Can Cavs Put It Together Before Playoffs?

The NBA playoffs are less than a month away, but it feels like the Cleveland Cavaliers are further away than that from competing for an NBA title.

There are many people confident that the Cavs will put it all together before the post-season begins and they will march through the Eastern Conference and get to The Finals for the second consecutive year.

We are not one of those people.

Shortly after Tyronn Lue took over as head coach of the wine and gold, we wrote about how the Cavs had to get mentally tougher as a team in order to win a title.

After more than 30 games with Lue at the helm, the Cavaliers still seem to be shaky in terms of attitude.

There are several reasons for these thoughts:

The Constant Clunkers It seems like this team can’t play more than three good games in a row without following up with a simply horrible outing.

The home loss to Memphis and a terrible performance on Thursday against a bad Brooklyn team are just the two latest examples.

Perhaps they are bored and looking towards the playoffs, but it feels like it happens too often. What’s worse is the coaching staff doesn’t seem to have an answer.

Over-reliance On The Three Ball In the loss to the Nets, the Cavs went 9 of 37 from behind the arc. That’s 24.4%.

When Cleveland loses these days, it is usually because they are not making their threes, so they’ve become a live by the three, die by the three type of team.

The Cavaliers rank 9th in the NBA in three point shooting percentage 35.7%, taking the fourth most in the league.

However, when they aren’t going in, the team doesn’t seem to have or better yet, look for another alternative. They just keep chucking them up from deep.

That would be fine if they didn’t have players who have other options. Both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving can take the ball to the hoop with anyone in the league. And Kevin Love can score in the post and has a solid mid-range game.

JR Smith is also versatile offensively even though he is best known for his long range marksmanship.

When the three ball isn’t falling, the wine and gold have to try another attack.

Defense Or lack of it, we should say. Since Lue took over and wanted the Cavs to play at a faster pace, the defense has suffered. And in the playoffs, you have to be sound at the defensive end.

Too often, Cleveland defenders allow opposing point guards to get into the paint which causes the big men to cover up for them, which in turn, allows their men to get lay ups and dunks.

If that singles out Kyrie Irving, then so be it. He simply has to do a better job keeping his man in front of him.

Which brings us to…

Kyrie Irving Irving has always been a scorer, but he’s becoming a major ball stopper. We don’t have a problem with him scoring, it’s the way it’s being done.

Mostly, he stands around the outside dribbling looking for a lane to drive to the basket. When the defense doesn’t allow that, it creates bad, long range shots to beat the shot clock, and fast break opportunities for the opponents.

Irving needs to move the ball, and then move without it to get open, and then get it back. That would seem to alleviate both problems.

Improvement in these areas would make us feel better about the Cavaliers’ chances.

Do they have the talent to get back to The Finals? Of course. But, the East is better, so without shoring up these areas, it will be difficult to get back.

Analyzing Kyrie

For most of the last two seasons, basketball fans in Cleveland have focused on two players when things have gone bad for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

However, David Blatt is no longer the team’s head coach, and although Kevin Love’s value is still misunderstood by many who claim to know the game, the spotlight has been deflected from him recently.

More and more people are taking a look at Kyrie Irving.

There is no question that Irving, the first player taken in the draft in 2011, is uber talented, and also a highly decorated player.

He was the Rookie of the Year in 2012, the All Star MVP in 2014, USA Basketball’s player of the year, and last year was named to the third team All-NBA squad.

He may have the best ball handling skills in the league, and can seemingly get to the basket anytime he wants to.

But for many of the basketball cognoscenti, there is something missing.

First of all, it’s Irving’s effort and ability on the defensive end of the floor. As Coach John Wooden once said there is no excuse for a good offensive man not to be a good defensive man.

The same quickness that Irving uses to get to the rim on a nightly basis can certainly be used to stop his defensive assignment.

The second problem is his tendency to show off his handle. He loves to dribble.

After Irving scored 33 points in a win over Dallas on Wednesday, he was being praised by some because “someone has to score”, but meanwhile his teammates were said to be upset by his monopolization of the ball.

The guard’s big hoop in the last two minutes came from giving up the ball, and getting it back on a pass from JR Smith as he cut to the basket.

Meanwhile, Dallas came back from a 20 point deficit because Irving dribbled the shot clock down to expiration and then had to take poor percentage shots.

There is no doubt the Cavs need him to score, but it can be done by giving it up and moving without the ball to open spots where his team can find him.

