Author: CWinsJim

Before the basketball season began there was a reasonable sense of optimism about the direction of the Cavs and the upcoming season. The expectations were that the Cavs might approach a .500 record and, with the pathetic Eastern Conference teams, likely sneak into the playoffs. No expectations beyond that and many even tempered the playoff speculation by believing they would just miss. But almost no one doubted that the Cavs would be improved in terms of competitiveness and wins/losses. Of course, it didn’t take much to improve on last season but what the heck. Many were hopeful that the signing of Jarrett Jack and Andrew Bynum would move the Cavs to the next level. Few liked or cared about the signing of Earl Clark but the Bynum and Jack moves were believed positive.

The draft led to the “head scratching” pick of UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett, but even that did not deter the Cleveland faithful. Most agreed that there was no consensus number one player in this draft. The Cavs would have been better served to pick from 3rd to 5th and the Bennett pick would not have given us all a head rash. Does anyone think that Bennett would not have been there at pick 5? Plus, the Cavs “Go Deep” ability had resulted in the pretty solid picks of Irving, Waiters and Thompson so I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I had no expectations of Andrew Bynum myself as I had been adamantly opposed to all the fan hyperbole about Bynum. Twitter went berserk when there was speculation we might trade for Bynum before the ill-fated Philadelphia trade that turned out to be an abomination for the 76ers. I was much calmer about the eventual free agent deal that led to a club friendly contract and flexibility. My “over/under” on Bynum was 20 games and I was betting the under. I would have lost my bet but not for the reason I suspected. I believed (and still do) that Bynum’s knees will make it impossible for him to really mount a comeback. But I did see enough to believe he can still help certain teams that don’t depend on him.

Unfortunately the Bynum experiment hurt the Cavs greatly and I now know I shouldn’t have been as calm about the signing as I was. I had believed that he would be physically unable to play and the team and teammates would see that. If he didn’t make it, it would have been no major loss. Plus, if he was unable to play physically, he wouldn’t have hurt the growth of the other players whose minutes he stole. In my view the worst case scenario developed because Bynum played, took minutes, and didn’t help us win. Even worse, Kyrie Irving and Jarrett Jack looked on him as a big part of the team. Their comments after the suspension proved that. Kyrie “It’s just a terrible situation internally with our team. Coaches decision, came from management. That’s kind of where it stays with management.” Jack proved to be much more diplomatic but still indicated Bynum was not disruptive and he hoped the team would “return to full strength” (implying with Bynum, not without him).

So now a Cavs reality check is in order. The team has NOT performed with fight and intensity consistently and that comes from the top player down. As I said in an earlier post, when Kyrie plays hard and defends, the team seems to follow. A great example of that was the end of the recent Boston game. We made a real run at them and Kyrie was all over the place going for rebounds, steals, and pushing the action. But what happened in the first three quarters of that game? More of the same lackluster effort Cavs fans have come to know and love in this 2013-2014 season. Looks pretty similar to how we looked under another coach last year. But the Cavs are much closer to an impending disaster this season then they ever were before during the Kyrie Irving era. Let me explain.

Despite some rumors to the contrary, there was little doubt that Irving respected his “basketball father” Byron Scott. Sadly, he did not perform for him the way he should have but I believe he respected and admired him. There is little known about what Kyrie feels about Mike Brown even though he has tried to follow his coach’s lead. Now, with the soon to be released Andrew Bynum saga, there is evidence that Kyrie might not be on board with management or the coaching staff. Jack might feel similarly privately. This is a disaster waiting to blow up in the Cavs faces. As usual, the Cavs fans will feel the explosion as well with a team in disarray and locker room lost to Mike Brown. This will simply pile on the losses and the heartache. It will also lead to an early departure for Irving from Cleveland along with another coaching turnover. Even before that, there might be a GM turnover because Chris Grant is clearly in the crosshairs.

So, as you can see, this “little” Bynum incident might be the tip of the iceberg ripping a whole right through the fabric of the Cavs. It places everyone at risk and everyone under scrutiny. It keeps that fan base nervous and less tolerant. It makes winning more difficult UNLESS THEY START WINNING.

And that is the only possible silver lining in this disaster that is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Winning will fix all of this and the team will actually come closer together than ever before under Mike Brown. The loss of Bynum will be an opportunity for Anthony Bennett and Tyler Zeller. That opportunity could pay dividends now and for the future.

The Cavs do have a reasonable chance to avert this disastrous conclusion. They simply need to come together and realize that the stretch this season where they looked like a playoff team was not a fluke. It took consistent effort and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win. It took a team full of players and no one player to define them. As silly as it sounds, if they just followed their motto they would be fine. A team fighting as a team with a collective will to win. The Cavs do have it in them. We have all seen it this season in a short stretch.

Without Bynum, if they do not have the mega collapse that could be triggered by his release, they will come to realize that management was right cutting ties sooner than later. That allowing Bennett and Zeller to develop is in the best interest of the team and will actually make them more likely to win than with Bynum. Those players provide an improved ability to run the floor and get back on defense. They will allow the offense to flow without the slugging down of trying to feed the post. In another team, Bynum is a far superior weapon than either of those young players. But for the Cavs, I think they will be happy if they give them minutes.

Am I optimistic that a renewed effort and intensity will lead to winning? That would be pretty hard for me to swallow given what I have heard thus far. But I do recognize that it is possible and frankly hope I start to see it tonight against a superior team in Golden State. Just a solid effort would be a fantastic start.

