LeBron's Finger, Varejao's "Surprise," and Kidd's Man-Crush

The Cavs have been an elusive team thus far. Every time they give the fans something to get excited about (like an OT win over Boston), the injury bug finds a way to stifle their cheers. LeBron injured his left index finger against Detroit on Wednesday. The finger was sprained on an innocent looking foul in the second quarter, with James sitting out the second half. According to an ESPN article, “the team says James is day to day, [but] the Cavaliers likely will be overly cautious with the injury so he doesn't make it worse.”

Resting James is a no-brainer at this point in the season. Sprains have a tendency to get worse if you don’t give them enough time to heal, so the injury itself is frustrating. Given James’ aggressive playing style, even if he was able to favor his right hand in shooting and dribbling, his mobility and passing ability would be far from 100%. His aggressive playing style would just lead to a re-injury anyway.

The Cavaliers were coming off a four game winning streak before falling to Detroit and Toronto. Their next game is against Boston on Sunday and James is going to be game-time decision. If his finger isn’t close to a full recovery, I don’t think he should play yet. It’s good that the Cavs think they can beat Boston for the second time in a week, but the outlook doesn’t look good, even with James. Live to fight another day, I say.

On James’ Hot Start

Everybody knows LeBron has been at the top of his game this season. He leads the league in points per game with 30.7 (Kobe is second with 27.6) and is seventh in assists with 8.1. Just how impressive is that? James is currently the only player to be in the top 10 in the league in scoring and assists. Like Kobe Bryant in L.A., James has had to carry his team on his shoulders this season, but unlike Kobe, he has displayed a balanced attack that makes him even scarier to deal with.

Columnist Marc Stein on James:

A trip to the NBA Finals and a Team USA summer spent alongside the maniacally driven Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd appear to have tweaked James' approach. Throw out an Opening Night no-show against Dallas -- "It looked like he didn't want to play that night," one Mavs foe suggested, surmising that James still was upset Cleveland was starting the season with Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic unsigned -- and he has played at the highest possible level.

How high? With four triple-doubles (and two near-misses with nine assists) in a span of 12 games for a depth-challenged team that got no deeper in the offseason, James has put himself on pace to possibly join Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only players in history to average 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a season.

After witnessing the King of Akron decimate Detroit in the Conference Finals, it’s easy to see how James’ maturity and experience have helped him elevate his game lately. It’s almost crazy to think LeBron can get even better at this point, but he seems to be on the brink, if he’s not there already.

I was curious how James’ outstanding start to ’07 compared to past seasons. Below are the splits for the first month of James’ first five NBA seasons:

Year	G	Min	FG%	3PT%	FT%	R	Ast	PPG
2003	17	41:00	40.0	22.6	65.6	7	6.4	17.5
2004	14	41:00	51.5	35.7	77.1	7.8	6.1	26.3
2005	14	39:53	48.9	35.1	81.8	6	4.5	28.4
2006	15	40:36	47.0	36.1	71.2	6.8	6.7	27.5
2007	16	39:47	48.6	32.9	70.6	7.6	8.1	30.7

The numbers indicate LeBron really has gotten off to the best start of his career. His overall production in points per game, assists, and rebounds have all taken significant jumps, while his field goal and three point percentages are slightly better than his career averages. Whether James can sustain such outstanding production has yet to be determined with less than a quarter of the season under wraps. I don’t think many people would be surprised if he did post Oscar Robertson numbers though.

It’s interesting that such a spike in production has come this season, on one of the weaker teams James has played on. Has he just been getting more opportunities because some of his teammates (especially the bench) have been doing so poorly? Has the coaching staff reconfigured the offense to allow James more control over the court? Or has his game moved to the next level, as indicated above? It’s too early to tell, but at least the King is giving Cavs fans something to cheer about in what has the makings of a long winter.

On Varejao

Quite frankly, this situation got stupid a long time ago. And then this little gem came out on ESPN:

"I wanted to come back," [Varejao] said. "I love the fans and I really love my teammates. But there are others there that have made it very difficult. It's gotten to the point that I don't want to play there anymore. I'm just hoping for a sign-and-trade at this point."

Really? You don’t want to play in Cleveland anymore? Gee, I never would have guessed.

Based on the information presented, both sides screwed up royally during the negotiating period; trouble is, no one wants to admit they screwed up. The trouble started when the Cavs refused to offer Varejao a midlevel (starting at $5.356 million per season) salary. Varejao proceeded to reject the team’s five year, $32 million offer. That’s $6.4 million per year, which should have been more than enough (the language indicates the first contract year would have been below the requested midlevel salary). That’s just what the article says, I never said it made any sense. To make matters worse, Danny Ferry flew out to Brazil to try and spring a surprise negotiation on Varejao without his agent present. Terrible, terrible idea.

The Cavs can probably swing a sign-and-trade now that the teams that were scared off by Cleveland’s threat to match any offer for their restricted free agent are void. I’d be satisfied if the Cavs picked up a draft pick and a decent bench player. My expectations aren’t very optimistic though, as the whole situation stinks.

On Kidd

SI.com had an interesting article on Jason Kidd the other day. Apparently, he would be very open to playing in Cleveland with LeBron:

Kidd admits that he and James daydream about contending for championships together in Cleveland.

While Kidd maintained that he won't involve himself in publicly asking for a trade, he had no problem in spelling out his admiration for LeBron.

The article is basically one big love-fest between Kidd and James. Hanging out with a premier veteran player is great for a young superstar like LeBron. Especially if that player churns out points and assists like butter. Hmmm... One would hope the Cavs’ GM at least inquired about Kidd in the offseason. If not, it might not be a bad idea to give New Jersey a call.