Players are human. They don’t like to go up and down the floor without ever touching the basketball. It is understandable that professional players are frustrated playing with a ball dominant player, especially when the coach and the best player on the team stress that style of play.

The other issue with Irving is that he doesn’t seem to be improving as a player.

His shooting percentage hasn’t gotten appreciably better since entering the NBA ( career high 46.9% as a rookie, now 46.2%), nor has he become a better passer (5.4 assists as a rookie, career best 6.1 in last year without James, now 4.5).

His player efficiency rating (analytics!) was 21.4 as a rookie, peaked at 21.5 last season, and is now at 21.0). Here is how that stacks up against other in their first five seasons–

Stephen Curry: 16.3, 19.4, 21.2, 21. 3, 24.1
Damian Lillard: 16.4, 18.6, 20.7, 23.3 He is now in his fourth year.
Derrick Rose: 16.0, 18.6, 23. 5, 23.0, hobbled by injuries since.

We picked these players for the following reasons. Curry and Lillard are players compared most to the former Duke standout, and Rose was also a one and done player, while the others played more college basketball than did Irving.

While Irving started out better than the other three, he hasn’t taken the step up in his game that the other three have. The Cavs need him to take that next step because he is that talented, and LeBron James is getting older.

Irving is the one who needs to “fit in”, and stop listening to a player like Kobe Bryant, who tells him to be more aggressive.

He needs to remember that in Bryant’s first three championships, he was NOT the best player on those teams, Shaquille O’Neal was.

The Cavs need him to win, but he needs to share the ball, and get it back to score. Oh, and to pick it up on the defensive end too.

He can do all of that. It’s just a matter of actually doing it.

Love Needs Kyrie To Help Him “Fit In”

As the Cleveland Cavaliers season continues to befuddle basketball fans around town, we pause to remind everyone that since the beginning of last season, supporters had two whipping boys when things didn’t go well.

David Blatt was one of them, and he was fired half way through the 2015-16 schedule, with a record of 30-11 on the season.

So, now to falls on Kevin Love to be the problem whenever anything on the Cavs doesn’t go well.

Our belief is that Love is a very good NBA player, one that the coaching staff and his teammates still haven’t figured out how to use to the best of his abilities.

We will concede that the former UCLA standout misses too many wide open looks from beyond the three point line, but he is not as bad of a defender as is purported, that is as long as he isn’t asked to guard centers.

Our comment when fans tell us Love needs to go, or the Cavs should trade him after the season is over is too say that the power forward isn’t being used right.

After Tyronn Lue took over as coach, he made the comment that he wanted Love to get touches at the elbow, where he had been successful at Minnesota, but there hasn’t been much evidence of that.

Sure, it has been used from time to time, but not on a consistent basis.

It appears from watching games and listening to post game press conferences that LeBron James understands that Love can contribute and is important to the team, however, the third member of the “Big Three” doesn’t seem to feel the same way.

Think about it, how many times do we ever see Kyrie Irving find Love, or really James for that matter, on the court?

Many writers have written about a “disconnect” between James and Irving, but the latter seems to be playing his own game a lot.

Look, Irving is supremely talented, and we are not suggesting that the Cavaliers should trade him. He is simply too good of an offensive force, although we can all agree he needs to work harder on the defensive end of the floor.

However, if anyone needs to make adjustments on the court, it is Irving not Kevin Love, and it is Irving that needs to start getting Love involved, and not just standing on the perimeter waiting for open threes.

We have before that when Lue said upon getting hired that he wanted to play Love with the second unit to make him the focal point, that the role should go to Irving, who wants to play that way anyhow, and is very effective at doing it.

After all, James and Love appear to be able to play together, and it doesn’t seem that LeBron and Kyrie have high chemistry on the court together.

We see Matthew Dellavedova finding James on cuts to the hoop all the time, do you ever see the same with Irving?

If the Cavaliers are going to get back to The Finals, they need an improved Kyrie Irving and a more efficient Kevin Love.

That can happen if the two can learn to play off each other on the offensive end, and Irving stops playing the one on five style he is becoming more and more enamored with.

The only problem with Kevin Love is that the Cavaliers are putting him in the best position so he can help them the best.

Maybe he can’t fit in because of the talents of James and Irving, but wouldn’t it be nice if the latter at least attempted to make it work better?

Lue Said Sacrifice, Are The Cavs Doing It?

To put it mildly, the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have a good week.

After an impressive victory a week ago Sunday against a title contending Oklahoma City team on the road, the Cavs looked lethargic in losing three out of their next four.

