You certainly implied a branch-free workflow. Otherwise why would you have a dirty local workspace and multiple checkouts? And why would committing break a build? I'm unaware of any CI server configured to build every branch in the SVN tree.
Do you make a branch every time you change something? Do you make a branch for every developer's local copy?
The thing is, when you solve the problem of dirty local workspaces by making them actual branches svn becomes just as complex as git, probably even more so given that all the branches exist for all the users. And you still don't have has good interface for cherry-picking, you still need multiple local copies, it still isn't as fast and you still don't have all the other benefits associated with a DVCS.
You don't need multiple local copies. That's why "svn switch" exists. That's all I was addressing. Some of the things you knock SVN for are either non-issues or issues with git as well. E.g., "branches exist for all users" is a non-issue. Otherwise it's also a problem when I push a git branch (which is a wise thing to do).
Cherry-picking and speed are legitimate benefits of git.
I don't think I have said it doesn't