http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3434350
Charley Rosen / FOXSports.com
Posted: 8 hours ago
The marathon season continues apace, and several teams are showing the strain. The Cleveland Cavaliers, for example, after losing at home, 103-92, to the Sonics on Wednesday, have lost four straight, and five of their last five.
For sure, the 31-25 Cavs are still nine games better than they were at this time last season. But for the past twenty games, they've been a sub-.500 team.
Why the leveling out? Is this just the normal grind of the season? Or is there some thing more meaningful afoot?
Of all the Cavaliers, LeBron James' defense is easily the worst. (David Liam Kyle / GettyImages)
Naturally, every aspect of Cleveland's game plan centers on LeBron James. And his progress has been remarkable. His shooting has vastly improved, and he's playing with the confidence of a bona fide franchise player and future Hall-of-Famer.
On the down-side, his defense remains putrid and he's still guilty of too many turnovers. LeBron is barely twenty, however, and the assumption is that his game will eventually become more complete and more precise.
The most common complaint among NBA watchers is that the inferior quality of James' supporting cast is what's dragging on the Cavs. (Cleveland is currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Washington Wizards for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and the crucial first-round home-court advantage.) After all, didn't MJ have Scottie Pippen? And didn't Shaq have Kobe (or vice versa)? So it is that LeBron gets most of the credit for Cleveland's successes, and his teammates are blamed for their failures.
Hold on, there.
What about Ziggy Ilgauskas, a certified All-Star and arguably one of the three best centers in the league? (Behind only Shaq, and probably ahead of Yao.) It should also be noted that Jeff McGinnis, Drew Gooden — and even Tractor Traylor — are each having career years.
Yes, LeBron's ascendancy plays a large part in their improvement. And, yes, the Cavs are in dire need of another dead-shot wingman.
But every team in the league lacks some important piece. The defending champion Pistons have only one semi-reliable bench player. San Antonio is minus a glass-eating backup big. Houston is desperate for a serviceable point guard. Phoenix needs a Steve Nash clone. And so on.
In any case, the loss at home to the hot-shot Sonics revealed several alarming aspects of the Cavs' game plan.
Offense
Cleveland went to Ilguaskas on their first two possessions. That's because Paul Silas knows that it's always a good idea to get the big man involved in the offense from the get-go. A basket or two and the big fellows get geeked for the entire game — they'll rebound, run the floor and defend with a passion. Unfortunately, dumping the ball into Ziggy produced a pair of turnovers, and except for a short stretch in the third quarter, he never was much of a factor.
Ilgauskas' playing time was reduced by some early foul trouble, but the gangly seven-footer has certainly expanded his offense. He still has the same mid-range accuracy, the same jump hooks and step-through moves, and he's also showing the ability to fake the jumper and drive the ball to the rim. He's playing with more confidence than ever — although when he's double-teamed on the move, Ilgauskas is prone to turnnovers.
Jeff McGinnis still thinks "score" — and that's why he has such a quick trigger.
Drew Gooden hustles his way around the basket and doesn't initiate much offense.
Ira Newble concentrates on defense and can hit an open jumper.
And everybody stands around and watches LeBron.
James mostly gets the ball after setting a back-pick, and then stepping to the middle. Then he'll fake and re-fake before driving or shooting. (His line included 11-20 shooting, 32 points, 5 assists and 4 turnovers.) While James is massaging the rock, there's not much else happening — very little player movement and precious few screens. In fact, in the first quarter the Cavs ran one successful play that involved all five players — a pick-the-picker sequence that produced a successful jump shot attempt for Newble.
When James took a brief (1:21) rest in the second quarter, the Cavs responded by playing like a team. Running plays. Setting screens. Popping the ball from side to side. But when he returned to the fray, it was the same old LeBron James show. (And when LeBron was given a blow late in the second half, the Cavs committed three consecutive turnovers and the game was lost.)
James, or course, is irresistible in an open court. And when he can generate a running start, his power-spins to the hoop are virtually unstoppable.
Late in the second quarter, he began a streak of five consecutive 3-balls that carried into the third quarter: Five consecutive triples. Primarily on the strength of LeBron's perimeter shooting (seconded by Gooden's offensive rebounding, and Z's aggressive scoring), the Cavs climbed back into the game.
But even when the Cavs pulled even at 66-66, it was clear that the Sonics would ultimately prevail. Simply because Seattle scored with concerted teamwork, while Cleveland scored on individual moves.
Defense
The Sonics are a nightmare to defend because of their outstanding perimeter shooting and their well-coached, opportunistic offense. The Cavs foolishly tried to cope by playing defense with their hands instead of their feet. Reaching and lunging. Gambling on intercepting most entry passes. But rarely putting their bodies in the proper positions.
As a result, Seattle had all the open looks they wanted.
On a pair of third-quarter sequences, Silas even had his team play a triangle-and-two defense (keying on Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis). But there was just too much court for the three zoners to cover and the Sonics blasted the defense to smithereens.
Of all the Cavs, LeBron's defense is easily the worst. He's mesmerized by the ball and sinks so much to offer his help on ball penetration that he can't recover to his own man. Whomever he guarded — Vladimir Radmanovic (7-11, 19 points agfainstg all-comers), Allen (11-22, 31 points), or Lewis (7-15, 20 points) — simply destroyed him. LeBron plays defense on his toes, looking for steals. (He had none for the game, and the penalty was a barrage of points by the player he was supposed to be defending.) On one telling sequence, James was matched up against Allen and was instructed to force his man left into a help spot. Indeed, Allen was moving to his left according to plan, when James leaned forward to be in better position to swipe at the ball. Allen then quiclky crossed-over to his right hand, and dribbled far enough away from James to launch (and bag) a 3-ball.
James was always in trouble whenever a down-pick is aimed at him. But he was absolutely helpless when his man was the screener in a screen/roll. After being well-toasted and even roasted on defense, James gave up and stopped throwing his hand at any shots taken in his immediate vicinity.
So then, are the Cavs suddenly losing because LeBron is doing a Kobe-esque ball-hogging routine? Or are they losing because the other guys are so bad that LeBron is forced to play that way?
I'd estimate it's about 75 percent the former, and 25 percent the latter.
For sure, the kid is a great talent. He can pass, drive, jump, hit enough jumpers to keep a defense honest and he's as strong as a big man. But for Cleveland to become a serious contender, their talent must be upgraded — they need a pure point guard and at least one creative wingman. Even then, however, the changes will go for naught unless LeBron James learns (or decides) to play without the ball on both ends of the court.
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Rosen actually makes a few good, arguably obvious points in this article, but I still dislike his proclivity for cherry picking games in which the Cavs play their worst basketball and are playing elite Western Conference teams (Phoenix & Seattle, who have a combined record of 84-30...).
It seems Rosen stopped attacking Kobe and has his eyes set firmly on Lebron as his new target.
Rosen tears up Lebron again
