Is LeBron Getting Enough Rest?

The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to be conducting an experiment with LeBron James this season.

With James turning 32 years old at the end of December, one of the favorite things for fans and media alike to debate is rest for The King.

LeBron is currently third in the NBA in average minutes per game, behind only Toronto’s Kyle Lowry and Minnesota’s Zach LeVine, playing slightly over 37 minutes per night, an increase of about a minute and a half more than a year ago.

On the other hand, James doesn’t rank in the top 20 in the league in minutes played for the season, as a result of sitting out three games already this season, and we are sure there are more to follow.

The experiment is this…what is better for the athlete, reducing minutes on a nightly basis, or having the player just not play on certain nights. That way, he doesn’t warm up, doesn’t get mentally prepared to play. It’s just a complete day off.

We understand that Tyronn Lue has said all along that a reduction in James’ minutes would occur in January and February when the schedule got a little contracted, but on this current trip, the least minutes in a game for #23 was the 35 he played in Brooklyn on the first game on the roadie.

Right now, James doesn’t show any signs of fatigue and the guy is obviously a physical freak. He doesn’t seem to get tired, even at the end of games.

While San Antonio is famous for starting the concept of giving players game days off, sitting Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili when the schedule got heavy, Gregg Popovich also cut the players minutes per game.

At age 32, Duncan played 32.7 minutes per night, while at the same ages, Parker played 28.7 and Ginobili also spent 28.7 minutes on the floor per game.

Obviously, the goal is to have James fresh through the middle of June as the wine and gold defend their championship. The concern is with The King getting older, can he take on the heavier minutes per night, and still be his dominant self throughout the playoffs.

We are sure there are constant conversations with Lue, James, and the training staff about how the player feels, and the organization has done studies on what is the proper way to keep a high caliber NBA athlete fresh after they have reached the age of 30.

We also know that LeBron James doesn’t care about chasing a regular season win record. He understands the ultimate prize is winning another title, and he knows the most important thing is to be healthy and strong in April, May, and June.

We should have learned by now that comparing LeBron James to other athletes doesn’t make sense. He is a freak of nature. As someone once said about guarding him, “if you are big enough, you aren’t quick enough, and if you are quick enough, you aren’t big enough”.

We also believe the Cavs will have the first overall seed in the East wrapped up sooner than they did this year, which should mean a lesser load for James toward the end of the year.

That should get James some fresher legs heading into the post-season.

If James appears tired in the playoffs, then the Cavaliers will have to adjust their plan going into next season. However, if he is dominant through the last game of the season, then it will be even more evidence that The King is incomparable.

Cavs Played A Bad Game Monday, Nothing More

Last night, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Brooklyn Nets to raise their record to 29-11 for the season, the best record in the Eastern Conference and 4th best overall in the NBA.

You wouldn’t know that by the conversation in town after Monday night’s beatdown of the wine and gold by the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 132-98 at Quicken Loans Arena.

In fact, until the Cavs beat either the Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs, some people won’t give them any credit for the rest of the season.

That’s ridiculous.

It was one game, and that’s all it was.

It is funny to us because the loss to the Warriors is also getting lumped in with the defeat by the Spurs a week ago, even though David Blatt’s team lost that game by four points, on the road, and led the game for most of the first three quarters.

Talk about overreaction.

The reality is it was one colossally bad game. Even Draymond Green, the Warriors’ antagonist, said after the game that they pretty much did everything right, while the wine and gold did everything wrong.

Golden State shot 54.1% from the floor, including an incredible 19 of 40 from behind the three point line. That equals shooting 65% from the field. They normally have a 56% efficiency rating on shooting. So, they were hot.

If your opponent shoots that percentage for an entire game, you are going to lose.

Conversely, the Cavs’ “Big Three”, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love combined to make just 11 of 32 shots, which is 34%. Those guys were cold.

If you combine hot shooting from your opponent, and the Cavs normally allow their opponents to shoot 44%, and poor shooting from your best players, you are probably going to get blown out.

And that’s what happened.

Also, keep in mind Cleveland played the Warriors on Christmas Day in Oakland, and lost by six. We were encouraged by this game because the wine and gold again demonstrated the ability to control the tempo, which is needed vs. Steph Curry and his crew.

On Monday, the Cavs started the game missing shots which allowed the Warriors to get out in transition and they made early threes, mostly by Klay Thompson, who Cleveland has kept in check since last year’s Finals.

