Cavs Still Searching For Proper Rotation

It is hard to believe that the NBA season has reached the 30 game mark, and Cavaliers’ coach David Blatt is still searching for the proper player rotations.

This is what happens when you have had the injury problems the wine and gold have suffered through over the summer, during training camp, and even more since the season commenced.

The recent additions of Iman Shumpert and then Kyrie Irving to the active roster have caused the head coach to reshuffle minutes, and as of right now, he’s still searching for a healthy medium.

Those two missed all of camp and the exhibition games. Timofey Mozgov has struggled with off-season knee surgery, and even LeBron James missed the last two weeks of training camp with back issues.

Since the season started, JR Smith and Mo Williams have both missed some time with bumps and bruises too. Even Matthew Dellavedova sat out one game with a bad calf.

That has caused Blatt to have to scramble to find a rotation that works on a night to night basis.

Even going into tonight’s game against Denver, Blatt will not have Irving available because the Cavs don’t want him playing in back-to-back games just yet.

That means Dellavedova will start and probably Williams will get more time.

Dellavedova is a different type of player than Irving, and that’s what make it tough for the coach and the players.

Blatt moved Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup for Mozgov last night, which takes a rim protector off the floor, but they get a better defender away from the hoop instead.

That also forces a change in the substitution pattern.

The good news is the Cavaliers have three and a half months to have everyone be healthy (cross your fingers) and develop a rotation Blatt can go to on an every night basis.

The problem with Williams is Blatt doesn’t trust him defensively. He said they moved him out of the starting lineup because of the inevitable return of Kyrie Irving, but really it was starting point guard torching the Cavs with penetration.

That was the reason for our indifference in signing Williams in the off-season. He’s not a good defender and in the playoffs, that’s what the wine and gold’s success was built on.

The other player usually mentioned when playing time is discussed is Anderson Varejao. The Brazilian’s problem is the Cavs have three solid big men in Kevin Love, Thompson, and Mozgov, and when Cleveland goes small, they shift James to power forward.

It simply doesn’t leave a lot of time for the veteran.

Our guess is that the coaching staff is taking it slow with Varejao because of his long history of injury and he will get more time as the season goes on.

He can still rebound and defend, and he has a pretty reliable jump shot from the elbow. Those are all things any team can use.

It is tough to be patient for fans because they have been waiting so long in northeast Ohio, but the constant shuffling of players because of injuries is partly to blame for the Cavs’ inconsistency.

There is still more than half of the season to go, and our guess is Blatt will settle on a rotation that will work and the Cavaliers will go on another hot streak.

More Head Scratching Decisions For Browns

We decided to look at today’s 17-13 loss by the Cleveland Browns to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium chronologically.

The first thing that made us shake our heads was the news that Justin Gilbert and Terrelle Pryor were inactive.

Gilbert wasn’t listed on the injury report although he did miss the last two games with a concussion, so maybe the coaching staff didn’t feel he was fully recovered.

What we thought at the time was we were going to see more of Johnson Bademosi at CB, which didn’t make us warm and fuzzy.

As for Pryor, why is he on the roster if you aren’t going to take a look at him at WR in these last couple of meaningless games.

Dumb, dumb, dumb decision.

Then we saw that Dwayne Bowe, he of the five catches and $9 million contract, was named a captain for the game, because the Browns were playing his old team.

It is not possible to send a more idiotic message to the rest of your players. Another example of the lack of accountability that surrounds this franchise.

Once again, Mike Pettine chose to defer after winning the coin toss.

If Cleveland had a strong defense, there would be no problem with this move, but Jim O’Neil’s troops have been a sieve most of the year.

Why would you want to put your weakest unit on the field first? Pettine chooses to do just that week after week after week.

And on the first possession of the game, Kansas City marches 65 yards in 11 plays, eating up half of the first quarter in taking a 7-0 lead before the Browns touched the football.

When the Browns did get the ball, Johnny Manziel was having trouble completing passes. He missed Gary Barnidge wide open, having to throw early because of pressure.

