You have to feel for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have now lost 20 games in a row, and play in Miami against the Heat tonight.
It’s another road game, and the wine and gold have lost 23 in a row away from Quicken Loans Arena.
What’s worse is now that the losing streak has reached this magnitude, they are getting every opponents best game now, as no team wants to be the one who loses to the lowly Cavs.
Since they are playing in Miami, much attention will be paid to the fact LeBron James left the franchise and the aftermath of his departure has left the Cavaliers in shambles. However, that’s only the half of it.
This team has lost so much more.
First, it’s starting center and backup center for much of the year are also gone. And both are starting for two of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, Shaquille O’Neal with the Celtics (though he’s been hurt recently) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas with the Heat.
Their sixth man, Delonte West is also gone, departing in the trade with Minnesota that brought Ramon Sessions and Ryan Hollins to the wine and gold. West was bought out by the Timberwolves and is now with Boston as well.
Add in the injuries to Anderson Varajao and Mo Williams, and the only members of the starting five that ended last season in the conference semi-finals are veterans Antawn Jamison and Anthony Parker.
And since the first big guys off the bench were Ilgauskas and Varajao and West was the first guard to come in the game, out of the top eight players for last year’s team, only two have played the majority of the games for this year’s team.
That’s how you fall from 62 wins a year ago to a 20 game losing streak the next. It wasn’t just one guy leaving, it was most of the main contributors to that team.
So, are there any bright spots to this year’s Cavalier team?
One player who has emerged is guard Daniel Gibson, who is the team’s second leading scorer at 13.6 per game and is hitting 45% of his three-point attempts. Unfortunately, Gibson’s biggest issue is staying on the floor, which may lead to GM Chris Grant exploring the trade market for the five-year veteran at the deadline.
Gibson has only played more than 60 games once in his first four seasons, most due to a variety of leg injuries, mostly having to do with his ankles, but he’s also had a problem with a thigh injury lately.
When an injury happens once, it’s not concerning, but when it occurs on a yearly basis, it calls into question the reliability of the player for the long haul. The better players in the NBA are available to their teams regularly. Coaches can’t count on guys who have a history of bumps, bruises, and sprains which keep them out of the lineup.
Some possibly nice role players have emerged with the playing time they have received with all the injuries and departures.
Undrafted rookie Manny Harris looks like he belongs in the league, and so does big man Samardo Samuels. Neither one will ever be a star in the NBA, but they could be guys who could play on a winning team.
Cleveland will try to move the other veterans on the roster besides Jamison and Williams. Parker is said to be coveted by several contenders. They will try to deal Jamario Moon for a second round pick, although with his performance thus far this season, that might be a struggle.
That leaves J.J. Hickson and Sessions as useful pieces for the future. What role they will play is probably up to them. At times, Hickson looks like a starter, but other times, not so much.
Sessions would make for a good back up.
In tonight’s game, someone will probably say that it is a measure of James’ talent that the Cavs have fallen so far without him.
While he is one of the best players in the NBA, this Cavalier team is a shell of last year’s squad. They’ve lost more than just LBJ.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 