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Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 Reasons LeBron and Company Should Panic

By Michael Dunlap

Nov 22, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts in the third quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 22, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts in the third quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bench Issues Are Real

Take it back a few months, back to when James made his decision to return to Cleveland. It was assumed that veterans would be interested in riding James’ coattails and would flock to Cleveland to provide a solid, veteran bench. That has both happened — and not happened. Guys like Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and James Jones came over (and Ray Allen is still out there waiting), but as far as a solid bench? Not by a long shot.

Dion Waiters has been a big disappointment, as he’s shooting just 38.1 percent from the field. Tristan Thompson is his usual inconsistent self, as he’s just as likely to score in double digits (five times) as he is to score six or less (six times). Miller and Joe Harris can’t hit the broad side of a barn and it’s really hurting the Cavs.

Here’s the bench stats as a whole — is there much here to like?

Player G MP FG% 3P% 2P% FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
Dion Waiters 11 24.1 .377 .292 .402 .684 1.3 1.7 1.5 0.3 1.5 2.2 9.1
Tristan Thompson 12 23.4 .483 .483 .704 6.2 0.5 0.5 0.8 1.0 2.1 8.6
Matthew Dellavedova 3 19.7 .300 .400 .200 1.0 2.3 0.0 0.3 0.0 2.7 2.7
Joe Harris 10 14.4 .344 .333 .375 .750 1.3 0.9 0.2 0.0 0.9 2.2 3.3
Mike Miller 11 11.7 .278 .200 .667 1.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.4 1.2
Will Cherry 5 4.8 .286 .333 .250 .500 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.0 0.6 0.8 1.2
Louis Amundson 3 4.7 .333 .333 1.7 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.7 0.7
James Jones 2 4.5 .500 .500 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5
Brendan Haywood 3 4.3 .400 .400 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.0 1.3
Alex Kirk 2 1.5 1.000 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/23/2014.

As far as points per game are concerned, the Cavaliers bench is dead last in basketball, averaging just 21.7 points. The difference in efficiency between the Cavs bench and their opponents is also a league-worst minus-18.6. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder (.399), Philadelphia 76ers (.397) and Houston Rockets benches(.366) are shooting worse from the field than the Cavs .405.

Next: Will The Real LeBron Please Stand Up?