We believe that Blatt and his team know they have to control the tempo, which means some isolation plays, in order to defeat the Warriors.

As for the criticism about the Spurs, yes, the Cavs did get away from what got them the lead, and they paid for it. Hopefully, they will learn from their mistake.

Fans and media alike also have to remember that if Cleveland makes The Finals, they will only have to play one of these two teams. They will not have to defeat both.

And could the wine and gold beat either team in a seven game series? Of course. We have always maintained that in the playoffs, coaches can game plan specifically against what the opposition does well.

In the regular season, there isn’t time to do that.

Also, remember that a year ago, the Cavs were a .500 team and they made a couple of trades, and were one of the final two teams playing.

The point is there is a long, long time to get things together and correct the problems, which are few, that this squad has.

The sky is not falling. The Cavs played a bad game on Monday night. They are still one of the league’s best teams. So, relax…

Tribe Fans Want Fight From Organization

Cleveland isn’t known for the success of its sports teams, but most fans want nothing more than to rise up and win against all odds.

Football is probably the most equal playing field for smaller markets with teams like Green Bay and New Orleans winning recent Super Bowls, yet even in that socialistic of sports, Cleveland can seem to put a legitimate contender on the field, which shows how poor the management has been since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999.

The NBA has had one smaller market team have success in the last 20 years. The San Antonio Spurs have won four titles in that span, and Oklahoma City seems poised to take over the mantle of small market contender.

The Spurs success has been tied to superstar Tim Duncan staying with the franchise, and the Thunder hope Kevin Durant does the same thing.

In that league, most of the bigger name players want to be in larger markets, the better to make their “brand” more popular. Cavalier fans are very familiar with that idea.

The Indians need to embrace the role of underdog and become a feisty pit-bull of a franchise, instead of one always talking about its problems. Former Browns’ GM Phil Savage must have had the Tribe management in mind when he spoke about the “woe is me” complex Cleveland sports fans have.

A little over a week ago, Indians’ president Mark Shapiro had a town hall meeting in which he spoke to a group of fans. He talked about trying to win this season, but of course, had to bring up the point that the franchise will lose money this season, a comment the organization seems to include no matter what public statements it makes.

First of all, the fans don’t care if the Indians lose money. They want to see a winning team.

It’s time to stop the negativism and become an organization that will fight, scratch, and claw to beat the big boys of the American League. It’s basically the same philosophy the Tampa Bay Rays have taken on since Joe Maddon became manager.

It’s why Jack Hannahan of all people, has become a fan favorite. He doesn’t take crap from anyone.

This change would mean trying to win every game, and jumping on problems immediately, not waiting a month to take care of them.

The Rays are always tinkering with their roster, mostly the last few spots of it, trying to pick up a hot hand, someone who may just be able to make one game’s difference in the standings. They aren’t the only team that does this, bigger market teams do the same thing.

On the other hand, the Indians have an outfielder on their roster that has just 4 hits in his last 42 at bats, and he’s been on the team the entire season.

The Cleveland bullpen has struggled lately as well, save for mainstays Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano, and Joe Smith. No changes have been made there, either.

However, over the weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals, the defending World Series champions, switched three members of its’ relief corps. If the World Champs can do it, why can’t the Tribe?

Manny Acta fits right in with this attitude. After the horrible call made by Mike DiMuro on Wednesday night in Yankee Stadium, in which his starting third baseman was ejected, Acta defended the umpire’s blown call! Something about having a tough angle and a lot of fans in the way.

That’s just sad, and Tribe fans were justifiably angry with the lack of emotion from the manager.

This isn’t to say the fiery skippers have a better winning percentage, but for a franchise looking for some support from its fan base, a manager who acts like I don’t care the deck is stacked against me, we’re going to win anyhow, would be much more accepted by the ticket buying public.

After the incident, GM Chris Antonetti, and VP of Communications Bob DiBiasio were all over the airwaves trying to spin the skippers’ inaction and also deflect criticism for a team that has lost 20 of 32 games before winning the last two in Baltimore.

The GM just spouting more of the catch phrases the front office is famous for: “Core talent”, talking about the inequities of “the system”, etc.

The Indians front office should take this tact. Sure, it’s going to be tough to do, but when we win, we can stick it in the face of all of the disbelievers. Unless the organization gets a cleaning over the winter, that’s not going to happen, which is sad.