We figured the Johnny bashes would have a field day with that.

The Browns finally got on the board with a Travis Coons’ field goal from 45 yards after an innovative play by Manziel was called a penalty for an illegal forward pass.

On first sight, it looked like a lateral, and on instant replay, it didn’t look like enough evidence to overturn, which the officials did.

It took away a first down inside the KC 20.

It then appeared like the Browns’ defense didn’t realize that Alex Smith could run with the ball. He gashed the unit for over 50 yards in the first half, with 29 of them coming after Barkevious Mingo whiffed on a sack.

As for the secondary, Tramon Williams got flagged for pass interference on a deep throw and got beat on turn in pattern by a TE.

Really, Gilbert can’t play worse than this.

We counted at least six missed tackles in the first half, which ended with Cleveland trailing 17-3.

In the second half, it looked like Pettine realized he had a mobile quarterback too.

Manziel ran for 34 yards on the half’s first play and wound up with 108 yards rushing for the day.

We don’t approve of this every week, but on a day where the wind was gusting (how many times did the ball blow off the spot?), the QB and offensive coordinator did what they had to do to move the ball.

The Browns had 232 yards on the ground, with Isaiah Crowell getting 88 more on 16 attempts.

Cleveland had a 21 play drive in the half where Manziel ran or threw on 10 of the plays. He and Crowell were carrying the attack.

The downside was the Browns had two chances to win the game in the last six minutes, but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.

The first drive ended at the Chiefs’ 30 with two long passes after a first down run. There was still three minutes left, abandon the running game.

Cleveland got the ball back with 1:52 left at their own 30, and picked up three first downs, but the game ended on a completion across the middle.

Things could have been handled better.

All that is left for the Browns is to knock the Steelers out of the playoffs with a win at First Energy Stadium next week.

The bigger news will be made the next day, the NFL’s Black Monday.

One Word NOT Into Action: Accountability

It is ludicrous that any member of the Cleveland Browns’ defense is parading around the locker room wearing a wrestling championship belt after the team allowed 182 yards rushing against Seattle.

It is not as crazy as knowing that the belt was awarded to rookie NT Danny Shelton by his own coaching staff.

And it was reported the several other players received trinkets for “playing like a Brown”, we guess, even though the Browns lost by more than 14 points for the sixth time in the last eight games.

By this point in the season, with a 3-11 record, and 16 losses in the last 19 games, wouldn’t the little internal “prizes” given out by the coaching staff have gone away?

It seems that even through all of the losing, it’s still fun and games in the Browns’ locker room.

This is yet another example of the fake tough guy persona that Mike Pettine has cultivated.

At least one Cleveland sports talker even points out after Pettine’s daily press conferences how well the head coach handles himself and how the points he makes are well thought out.

This host thinks Pettine should be brought back as coach because he seems to understand what is going on here.

We could not disagree more.

We have said this before, but what this football team really needs is accountability and toughness.

The next coach of the Browns needs to come in with a mindset to really change the losing culture that permeates the locker room.

He needs there will be consequences for dumb penalties, missing blocks, missing tackles, etc.

And that penalty will be a reduction in playing time, and that would start in training camp.

No more “veterans day off” for anyone wearing a Browns’ uniform, and that includes nine time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas.

If you want to limit him in practice a few times per year because of his age, that’s fine, but eliminate giving anyone the entire day off.

It is crazy that two players, young players at that, were given the day off yesterday for personal reasons. Outside of a death in the family or a medical emergency, they should have been there.

Does anybody think this stuff happens in New England?

And the new coach should demand that players report to training camp in July in shape. Most analysts who still think rookie Cam Erving is not a bust say he needs to get stronger (we agree with this).

The real question is why isn’t he stronger? After the Browns picked him in the first round, why wasn’t he told that he needed to get bigger and stronger to play offensive line in the NFL?

And last, but not least, stop the excuses with injuries. Every single team in the NFL has them and the good team overcome them.

If someone gets hurt, for example, Joe Haden, you can’t just keep everything the same and hope for the best.

