We’re not even a month into the NBA season and while the Cleveland Cavaliers have been underwhelming so far; everyone, especially Cavs fans need to relax. The Cavs are off to a slow 6-7 start to a season in which everyone expects them to win the NBA championship. There was a ton of optimism this summer in Cleveland with the return of LeBron James. After the Cavaliers were able to move their number one overall pick in the draft Andrew Wiggins and pieces for Kevin Love, the expectations for the new look Cavs got that much greater. They were, at least on paper, one of the favorites to win the NBA title. After 13 games there is panic in Ohio and in the rapid (over)reacting, never-ending news cycle world we live in today, each and every game and quarter the Cavs play is scrutinized and picked apart. Early in this NFL season after a poor 1-2 start, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers came on his radio show and told Green Bay fans to R-E-L-A-X, in what is now probably an overused mantra for their season. I’m going to take a page from Rodgers’s book here and tell everyone in Cleveland one thing: R-E-L-A-X. The Cavaliers are going to be fine.
The Cavaliers being “fine” doesn’t mean that they are going to bounce back from these early season struggles and win the championship this season, but they will be right there at season’s end competing for the Eastern Conference title and possibly the NBA title. When LeBron James left Cleveland and went to Miami, there was talk about how the Heat might be able to challenge the Bulls’ 72-10 record with the accumulation of stars they put together. They started the season off 9-8 and everyone overreacted in the early months, similar to what is happening now. Granted, that Miami team had a proven champion in Dwyane Wade and also had Pat Riley overseeing things. The Cavs do not have that championship experience outside of LeBron and less importantly, Shawn Marion and Mike Miller. Aside from Wade and Eddie House, that 2011 Heat team did not have championship experience. Lebron James is going to have to play a Wade like role in getting his less-experienced team-mates through some of the drama that comes with being expected to win. Just like that Miami team turned things around to finish the season 58-24, I think the Cavs will be right there at season’s end.
The Cavs might not make it to 58 wins, but if they do, it will be because they lean more on Kevin Love than on Kyrie Irving. Part of what is run on offense is due to coaching philosophy, and Cleveland has not gotten Love involved as much as he should be in certain games. Part of this falls on Love for not demanding the ball where he is most effective, and part of it falls on James and Irving who control the ball the majority of the time on offense for Cleveland. When interviewed, Chris Bosh said that Love is going to experience some issues playing in a different style and taking a backseat to James and Irving, and he needs to adjust. The primary ball-handlers on offense need to find Love in his comfortable spots, and perhaps lean a bit more on LeBron-Love pick-and-rolls to create offense. If Love is still struggling after another month or so, there may be deeper issues, but I think Love will find his groove with all the talent and versatility he brings on offense.
A huge reason why the LeBron James’ Miami Heat teams were so good was because of their aggressive and trapping defense. They always played fantastic defense despite not always having great rim protection and rebounding. This Cleveland team has great rebounders in James, Love and Anderson Varejao, but their biggest problem this season will likely be their defense and a lack of rim protection. The Cavs as a team have been awful on defense early on, and they have issues that might linger the whole season. Their bigs don’t protect the rim well, and their perimeter defense is not at the level you would expect with players like James, Marion, and Irving. If LeBron Jamescan be the same elite perimeter defender he has been the last few years that will help, but they need Irving to improve on that side of the ball. He is young and athletic and should be able to bother opposing guards. Great defense takes time for a team to jell in terms of their assignments and schemes as well as effort. If the Cavs can bring consistent effort with the personnel that they have, their defense should improve, albeit still with a lack of above-average shot blocking inside.
The Cleveland Cavaliers still have their issues that need to be sorted out. The good thing is this isn’t the NFL, and the season is 82 games long.
They still have the game’s best player, one of it’s best power forwards, and an all-star point guard. Having LeBron James alone makes them a dangerous team to face at any point. Give them time to figure things out on offense and defense, just like the 2011 Miami Heat needed, and they will be a top level team in the Eastern Conference. I’m not ready to push the panic button just yet on the Cavs. If they’re still under .500 come February, we may have to revisit whether or not the Kevin Love experiment is working. Until then: R-E-L-A-X, relax.
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