These past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride for Cleveland Cavaliers fans. It seems like every other day their outlook on the team is changing from one direction to the other.
After the Cavs were mauled and humiliated by the Golden State Warriors, people began panicking, thinking this team was simply not championship material. The mood changed days later when the team axed coach David Blatt, as it was just assumed the switch to Tyronn Lue was all the Cavs needed. When Lue’s tenure opened with two uninspiring performances, fans jumped back to thinking Cleveland was in trouble.
The latest ebb came from last weekend’s dominating victory over the San Antonio Spurs. As Cavs supporters watched their team move the ball seamlessly while taking down such an imposing opponent, it seemed safe to assume things were finally trending in the right direction.
However, in the games since, the coaster has taken another plunge downhill.
An unnecessarily dramatic win against the Indiana Pacers was followed by an inexcusable loss to the Charlotte Hornets. Anyone who assumed this would jolt the players’ systems was proven wrong as the Boston Celtics beat Cleveland at the buzzer Friday night despite being down five with 20 seconds to go. Last night’s victory over a bad New Orleans Pelicans team helped a bit, but overall this was a week for the Cavs to forget.
It also proved that, despite at one point looking like the team everyone expected it to be, Cleveland is still nowhere close to being a finished product.
Much of the reasoning for such a claim is the fact the Cavs just don’t seem interested in dropping bad habits. Claiming Cleveland never looks more impressive than when the players are consistently moving the ball on offense might be the most obvious statement you could make about this team. And yet, guys like LeBron James and Kyrie Irving continue to stop the ball, just dribbling around while everybody else stands and watches.
This was something Lue has called out consistently in the past week, but so far it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. His reasoning for the ball stopping so often, though, remains a significant concern.
Once again, Lue said his players need to be in better shape. It’s a statement he’s made multiple times now since taking over the team a couple weeks ago, and the more often he says it, the more upsetting it gets.
It’s understandable to, when increasing the pace of the designed offense, have players struggle to adjust. Nobody expected a switch to up-tempo basketball being the easiest transition.
At the same time, this is a professional basketball team being called out for something as simple as cardio numerous times midway through the season. It goes without saying that hearing this about a group of players who are supposed to be challenging the Spurs or Warriors this summer is quite alarming.
Part of this is due to the fact the Cavs haven’t really gotten much time to practice since Lue took over. Their schedule has made it so the team has only practiced twice in the past couple weeks, so the players are trying to get in better shape during games.
Once again, though, why professional and highly-paid athletes are having to work on cardio halfway through the year because they’re being asked to run more during games is tough to see as anything else but a red flag.
Time is definitely on their side when it comes to prepping for the postseason, but the Cavs are a ways away from worrying about that. The firing of Blatt may have gotten rid of a divisive member of the locker room, but it hardly put this team back on the right path.
And so, once again, Cleveland is sitting in first place despite not consistently playing like a team that should be there. Lue may have looked like the saving grace when the Cavs went 5-1 after his promotion, but all of the sudden it’s become clear there’s still a lot of work to be done.