The Browns don’t have the depth that other NFL teams have, and that is a problem with the personnel department, but the coaching staff has to look at the players remaining and put them in the best position to succeed.

That’s coaching after all.

You have to develop the mentality that we have to win football games, and there are NO excuses.

We don’t see that in Berea.

The Cleveland Browns are in need of a real tough, no nonsense coach and coaching staff. It’s too bad if the players don’t like it, but after all, they don’t win, their experience is losing.

That has to change before this organization starts to move forward.

Shouldn’t Be Manziel Vs. McCown

In Cleveland, we don’t have quarterback controversies, we have quarterback fights.

It’s not enough to say you prefer one signal caller over another, you have to point out that the other guy is god awful as well.

That’s what has happened for many when discussing this year’s passing duo–Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown.

If you are a Manzealot, you have to show your contempt for McCown, while if you prefer the veteran, that means you have to point out that Johnny Football is a punk who can’t stop partying.

The reality is (and we have said this all along) quarterback play hasn’t been to the problem for the Cleveland Browns this season. Both Manziel and McCown have played well.

Quite frankly, that both have played well is a miracle. The offense hasn’t been able to run the football at all this season, and the offensive line hasn’t performed up to expectations.

The wide receiving corps is filled with slot receivers, and some of those guys have had problems catching the ball when it has been thrown to them.

The only reliable weapon for either passer has been TE Gary Barnidge. Brian Hartline was starting to come on before he broke his collarbone in the win against the 49ers.

Looking at passer rating, smack dab in the middle of this statistic in Brian Hoyer (ironic, huh?) at 93.0. McCown rates just ahead of Hoyer at 93.3, while Manziel is a very respectable 85.9.

The difference between the two is Manziel’s touchdown rate is lower than the veteran and his interception rate is a bit higher.

Both guys have done a solid job, and we would even point out that McCown has done better at putting points on the board.

So why play Manziel if McCown has performed admirably? Because there is only one man on the roster who has a chance to be a better than average starting QB in the NFL, and that is the second year man out of Texas A & M.

He’s a first round draft pick and he just turned 23 years old. His future is ahead of him. McCown will be 37 next season, and let’s face it, he is what he is, he’s not getting any better.

Since the Browns will have one of the top five picks in next spring’s draft, the subject of drafting another quarterback, the almighty “franchise QB” will be discussed ad nauseum.

However, we don’t think any of the guys currently mentioned (Paxton Lynch, Jerod Goff, Connor Cook) are rated among the top ten players in the draft, so we would pass if we were the Browns.

Besides, it should be obvious to everyone that Cleveland’s biggest problem is their defense, which has allowed 30 or more points in nine of the 14 games they have played.

If you want to improve the team quickly, don’t you have to go with the best defensive player available?

Remember that if the Browns’ defense gave up 20 points in every game this season, they would be a .500 football team. That’s where this team needs to improve.

We would have no problem if the Browns go into the 2016 season with both Johnny Manziel and Josh McCown on the roster with another rookie drafted in the second or third round as well.

The reason to play Manziel is to see what he can do, it’s not because McCown played terribly.

Still Want to Support Pettine?

After the Cleveland Browns defeated an equally terrible San Francisco team a week ago at home, there were some, particularly in the media, who were giving coach Mike Pettine an endorsement to return in 2016.

Do you still think that today?

After today’s 30-13 loss to Seattle, you would have to say this looked like the same team we’ve seen over the last two months.

The defense allowed 30 or more points for the 9th time in 14 games, and there was poor tackling, poor defense against the run, and dropped passes galore.

But, quarterback is still the issue with this football team, right?

Perhaps the funniest thing was Pettine’s attitude this week, acting like he was doing a good job, making comments about the 49ers effort in the middle of the week, and making comments which could have been construed as negative about a QB who has appeared in the last two Super Bowls.

While the coach’s comments on Russell Wilson are true, the point is why make them at all? Nothing positive was going to be made by them.

Maybe Pettine has the same issues with self-control as he accused his own passer of having?

