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As the Cavaliers continue their descent into Dante’s ninth circle of hell, I thought it was best to detach myself from the frosty pain of getting annihilated by twenty points every game and talk about something different.

The Players Union wants the age restriction rule to be changed from 19 back to where it was prior to 2005: 18.

Though I have no problem with players wanting to come out of high school and make a living, I do believe there should be a massive salary limit to that player’s first year. Also, there should be incentives placed in NBA Contracts that would reward a player who actually does finish school.

This is if, truly, the NBA cares about the benefits of a good education.

Here are my two ideas.

1) The 18yr. old who comes out of high school directly to the NBA should be rewarded the equivalent salary of a four year scholarship at a public university. For example, if Kobe Bryant 2.0 goes to the NBA, he would be given a one-year contract at around 100,000 dollars, depending on the statistics the league goes by. Not a bad salary for what could be considered an ‘entry-level’ position. After that one year, the team would be free to re-negotiate a deal going by the standard rookie contract that exists today. That would be one hell of a raise.

Benefits: The player would be given a chance to manage their money better. Using only myself as an example, I knew nothing about money management when I was eighteen. You may not be able to buy your mother a new home yet, but you might be able to get everything in order so that, when you do get that ‘raise’, you’ll be much smarter than if you were simply handed a gigantic 3 million dollar contract.

2) This one to me seems the most important. A player’s salary should get a bump if they have a college degree. This should be the case in all sports. How much of a bump? Well, it would have to be somewhat substantial. Perhaps 250k to 500k a year. So, for example, since Tyler Hansborough finished his degree at North Carolina, he would have been given the standard rookie contract he is on now, plus that ‘graduate incentive’.

Of course, this deal would stand as long as the player is playing in the NBA. Various athletes have gone back to finish their degree while playing professionally. This would give players even more incentive to continue building their life AFTER basketball, because, let’s face it, we know too many stories of athletes who did not properly save their earnings, and, since they never finished their degree, don’t have a bright future ahead of them.

By implementing these two changes, I think the NBA would be showing the public that they care about education for their players. It would also blaze a trail, and perhaps the MLB could do this as well.

After all, one of the reasons why the ’18yr old. rule’ was changed was so athletes would get a taste of the collegiate experience. What better way to support that then to reward them with a bigger contract for obtaining a degree?

After a 118-90 beatdown by their former hero, I can only say that I learned a lot about how the Cavs players felt, and are still feeling about Lebron. Confused.

As for the Cavs fans? Awesome. I remember booing Michael Jordan during our Price/Nance/Daugherty years. I remember how fans truly despised Michael Jordan, yet respected him at the same time. They were respectful boos. This was an earthquake compared to that. I’m sick of commenters on other sites blindly saying get over it. Cleveland fans are insanely loyal. Think about it this way. Is it true that, almost every year, besides a random successful season, our professional sports team are average or below average? Yet they remain in Cleveland. We have all three professional sports, and if our fans were like the ones down in Miami, where a suntan is more important than screaming yourself hoarse, those sports would have been gone by now.

Let’s get down to some practicalities. We need size. We play like the Golden State Warriors of the Eastern Conference at times. Not one Cavalier, except Gibson, understood that, even if they weren’t ‘feeling’ it because of confused emotions, they needed to show heart, passion, hustle, and toughness on a night where, for the first time all season, we were on national television.

Cavs players must understand. You cannot play like victims. The NBA is an assassin’s league, conquered by superstars whose fathers pushed and pushed and pushed them to never settle for anything but number one with a bullet.

Cavs players…did you not see how much power you can get from the Cleveland crowd? Tonight? That was a crowd. After today’s 2nd half surrender, here is your new goal. Make the playoffs, and rewrite how you played against an ex-friend. I don’t want to remember this game as the Lebron Came Back And Showed How Little Talent He Had Game. I want this team again, in the playoffs.

You are going to have to trust B. Scott’s decisions. And Coach? You are going to have to get creative this year if you want to reach 40 wins. My suggestion? Create two dangerous 5-man units. Two cores that are interchangeable, yet unpredictable. You are already doing it as of now. You are saving all of your firepower for the bench. Gibson and Jamison on the bench? We’re 7-11!  But I get what you’re trying to do. You want to create mismatches. The strategy works at times. It surprised the Celtics once, and you’ll get a few more down the road, but there is going to have to be an upgrade of some kind in the starting five.

Here’s my two lineups.

1) Mo Williams, AV, J.J., Leon Powe (for some size), and Jamison playing the two guard.

2) Gibson, Parker, Hollins, Moon, Sessions (hugely undersized, but if they play as a unit and have an up-tempo, they can grow into a threat much like last years Sun’s did with Dragic and Dudley)

Personally, I think Scott is still experimenting with his lineup. And I can now start to see why his 1st year records with teams are not that good. He does his research. But if he wants any chance at saving this season, there needs to be some kind of organization, some kind of player assurance. (You’re with the 2nd and 4th quarter team. You’ll get the floor at the start of those quarters, no matter what)

Nevertheless, I still think we’re going to be fine. All we need to do is not believe what everyone else is saying. The draft is not the answer. I repeat!!!!!! The draft is not the answer! We’ve got picks galore. Worry about that stuff when it comes, because right now, we have a fan base’s dignity on the line right now, and tonight was humiliating.