I don't know if it was an omen, and if it was, I don't know what it meant.

About halfway through Monday's Media Day - the Christmas Morning of Cavaliers basketball - high winds knocked out the lights at a bustling Cleveland Clinic Courts, with local scribes, radio and TV personalities (and various Cavaliers) mulling around a dark gym for an hour until the annual affair was finally called.

LeBron James - who had already done his thing for a media throng - unofficially made it official when he jogged across the court, decked in his home whites, declaring: "OK - Media Day's over!"

Of course, nothing is over until the Diesel speaks - which Shaq did in the Cleveland Clinic Courts' weight room, the only indoor place that had enough natural light remaining.

"If it's a good omen, I want it," opined the Big Aristotle.

Shaq already seemed at ease with his new mates. "It's a great group of guys. I've been here about two weeks now and I've had some nice conversations. I know what they can do; they know what I can do. We're just going to get out there and gel, and it's going to be fun."

Last year, one of the Cavaliers biggest assets was the club's chemistry. That chemistry is part of the reason GM Danny Ferry didn't break up the team and bring Shaq here last February. But after just a couple encounters with the new-look Cavaliers, it looks like this group might enjoy each other even more.

"These guys have been in my house a million times already," said All-Star guard Mo Williams. "I'm from Mississippi, so those Saturday college football cookouts - that's me. I'm the king in pool, too. I've got the best record. Beat everybody at pool," emphasized Mo, making sure that reporters got that.

Mo knows that it'll take that same camaraderie to repeat last year's feat. (And it might take the team's new faces to surpass it.) One of the squad's leaders, Williams talked about how that chemistry can work for someone like his backcourt mate, Delonte West.

"I really don't know his whole situation, but whatever it is, when he's in the locker room, joking around - that's his safe haven. When he's in this gym, around us, it's like therapy to him. If he's open and wants to talk about it, we're all family. We'll listen and lend an ear."

West didn't speak much about it, choosing to respect the judicial process and concentrate on basketball.

"It was just bad timing, in front of Training Camp, but like I said, that's going to handle itself and all we can do is focus on basketball right now," said West.

Like the rest of his teammates, West - who looks like he's dropped a few pounds - is eager to see the Shaq-LeBron Show unfold.

"I know of Shaq, but I've never met him before," said West. "I know of his legendary on-the-court and off-the-court antics. I've been in Cleveland a couple hours now, and 30 minutes of that has been watching (Shaq and LeBron) carry on like a couple of big kids in the locker room. If that's a glimpse of how things are going to be like, I'm glad I'm here."

The Wine and Gold machine is ready to get back into gear - with the main ingredients from last year's 66-win season plus some new parts and the Diesel. And they're as eager to see how the pieces fit together as we are.