Maybe Johnny Manziel should bench the coach for two games.

Seattle gained 182 yards on the ground, above the usual 150 Jim O’Neil’s defense gives up. A man with the same first name as my wife’s friend, Christine Michael, gained 84 yards in 16 carries.

Also, the defense allowed the Seahawks to convert 9 of 12 third down situations, and the ‘Hawks’ punter, Jon Ryan, was only used once.

And again, all the media talks about is the QB.

This has been a problem since game one, and there hasn’t been an adequate solution found after 14 games.

In fact, outside of the quarterback position, what other unit has improved since 2014? The correct answer is none, and that’s why Pettine and his staff should be dismissed on January 4th.

There are plenty of other things that confound us too.

For example, why does Pettine and O’Neil continue to use Johnson Bademosi at cornerback? Pierre Desir was the staff’s darling during training camp, but now he is buried behind a special teams ace.

Bademosi made his bones in the NFL on special teams, and isn’t putting players in positions where they can’t succeed a sign of poor coaching?

As for Manziel, all week we heard how he was going to have an issue with turnovers and it will show he can’t play in the NFL.

He showed just the opposite.

He led the Browns to a touchdown (7 yard pass to Gary Barnidge) on the opening drive (by the way, that’s why you shouldn’t defer on the coin toss), and overall had a solid game, hitting 19 of 32 throws for 191 yards.

He did throw an interception on the Browns’ last possession, which we are sure will be held up as why he isn’t good enough.

He had four passes dropped, which to be fair was a problem for Josh McCown too.

And did you hear Fox analyst Charles Davis talk about draft options for Cleveland? He said it on local radio here earlier this week and said it again on the game broadcast.

He doesn’t think there is a college QB who should be picked high in next year’s draft. We believe the same thing.

With the defense being as pathetic as they have been this season, don’t the Browns have to take a defensive player?

Manziel has showed us enough to say he should be the starter going into the off-season based on the progress he has made during this season.

We aren’t saying he is the next Tom Brady or Brett Favre. We are simply saying he has shown he can be an NFL starter, and deserves the opportunity to have that job.

Meanwhile, the Pettine regime will have just two remaining games, both against teams in the playoff hunt.

3-13 looks like reality to us.

Tribe’s Signing OK, Still Need More

The Cleveland Indians finally entered the real hot stove league yesterday with the signings of free agents Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis to one year contracts.

First, there is no such thing as a bad one year deal, because even if the player is outright terrible, the Tribe will be out of it after the 2016 season.

We like the Napoli signing better, because he’s been more productive throughout his major league career (lifetime 837), and although he had a bad first half in 2015, he rebounded to post a 908 OPS after being dealt to Texas.

And he’s a solid defensive first baseman, much better than Carlos Santana.

Yes, he does strike out a lot, but he also has a career on base percentage of .355, meaning he also can take a walk.

We have problems with high strikeout, low walk players, such as Zack Walters.

Jim Thome and Travis Hafner fanned a lot, but they also draw tons of walks.

Davis is a good depth player, and can hit lefties, but he’s an aging speed guy whose increase in OPS over the past couple years seems to have come from playing half the time in spacious Comerica Park.

His road OPS in each of the last two seasons is below 700, meaning he wasn’t a good offensive player on the road.

And he is not a good on base percentage player either.

The Tribe will probably use him in a platoon role, and maybe he can help there, but our guess he will have to be used sparingly to be effective.

While both signings are fine on their own, the Indians still need a middle of the lineup presence to be a good offensive team.

Right now, the Tribe has a lot of guys who should be hitting in the #2 and #6-#9 spots in the order, but someone will have to hit leadoff and someone has to bat fourth.

Mike Hargrove said it well when he was the manager here. If you have a leadoff man and a cleanup hitter, the rest of the batting order takes care of itself.

Right now, the Indians have neither, meaning Terry Francona will have to put someone ill fit for those spots in there.

Really, Jason Kipnis should be hitting either #2, #3, or #5 or #6, but he is forced to be used at the top of the order.

