Friday, August 18, 2006

Some spice in the soup

Scot Pollard is a career role player who will never be confused with an offensive force. But I'm still very happy that the Cavaliers have reportedly inked the veteran forward to a one-year deal today.
Why? two reasons: the Cavs just got a lot tougher, and they just got a lot more interesting.
Pollard, 6'-11" and 31 years old, is a textbook banger. He gets the most out of his limited skill set by not being afraid to mix it up in the paint. He's like a more mature, not as quick and slightly bigger version of Anderson Varejao.
Another big plus: he's played on contenders virtually his whole career. He started out his career having cups of coffee with the Pistons and Hawks, but latched on and really made a name for himself with the Kings, where he bolstered the backcourt behind Vlade Divac and Chris Webber. He was traded to the Pacers in 2002, where he filled the same role behind Jermaine O'Neal and Jeff Foster.
Now he brings his extensive playoff experience to the Cavs, who really need some more players with his kind of resume.
Aside from that, Pollard is one of the game's great flakes. And I mean that as a compliment.
Throughout his career, he's sported a wide assortment of hairdos: ponytails, a mohawk, mutton chop sideburns, and an assortment of facial hair styles that surpasses even Indians manager Eric Wedge.
Pollard has been known to paint his nails before games as well.
With Pollard the Cavs are going to be certain to lead the NBA in at least two things: high jersey numbers (Gooden's No. 90 and Pollard's No. 62), and wild hairstyles (Pollard and Varejao can share hairstyling tips).
Suddenly, the Cavs aren't just LeBron and a bunch of plain yogurt. Now, the rest of the roster is getting spiced up as well. As the Cavs continue to improve and make May and June basketball a yearly trend around these parts, people around the country are going to be turned on to the wild-child team from the Rock and Roll City.
If you're going to leave an impression, dammit, leave an impression.

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