As anyone who has read this blog the past few days knows, I have not exactly been complementary of the Cavs performances on the court. It would seem kind of silly for me to change positive after that spanking the Cavs endured against the TWolves. Understandably then, I will not be making that positive attitude adjustment in this commentary. I have watched closely each of the past 4 straight losses to the Bobcats. Two of those were in the preseason but the games were all similar in my eyes.

The Bobcats were more athletic, had a vastly superior will to win, Walker broke down Irving at will and created havoc for our defense, and almost every single player played harder and faster than their Cavalier counterpart. This resulted in 4 Bobcat wins despite the fact that the Cavs are a more skilled team by far and have superior basketball talent. In Friday’s game, the Cavs will face the best Charlotte roster by far than any they have faced before. The reason is one player, Al Jefferson. In his limited time (he did not play vs the Cavs), he is leading the team in points per game and rebounds per game. He also has 2.3 assists per game vs only .33 turnovers per game. He is a force to be reckoned with in any game and will be a very steadying influence on this young team. I was one of the few that wanted Jefferson for the Cavs and admittedly the argument that he is somewhat overpaid seems reasonable. That being said, the Cavs would be a far better team in my opinion having Jefferson on the court for 14 million vs Bynum for 12 million. But that ship has sailed and I am in the minute minority on this point anyway.

The interesting thing about this improved Bobcat team is that it might work in the Cavs favor in Friday’s game. Jefferson, although in my opinion a very good player, somewhat slows the offense and defense down. Given that the Cavs have been out quicked by the Cats in each loss, slowing them down even a touch helps our defense. The flip side of that is the skill advantage we enjoyed in each of those losses has been narrowed. So time will tell which factor affects the game more.

None of this matters, however, if the Cavs continue to play lethargic uninspired basketball and Irving does not come to play on both ends of the floor. If Irving is broken down at will, then the results will seem similar. If you haven’t noticed by now, each and every point guard that plays the Cavs is out to put an Irving notch on their belt. They come at him full force and expose his weaknesses (which is generally subpar defensive foot speed and poor intensity). This causes a variety of defensive challenges for the Cavs and makes it harder for Kyrie to play offense. It is a well known fact that one of the best ways to slow down an elite offensive player is to make him play defense. Since Irving struggles so much with that at times, it makes him an easy target for that strategy. And I have news for Kyrie, the only one that can stop that from happening is Kyrie. No defensive scheme can adequately protect the point guard.

So, if you want to know what will happen in the Charlotte game, it all will depend on the Cavaliers in my mind. I am 100% certain that Charlotte will come to play. They smell blood in the Cavs ocean and will dive for every loose ball, go full speed and all out on every possession, and try to embarrass the Cavs in front of their home fans. Walker will again use that monster chip on his shoulder to try and outplay and outhustle Irving. The only counter for this, and I mean the ONLY counter, is to play hard and never back down. To come at them as fast as they come at us. To beat them down the floor in transition and attack with maximum intensity. To lay back and run the offense in slow motion as they have been will result in run out after run out just like against the TWolves.

If the Cavs do not play with high intensity for 48 minutes, the lowly Bobcats will win on our home floor by 15 plus points. Instead of being evidence that the TWolves game was a wake up call, it will be evidence that the TWolves game is a sign of things to come.

It is impossible for me to fathom that the Cavs will not come out and fight with 100% effort. Last year I kept saying that and the poor results kept coming while the effort stayed flat. So this year I am taking a different path, I unhappily believe the Cavs will get spanked by 15 plus points at the Q. I keep waiting for evidence they are going to stand up and fight for every possession. Until I see it, I will continue to look on the dark side of the possibilities. As always, I will be looking for any signs of life.

Well, this was predictable. As I said in my last blog that no one read, the Cavaliers would be blown out by 20 plus if they played as poorly as they did against the Bulls. I would like nothing better than write feel good blogs about how much I love the Cavs game. I do love the Cavs but do not love the Cavs game. Their offense is stagnant and void of flow and principles. Whenever they did anything right (such as the rare back door cuts), it worked. But those things are just too rare. They don’t play offense fast and move half speed but then make hurried ill advised passes to overplayed teammates. I don’t agree with Austin Carr at all that this is simply getting used to a system. This is an inability to play in a system. I only say that because the team looked exactly the same under Byron Scott as they do under Mike Brown. I want them to prove me wrong but I see no signs of it yet.

When we let up well over 100 points by the end of the third quarter, you might wonder why I have been complaining about the offense. I fully admit that the most important thing for the Cavs is to play solid defense. The Cavs score enough points to win most nights. The problem is that the poor offensive flow, resulting in terrible shots or awful passes, leads to run outs and easy fast break points. This results in a very high opponent shooting percentage and many more easy baskets. This creates more total offensive chances for the opponent that inevitably ends up in far too many points allowed. If every team laid back and allowed us to “run” an offense in slow motion and then didn’t run, the Cavs defense would match up much better in any game. Our half court defense is not as terrible as the overall defensive numbers suggest IMO. It certainly isn’t very good yet but that is a place I am confident will come around with Mike Brown’s system over time. As long as Kyrie gives maximum effort as I have said, I think our defense will be acceptable.

The other key factor is a lack of focus and effort when things are not going well. That also creates the possibility of terrible blowouts like tonight. In this game, once their offense was stagnant and lacked flow and Minnesota had fast break point after fast break point, they had no fight left. This allowed the porous half court defense to reveal itself. Kyrie actually tried to pick up the effort on both ends of the court but it was not enough to overcome this onslaught.

I saw little to like in this game and, except for a look at Karasev, not much worth watching. It was an embarrassment for sure and a terrible example of basketball. I wish I could be more optimistic and I am sure I will be later in the year. But for now, Cavs are on a rocket path back to the lottery and that is not what I expected or wanted.