Only Michael Brantley hits where he is best suited among the top five batters. He is the best hitter and bats third.

Guys like Carlos Santana and Napoli should hit sixth or seventh in a good batting order.

And putting them in a spot for which they aren’t suited makes them a failure in fans eyes.

That’s why you probably have to move a starting pitcher to get that kind of middle of the order bat.

Although we would prefer to not move Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier in one of these deals, we wouldn’t hesitate to use any other prospect for the right player.

For example, we like Mike Clevenger’s potential. However, the reality is he has not thrown one pitch in a major league game. He might be a very good starter someday, but then again, he might not be.

One thing we do know is the Indians have a very good starting rotation and some depth in that area. So, you have to take advantage of that and sooner than later.

And just because other teams went for it last year and failed (San Diego, the White Sox), doesn’t mean the Tribe shouldn’t either.

The Royals won the World Series and signed Kendrys Morales in the winter and traded for Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist at the deadline.

It is doubtful they’d have won without those players.

Yesterday’s signings help the 2016 Indians, but the front office shouldn’t think this team is ready for Opening Day.

There is plenty of work to do.

There’s A Long Way To Go, But C’Mon Tribe!

Baseball’s winter meetings are a beacon in a long winter without the sport we love.

The meetings are filled with activity, rumors, and teams trying to cure weaknesses for the upcoming season.

Except if you are a fan of the Cleveland Indians, who seem to view the conference as a necessary evil.

To be fair (please don’t jump on us Indians’ social media), there is plenty of time for president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff to do something to improve the product on the field for the Indians, but it would be nice to get something done now.

The Tribe is trying to sell some six pack tickets for the 2016 season, and to be sure, it would be easier to move some seats if the ballclub generated some excitement.

Instead, we have another year of hearing about improvements to Progressive Field, which the real fan doesn’t care much about.

Look, although baseball is a sport and success is shown in the standings and getting to the post-season, the Tribe is also in the entertainment business and nothing sells in Cleveland like winning.

It is no secret that the Indians need to improve the offense, especially since it appears Michael Brantley, their best hitter, will miss at least the first month of the 2016 season.

And while the front office and Terry Francona have pointed out they don’t want to move one of their starting pitchers, unless they sign a free agent (unlikely), how else will they get the stick they need.

Yes, if you make it to the post-season, you need to have lockdown pitching, however, unless you can score runs, it is difficult to make it to the playoffs.

The Giants have won three World Series in the last six years, but in two of the three other years, they didn’t make the playoffs because they didn’t score enough runs.

They ranked last in the NL in 2011 and 10th in the National League in 2013 in runs scored.

Unless the Indians can get at least one legitimate hitter this winter, Tribe fans can look forward to a lot more 2-1 and 3-2 losses, and folks telling everyone what the team’s record is when they score three runs or less.

All they have done so far is bring in retreads like Shane Robinson (lifetime 615 OPS), Collin Cowgill, who hit .188 last season (633 career OPS), and Joey Butler (742).

That only excites the people who clamor for these low risk type signings, because after all, you might catch lightning in a bottle.

So far, it’s back to the “wishin’ and hopin'” mentality.

That doesn’t sell tickets, and then the front office will wonder why despite three consecutive winning seasons (although last year is kind of an asterisk because of the rainout), attendance continues to wane.

Fair or not, the perception around this city is the Indians aren’t serious about winning.

Perhaps the worst thing to happen to this regime is the Royals going to back-to-back World Series, and going all in to get there each season.

Tribe fans look longingly at the Royals and ask “why not us?” Did they mortgage their future, perhaps. They look at having another 2-3 year window to grab another title.

Why can’t the Indians’ front office look at their pitching staff and realize if they can get to the playoffs they have a good chance.

Instead, they basically do nothing.

Yes, there is still time for the Cleveland Indians to get the bat they so desperately need.

Meanwhile, their fan base, although loyal, keeps getting smaller and more impatient.

Can’t Make Much of Browns Win Today

We aren’t going to make too much out of today’s 24-10 win by the Cleveland Browns over the San Francisco 49ers.

