After a 1-3 start to the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are now facing an incredible amount of criticism from every NBA talking head in America. With last nights loss to the Jazz, and a loss the night before in Portland, there are now people reporting that LeBron James and Kyrie Irving had a "healthy exchange of words" after the Trailblazers game. So this rough start means everything falling apart in Cleveland, and that everyone should panic???..... ABSOLUTELY NOT, PEOPLE.. Take a deep breath and I'll tell you why.
The season started the worst way possible for the Cavs. To start things off, it was a humongous "Coming Home" celebration for LeBron in the first game against the Knicks. The Cavs looked wide-eyed and supposedly Irving asked Mike Miller, "Is this what the playoffs are like?" A question in which Miller quickly responded, "No." HA. The opening game was more of a circus than a basketball game, so that loss is somewhat understandable. Then the next night the Cavs responded valiantly, taking down the other Eastern Conference favorite in the Chicago Bulls. LeBron played like LeBron and everything was fine. Then the Cavs had three full days of rest, and didn't play again until Tuesday night when they took on Portland. After the Cavs lost by 19 points on the road to the Blazers, the criticism started pouring in. James only had eleven points in the loss, and Bill Simmons from Grantland suggested that LeBron could be on the decline due to playing over 40,000 minutes in his NBA career...
So after that long summary of how the Cavs season has started, here are my thoughts: First off, everyone needs to chill.. LeBron tweeted today that everyone needs to "RELAX". Does anyone remember how the 2011 Heat started their season? They were 9-8 through 17 games in LeBron's first season in Miami. They went on to make four straight NBA Finals appearances and won two of them. Second: The chemistry will take sometime to get down, especially on a team with three guys who are used to being "the man" when really "the man" is LeBron James (see playoff appearances of other two guys). The third and most important thing will be the play Dion Waiters. Plain and simple that guy hates to pass the ball. Waiters has always had an ego, and he's even been a pretty good shooter in his career. But this season Waiters has struggled to find his shot, and on Wednesday night he was replaced in the starting lineup by Shawn Marion. The Cavs desperately need their role players to step up. Everyone knows that the trio of LeBron, Irving and Kevin love is an incredible threesome. Those guys will produce in most every game. The key to the Cavs success will be how well the rest of the team meshes with those superstars. Part of that responsibility falls back on the shoulders of Irving, the teams point guard. Over the last six quarters, Irving has failed to recored an assist. As the team's facilitator, that should be his main focus. Through four games, Irving has averaged only 3.8 assists. With the number of weapons he has to pass to on this team, that number needs to drastically increase.
I really believe that once this team gets a few more games under its belt they'll be fine. Let's remember that this is David Blatte's first year as a head coach in this league, and taking on a roster filled with superstars isn't the easiest thing to do. Players will find their roles on this team too as the season progresses. LeBron said it best after the game when he basically told reporters that it wouldn't benefit the team if he were to take over in the fourth quarter every night, and that the team needs to learn from those opportunities. Those chances will come, and the Cavs still have 78 games left on the schedule, so there will be plenty of time for improvement. But for now, take a deep breath NBA fans. If my instincts tell me anything, it's that the Cavs will be just fine. Any team led by KING JAMES himself will be in good shape. The NBA world just needs to sit back and be patient. -BC
Finally, in last nights loss to the Jazz, people immediately overreacted simply because the Jazz are an awful team. How is a team that has three top 10 NBA players, losing to a Jazz squad that's recently overpaid for Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks (LOL). Let me also remind everyone that LeBron took over in the final minutes of the loss. He hit a big three point basket, before knocking down three clutch free throws to tie the game. If it weren't for Hayward's incredible buzzer beater then we would all be discussing how LeBron saved the day compared to questioning the Cavs as a team.
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