They lost at home to Detroit, lost a game they had a nine point fourth quarter lead at Toronto, and then lost a game without LeBron James at Washington, in a contest that was a blowout until garbage time.

Yes, James is one of the two best players in the sport (we still think the best), but there is no way a team that still has two of the best 15-20 players in the NBA in Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, should be getting smoked by the Wizards.

And as we have pointed out before, since the wine and gold tried to speed up their tempo, their defense has suffered greatly especially on the perimeter.

That puts the spotlight squarely on Irving, who has never been a great defensive player, but seems to have regressed this season.

Opposing point guards have been skewering Cleveland, getting dribble penetration and forcing big men to help, and no one is picking up their men in return.

The result is a bunch of layups and dunks, and it appears the interior defense is terrible too.

Irving simply must do a better job if this team is to get where they want to go, which is hoisting an NBA Championship trophy.

There is no reason why Irving can’t be better on that end of the floor, the same quickness that allows him to get to the basket at will allows him to be better on defense, the problem is he seems to be more interested when the ball is in his hands.

When Tyronn Lue took over as head coach, he spoke about the need to sacrifice, and we believe almost everyone can agree that no one has done that more than Kevin Love, who is scoring about eight points less per game a night, and doesn’t get the touches he should based on his ability to score.

Irving seems to be in the same mode as always, showing off his handle, and driving to the basket with a mindset of scoring first, and setting up a teammate second.

That’s a good attitude on a squad devoid of talent, but not on these Cavs.

It seems lately that at least once or twice a game, Matthew Dellavedova finds a cutting James for a layup. When was the last time you saw Irving make the same pass?

Even James could afford to give up something for the greater good. He could stop forcing three point shots, because right now, his long range shot is a liability.

He could also give maximum effort on defense in less minutes, and show the rest of his teammates, including Irving, that he is walking the walk, and they need to follow suit.

By the way, that’s being a leader. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

We can’t use the excuse that it’s still early, there are only 23 games left on the schedule. Improvement defensively needs to be seen by the middle of this month.

That the path to a title for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have to be strong on the defensive end, and that starts with improvement from Kyrie Irving.

Enjoy The Cavs. Ignore the Warriors

You would think for as much sports angst as we see in Cleveland, we would be enjoying the outstanding season the Cleveland Cavaliers are having.

They currently sit at 41-15 on the season, and seem well on their way to a 60 win regular season, and either the first or second seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

We watched the wine and gold dismantle one of the league’s top teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon, in Oklahoma, and we felt good for a day.

The next day, the Cavs lost at home to Detroit, and immediately people were down in the dumps, seemingly questioning everything the franchise is doing.

People were even freaking out because the team’s newest addition, Channing Frye, did not pass his physical instantly, so the fear was we traded Anderson Varejao for nothing.

Of course, shortly before the game on Monday night, Frye was cleared and added to the roster.

We have a cure for this situation. Ignore the Golden State Warriors.

In most NBA seasons, the Cavaliers would have either the best record in the league at this point of the season, or they would be very close. They are a very, very good basketball team.

However, it seems that no matter what Tyronn Lue and his team do these days, they are compared to the defending champions. The champs should be a measuring stick, because they have what the Cavs want, but people should understand that normally, the best team in the NBA wins between 60-65 games.

Over the last five complete NBA seasons (ignoring the lockout shortened season), here are the league’s best record and in parenthesis the number of teams that won 60+ games

2014-15: Golden State 67-15 (2)
2013-14: San Antonio 62-20 (1)
2012-13: Miami 66-16 (2)
2010-11: Chicago 62-20 (2)
2009-10: Cleveland 61-21 (1)

So, over the last five seasons, just eight teams have won more than 60 games, and only two have won more than 65 in a single season.

And you can also see that this year is a huge outlier, with perhaps four teams getting to the 60 win mark (Golden State, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City).

Part of that is the huge imbalance in the league this season, as it appears there are four or five (Toronto/Los Angeles Clippers) elite teams, and a lot of mediocrity.

Again, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a very good basketball team, and fans need to relax and watch the balance of the season.

We wrote a few weeks ago that there are very few games of meaning on the schedule for Lue’s crew, and two of them were the first two games out of the All Star break against the Bulls and Thunder, which they won both, and tomorrow night’s tilt in Toronto.

If the Cavs keep winning those types of games, that has more meaning than a loss to Detroit.

In the meantime, here is our advice. Ignore the Warriors until the Cavaliers have to play them again.

