After making history with a 26-game losing streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to be turning things around. The Cavaliers defeated the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 104-99 just before the NBA All-Star break to amass their second win in the last three games.
The torturous website, didthecavswin.com, will finally stop attacking Cavs fans with a large, bolded “NO” and will hopefully have a GIF file of LeBron James shaking his head “YES.”
Regardless, former all-stars Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison can finally taste victory again.
Another team famished for a victory is our very own Horned Frog basketball team.
Losers of 10 straight games, the Frogs are currently in a slump that looks to be in line with the Cavaliers’ record-setting embarrassment.
Hopefully, losing 10 straight games will help the Frogs grow together as a team instead of causing them to doubt each other.
When the No. 7 BYU Cougars (receivers of two first-place AP votes) were in town, the Horned Frogs clearly were too timid. They weren’t ready to compete, let alone win, against NCAA leading-scorer Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars, unlike the way Cleveland was ready for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
The Frogs didn’t show the hustle, sweat and tenacity needed to be a premier ball club. More importantly, the Frogs didn’t have a player to rely on to carry them over BYU.
The nation’s best college teams are all built around one player who plays for the name on the front of his jersey. Ohio State University has Jared Sullinger, Duke University has Kyle Singler and the University of Connecticut has Kemba Walker. TCU doesn’t have that player.
Neither team, the Frogs nor the Cavs, has a go-to player. The Cavs are devoid of superstar LeBron James. The Frogs’ leading scorer Ronnie “Tuffie” Moss is out indefinitely for the rest of the season.
Both teams are inconsistent. Sophomore forward Garlon Green, like Cleveland’s J.J. Hickson, has potential to be great, yet he is not consistent enough to take over his team.
Surprisingly, the players are not the Cavaliers’ nor the Frogs’ key factors to becoming legitimate contenders. The true answers are the coaches: Byron Scott and Jim Christian. Scott is a seasoned coach who is accustomed to winning both on the court and on the sideline. Christian was noted as the “best hire of 2008 in college basketball” at Rivals.com. They each know what winning entails. Now they have to translate that to their players.
For the Cavaliers, their next-best asset is their worst problem this year 8212; their losing record.
Since the Cavaliers own the league’s worst record, they’ll get a great draft pick. Maybe they can pick up a No. 1 pick overall who will change their luck. Even better, the Cavs could get the next LeBron James 8212; because that worked so well last time.
This time, however, the Cavs will trade in broken hearts for renewed hope, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School paraphernalia for NCAA apparel, and “Quitness” shirts for a Walker or Fredette jersey.
The Frogs must do the same. They have to keep their heads held high during recruiting and hope to steal some of the University of Texas’ recruits by transitioning to the Big East.
In the meantime, both teams have seasons to finish. The Frogs, although unlikely, could still end up redeeming themselves by winning the last three games of the season. Despite the current stretch of losses, things are actually looking pretty positive.
If a Cavalier ball club can defeat Kobe and company, maybe the Frogs can defeat Utah on Tuesday. If not, and the streak extends further, hopefully no one will create a website called “didthefrogswin.com.”
Clay York is a sophomore ballet, modern dance and news-editorial journalism triple major from Cleveland, Ohio
