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.

Cavs Concerned Over Slow Starts, And That’s a Good Thing

After the Cleveland Cavaliers won their home opener against the Miami Heat, we made the bold statement (kidding) that this year’s wine and gold squad would not start off 19-20.

Today, the Cavs won their sixth straight with a 101-97 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

We feel pretty comfortable with that statement, although it would have been pretty safe to say that before the season started.

Yes, the Cavs do start slow on some nights, particularly against the lower echelon teams in the NBA, but LeBron James and James Jones are stressing to their teammates that this cannot continue to happen.

That shows how good this team is. They are concerned not only with winning, but the manner in which they triumph.

My guess is the Indians and Browns would love to have such worries.

While some people talked about the poor first quarter against the Knicks on Wednesday, you can look at it this way. Cleveland outscored New York by 27 points over the final three quarters.

Because the Cavs have seemed to turn it on whenever they want to, it has become easy to forget that David Blatt’s team is missing three key components.

Just think how the wine and gold will do when they get Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, and J.R. Smith back on the floor.

Yikes!

Assuming Irving and Shumpert will reprise their roles as starters in the backcourt (the doubt is on Shumpert as Blatt may stay with Smith as the starter), this means the Cavaliers will have five solid guard at their disposal.

This is because Matthew Dellavedova has renewed confidence after his playoff performance and has improved his shooting and passing during the summer.

As for big guys, Anderson Varejao received a healthy DNP-CD today, as Blatt used Timofey Mozgov, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson at the four and five spots, used James at power forward at times as well.

Jefferson is everything that the Cavs wanted Shawn Marion to be last year and more.

He still has his legs as evidenced by his explosive dunks in the pre-season, and he’s a much better shooter than the recently retired Marion.

In fact, he’s kind of a combination of the two vets no longer here, Marion and Mike Miller.

This team is playing so well, the noted national critics of James and his team have nothing to conjure up.

The two biggest stories so far haven’t been stories at all. LeBron not helping up Kevin Love after he was knocked down against New York and that James was disappointed in Love being out of shape. Last season.

Correct, the media is dredging up stuff from last year to discredit this team.

Compare that to last year, when it was Irving, Love, and James couldn’t co-exist and that Blatt was in over his head as coach.

Blatt deserves some respect for using his bench. He clearly wasn’t confident in Marion and Miller as he has no problem using nine or ten players most nights, including giving minutes to free agent guard Jared Cunningham.

And James has not been used more than 36 minutes in any game this year.

We are sure that will come, particularly when Cleveland gets into a tougher part of the schedule, but it good to see the coach not giving into the competition involved with every game and needing to use his superstar too much.

So, if the slow starts are the biggest concern for fans of the Cavs, rest easy.

Just watch the fun as this NBA season unfolds.

Our Comments On What Cavs Are Up To

The free agent frenzy in the NBA has come and gone for the most part, and the word has come down today that LeBron James is ready to sign another two-year deal (a one year contract with a player option, much like last year) with the wine and gold.

We thought it would be time to answer some questions about the Cavs and what they have done and still may do this off-season…

The Tristan contract. Look, there is no question that Thompson’s value to the Cavaliers is much higher than most any other team, because his skill set fits better with a contending team.

We also understand that Thompson is represented by the same firm that handles James, and LeBron wants him back here and wants him to get paid.

So, big deal. Just do it.

We realize that some older fans can’t understand how James can impact how Dan Gilbert and David Griffin handle Thompson’s contract, but that’s the reality of the NBA these days.

James put himself in a situation where he has a substantial say in the future of this basketball team.

And the Cavs and Gilbert are better off with him wearing wine and gold (or navy blue) and having that say than him being somewhere else.

We are sure Gilbert doesn’t have a big deal with it.

Signing Mo. Our first reaction was bringing back Mo Williams was that it was no big deal. Williams is on the wrong side of 30 years old (he’ll be 33 in December), and he’s never been known for his defense, which is key in post-season basketball.

However, he did average 17 points per game after being traded from Minnesota to Charlotte last year, and he likely will not have to carry a large role with Cleveland. He will be Kyrie Irving’s primary back up, and he can still stroke the jumper.