Let’s face it, the 49ers are a terrible team, just like the Browns and since Cleveland was at home, we aren’t surprised by the victory and it doesn’t prove anything about Mike Pettine, his coaching staff, and even Johnny Manziel.

The Browns gained 481 yards against the Niners, even running for over 200 yards on the game, with Isaiah Crowell rushing for 145 yards on 20 carries, the first Browns’ RB to get over the century mark this season.

The defense showed a pulse too, recording nine sacks, meaning over half of their sacks on the season (26 total) have come against Tennessee (7) and today.

Armonty Bryant and rookie Nate Orchard each had two sacks and Desmond Bryant had 1-1/2 on the day.

They still didn’t turn the ball over so that trend continued this afternoon.

After five straight games of allowing 30 points or more, Jim O’Neil beleaguered unit held a terrible 49er offense to just 10 points, including a meaningless score in the final minutes.

As for the thing everybody focuses on in this city, the quarterback play, Johnny Manziel had one throw we are sure he would like back (the pass over the middle right before halftime), but otherwise played well.

He completed 21 of 31 throws for 270 yards and a touchdown in winning his second game of the season.

But you can’t make much of this because the other win was also against one of the NFL’s lesser lights in Tennessee.

He’s proven he can play well against bad teams.

He does have an opportunity now to play against the defending NFC champions next week against Seattle, and two playoff contenders in Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

That will tell us and the front office more about the former Heisman Trophy winner than today’s win.

Two things that cause us to scratch our heads…first, another field goal block, with the pressure coming over the two rookie first round draft picks, Danny Shelton and Cam Erving.

Why wouldn’t Chris Tabor make some adjustments in the protection scheme after the last two games? This is exactly what bothers us about this staff. The inability to make changes when something isn’t working.

The other thing was not using Terrelle Pryor in the passing game. Look, Brian Hartline had 100 yards receiving in his last game of the season (he suffered a broken collarbone in the victory), and Gary Barnidge continues to impress, but why not use Pryor a little.

Yes, he did play, but there didn’t seem to be a play call which intended for the ball to go to him. Why not use him since you are sitting at 2-10 coming in?

In our mind, this win changes nothing. The Browns beat a bad San Francisco team, which they should have done.

Yes, it’s better than losing to the Niners, but you can’t get excited about it.

As for falling back into a tie with Tennessee and San Diego for the worst record in the league? Who cares. That’s for losers and you have to understand the players aren’t out there worried about next year’s draft pick.

Next week will be a huge challenge. We believe the Browns will be the biggest underdog of the NFL season against the Seahawks, with our guess being Cleveland will be at least a 17 point dog.

Is it better than losing to a bad team? Of course. However, you can’t get excited by today’s performance.

The Browns simply did what they should have done.

Some Browns Myth Busting

It has been well documented the train wreck the 2015 football has become for the Cleveland Browns. After a 7-4 start to Mike Pettine’s head coaching career, the brown and orange have lost 15 of their last 17 games.

They are 2-10 this season, and over the last six contests have been blown out (losing by 14 or more points) in five of those games.

However, there have been some myths that have developed about the total collapse that has occurred over the past 12 months.

The Brian Hoyer saga. Contrary to what some people think, the Browns were not 7-4 when Pettine decided to bench Hoyer and play Johnny Manziel.

The reality is Cleveland was 7-6 when Manziel made his first start, after two horrible performances by Hoyer.

In a 26-10 road loss to Buffalo, Hoyer was 18 of 30 for 192 yards and two interceptions. He was NOT on the field for Cleveland’s only touchdown, which came on a drive orchestrated by Manziel in a backup role.

The following week was a 25-24 loss to the Colts in which the Browns outplayed Indianapolis except on the scoreboard. Hoyer was 13 for 30 for 136 yards and two more picks.

And the Browns’ defense was responsible for two touchdowns, a fumble recovery by Craig Robertson in the end zone, and a pick six by (ready for it!) Justin Gilbert.

So, the offense scored just 10 points.

