The Cleveland Cavaliers have six games remaining before they start the playoffs for the third consecutive year. They are pretty much locked into the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning they will have home court advantage for the first round, but that likely will be it. It also means they will have a second round match up with the Boston Celtics, if both teams advance. However, what Mike Brown and the Cavs do in these last six games may determine how far this team can get in the post-season.
It’s amazing to think a team can play 76 games without having a set rotation, but with all of the injuries and the trade, the coaching staff is still trying to figure out who should play. They know have six games to do it. Mike Brown seems to want to replace Devin Brown in the starting lineup, but it seems he now understands that the latter Brown is the best fit for the team. Does anyone else think it is odd that Sasha Pavlovic went right from the injured list to the starting lineup, and now has gone from starting to not even getting off the bench?
It seems that now the coach has settled on a starting five of LeBron James, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, and D. Brown. The bench players he is using are Joe Smith, Anderson Varajao, Wally Szczerbiak, and Daniel Gibson. However, last night’s loss to the Bulls still shows that something is missing. Wallace has had back problems, but he is showing why Chicago was anxious to unload him. Gibson is still recovering from his ankle problem, so he is not as automatic on open looks as he was before he was hurt. Perhaps that will work itself out before the playoffs start, but maybe not.
Again, last night showed the sloppiness the wine and gold play with when they get a lead. After going up by 17 points in the third quarter, the Cavs appeared to lose their focus. They threw the ball away, took bad shots, and lost their attention to detail on defense. The latter is probably most galling to the coach. Mike Brown has always stressed defense, and quite frankly, this team isn’t playing well on that end of the floor right now. There seems to be an inordinate amount of uncontested three pointers being made by the opposition.
This group of players seems to think they can turn on a switch come playoff time and start playing with defensive intensity. That will not work. The players who went to The Finals last year have to understand they reached that level by playing on the defensive end, and that you have to have that intensity every minute of the game. Offensively, the Cavs have reverted to getting LeBron the ball, and everyone stands around watching. And when Wallace is on the floor, it instantly gives the defense someone to double team James.
It is possible to be a better playoff coach than a regular season coach. Mike Brown has demonstrated that both years he has been the Cleveland coach. In the regular season, he has difficulty running an offense, and his defensive schemes are based on his principles. In the playoffs, when you are playing the same team as many as seven games in a row, he has shown that he can put together a plan to effectively take away what other teams want to do. That ability will be greatly needed in this playoff season.
Right now, it is doubtful the Cleveland Cavaliers will get past the second round of the playoffs, let alone get back to the NBA Finals. The squad is too disorganized at this point, and that’s not all the fault of the coach, although he is part of the problem. It might be taking a step back to take a leap forward in 2008-09. With no holdouts, less injuries, and a year to play together, next season might be a better chance for this franchise. However, keep one thing in mind. Every time the Cavs take the court, they have the best player on the court. It’s just asking too much of LeBron James to take this group back to the conference championship.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 