And it didn’t cost the Cavaliers entire mini-mid level exemption, so Griffin still can spend around $1 million on another free agent.

Williams can provide scoring with the second unit, and on the days where Irving has to miss games.

All in all, it’s a good thing for the Cavs.

Dealing Andy? The talk of a possible deal with New Jersey involving G/F Joe Johnson in which the Cavs give up Brendan Haywood’s expiring deal and Anderson Varejao have died down a little bit.

However, if the Cavs had a deal to significantly improve their roster and had to give up the long time Cavalier, then so be it.

Look, it’s a business and there is no room for sentimentality.

Varejao’s problem over the last five years has been staying on the court. In that time frame, he has played more than 31 games just once, in 2013-14 when he participated in 65 games.

When James was in Miami, we advocated dealing the big man in order to get value for him before his worth was totally decimated by the injuries. He was no longer reliable.

If we had our druthers, and you could improve the team by moving only Haywood, then fine, but if you have to deal Varejao to make it work, then that’s okay too.

James’ Contract. We are convinced there is no more misunderstood or questioned player on the planet than James. After agreeing to the deal today, idiots came out of the woodwork complaining about his “loyalty” to the Cavs.

His people told us we was going to do this last year, and to this point, he has been true to his word. The “one and one” deals are simply to get him the most money he can according to the system every year.

And remember, last summer, he said he didn’t have the energy to change teams again.

Fans who question this are no better than the national media people who said Kevin Love was leaving via free agency this year.

Despite What “Experts” Said, Love Stays With Cavs

Once again, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have befuddled the national media.

Despite all the conjecture following the playoffs that Kevin Love would never resign with the Cavs because he wanted to be “the man” and get more shots, and his so-called personality conflict with James, the free agent announced he will ink a five-year deal with the wine and gold, and will be here to pursue a title.

Not only that, Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert also re-upped with Cleveland, insuring that the same cast of characters that dominated the NBA entering the playoffs, and survived injuries to key players in the post-season, will be together again for the 2015-16 NBA season.

It was even reported the night before free agency started that Love was going to meet with the Lakers. The four letter network really missed it here, and when it comes to the Cavs, they haven’t been right very often.

We believe that most of these national “insiders” take their own personal feelings into account, and they cannot believe that given a choice, anyone would want to play or work in Cleveland. Therefore, they assume everyone wants out.

As for Love, he had steadfastly maintained all year-long that his intention was to be with the Cavaliers in the upcoming season, and instead of taking him at his word, these people chose to think he was just “saying the politically correct thing”.

And make no mistake, Kevin Love is very important to this team offensively. The Finals should be evidence of that.

With Love on the floor and his ability to shoot the ball, defenses have to account for him, meaning if he is at the three-point line, you have to guard him. This opens up the lane for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to get to the basket.

Remember against Golden State how the Warriors packed the paint with defenders to stop James? That doesn’t happen with Love on the floor.

James needs to be surrounded by shooters, and against Golden State, he was missing two of his most reliable guys in Irving and Love. The wine and gold were down to J.R. Smith, an ailing Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, and veterans James Jones and Mike Miller.

The latter two were not afforded a lot of minutes in the regular season.

Besides that, Love is a very good rebounder, averaging 9.7 per game in the regular season. He might be the team’s second best rebounder behind only Thompson.

And he’s not as bad of a defender as he showed earlier in the year. Once GM David Griffin traded for Timofey Mozgov, providing the team with a shot blocking presence, Love’s defense was much better, mainly because he didn’t have to guard centers.

Simply put, he’s one of the best players in the NBA, surely among the top 25 players in the game. And he’s committed to stay with Cleveland for five more seasons.

So, the national media will have to deal with the fact that the Cavs aren’t going anywhere. They will be making deep playoff runs annually with James, Irving, and Love.

They just don’t get it. One more reason you shouldn’t believe anything they have to say regarding the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Is This Most Talented Cavs’ Team Ever?

The Cleveland Cavaliers certainly haven’t had a glorious history. Their all-time record since joining the NBA is more than 300 games below .500.

However, they have been to the NBA Finals in 2007, and lost in the Eastern Conference finals three times. And without disrespecting the ’06-‘o7 conference champs, the best team in franchise history may just be the last wine and gold squad to fall one step short of The Finals, the 2008-09 team that one 66 games in the regular season.