Had the Browns won that game, they would have been 8-5 and very much in the playoff hunt.

Drafting. Ray Farmer gets a lot of criticism for his drafts, and in some cases, it is merited.

But, it is not as though he has been reaching for players and made horrible mistakes.

First, he did not draft Barkevious Mingo, who we think might be able to play if he was put in the spot he was drafted for.

According to Walterfootball.com (site picked at random), Gilbert was projected to be the 15^th pick in the draft. Cleveland traded down from #4, getting a 2015 first round pick in return, and took Gilbert at 8^th. Not exactly a reach.

On the same site, Manziel was projected as the 7^th overall pick, and dropped to #22. Several draft pundits had him as the best QB in that year’s selection process.

In 2015, they had the Browns taking Danny Shelton with the 12^th overall pick, which, of course, they did, and had Cameron Erving going 18^th overall to Kansas City, one pick ahead of Cleveland.

Most mock drafts had all four players with first round grades.

So, what happened?

Pettine is blameless. Many fans think the head coach has been dealt a bad hand because of Farmer’s ineptness, but is that true?

Name one position group that has improved since last season? Right, not a one.

He came here as a defensive coach and that unit, not the quarterback play, is the reason for being 2-10.

If the Browns had allowed 20 points a game in every game this season, there record would be 5-5-2. Assuming they split the overtime games, they would be 6-6 right now and in the thick of the playoff hunt.

And really, outside of Joe Haden, what solid player has missed a lot of time this season?

No, the head coach should get a lot of the blame, and probably will after the last game of the season, when he is given the pink slip.

Just think, only four more games until this nightmare is over.

Cavs Need To Relax, Have Fun.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have hit their first bump of the season, having lost three straight, heading into tonight’s game at Quicken Loans Arena against the Portland Trailblazers.

Two of the losses were by wide margins.

The Wizards came into Cleveland a week ago and never trailed in handing the Cavs their first home loss of the season, and Saturday night, the Miami Heat dominated the wine and gold, who held LeBron James out to get some rest.

The other loss was in overtime to New Orleans, a game the Cavs should have won in regulation, and then ran out of gas in the extra session.

The bigger concern for basketball fans in Cleveland should be that right now, the team seems very tight, they aren’t playing the free flowing game we saw early in the season.

What are the reasons for this? Here are some theories we have.

First, the Cavs seem to have Warrior envy. Everyone is well aware that the defending champions are 22-0 and are the talk of the NBA.

Their start is an NBA record. That means it has never happened before.

Besides the Warriors, do you know how many other teams have better records than David Blatt’s team? One. The Spurs are 17-4.

That means the Cavs have the third best record in the league.

Should they attention to what Golden State is doing? We guess, but outside of the two regular season games between the two teams, the Cavaliers won’t have to face the Warriors until the NBA Finals.

And that will be in June.

The Cavs need to relax and have fun and play their brand of basketball.

The second theory is perhaps some of the players are a little tight because of the impending returns of Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert, which will mean some alterations in how playing time is doled out.

Obviously, James and Kevin Love won’t be affected by this, and neither will the other big men like Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, and Anderson Varejao.

But the playing time for the backcourt will definitely be altered.

J.R. Smith will probably get some minutes at small forward, but no doubt Shumpert will cut into his minutes.

And both Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova’s time will decline, more likely Williams because the latter can be counted on to be on the floor in the fourth quarter because of his defensive ability.

Perhaps the uncertainty is weighing on these players and they haven’t played as loose as they did earlier in the campaign.

The last theory is the leader’s determination to win a title. LeBron James is very focused and has passed this on to the rest of the team.

No individual pre-game introductions and various team meetings.

It’s okay to have a single mindedness in this regard, but it’s a long season and the players need to have some fun as well.

Perhaps Blatt can take them bowling again on the next road trip.

Look, there will be plenty of time for the Cavaliers to put their nose to the grindstone, but during a six month season, you have to have some fun as well.

This is a very talented basketball team. They just need to relax and play and the victories will start to come again.