That may be in June in the NBA Finals, or it may be the 2016-17 season. They are setting an incredible pace, but as LeBron James has pointed out, it doesn’t really mean anything once the playoffs start.

Don’t freak out until this team loses four in a row, or has a major injury. All in all, they are doing quite well right now.

Should Cavs Tinker or Stand Pat?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are sitting at 38-14 on the season, the best record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth best record in the entire NBA, yet it appears GM David Griffin is trying to improve his team.

Many fans and members of the media are wondering why a team with this kind of record would be willing to tinker with the roster, but really, a good GM should always be looking to improve his team. That’s his biggest responsibility.

At this point in the year, Griffin has to be worried about a possible date in The Finals against Golden State, but also has to be prepared for a scenario where the Spurs or the Thunder come out of the Western Conference.

And all of this while making sure the Cavs superiority in the East isn’t threatened either.

It’s a delicate balance for Griffin.

Tyronn Lue’s team could use another reliable threat from three point range, and could also use some help on the defensive end, particularly on the perimeter.

And the drop off of Timofey Mozgov’s game has necessitated not only the exploration of moving the free agent to be, but also replacing the big man if a deal involving Mozgov is made.

Because, you know, if Cleveland gets to the championship round, they may just play San Antonio.

What Griffin can’t be sure of is the transition going as smoothly as last season’s when the general manager made deals for Mozgov, Iman Shumpert, and JR Smith within a one week span.

It only took a few games for the Cavs to gel and make a run to a Central Division title and an Eastern Conference championship.

As we said at the end of the regular season last year, most transitions have an adjustment period attached, and there is no guarantee it will occur again.

So, what should Griffin do?

An easy response would be to stand pat. After all, your team is 24 games over .500 and if not for what the Warriors are doing, no one would be panicking. The Cavaliers are still regarded as one of four teams with a solid chance at hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

We wouldn’t have an issue if no changes were made, either. But, then it would be up to the coaching staff to fix some of the issues the Cavs have that need fixing. And please don’t take that as a possible slight to Lue and his staff.

However, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Griffin tinkered with players outside of the top seven or eight in Lue’s rotation.

For example, moving Mo Williams, who is barely getting on the court right now, for a bigger wing defender would be a solid move and wouldn’t upset rotations and chemistry.

The same would be true with Richard Jefferson. We don’t believe anyone would be upset if you could swap him for a more reliable three point threat.

Making a deal would also send a message within the locker room that the front office hasn’t lost faith in the core players and they believe this team can win the franchise’s first title.

The talk about major changes should be just that. And if the wine and gold don’t get to The Finals, or get blown out once there, perhaps a major change will be made this summer.

But for right now, making a minor addition would be just fine.

Cavs Still Need To Be Better

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a position where they aren’t really playing opponents anymore, they are playing themselves.

And that’s why even though the wine and gold enters the All Star break with a 38-14 record and a three game lead in the Eastern Conference, we don’t feel satisfied with what they have accomplished.

When GM David Griffin replaced David Blatt with Tyronn Lue, the new coach said he wanted to play more up tempo. The number of points the Cavs are scoring would indicate they are playing faster, as they have scored more than 110 points in seven of 12 games since Lue took over.

But in reality, the faster pace comes in spurts, and there are many times the dreaded isolation ball rears its ugly head.

Lue also wanted to get Kevin Love more involved by having the offense run through him while playing without LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the floor.

Love was more of a factor in Lue’s first few games, but has battled a couple of injuries on the current home stand, stalling that plan.

The higher scoring has come with a downside too. The defense has severely declined, with Cleveland allowing more than 100 points in eight of Lue’s dozen games as the head man.

That won’t win in the playoffs.

We aren’t criticizing Lue by any means here. The break will allow him to have some practices to get his message across to his team, and here’s hoping everyone listens.

Particularly Irving.

Sure, fans look at his 32 points and 10 assists on Monday against the Kings, and his 35 tallies last night vs. the Lakers, and will question this criticism, and right now, he’s the primary culprit for the ball sticking.

He seems more comfortable with a slower pace, and don’t confuse his attempts to drive to the basket with faster play please. Many of these drives come as a result of him pounding the ball and waiting for an opening to drive.

It’s not coming off of the ball movement his head coach wants.

That’s why perhaps Irving should be the focal point when James and Love are on the bench, because there is no question the young man from Duke can breakdown defenders with the best of them.