That team is a regular on lists of the best teams to not win an NBA title.

Our feeling was that collection of players failed because of Mike Brown’s failure to adjust to what Orlando was doing offensively in the conference finals, and because of the playoff schedule.

If you recall, the Cavs swept each of their first two series against Detroit and Atlanta, and had to wait nine days, from May 11th when they eliminated the Hawks, until May 20th when they took on Orlando.

The Cavaliers were rusty in Game 1, losing on their home floor, where they lost just twice all season long.

By the way, that team won 18 of their last 21 games in the regular season.

Since the current Cavs have now won 16 of their last 18, we decided to compare the current roster to perhaps the best team in Cleveland professional basketball history.

The starters on that team were LeBron James, Mo Williams, Delonte West, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Ben Wallace.

Anderson Varejao also started 42 games that season, getting the nod when Ilgauskas and Wallace had injuries. Sasha Pavlovic also started 12 games, mostly for West.

James, who was 24 at the time, averaged 28.4 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game, which is comparable to this season’s figures of 26 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists.

However, that team had no one who can compare to Kyrie Irving, who is blossoming into the superstar in front of our eyes. The fourth year player out of Duke is getting 22 points and five dimes per night as offensive option #2.

Williams filled that role in ’09, getting 18 points and four assists. Irving is taking more shots than Williams did, with both making almost 47% of their tries.

Ilgauskas was the team’s third leading scorer at 12.9 a game, with 7.5 boards and shooting 47%. Kevin Love is the third leading scorer this year at 16.8 points, with 10.3 rebounds. He is shooting just 43% from the floor, although he attempts far more three point shots than Big Z did.

That group’s bench was led by Varejao, Boobie Gibson, and Wally Szczerbiak, while the current Cavs use Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, and Matthew Dellavedova as the primary bench options.

We would give David Blatt’s crew an edge because the second and third best players on this team are much better than those on the 66 win team.

Even the bench appears to be better. Varejao scored 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds as the first big man off the bench in ’08-’09, and Thompson has better numbers at 9.1 and 8.4 respectively.

That group was stronger defensively, because Ilgauskas was still a force inside and Wallace was one of the best defensive players in NBA history up front, and West was a very good defender too.

However, the three Cavs who joined the team in January are helping greatly on the defensive end. Since Timofey Mozgov joined the squad, he has provided the inside presence Blatt’s team sorely needed. And Shumpert and J.R. Smith have given the wine and gold better defense on the wings.

Can this team go farther in the post-season than the ’09 team? That remains to be seen. But it is looking like this might be the most talented roster ever to play in Cleveland.

That’s how quickly things have changed in the last month or so.

Why Baseball’s All Star Game is Still The King

Last Sunday night as we were driving around northeastern Ohio, we checked in on what was going on at the NBA All Star Game, and we were soured almost immediately.

The game was late in the first half, with the score in the 70’s for both teams, and we heard the play-by-play man say there was only one foul called during the game. We thought that he had to misspeak, that it would be impossible for virtually no fouls to be called in the first half of a professional basketball game.

Sure enough, when we checked the statistics for the first half (mainly to see how LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were doing), we saw the announcer was accurate.

The lack of fouls indicates that a total lack of defense was in the game. Quite simply, no one was even trying on the defensive end.

We felt that the NBA’s star spectacular is now no different from the Pro Bowl and the NHL All Star contest, meaning it bears no relationship to the sport that gets played throughout the regular season.

That might be fine for the younger basketball fans, but what they are playing in that game isn’t basketball, much like the travesty that is the Pro Bowl is really no longer football.

And no one would complain if that game just went away.

No one is suggesting that players take charges, or hammer someone to the floor trying to stop a lay up attempt. But would it kill someone to get in someone’s way every once in a while?

Not to be showing our age, but in the 80’s and 90’s, the players did play some defense, Michael Jordan didn’t want someone scoring 40 points while he was on the floor, and while the players ran the floor and threw fancy, jaw-dropping passes you wouldn’t see in the regular season, there was still a competitive aspect to the game.

