The Cleveland Cavaliers have been winning. They had won four straight before Wednesday’s loss at Atlanta to the Hawks. However, in spite of their recent success, something is still amiss. The wine and gold are far from clicking on all cylinders. They blew out Seattle at home on Tuesday, but struggled at home against an undermanned Sacramento team last weekend. The following game, against Toronto, LeBron James basically overcame a poor effort by himself to defeat the Raptors. There is clearly something wrong with this team.
It probably doesn’t help that Mike Brown is starting two players in the backcourt, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic that not only shouldn’t start, but also perhaps shouldn’t be playing at all. To be kind, these two guys are not holding up their end of the bargain, both shooting under 34% from the floor. Although Hughes is a solid defender, if either of these guys isn’t hitting shots, they really contribute nothing to the offense. So, the Cavs are really playing 3 on 5 when they have the ball.
I understand being patient with veterans, but the season is now almost at the halfway point, and Hughes and Pavlovic are contributing nothing on a regular basis. Also, playing non-productive guys doesn’t do a lot for team chemistry. Don’t you think Eric Snow, Damon Jones, and/or Shannon Brown are sitting on the bench thinking that they could do at least as well as the two starters? It’s a tribute to Daniel Gibson and Devin Brown that they set aside their egos and come off the bench.
It’s not a mystery why the wine and gold get off to poor starts, and struggle in the third quarter. It’s generally because Hughes and Pavlovic are in the game. Mike Brown has to see this. Hughes’ ego requires him to start, but why not replace Sasha with Devin Brown? Even Austin Carr has said it shouldn’t be up to the bench to provide energy to the team game in and game out. The starting five needs more than LeBron and Zydrunas Ilgauskas playing well. Drew Gooden’s inconsistency doesn’t help either.
Speaking of Shannon Brown, it’s possible we have seen the last of him in a Cavaliers’ uniform. He asked the team to send him to the D League following the game in Atlanta. Although I’ve been an advocate of Brown getting some playing time, it’s clear now that the kid just doesn’t get it. He came in for the last four minutes of Tuesday’s blowout win against the Sonics, and promptly jacked up six shots in those four minutes. If you are trying to get meaningful minutes, it’s not a good idea to treat garbage time into your personal highlight reel. He would be better off playing the right way and impressing the coaching staff.
The fans want the team to make a deal, but it isn’t likely considering what the Cavs have to offer. Sure, they can dangle Gooden and Shannon Brown, but Hughes’ contract makes him virtually untradable, so a huge impact transaction probably isn’t going to happen. However, the backcourt can be helped without making a trade. A shuffling of bodies already on the roster might be just what the doctor ordered.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 
right on, brother!!! it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the cavs problems are, especially when it comes to their issues in the 3rd quarters of games and yet coach mike brown continues to just bang his head up against the wall over and over again. that’s a reference to a particular form of "insanity" and/or mental illness as in the purest definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result. while listening to the coach on "the mike brown show" on wtam the other night, he seems to think that larry and sasha will snap out of their funk simply by getting even more playing time. what??? are you kidding me??? what a goof. he must be insane if he thinks that’s the solution. one of the things he should seriously consider doing is changing up who starts the 2nd half. larry and sasha can start the games all they want, but it seems to me that in the first 5 to 7 minutes of the 2nd half, the cavs are falling way behind and then brown goes to the bench and brings in the "energy guys" (boobie, andy, devin & damon) and expects them to cut into the deficit that larry and sasha helped create. while many times they are able to cut down the deficit and many times even come back and take the lead en route to the victory, here’s an idea: why not just start the energy guys right from the start of the 3rd quarter and actually get a lead, sustain a lead or build onto a lead and then once they have all the momentum, go with larry and sasha at the 5 minute mark and have them go up against the opponents bench guys instead of their starters and they might actually perform better??? here’s another idea: sign free agent earl boykins and let him come off the bench in the 3rd quarter and let him provide some instant offense like what vinnie "the microwave" johnson used to do for the "bad boys" detroit pistons teams of the 80’s. you could call boykins "mini-microwave" then. hee-hee!!! lord knows he would be a significant upgrade to the point guard position from anyone else already currently on the roster and no boobie is not a point guard. while he may play point guard, he is actually just a short shooting guard. boykins on the other hand has all of the skills needed by a point guard including handling the ball, being able to control the tempo of the game, shoot from the outside, penetrate the lane, distribute the ball to the appropriate players at the right time and on the right spots on the floor, make entry passes into the post, score off the dribble and not make too many turnovers. besides that, he hits his free throws which is a lot more than what most of the players on the cavs roster can do. anyway, it will be interesting to see how much longer brown sticks with larry and/or sasha. by the same token, it will also be interesting to see if danny ferry is able to do anything about upgrading the roster via a trade or by signing a free agent despite the fact that they are over the salary cap and are hampered by too many albatross contracts given to players who have become virtually untradeable.