In the buildup to this year’s All-Star Game in Dallas, you’re going to hear the expression – “Everything’s bigger in Texas” – about as many times as the amount of votes LeBron James will receive to be there.

The NBA All-Star Game is already the biggest spectacle among pro sports’ mid-season classics. It takes an entire weekend to contain it.

The “bigger” part comes when referring to Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium, where attendance could hit the 100,000-fan mark for this year’s game. And between Jones and Mark Cuban, it’s tough to be against the Dallas duo when it comes to making a splash.

As of last week, the voting is going as expected – both good and bad.

The game’s two best players – LeBron and Kobe Bryant – are leading their respective Conferences. Kobe leads everyone with 1,380,383 votes. James is right behind with 1,351,292. The only other players with more than a million votes are Carmelo Antony, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett.

One of the biggest recent trends in voting is the influence of on-line voting from global markets – most notably China. Bryant has always been big there and LeBron is making more headway in the Far East every year. Both players are deserving of their success at the ballot box.

However, as it is in any All-Star Game in which “fans” are allowed to vote, there’s a popularity situation that in no way reflects the actual season. Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady are this year’s examples.

McGrady, who’s played all of 45 minutes this entire season, is less than 5,000 votes away from current starter, Steve Nash.

McGrady directly attributes the voting to his popularity with the Chinese market, which he’s cultivated since his days in Orlando. But McGrady has also acknowledged that if he’s voted to start, he’ll attend, but not play.

"(It) all it boils down to respecting my peers and knowing what's right,” McGrady said. "Thanks to my fans, but at the same time I respect the guys who should be on that team."

The other late riser is Allen Iverson, who started the season on the West ballot, went from sixth to second among East guards and is now slated to start across from Dwyane Wade in the East backcourt. Iverson is no longer the superstar he once was, but he’s still averaging almost 15 points per game with the Sixers.

As far as Cavaliers in the voting, James is the only player with a shot. Shaquille O’Neal, in fact, is the only one of LeBron’s teammates noted in early returns and he’s currently 797,457 votes behind Dwight Howard at the center position.

That’s not to say LeBron won’t have company in Dallas. Mo Williams, who made his first All-Star appearance last year, is certainly a candidate in 2010.

Mo stats are actually slightly better this season (17.3 ppg vs. 17.1) and lately, Williams has been every part as instrumental to Cleveland’s success as his MVP teammate. Over the last four games, Mo Williams has averaged 24.8 ppg, shooting 54 percent from the floor and 61 percent from long-distance, netting nearly five boards and five assists per contest.

Mo had to jump through some serious rings to get into last year’s mid-season classic, gaining entry only after Jameer Nelson and Kevin Garnett went down with injuries. Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, called David Stern’s early rebuffs of Mo, “stupidiculous, idillogical and preposterageous.”

Despite Mo’s stellar play, he could get squeezed again. Joe Johnson, Rajon Rondo, Rodney Stuckey and even Brandon Jennings could easily make a case for one of the remaining guard spots.

All Mo Williams can do is keep doing what he’s been. And if the Cavaliers keep winning, it’ll be tough to justify just a single All-Star representative.

In terms of All-Star Saturday at Jerry Jones’ Palace in Dallas, that could be a different story for the Cavaliers. LeBron James said last year that he’d think about getting in this year’s Dunk Contest. But earlier this year, he seemed like he might be wavering. It’s hard to blame him; LeBron’s in a no-win situation.

In terms of the Three-Point Shootout, the Cavaliers – trailing only Phoenix in long-distance shooting – have three players in the Top 15, including former contestant, Daniel Gibson, who currently leads the East in marksmanship at an even .500. Boobie finished second to Jason Kapono in 2008, but would love a chance to compete again in his home state of Texas.

A lot can happen between now and mid-February. All we know now is that the 2010 All-Star Game is going to be big. And we already know why.

