LeBron sends message of patience to Cavs fans
Cleveland off to 1-3 start following back-to-back losses to Portland, Utah
DENVER— LeBron James likes messages these days — direct, indirect, verbal, non-verbal and even on social media. Before training camp began, James — he of four MVPs, two Finals MVPs and two NBA championships — met with teammates and explained what their roles should be; presumably dribbling around like it’s an And-1 event and chucking shots like it’s a pickup game at the local gym were not roles for any players. But who knows. After the Portland Trail Blazers hammered the Cavs on Tuesday, James said, “A lot of bad habits have been built up over the past couple of years. When you play that style of basketball, it takes a lot to get it up out of you.” And on Wednesday, when asked if his messages were heard, James said, “I don’t know if the guys saw (my quotes), but I continue to preach it and they will get it.” Then on Thursday, the day following Cleveland’s 102-100 loss to the Utah Jazz, which sent the Cavs to an unexpected 1-3 record, James tweeted that everyone needs to take a breath. Welcome to life with the Cavaliers, where every game, every phrase, every substitution, every shot and every pass are analyzed. It’s similar to what James experienced with Miami, especially when the Heat stumbled to a 9-8 record in the first season with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Except now there’s one notable difference: “More anger behind the questions, absolutely,” James said. With his tweet Thursday, James wanted to bring levity to the situation. Three losses in four games isn’t a harbinger for the rest of the season. There’s no need to panic right now. As has been noted for weeks, it’s going to take time for the Cavs to figure out how to play together, especially with some of their younger, more talented players, such as Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love, lacking what’s required to play championship basketball. James conceded it could take a cou- ple of months, and Cavaliers coach David Blatt said, “Our team, it’s a work in progress, and when you have a lot of new players — particularly a lot of new, very talented players — sometimes it’s a little harder to put together. If you look historically, that’s sort of been the case in many of these situations.”
There’s no reason to panic and no reason to believe the Cavs won’t get better. With James, Irving, Waiters, Love, Thompson, Shawn Marion, Mike Miller and Anderson Varejao, improvement is a given.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t legitimate concerns. The Cavaliers had a month of practices and seven preseason games and at times they look like they’re in the first week of training camp.
Cleveland’s big men are struggling with defensive assignments. For the most part, Cleveland is keeping opponents out of the paint, but when opponents take close-range shots, they’re hitting 57 per cent.
Offensively, the Cavaliers were better in the second half against the Jazz, but they still had just six assists on 30 baskets, compared to the Jazz’ 26 assists on 39 baskets.
“No way you can win a basketball game like that, just having six assists,” James said.
Cleveland passed the ball 276 times, Utah 442 — a sign that ball movement needs to be much better for Cleveland. Irving, the point guard, scored 34 points against the Jazz but has zero assists in Cleveland’s past six quarters. Waiters played just 13 minutes on Wednesday as he works through his struggles in Blatt’s system.
“I think we’re thinking too much and not playing good, instinctive basketball and the ball’s not moving the way that it should,” Blatt said. “It did against Chicago and it didn’t the other two games, and that speaks to the fact that we’re just not there yet.”
Again, it’s all fixable. But how much are players willing to listen to what James and Blatt are saying? What is the sense of urgency?
It’s early. Everyone knows that. But the Cavs have some growing up to do.