The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cavaliers are no longer playing as a team
The Cavaliers are a mess, and to keep thinking, “Aw, it’s just that January lull they always go through” is to ignore the fact they look like a badly outof-tune piano sounds.
The Cavaliers play like five individuals coincidentally wearing the same clothing more than they play as a team, and that is reflected in a slump that has reached 10 losses in 13 games. Two of the three victories, by a total of five points, have come against the lowly Orlando Magic.
“Just stepping out of bounds, throwing the ball away,” center/forward Kevin Love told reporters after the 114102 loss in San Antonio on Jan. 23. “Just turnovers and extra possessions and tap outs on the defensive end when we’re trying to get a rebound, secure it and go back the other way is stuff that kind of deflates us and kills us.
“We feel like there are times where the game could have gone the other way, but we need to have those plays go in the other direction if we’re going to win.”
The Cavaliers have lost three straight, but it could be worse. The Boston Celtics, the team the Cavs are chasing in the Eastern Conference, have lost four in a row.
Coach Tyronn Lue vowed he will change the starting lineup before the Cavs host the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 26.
He could move Tristan Thompson to starting center, put forward Jae Crowder on the bench and move Kevin Love to forward, bench guard J.R. Smith and replace him with Dwyane Wade, but that isn’t going to fix everything.
The parts General Manager Koby Altman put together in the offseason aren’t working together. Part of it is guard Isaiah Thomas is still working his way back into game shape, but maybe it is wrong to just assume he will ever be the same player he was before a hip injury in the 2017 Eastern Conference finals ended his time in Boston.
I expected more from Crowder as part of the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for Thomas plus the Nets 2018 first-round draft pick and more. I thought Crowder would be the defender the Cavs lacked in the NBA Finals last year when
they were eliminated by the Warriors in five games. He hasn’t been that player, and his scoring average has dropped from 13.9 points to 8.7 points a game.
Smith is another mystery. He’s averaging slightly more playing time than a year ago (29.7 minutes compared to 29 minutes) but his production has declined for a second straight year. He averaged 12.4 points in 30.7 minutes in 2015-16, to 8.6 points last season and 7.4 points this season.
Lue says the problem with the Cavs’ defense is they aren’t shooting well enough; when they miss a shot, the opponent gets the rebound and streaks down the floor before the Cavaliers set up defensively. That’s a reflection of being the oldest team in the league.
“In Boston we were a much better defensive team,” Thomas said after the Cavs were embarrassed by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 20, 148-124. “We tried harder. I don’t think we trust each other right now.”
The Cavaliers held one of
those “clear the air” team meetings two days later in which Thomas allegedly called out Kevin Love for leaving the Oklahoma City game with an illness, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
It seems to me Thomas, whose first game with the Cavs was on Jan. 2, should have some success with his new team before earning the right to spout off, but maybe that’s just me. Curiously, though, a report on Aug. 23 last year by Chris Broussard of FoxSports1 said Thomas isn’t the great teammate he’s painted to be. The Irving trade happened one day earlier.
“I will tell you this, I spoke to several executives, or texted with several executives (Tuesday), and a lot of them were saying that a lot of the players in Boston really weren’t that fond of Isaiah,” Broussard said. “We know he had those problems in Sacramento and in Phoenix. I didn’t know he was having those issues — before (talking with) these executives — in Boston.”
Thomas’ former teammates in Boston disagreed with Broussard’s report.
“I.T. is the type of person to more so be hurt if someone wasn’t giving their all because that little dude battles,” Evan Turner, now playing with Portland, told Celticsblog.com. “I can’t even put into words bruh, you just gotta see it. And to see him rise is unreal. Nothing ill should ever be said about that guy.”
Thomas’ personality is just one more thing for Lue to deal with.
Reportedly, the Cavaliers are talking with Sacramento about a trade that would send Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye to the Kings for 6-foot-3 guard George Hill. He is averaging 10.3 points a game.
Hill won’t fix all the Cavs’ ills. One other problem with being the oldest team in the league is the age factor limits their trade options.