You know you’re watching a great team when back-to-back losses feel like a “funk.”

But that’s where the Cavaliers found themselves after dropping consecutive games last week in Memphis and Houston. Never mind that the losses came on the heels of a four-game win streak or that it was a road back-to-back, the second and third games of three-in-four-nights.

When a team gets to the rarified air that the Cavaliers found themselves in, a two-game skein feels like forever. It feels like a funk.

Cleveland’s loss to the Grizzlies was their first in four years and Houston has been the Wine and Gold’s Bermuda Triangle. Still, the Cavaliers hit the 20-turnover mark in both games. Both teams beat them on the break and the offense looked stagnant at times. Memphis’ Mike Conley’s game-winning layup in overtime showed that the Cavaliers still have a way to go in their pick-and-roll defense.

But the Cavaliers righted the ship by the second half of Friday’s win over Portland. And they got right on the road with Sunday’s win over Kevin Durant and Co.

LeBron was spectacular in both wins. (Actually, he was pretty spectacular in the losses, too.) On Sunday, he notched a season-high 44 points – including a stretch of seven points in 75 seconds that put the Cavaliers in the driver’s seat. And Mo Williams’ 46-footer with four minutes to play all but took the air out of OK City.

Cleveland also held the Thunder to just 13 points in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win. That’s been the Cavaliers’ defensive calling card this year. They’ve already clamped down, holding teams in the teens in the closing quarter, in wins over Dallas, Indiana and Philadelphia.

“The fourth quarter is when we always make our mark,” said LeBron following the victory. “We definitely played hard in the fourth quarter.”

The Cavaliers needed to get themselves straight this week. They’ll have three more winnable games before embarking on the most daunting road trip of the season – starting on Sunday night in Dallas and ending on Christmas Day in L.A. In between, the Cavaliers will face Phoenix and Sacramento.

This week, the Wine and Gold’s foes – New Jersey, Philadelphia and Milwaukee – are a combined 18-41 (.305) so far this season. Just last week, the Cavaliers mauled Milwaukee, running off 29 straight points in a 15-point win.

Cleveland picked a good time to get back on terra firma and this week will be critical for their confidence. Because although this week’s opponents have a winning percentage of .305, that success rate doubles next week on the West Coast, where they face four clubs with a combined mark of 61-31 (.663).

With Delonte rounding back into form, Shaq continuing to fit in, and Leon Powe’s health improving by the day, it’s important to remember that the 2009-10 are still a work in progress. With a tough front-loaded road schedule before the All-Star break laying the foundation, we may not see the “real” Wine and Gold until the home-heavy second half of the season.

But it’s still important to run off some wins while we do.

Saturday night produced several storylines, and none of them are what the storyline was supposed to be.

Danny Ferry is still the co-leader in all-time games played by a Cavalier, as Zydrunas Ilgauskas got his first DNP-CP since April 4, 2005 – and that might have been just to have eight men dressed. (Z was coming off a finger injury.)

“With Erick Dampier out, (Carlisle)’s been going small, and going into the game I had (Ilgauskas) slotted for his usual 22-24 minutes,” said Coach Mike Brown after the game. “But when they went small, I went small to match up a little better with them.”

It worked.

The Cavaliers played maybe their most complete game of the season – definitely on the offensive end.

On the night after turning in possibly their biggest offensive clunker of the season in Charlotte, the Cavaliers steamrolled the Western Conference’s best road team on Saturday. Cleveland shot 68 percent at half, scoring 68 points. Anderson Varejao went 7-for-7 from the floor and Mo Williams was 7-for-7 from three-point range.

The persona of “Mo Gotti” fits him perfectly. Williams is cold-blooded when he’s on – bouncing back from a 2-for-8 performance from long-distance to perfection in seven attempts.

“If I don’t shoot well the night before, I don’t let it bother me,” shrugged Williams, who finished with 25 points. “I learned that in Utah – never let the last play affect the next play. I’m glad I was a rookie when I learned it. The older I got, the better I got as a player. Don’t look back on the last play or the last game.”

