+ wins

From 61 wins last year, we won’t fall to less then 41-41. LeBum isn’t worth more then a +20. Every player on the team will carry a large chip on their shoulders to prove themselves. New coach/system will help. 7-8 seed; beat heat in 1st round and after that who cares!

by CavsfaninDenver on Oct 26, 2010 9:34 AM CDT reply actions

IF WE CAN BEAT THE HEAT, WE CAN BEAT ANYONE

by WaveOcean on Oct 26, 2010 1:27 PM CDT up reply actions

40-42, in playoff contention until the final week of the season

by JulioBernazard on Oct 26, 2010 9:41 AM CDT reply actions

Playoffs

44 wins. I understand that we lose many games with the departure of Le"What would YOU do". But we also pick up some wins with the Coach Scott and more all around effort/feeling of importance. You play better when you are NEEDED, and now the players feel needed.

I’ve just talked myself into 45 wins. Book it!

by naveh on Oct 26, 2010 11:33 AM CDT reply actions

30 wins. No playoffs, Jamison plays < 40 games.

by rockemsockem on Oct 26, 2010 2:46 PM CDT reply actions

Probably the most beneficial thing that could happen would be a terrible start followed by trades of at least Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison for some good young players, draft picks, or cap room. I don’t think the team, as configured, can make the playoffs, even with Byron Scott coaching it, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them blow it up. I worry that if the team gets off to a good start that Gilbert will press Chris Grant to make a stupid deadline trade to get another overpaid veterant to potentially get us into playoff contention instead of blowing the team up and starting the youth movement.

"If Brown is the answer, then you’re asking the wrong question." - Ryan

by woodsmeister on Oct 26, 2010 3:04 PM CDT reply actions

40-42

9th in the east

I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.
Intensive Purposes? I could care less...
your whole argument is a fallacy!

by bross09 on Oct 26, 2010 3:53 PM CDT reply actions

The thing about the 'youth movement'

what great NBA team has done that in the last 10 years and had it work? What team has ‘gone young’ and won the NBA Title? Or a Conference title for that matter?

Great teams in the NBA are built through FA most of the time. Either that or a legit superstar coming from the draft. Cleveland has to be ready to surround ‘that’ guy with a great supporting cast if they have any hopes to keep him should they get another chance at one.

Still looking for 1985 Regular Season games on DVD/VHS

by Hardcore Legend on Oct 26, 2010 5:19 PM CDT reply actions

Surrounding LeBron with expensive FA didn’t work. OK City will win a championship soon. Not this year, but maybe as soon as next. Remember their last years as the SuperSonics? They blew the team up. Traded Ray Allen, let Rashard Lewis walk and stockpiled draft picks, which they used wisely on guys like Westbrook and Green.

"If Brown is the answer, then you’re asking the wrong question." - Ryan

by woodsmeister on Oct 27, 2010 9:56 AM CDT up reply actions

I see two possibilities

1. A decent start followed by a winter swoon. Management sees that this team is unlikely to make the playoffs, and we become sellers at the trade deadline. Mo, Antwan, and Andy are shipped off for warm bodies and picks. We finish with 28 and 54, good for 12th. No luck with the lottery, pick 5th.

2. The decent start carries through December and January. Everyone is excited that it isn’t as bad as it could have been. We become buyers at the trade deadline and acquire a solid player, not a superstar, for a pick or two. Team finishes 46 and 36, is the seventh seed and loses in the first round.

Basically I am predicting a decent start. After that, who knows?

Every pessimist thinks himself a realist. In the case of Cleveland sports fans, they are probably right.

by evereye3 on Oct 27, 2010 4:21 AM CDT reply actions

so #1 is what all the ESPN “experts” are predicting and #2 is terry pluto’s prediction.

I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.
Intensive Purposes? I could care less...
your whole argument is a fallacy!

by bross09 on Oct 27, 2010 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions