Cleveland Cavaliers: Panic! Or Don’t
By Joshua Howe
If you’ve ever ridden on one of those amusement park rides that slowly goes up, up, up, stays stock still for a solid 30 seconds and then plunges to the earth in such a rush that you can’t hear because of the wind whistling in your ears, that is what the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ season has felt like in 2014-15.
Every time there is a moment to rejoice, there is an ensuing moment that leads to disappointment and vice versa. They’ve been coming in all shapes and sizes. Like this:
- Good – LeBron James comes home
- Bad – Cleveland starts poorly out of the gate
- Good – Eight-game win streak
- Bad – Anderson Varejao gets a big contract and then a season-ending injury
- Good – The Cavs are doing just fine in playoff race
- Bad – LeBron goes down with injury
- Good – Cavs make trades for needed pieces
So on and so forth and blah blah blah.
It’s tough to say but in an honest, candid instant I must admit that watching these Cavaliers has just been gut-wrenchingly difficult besides that early eight-game win streak.
Body language has been bad; defense has been worse; LeBron and coach David Blatt have had at it more than a few times; Kevin Love appears as though he’s actually getting worse on defense; Kyrie Irving has been trying so hard and not much has come from it.
Despite these things, there is positive stuff to focus on as well. Thank goodness.
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So I’ve made two lists, one with reasons to panic and one with reasons not to panic. Then, at the end, you can decide for yourself where you’re at and let me know how depressed or chilled out you really are.
Reasons to Panic
Losing Games
It’s been bad. Ever since LeBron went down with his injury, the Cavs have been even worse than they were before. James returned last game and, even though it was just his first game back, they kept that trend alive.
Without James, Cleveland went on a 1-8 stretch that left fans gawking at their television. Some of the teams they lost to?
Charlotte, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
Each box score that has an “L” next to it at the end is becoming more and more frustrating. Probably because …
It’s Midway Through The Season
By now everyone should have recognized that this team is not, despite how many people claimed they were just like them, the 2010 Miami Heat. They don’t carry the same swagger, defensive intensity or aura of near-invincibility.
We’ve also reached a point in which the excuse “It’s still early!” can no longer be used. We’re halfway through the season now. Teams are revving things up in anticipation of the post-All-Star game schedule.
This is around the time we begin to discover who and what teams really are. Who are fakers and who are serious title contenders. Right now, Cleveland looks a lot like the former.
Inner Turmoil
Besides the obvious LeBron-Blatt mental duel that feels like it’s lasted longer than the entirety of Titanic with no pee breaks, management has made some pretty swift and nervous moves. I can just picture David Griffin wringing his hands after the LeBron injury, wearing a hole into his office floor as he tries to figure out how to salvage the season.
The trades were iffy in retrospect. J.R. Smith is an upgrade over Dion Waiters, sure. But the real prizes were Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. Some people aren’t nearly as high on Shump as Cleveland clearly is, and if they’re right then Cavs fans may be in rude for a rude awakening.
Also, it must simply be stated that Mozgov is, as I said when he arrived in Cleveland, a serviceable big. He’s not a franchise center or elite rim protector. He’s much better than what the team had, but he’s no Roy Hibbert or Dwight Howard.
Love’s Atrocious Defense
I know, I know. I’ve harped on this so much before. But, dangit, it’s just so bad!
Love watches the opponent’s offense and his own team’s defense happen around him while he stands there, constantly reacting late, if at all. His effort level down there has looked even worse than usual. This certainly is due in part to his nagging injuries, but hey, if he’s on the court, he should be giving his all.
No excuses. Someone’s gotta get him to at least try.
Reasons Not to Panic
The Shove
Yes, the LeBron-Blatt situation isn’t good. But let’s hold off on overhyping this and going crazy and naming James a coach-killer or something stupid.
There have been comparisons of this moment to James’ bumping into Erik Spoelstra way back in Miami.
This isn’t the same. Here’s why.
The Bump was during a timeout and was James directly sending a message to Spo that he was displeased. There was a disconnect there. Eventually, this sort of thing was quelled by Dwyane Wade and Spo together.
In my mind, that was more of an issue than what happened a few nights ago.
LeBron was heatedly arguing a call when Blatt jumped into the frey and started yelling at the official. If he had kept it up, he most certainly would’ve been given a technical foul, which would’ve been detrimental to the team, or at least James thought so. Not wanting the foul, James lightly (not aggressively) pushed Blatt out of the way.
He stated later on that he was “just protecting my coach.” I don’t see any reason why James would otherwise act in such a manner.
LeBron
Oh yeah. That’s a pretty good reason not to panic. Try not to take him for granted this time, Cleveland fans.
New Players
While there’s a chance that things don’t pan out the way Cleveland wants them to, as I mentioned above, there’s also the chance that they do. These players just arrived and the team is just starting to get healthy and together again.
Heck, James only just got back. It was one single game. They’re going to need more time than that.
We should start to see fairly quickly what these Cavs are going to turn into, even with Shump still out. If Smith can bolster the bench and start giving a damn after being saved from the hell that is the New York Knicks, and Mozgov can at least provide somewhat consistent rim protection, then things have a chance to turn around.
There is always hope in the East.
Dion Waiters Got Traded
I know that the Cleveland Cavaliers received Smith, basically to replace Waiters’ spot in the rotation and that people were generally surprised and perturbed by this. I’ll admit, I was at first as well.
I mean, he is known for this.
But Waiters was, by far, more painful to watch than Smith. Why? Because he pulled the same sort of antics Smith does except he’s a younger, not quite as good version. Smith is a much better shooter, has his own sneaky athleticism and years of (and playoff) experience.
Enjoy OKC, Dion.