The Cavaliers are now 20-0 at home when Mo tops the 20-point plateau.

Mo and LeBron proved again to be one of the best one-two punches in the NBA. They combined for 50 points – with Mo setting up Dallas and No. 23 knocking them down. That’s been a subtle change to LeBron’s role this year. In the past, he was the fourth quarter savior. Now he’s the closer.

“Mo starts out the fourth quarter and he’s the go-to guy, and everyone in with Mo in that lineup does a great job,” said LeBron. “Then I come in at the 6:30 mark and I become the ‘closer.’”

But maybe the most encouraging thing about Saturday night’s 16-point win was the play of Delonte West.

Last year’s starting two-guard has been used sporadically this season. He was almost non-existent in his previous two appearances, closing out the half for a foul-plagued James on Friday. On Saturday night, he looked like the Delonte West of old – doing a little bit of everything in the win.

West doubled-up with 10 points and a season-high 10 assists, grabbing four boards, running some point and teaming up to hold Jason Kidd to just six shot attempts. And anyone who’s been around the team of late can tell that West is also more like himself off the court, too.

Cleveland’s the only team in the East that hasn’t lost to a Western Conference team this year. (Over the past two seasons, they’re 30-4 against the West.) They passed one big test on Saturday, and they’ll get another one on Wednesday, when the Suns – currently the best in the West – come to The Q.   

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. 

Despite one of the most successful runs in franchise history, the Wine and Gold went back to the drawing board this summer. And after a busy offseason, the reloaded Cavaliers will have some questions to answer as they tip off Training Camp in just over one month.

1. Will the offense bog down with Shaq in the middle?

The Cavaliers offense has taken on various forms over the course of the LeBron James Era. And in 2009-10, we're in for another adjustment.

Last year's offense was predicated on the "drive-and-kick" - taking advantage of LeBron's ability to work his way to the hoop, his prolific passing skills and the presence of outside shooters like Mo Williams, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. Under that system - and the guidance of "offensive coordinator" John Kuester - the Cavaliers produced the highest-scoring duo in the NBA (Mo and LeBron - 46.3 ppg). And combined with the Wine and Gold's stingy defense, Cleveland was 38-2 when they topped the century mark.

Shaquille O'Neal won't be stepping out to drain the 18-footer like his predecessor in the starting lineup. Instead, Shaq will do his work in and around the paint - where LeBron likes to operate. Minus Kuester, who left for the head coaching job in Detroit, can the Cavaliers figure out a way to maximize both of their superstars talents and still keep their shooters happy and involved?

2. Who will start at the two-guard and who will come off the bench?

The Cavaliers coaching staff and brass have always been high on Delonte West and whether he starts or comes off the bench, he'll still be an integral part of the club. West has always maintained that he's happy with either role.

West left everything on the floor against Orlando in the ECF, and has earned nothing but respect throughout the organization. And despite the fact that he can check players six inches taller than him doesn't mean that it's an ideal situation. With that in mind, the Cavaliers inked Anthony Parker this offseason.

Parker can also stick the open jumper, but has at least four inches on West. Defensively, they're in the same discussion. And no matter who starts, because West is also proficient at the point, they'll probably spend a lot of floor time together this season.

3. Will J.J. Hickson make strides between his freshman and sophomore seasons?

After being shut down late last season with a sore back, the jury on J.J. Hickson is still out. The No. 19 overall pick one year ago burst on the scene with a massive dunk on Emeka Okafor and went on to show flashes of his freakish athleticism through the first half of the season. But Hickson - who turns 21 on Sept. 4 - seemed to hit the rookie wall after the All-Star Break and, combined with the bad back, lost his minutes to fellow rookie, Darnell Jackson.

