I’m Back From Vegas, And I Brought Links

Hey folks, I’m back from vacation. Vegas was absolutely amazing. I have many stories, most of which are unprintable. But even though I had a great time, it’s nice to be back at school. A round of applause for Ryan and Mark, who did a wonderful job filling in for me this weekend. Here are some links, because there’s a lot that happened over the long weekend. Also, I’m tired.

-Brian Windhorst with a must-read midseason report card. LeBron gets an A, and Andy gets the second highest grade with an A-. A few Cs round up the rotation, but Windhorst’s harshest grade might be the C+ he gave to the Cavs’ offense. Windhorst cites the difference between the Cavs’ offensive execution in the first quarter and the fourth quarter as his greatest cause for concern. I agree, especially with the Cavs’ spotty play in tight games this year.

-No LeBron in the dunk contest. I’m bummed he teased the possibility of his entrance, but I don’t a lot of upside to LeBron competing anyways. If he gets a ring in the next year or two, it might be fun to see him compete on a lark and show off his athleticism. At the moment, however, my feeling is that LeBron and his image are better off for showing he’s interested in more important things than the dunk contest.

-The Plain Dealer with the top 40 regular-season Cavs games in franchise history. Shouldn’t really need to sell you on that one.

-Finnan reports rumors of a Z for David West swap. Interesting.

-On Fanhouse, Shoals looks at the importance of Marbury signing with Chinese club. After covering the press conference announcing Kobe’s signing a marketing deal with SINA last season, I can tell you that basketball in China is a huge deal. We’ll see how things work out for Starbury over there.

Alright guys, I’m going to bed. Until tomorrow.