That’s why baseball’s mid-summer classic is still the king, and it’s because of the nature of the sport.

Baseball is the only sport where the defense (being the pitcher) has the ball. For Clayton Kershaw to show his skills on the mound, he has to keep a batter from showing what he can do.

It’s the essence of the sport, and that’s why their All Star Game is still the purest.

Imagine if this July, Corey Kluber made the all-star team and decided to lob pitches in so fans could see Giancarlo Stanton belt one in the upper deck. It wouldn’t happen, right?

Because Kluber would be there trying to show the fans why he is there. And to show his talent, he has to prevent Stanton from showing his.

In basketball, the players enjoy showing their creativity and skill set, but it would mean more if there was someone trying to prevent it.

What’s better? A breakaway dunk off a steal, or a player throwing one down in traffic.

The NBA needs to tighten up their product in terms of the All Star Game. You have the 24 best players in the world all on the court at the same time. Why not play the ultimate game one time a year.

Again, we don’t need to have people get hurt, but at least play passable defense, not what was on display Sunday night.

It would be a better show than what was seen at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The league deserves a better showcase.

Remaining Schedule Should Help Cavaliers

There is no question that the Western Conference of the NBA is much stronger than the East.

Currently, the Brooklyn Nets are the 8th seed in the East with a 17-24 record, a mark that would rank them 12th in the West. The Cavs, who sit in the fifth spot in on the right half of the NBA grid at 22-20, would be on the outside looking in if they played out west.

And there is no question the wine and gold have struggled this season, especially in the first couple of weeks in January, when they lost six in a row before winning the last three.

However, right now the Cavs have played the most games against the tougher conference in the NBA, and they are 6-11 in those games.

The team with the best record in the East, Atlanta, has played 30 of their 42 games in their own conference, a difference of five contests. They are 10-2 in those dozen games, but they will no doubt have a tougher slate in front of them.

Washington has the conference’s second best record and they’ve played 28 games in the East, going 9-5 vs. the West.

Toronto, the third seed, is the only team ahead of the Cavs in the standings that have played a similar amount of games as the wine and gold, having played 26 inter-conference games. The Raptors are 9-6 against the west.

Now, it is most definitely true that a 6-11 mark against the Western Conference is nothing to be proud of, especially compared to the top three teams, but the point is, the Cavaliers have fewer games against the tougher teams, and they don’t have to make any more west coast trips.

Which brings us back to the Wizards and Raptors, who have played four and five more home games than road games so far this season. Of course, this means they will play more on the road in the second half of the season, another advantage for the Cavaliers, who have split their 42 games right down the middle.

The Hawks, currently in another stratosphere, have actually played more on the road through 42 contests.

Milwaukee, immediately behind Cleveland in the standings, will get to play more at home than on the road for the balance of the season, having played just 18 of their 41 games in Beer Town.

On the other hand, they’ve only played 14 games out of conference, meaning they will see a steady diet of western squads for the balance of the campaign.

All this means that the Cavs have a solid chance to improve their lot in the standings if they stay healthy going forward and continue to play together. And obviously, if they can make up the ground between themselves and the Bulls (currently Cleveland is 4-1/2 games behind), they would get home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

With two more games vs. Philadelphia (yes, we know they lost the first game between the two teams), three more games against the Celtics, and two more with the depleted Pacers, they are opportunities for the Cavaliers to make up some ground.

And it is a big advantage not having to travel further than the central time zone again.

It’s no excuse, but David Blatt’s team hasn’t had the easiest schedule thus far, there has been a lot of travelling. Now comes the payoff for that slate, the wine and gold won’t go far from home the rest of the year.

Cavs Biggest Problems: Defense, Three Point Shooting

By the end of this week, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have played half of their NBA schedule, and no one thought they would be struggling this much.

They are currently sitting below the .500 mark at 19-20, far from the juggernaut many experts predicted before the season started with LeBron James returned to the team, and GM David Griffin traded for Kevin Love.

Yes, there are a lot of new players that started the season with the wine and gold, and the recent trades made by Griffin have added three more new players (one of whom, Iman Shumpert hasn’t played yet), and that makes continuity and knowing your teammates very difficult.