Lue has stressed getting shooters off of the three point line, and the Cavs have been somewhat successful there, but there is still way too much dribble penetration, particularly since Matthew Dellavedova has missed time with a sore hamstring.

You simply must play better defense than this in the playoffs. You cannot expect to outscore opponents in the later rounds of the post-season. The Cavaliers were second in the league in preventing points, and have now dropped to fourth.

The other teams people feel are in contention for a title, the Spurs, Warriors, and Thunder, ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in defensive field goal percentage on two point shots.

We are sure Lue knows this and will get this area fixed, but it may take a trade by Griffin.

They could also use another shooter. Irving is making less than 30% of his shots from beyond the arc, so the only reliable three point shooters are Dellavedova (43%), JR Smith (40%) and to a lesser extent, Love (36.8%).

For a team that shoots a lot of threes, they don’t have many guys who are consistently knocking them down.

That could be another area where Griffin explores someone in a deal.

It’s difficult to be “disappointed” with a team that is 24 games over .500 a little over halfway through the season, but we think Tyronn Lue would be the first to tell you he isn’t satisfied where his team is at.

Perhaps we will see some changes with a couple of practices before the second half of the season (and the trading deadline) picks up next Thursday.

The Cavaliers need to play better, particularly defensively, if they want to bring a title home in 2016.

Lue Trying To Toughen Up Cavs

LeBron James talked about it in November, and some people thought he should ease up.

It’s when he talked about the lack of a sense of urgency with this year’s edition of the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the defending champion Warriors got off to an unblemished start.

He was right then, and he is right now.

Much has been made about the changes Tyronn Lue has made since taking over for David Blatt almost two weeks ago.

The two things most talked about is increasing the pace for the wine and gold, getting them to play faster, a more up tempo style.

The other is expanding the role of Kevin Love, getting him more involved offensively instead of using him mostly as a “stretch four”. Love has a very good low post game, and is also a good passer from the high post.

But the other problem Lue is trying to attack is making his team more mentally tough.

He talked about it the other night in Indiana when he said he refused to call a timeout because the players got themselves into a mess, and it was their responsibility to get out of it.

What he’s really talking about is accountability for the players.

We have harped on the lack of this aspect with the Cleveland Browns under Mike Pettine, and therefore we are thrilled to see Lue expecting it from his players.

When the Cavs have played up tempo and moved the ball by passing, not dribbling, they have played better, and the offensive is putting up better numbers, scoring over 110 points in five straight games before it ended last night.

Where the lack of mental toughness comes in is when they stop playing this style and revert back to the isolation ball that was en vogue with David Blatt.

That’s what the coach was talking about when he was talking about the players needing to figure it out when they stop pushing and moving the ball, and get back to doing it without Lue reminding them.

What is mind boggling is that the players on the floor keep going back to this style whenever things get a little tough.

Maybe it is still an adjustment period for the players with and to the new coaching staff, and after a month or so, the new style will become the default for the players, and everything will be fine.

Lue has wanted to play more guys, but the last two games has resorted to giving heavy minutes to the starters. We feel it’s because of a lack of trust in the reserves, which is the same issue Blatt had.

And with Matthew Dellavedova out last night with a bad hamstring, Mo Williams was forced into action and his defensive problems were once again apparent.

It’s that problem that made us ambivalent about Williams’ return to Cleveland last summer.

Another problem that has cropped up is a lack of bench scoring. This can be easily remedied by switching Iman Shumpert back in the starting lineup and bringing JR Smith off the bench.

This is no slight to Smith, but with Lue saying he wants to use Kevin Love as a focal point with the second unit, having Smith with him would provide more offense when the starters are resting.

Look, this isn’t panic, but if the Cavaliers are going to get where they want to go, they need to be mentally stronger.

We think that Tyronn Lue thinks the same thing.

Cavs Passed Spurs’ Test, More Exams to Follow

Can anyone imagine the panic that may have ensued had the Cleveland Cavaliers lost at home to San Antonio last night?

Thankfully, the Cavs emerged victorious with a 117-103 win at The Q, thus splitting the season series with the team who has the second best record in the Western Conference.

So, the only one of the top teams in the West that the wine and gold have had issues with is Golden State, who beat them twice.

At the very least, Cleveland will split with the other top seeds, having already defeating Oklahoma City and the Clippers at home.

And the loss to the Warriors in Oakland was by a scant six points. So, once again, we will tell you that was a aberration. The Cavs played terribly two weeks ago, while the defending champs played very well.

As for the Eastern Conference competition, the Bulls seem to be Cleveland’s toughest nut to crack.

