Gotta love Cleveland fans

The Cavs play the Knicks tonight in Madison Square Garden, so naturally it’s time to start talking about the Summer of 2010 (and if LeBron will break Kobe’s new MSG scoring record). But with fans like these in Cleveland, why bother jumping ship?

Would King James really leave behind his retinue and head to New York?

NBA All-Defense

Coaches voted on the NBA All-Defense teams today, and you can see the complete list here. But, as usual, the coaches had some issues in figuring out who really belonged.

Let’s start with the big man. Ok, so Marcus Camby does get a lot of blocks, but one only needs to look at the Nuggets’ defensive numbers to know that he isn’t exactly “anchoring” the team defense. He constantly gambles to get blocks, leaving his help defender hopelessly inept to stop the easy bucket in the paint if Camby misses. Unfortunately, I can’t really think of a solid defender at the 5 – Stoudemire only cares about dunking, Pau Gasol is a little soft, Horford, Dalembert and Chandler are not focused enough, and you only have to ask Stan Van Gundy what he thinks of Superman’s D.

OUR PICK – put Duncan at the 5 and pick a new forward. or give me another suggestion in the comment section

Next to Kobe Bryant. Now you only have to check the name of this author to know that I’m kind of a big fan. But, Shane Battier really should have taken precedent, mainly because of the defense he plays on “the Black Mamba” himself. Some of Kobe’s worst games this season came against the Rockets, and you can credit the Duke defender for locking down on the MVP. Just look at Bryant’s 24 pt, 11-33 shooting, 2 assist output against Houston on March 16 and you can see why Battier should be a first teamer.

OUR PICK – Put Battier on the first team, and bump up Tayshaun Prince too instead of Camby. Prince’s long arms harass any scoring threat. Just ask LeBron, Kobe, and Reggie Miller, too. You can put Kobe on the second team, or even James, who beats Bryant in blocks and rebounds.

And finally, Chris Paul. Now, how is it that one of the most undersized guards in the league who gets burned by nearly every point guard not named Jason Kidd gets a nod for all-Defense? Paul was my pick for MVP, but just because he gets a lot of steals doesn’t mean he’s a solid defender. He hurts his team defensively when he’s on the floor, but the plus-minus won’t show it because he’s one of the most complete offensive threats in the game. Opposing coaches don’t worry about Paul taking out their best scorer – this was a lazy attempt to fill out ballots just by pulling up a list of league leaders in “defensive stats” on espn.com

If you disagree, tell us what you think. I’m more than used to criticism.