The biggest problems seem to be on the defensive end, where right now it appears there isn’t a consistent effort on a nightly basis.

Part of the problem is the lack of quickness on the players defending the perimeter. That problem means they play off of the opponent to stop penetration, and then cannot recover to contest the jump shot. This has led in part to allowing a 51.6% defensive field goal percentage thus far, second worst in the league behind only Minnesota.

It seems like teams hit an inordinate amount of three-point shots against the Cavs, but the wine and gold ranks 19th defensively against the long distance shot. That’s not great, but they are getting hurt inside the arc.

In terms of defensive efficiency, the Cavs rank as the sixth worst defense in the NBA. That needs to improve and quickly.

Yes, we understand that Love and Kyrie Irving aren’t good defensively, but you can cover that up by team concepts. Right now, the team scheme needs to be revamped because it’s not getting it done.

Cleveland allows the sixth most dunk attempts in the league, but don’t allow a lot of layup attempts. However, opponents convert a good percentage of those layup attempts, which Timofey Mozgov should help with.

Where the Cavs get killed is on jump shots of between 16 feet and the three-point line, as opponents are making 46.3% of their shots, two percent more than the next worst team Toronto. Besides the Raptors, no one else is giving up more than 42.6% of these shots.

That’s because the perimeter defenders are having a problem closing out on shooters.

Oddly, this ties into the other problem, the lack of three-point shooting. Cleveland ranks 18th in the NBA offensively, which is disappointing for a team with Irving, Love, Mike Miller, and James Jones on it. The thought before the season was with all the ability the Cavs have going to the basket, these guys would have plenty of good looks from beyond the arc.

Irving shot close to 40% in his first two years in the league, but shot just 36% last year and is sitting around that mark again this season.

Love came into the season hitting 36% of his shots from distance, but he’s dropped to 34% this season.

Miller has been over 40% each of the last three seasons, but he’s dropped to 35.3% in 2014-15.

Jones is a career 40% shooter that is making 36.8% of those shots this season.

The latter two are big problems because they don’t provide the perimeter defense the Cavs need, and they aren’t making as many shots as they have in the past. And quite frankly, if Miller and Jones aren’t hitting shots, there is no reason to put them on the floor.

David Blatt would be better served playing Joe Harris, who is a little better defensively, at this point in time.

At this point, the Cavs still seem to be using the roster turnover as an excuse, which it shouldn’t be half way through the season. They really need to just start playing hard, especially defensively.

One other thing. This team needs to get out and run, but if the other team keeps scoring, it’s difficult to get transition buckets.

The defense has to get fixed right now.

The Reshaping of Cavs Should Be Complete

The one thing you can say about Cavs GM David Griffin is that he isn’t afraid of change.

After watching his basketball team struggle more than expected, Griffin didn’t sit back and hope things would get better, he did something about it.

It has been painfully obvious if you know the game of basketball that the main problem for the wine and gold has been on the defensive end. They have ranked among the best teams in the NBA in offensive efficiency. The two trades made in the last few days have addressed the problem when the opponent has the ball.

The Cavaliers have had problems stopping perimeter jump shots and also have had breakdowns when opponents have gone to the basket. Picking up Iman Shumpert helps with the first issue and is a solid enough defender to stop penetration as well.

And if they do get to the hole, Griffin’s latest acquisition, Timofey Mozgov will be there to provide resistance.

Quite simply, Mozgov is a large man at 7’1″ and 250 pounds. He averaged 8.5 points and almost 8 rebounds (7.8) per game and is a career 51.3% shooter from the floor. Those numbers were compiled playing a little over half the game at 25.6 minutes per night. And he’s not horrible from the line either at a little over 73%.

But the biggest thing is he provides a presence and size inside that the Cavs haven’t had all year. Let’s face it, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao are really power forwards masquerading as centers, and while they are solid defenders, they don’t provide the bulk or height needed to make opponents think twice about going to the hoop.

And Brendan Haywood hasn’t been dazzling when he has received minutes either.

Many people have questioned the deal because of the cost, as Griffin gave up two first round draft picks, a steep price for a player who averages less than 10 point and 10 rebounds per night.

However, if Mozgov has the desired effect, then the cost shouldn’t be an issue.