They lost to the 2nd seeded Raptors by four in Toronto, and hammered the Raptors at home by 22 points.

The Southeast Division leading Hawks lost to the Cavs at The Q by 10 points in November, and the two teams don’t meet again until Game 76, by which time Tyronn Lue’s bunch might be resting players because the #1 seed in the East is settled.

The wine and gold have lost twice to Chicago, although there were extenuating circumstance both times. The first came Opening Night in the Windy City, and the Cavaliers dropped a game at home in Lue’s first game as head coach following the firing of David Blatt.

In fact, the Cavs next big test will be a home game on February 18th against Chicago, the last game of an upcoming five game home stand, and the first game after the All Star break.

That will be followed by a trek to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder.

And then, following two more home games, the Cavs will travel up north to Toronto to play the Raptors.

So, following the All Star Game, three of Cleveland’s first five games will be pretty big tests against some of the NBA’s best teams.

After that stretch, the schedule will lighten up a bit, save for another four game swing out west, where the wine and gold will play the Kings, Lakers, Clippers, and Jazz in a six day span.

However, 12 of the last 20 games will be on the road, again though, if the Cavs can put some distance between themselves and the other top teams in the East, those later contests won’t have much of a meaning.

And Lue’s squad seems to have figured out a winning formula away from home, winning nine of their last 1o away from Quicken Loans Arena.

The offense seems to be humming to, with the Cavs scored more than 110 points in five of the last six games, the only hiccup coming in the loss to Chicago.

The downside is they have allowed more than 100 points in five of their last eight games. Some of that could be because of the faster pace the team is trying to play, but if they can tighten up on that side of the ball, the Cavaliers will be just fine, thank you.

Despite all of the hand wringing after the loss to the Warriors, the fact is, this is one of the elite teams in the NBA, one of only perhaps four or five teams that can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

They are so good that you can pick out the tests for the team on the schedule. They passed one last night, but the next one won’t really come until after the All Star Game.

Lue Shows Signs of Adaptation

It has now been a few days since the Cavaliers decided to make a change on the sidelines, replacing David Blatt with Tyronn Lue.

Much has been made about Lue wanting the team to play faster, getting up the court before the opposing defenses can get set up, and with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on the roster, that’s a wise move.

The new coach also talked about the team not being “in shape” to play faster, and the media took off with that one. You could tell they want to accuse Blatt of not having his team in shape, being too easy on them.

However, that’s not what Lue said.

Under Blatt, the Cavs started the season playing slower and emphasizing defense, the same style they used in the playoffs last year, a style that was successful in getting them to the sixth game of The NBA Finals.

You can’t fault the former coach with using that system, after all, it worked quite well for the wine and gold in May and June.

If you are used to walking the ball up the floor and controlling the pace, and then are asked to sprint on a regular basis, it’s going to take time to get used to that.

It doesn’t mean David Blatt didn’t get his basketball team in shape to play in the NBA.

And after last night’s win, the first for Lue, over Minnesota, the new coach talked about wanting to play fast with certain players on the floor, but also playing slower when James and Irving are not on the floor.

We were happy to hear that because there are certain times when it doesn’t benefit the Cavaliers to race up and down the court.

One thing that worries us is Cleveland’s obsession with Golden State, the team that beat them in the championship series last summer.

We hope they don’t alter the roster to compete with the Warriors, because doing that could be a problem if let’s say they face San Antonio at the end, which is very much a possibility.

What is strange is the narrative that the Warriors and Spurs play the same style. Yes, they both move the basketball, but the defending champs are more reliant on the three point shot, while the Spurs have a very strong presence in the paint with Tim Duncan, LeMarcus Aldridge, and David West.

So, GM David Griffin and Lue can’t get too Warrior-centric when putting together the roster and style of play for the team, even taking into account Golden State’s 30 point drilling of the Spurs last night.

You run the risk of doing what the Cavaliers did after they lost to Orlando in the conference finals in 2009. They constructed the roster to beat the Magic’s style with Dwight Howard in the middle and a bunch of three point shooters.

The problem was, they couldn’t get past Boston in the second round.

So, you have to stay flexible with the roster in order to beat teams like Chicago, Toronto, and Atlanta in the East. If you can’t beat those teams, you don’t have to worry about Golden State and San Antonio.

In Lue’s comments yesterday, he seems to understand that. Hopefully, Griffin does as well.

Not getting back to The Finals would be more of a failure than anyone can imagine right now.