Photo Credit: AFP
We are just a couple of weeks into the season and already people are jumping off the Cleveland Cavaliers bandwagon. The Cavs dropped a big game last night against the Wizards and have fallen to 5-6. Not quite the domination everyone was predicting after Kevin Love agreed to join forces with Lebron James and Kyrie Irving. For a team with this much talent, why are they finding themselves getting out-hustled and out-played by teams with less star power?
Let’s talk about the basics of this team. They have a new coach, David Blatt, who has never coached in the NBA before. A coach who has not been able to get the bench involved enough and relies too heavily on his star players. The team added two new starters, James and Love, who have not played together and are used to being “top dog” on their teams. This team has not played good defense and last night it was extremely clear when Washington scored 50 points in the paint. Last night, it looked like the frustration had reached its peak.
While Kevin Love struggles to find his role on this newly-assembled team, his numbers are suffering. His numbers show he is taking more shots from beyond the arc than ever in his career and as a result, his rebounding has plummeted. Yesterday, Love only scored eight points while Anderson Varejao contributed ten. Without a deep bench, the team could not get anything going with their bigs on offense. With points not coming from inside the paint, the team took 27 3-pointers, unfortunately, they only made six of them. Irving went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc, but did finish with 22 points.
The offensive struggles would not be quite as glaring if this team was hustling to get back one defense or fighting for rebounds. The Cavs have been out rebounded in their past two games against the Spurs and Wizards, both losses. As bad as that sounds, it was nothing compared to watching James not hustle to get back on defense last night. James absolutely cannot do that, especially when his team is still in the game. He knows he can’t let his frustration show, and hopefully his coach had the sense to tell him that.
While things look bleak for this newly formed team, it is far from it. This team is going through growing pains, but when it comes to the playoffs you know they will have figured things out. The panic level in Cleveland should be pretty low, but the way they are losing should be concerning. You have to want it and this team is playing like they are just supposed to be handed a win.