This year, both Hickson and Jackson will be asked to contribute even more and both have been working diligently at Cleveland Clinic Courts. Will it translate to the court this season?

4. Can Daniel Gibson rediscover the magic from his rookie season?

It seems like a long time ago that "Boobie" became a household name, almost single-handedly vanquishing the Pistons in Game 6 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.

After raising his scoring average from 4.6 ppg in his rookie season to 10.4 in his sophomore campaign, Gibson regressed the season after signing an extension with the squad. Last year, Gibson's production fell to 7.8 ppg - dipping below 40 percent (.391) for the first time in his career. A nagging toe injury prohibited Boobie from being the player he wanted to be, but he did play well in the ECF against Orlando.

However, the Cavaliers have once again reloaded the backcourt, and unless Gibson can return to his rookie form, the minutes could be harder to come by in 2009-10.

5. What effect will Mo's playoff performance have on him moving forward?

During the Cavaliers playoff run last season, one reader wrote to ask me to: "... please tell Mo to relax."

That might have been the best fan suggestion that hit my mailbox all season. It became obvious by the time Cleveland was facing Orlando that Mo Williams - who had played a total of five postseason games before this year - was over-amped for the postseason.

Although the first-time All-Star averaged a respectable 16.3 ppg in the playoffs, Mo's numbers were down across the board in the postseason, including shooting percentage from the field (.467 to .408), from three-point range (.436 to .372) and from the stripe (.912 to .767).

No one could ever accuse Williams of not giving everything he had. But the man who plays fast without ever looking like he's in a hurry did both in the postseason.  A year of playoff experience should do Williams wonders next April.

6. How will Anderson Varejao react to a starting spot?

At the press conference to announce that he'll remain in Cleveland, when Anderson Varejao was asked about what it'll be like to play with the Diesel this year, he quipped, ""I hope Shaquille O'Neal doesn't mind coming off the bench."

Naturally, the Wild Thing got a good laugh. But it will be curious to see what Andy's role will be among the restructured frontcourt.

Last year, in 39 games off the bench, Varejao averaged 7.1 points on .526 shooting, with 6.6 rebounds 24.4 minutes. In 42 starts, he averaged 9.9 points on .542 shooting, 7.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 32.3 minutes. The Cavaliers were 33-9 with Anderson in the starting lineup. When the Wild Thing broke double-digits, Cleveland was 25-5.

Jamario Moon is definitely a three and Leon Powe won't be ready to roll until after the All-Star Break. Darnell Jackson and J.J. Hickson should improve, but there's nothing that would indicate they're ready to become starters this season. All that seems to indicate that No. 17 will be in the starting frontcourt alongside LeBron and Shaq.

7. There's no way LeBron can actually be better this year - can he?

It's difficult to find something that LeBron doesn't get credit for, but anyone who covers the Cavaliers knows that the reigning MVP is the embodiment of the sports cliché: "First one there, last one to leave."

Aside from being the team's (and league's) best player - both physically and cerebrally - LeBron is definitely one of the league's hardest workers. And just because he wasn't training with Team USA this summer doesn't mean that he wasn't working. In sporadic trips to Cleveland Clinic Courts, it's rare not to hear the hip-hop blaring from within the gym and not see James inside scrimmaging or just working with Chris Jent.

Like his idol, Michael Jordan, LeBron seems to get better in one area each year. When critics said Jordan was just a dunker, he developed a deadly jumper. When they said he couldn't play defense, he worked to become a defensive menace. After six years in the league, it's safe to say that the Cavaliers' No. 23 is cut from a similar cloth.

It's hard to imagine what the young King can improve upon, but a betting man would probably guess he'd like to get his free throw accuracy above 80 percent. He shot just under 75 percent in the postseason and left a lot of points at the stripe in the ECF against Orlando.

And if LeBron does make this improvement, he can be even better than last season. And if that's the case, Cavaliers' opponents will have even more question marks to deal with than you and I have in today's blog ...