Not to compare the big man to Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond, but what if the same thing happens now as when Thurmond arrived in November of 1975.

When Thurmond was dealt to Cleveland on November 27th of that year, the Cavaliers were 6-11 after losing to the then Kansas City Kings 95-91. Bill Fitch’s squad went 43-22 the rest of the season and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.

Nate only averaged 17 minutes per game for that team, but he was the right fit at the right time.

If Mozgov proves to be a good fit and the Cavaliers get healthy and make a good playoff run, then giving up two first round picks, neither of which will probably be in the top half of the round, is inconsequential.

And it’s not as though Mozgov is an aging player, he’s 28-years-old, and should be a solid NBA player for many years.

That’s another good thing about the moves Griffin made. Shumpert will not turn 25 until after the end of the current season, so his future is in front of him as well.

When LeBron James and Shumpert get back from their injuries, you have a starting five of those two, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and probably Mozgov. That will enable David Blatt to bring these players off the bench: J.R. Smith, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, Thompson, and his favorite, Matthew Dellavedova.

If Blatt doesn’t give the subs minutes then, maybe he doesn’t have an NBA future.

And in making the deals now, it gives the Cavaliers more time to learn each other prior to the playoffs. If he had waited until the deadline, it would have put that process behind another five weeks.

Regardless, kudos to Griffin for seeing the current roster wasn’t working and going out and trying to fix it. He gave it plenty of time, more than 25% of the season.

Now, let’s see how this version of the Cavs works out.

Cavs’ Bench Has No Big Man Depth

When this basketball season began, many people (us included) thought that Cavs’ GM David Griffin had put together a talented and deep basketball team.

We marveled at a second five that included four players who have been starters in the NBA: Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, and Tristan Thompson.

With the season almost halfway through, we see how wrong we were.

First, Dion Waiters didn’t seem to fit with the starting unit, and first Marion, then Miller were inserted in the starting role for him. However, Waiters’ scoring and overall game should have been a boost to the bench bunch, and for the most part it has been.

Then, Anderson Varejao tore his achilles, forcing Thompson into the starting role.

In terms of efficiency, the wine and gold have played better with Thompson out there with LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving.

But, putting Thompson in the first five leaves a void because Haywood hasn’t been able to contribute for a variety of reasons.

He’s only played nine games this season, averaging just six minutes per night.

We believe the reason for that is the lack of low-post oriented centers in the league right now. In the Eastern Conference, you basically have Roy Hibbert and Andre Drummond.

The game has evolved into having centers who play away from the basket now, and based on what we’ve seen, Haywood would have a problem guarding these players out on the floor. That leaves rookie Alex Kirk, and he probably isn’t ready for the NBA game either at this point.

Then, LeBron James went down, and that forced Matthew Dellavedova into the starting lineup. Dellavedova is an energy guy, a player who moves the ball and plays solid defense, and he’s starting so Waiters can continue to come off the bench.

So, right now it leaves coach David Blatt with two players, Waiters and Marion, who are giving him quality minutes off the pines, and that isn’t enough.

The problem Blatt has now is too many of his reserves are too one-dimensional.

Since the injury bug has hit, the coach has tried to use James Jones more, but let’s face it, Jones is a one-dimensional player. He’s a shooter, a long-range bomber who is effective from outside the arc.

But he’s not a good defender, rebounder, or passer, so he’s reliant on guys who can penetrate and get the ball to him for open shots.

Lou Amundson can give the team some minutes at the power forward spot, but he’s another energy guy, who really doesn’t have the bulk (225 pounds) to guard the bigger forwards at the NBA level. As a comparison, Love weighs 260 pounds.

A. J. Price is the one guy who probably should get more minutes, but the void currently is up front, where somebody needs to give Love and Thompson some rest.

Blatt has tried using Marion at power forward at times, but he’s undersized at that spot too.

This is why Griffin needs to find the coach a big man who can give him some minutes, and he needs to do it soon. Friday night at Charlotte, the Cavs got hammered on the boards and this team needs to rebound well so they can run.

Before the season started, it looked like the Cavaliers had a good plan in place, but good GMs need to react when the original plan isn’t working.

The time for reaction is now.