And the Cavs went 3-4.
This isn’t the kind of grueling road trip that the Cavs should be happy to finish near .500. If we’re to take this team and their lofty championship aspirations seriously, then they should be able to beat teams that, quite frankly, suck.
While the losses to subpar teams were bad, the whoopin’ they received at the hands of the Suns was the most disturbing. The game was nationally televised, billed as a high-profile showdown between two of the league’s top teams…and our heroes went out and laid a rather sizable wine and gold colored egg. The score was 109-90, but it looked a lot worse than that. The game was a classic example of balanced team working well together trumping a team that relied too much on their one superstar. Phoenix had five players in double figures, and seven with at least 8 points. Cleveland had two in double figures: LeBron James (34) and Drew Gooden (11).
Losses like the one to Phoenix make me question the current incarnation of the Cavaliers. Great teams shouldn’t get blown out in marquee games. And that’s the point: right now the Cavs aren’t great. They’re good, sure, but still a ways away from great. As of January 22 the Cavs were 24-17, good enough for second place in the Central Division and third place in the…sigh, I feel obligated to make the token crappy pun, Leastern Conference. So basically, assuming things continue roughly like they have, the Cavs will get a top-3 playoff spot and some degree of home-court advantage.
But…then what? As sad as the East is, I can’t see the Cavs reaching the Finals. They rely on LeBron far too much, and their offense usually turns into watching him play 1-on-5 or a simple pick-and-roll. While LeBron has shown that he can carry a team even with the odds stacked against him, the Cavs certainly have a ceiling when that’s the case. Second banana Larry Hughes has become so inconsistent that when he has a 20+ point game it’s a cause for celebration. Hughes has been a mild disappointment, as he was brought in with the expectation of taking the scoring burden off of LeBron on a nightly basis.
The supporting cast as a whole has been maddeningly inconsistent. Hughes, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden are all averaging between 10 and 15 points per game, but no one has stepped up as a reliable second option. Hughes spends much of his time on the injured list and has a shaky jump shot. Ilgauskas is talented, but possesses Mokeskian athleticism and struggles against top-tier defenders. Gooden is a great rebounder and gets a lot of garbage points, but isn’t an especially polished scorer. Anderson Varejao is pure energy, though occasionally misdirected. Eric Snow (who I’ve tried to defend while countless others have ripped him) has an entire cutlery set sticking out of his back, right down to the shrimp fork. Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall are nothing more than spot-up shooters, and streaky ones at that. Daniel Gibson looks like he can be a solid lead guard, but is a rookie learning on the job. Shannon Brown is getting splinters in his backside from riding the pine.
The moral of this story? The Cavaliers lack the balance across the board to be taken seriously as an NBA contender. LeBron is obviously an absurdly talented player, but his progress seems to have hit a plateau this season. His points, rebounds and assists are all down from last year, as are his field goal and free throw percentages. Unless he starts averaging a 40-10-10, this Cavs team isn’t going much further than it did last year.
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