After starting 7-9, the Cavs have posted a not so impressive 1-21 record. That's worse than 2009-10 Nets basketball. Last year, after 38 games, the Cavs had a proficient 28-10 record, contending for a top seed in the east. This year? 8-30. A 20 game turnaround not even halfway through the season.
Maybe LeBron really never would have won a championship if he stayed in Cleveland. He was criticized for leaving, for not wanting to win his own championship. But would a ring in Cleveland even be possible for him with the supporting cast the Cavs would have had? Let's face it, right now, the Cavs really only have two NBA starters on their current roster: Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams. And neither of them are good enough to be the go-to guy on a team. That was LeBron's job, the spot he's left vacant. Guys like J.J. Hickson and Christian Eyenga, who are currently starting, wouldn't be in most other places. They're not bad players, but solid backups, guys who would get 15-20 minutes a game almost anywhere else. Hickson is just 22 however, and shows some potential, but 5.5 boards a night is flat out terrible for a starting center. And while Eyenga is only 21, he is currently their replacement for LeBron, in the small forward spot. And it isn't really a toss-up on which of the two is better. Manny Harris, a young gun fresh out of college who is also 21, has shown flashes of being a natural scorer, recently putting up 27 points, even if it was against the porous Phoenix Suns defense. The Cavs do have youth and potential on their roster, but this won't help them win games in 2011.
January 11, 2011 was the low point, the Laker game. 112-57. No typos there. 112-57. And that was with the Lakers laying off the scoring in the fourth. Halfway through the third period, the Cavs were down 83-33. That's like those college games when the powerhouse pays the school of 1000 students to come to their house to get massacred. The Cavs could have lost to a D-League team that day, or any of the ranked NCAA schools. Mo Williams said he felt embarrassed to show his face in Cleveland. The aforementioned Manny Harris, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, had the worst plus/minus rating ever recorded since the stat has been kept track of (since 1997-1998 season), at -57. That's as many points as his team scored. And if the Lakers had scored one more basket, they would have doubled up the Cavs. In an NBA game. That has probably never happened.
"You look scared. You look flat-out scared," Byron Scott told his team in that game at halftime, "You're playing against the world champions, and instead of just competing and playing hard, you look scared. You look scared to death." Doesn't sound like he's talking to an NBA team. Yeah, yeah, they were missing Anderson Varejao, Anthony Parker, Joey Graham, Daniel Gibson, and Leon Powe. No one expected them to win, or come close. But this? No one knew what to say. Varejao is out for the year, a reliable energy source who put up close to a double-double a night this year. That's a big loss for them. But at this point, it doesn't really matter.
Will the Cavs be able to do what the Oklahoma City Thunder did in these past few years, having great drafts and getting a couple key free agents? GM Danny Gilbert will have some work to do. The thing about the NBA is, unlike the NFL, the worst team doesn't always get the #1 overall draft pick, which is why the Bulls were able to land Derrick Rose a few years ago. Which is why the Nets have an underachieving Derrick Favors instead of rising star John Wall. Either way though, the Cavs will have one of the top picks to begin their rebuilding stage. Which could last awhile.
The Cleveland Cavaliers 2010-2011 season started with, not championship, but at least playoff expectations. The fans of the team wanted to prove they could win without LeBron, not lose to him by 28 in the first meeting with the Heat. Rather than the playoffs, the year is lost. All it's good for is gauging the talent of their young players, none of whom will come close to taking the place of LeBron James.
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