There are some obvious problems in trying to trade for Kidd. First off, he’s 34 years old and has a fair share of nagging injuries to worry about. Second, his contract would be difficult to fit under the salary cap. Kidd is owed $19.7 million this year and $21.4 million next season before his current contract is up. He’d be worth the money, in my opinion, but I don’t see how the Cavs make the economics work without moving Larry Hughes first (please?). Finally, what do the Cavs have to offer to the Nets? Well, there’s Varejao. And….draft picks? The article surmises as much, but putting together a package for Jason Kidd would require some tough sacrifices by the Cavs that may not be in the best interests of the team.

The Cavs seem to be constantly walking the fine line between improving the team (and keeping LeBron happy) without crippling the franchise down the road (missing the draft for the second year in a row might not help in that department). The inability of the GM to deal with pressure from both ends of this spectrum may have cost the Cavs some opportunities lately. By the time the Cavs decide to make a move to acquire some heavy-duty help, it may end up as more of a band-aid than anything else.

Name That Injured Cavalier!

I'm starting to feel like a broken record talking about the Cavaliers, but yet another player has succumbed to injury. Larry Hughes will be sidelined four to six weeks with a deep bone bruise in his left knee, according to the Plain Dealer. Hughes sustained the injury from a collision with Phoenix's Leandro Barbosa on November 4.

Hughes was averaging 27.3 minutes, 6.8 points, and 2.3 assists per game with a miserable .293 FG% on the season. I'm torn in my opinion on Larry Hughes right now. On one hand, he's been a major disappointment; on the other, he's almost been set up to fail expectations with that ridiculous contract he was given. Everybody knew Hughes' body was fragile before he signed a 5 year, $60 million contract with Cleveland in 2005. Ferry had to have realized this guy had some serious health risks involved, but he overpaid for him anyway. After Hughes missed 46 games in '05-'06, 12 games (including Games 3 and 4 of the Finals) in '06-'07, and now up to 13 games to kick off this season, I'm beginning to sense a pattern. I didn't include Hughes' time away for family reasons, as those events were beyond anyone's control and don't belong in this argument.

I know it's a little hypocritical of me, since I took a soft stance on Ferry's lack of off-season acquisitions this year, but what are the Cavs going to do now? Well, not much except tough it out and hope for the best. There's no Plan C; even if Hughes was healthy, he was a non-factor so far this season. Cleveland needs help in multiple areas right now, some of which could have been fixed only in hindsight, but Ferry's fragile investment at point guard took a bad time to make its presence known again.

Terry Pluto suggested the Cavs talk to guard Earl Boykins about a one year deal (before Hughes went down). Boykins played 33 Min/G for Milwaukee last season, averaging 14 points with a .427 FG%. Pluto said Boykins did not fit well into Coach Brown's defensive big-man scheme, so Cleveland passed on him before. A player that may not be a good fit for the team shouldn't be forced on the head coach, but I hope Cleveland is at least exploring their options.

Sasha Pavlovic will be the one to pick up Hughes' minutes, starting alongside Daniel Gibson in the backcourt. Gibson has been one of Cleveland's best players so far, averaging 32.3 Min/G and posting a .567 FG%, .585 3P%, and a .833 FT%. I don't think anyone's worrying about Gibson (except for opposing teams).

Pavlovic on the other hand, has struggled since returning to the team after his holdout. Since signing his new contract, Sasha has sunk only 28% of his field goals and made minimal contributions off the bench. He's actually averaging more turnovers (1.50) per game than assists (1.3). It seems unlikely that Sasha is still trying to get back into playing form after jumping into the season sans-training camp (could he really be that out of shape?). The culprit for his poor play is, at least in part, an injured back. Pavlovic has been having back spasms and had to sit out the November 12 game against Denver. If he's playing with a cold shot and a bad back, don't expect any major contributions from Sasha on offense until he's healthy again.

Despite the team's injury woes, it's still fairly early in the season. If the team had been playing better than it had before Hughes went down and Pavlovic's back started acting up, I wouldn't be nearly as concerned about the current situation. There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but the Cavs are going to need to step up as a team to make it through such a rough start.

It's curious that the Cavs have endured all this negative press and analysis, but have yet to field a team at full strength. They're currently own a 5-5 record and sit 1.5 games below Detroit and hold the seventh best record in the East above 4-5 Washington. If all the injured players return and the team is still playing poorly, then there's obviously a bigger problem, but that time hasn't come yet. How can this team not improve once the injuries heal (the injury to Varejao's brain not withstanding)? The trick is holding on long enough until they do.

Congratulations, Cavaliers

First, I'd just like to congratulate the 2007 Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Cavaliers on the best season in franchise history and bringing the excitement of the playoffs to Cleveland for the second straight year.

Now, not to take anything away from the team's performance, but I've been almost as aggravated with the lack of respect Cleveland received during the playoffs as I was with the team's shooting troubles.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a flawed basketball team. While the defense was rock-solid, their struggle to score points in the NBA Finals has become a showcase for what the team lacks and what it still needs to perform better in the future.

The operative term here is future.

At this stage in LeBron James and Mike Brown’s basketball careers, I think it is fair to say that winning a championship would still be considered a rather lofty goal. What they have accomplished (along with the rest of the Cavs players and coaches), is go from a 35-47 team to the Eastern Conference Champions in four years, after taking LeBron James with the first overall pick in 2003. LeBron James has been in the league four years and is still only 23 years old. Coach Mike Brown has only been with Cleveland since the 2005-2006 season, his first ever as an NBA head coach. The average age of the team in 2007 was only 27.8, which takes a noticeable dip when 32 year old veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas is removed from the equation. These are the statistics people should look at before they start heaping on the criticism of the ’07 Cavaliers.

My point is, as well as the Cavs played this season, they are still inexperienced and have a long way to go. Just how far did people expect them to go?

I honestly don’t know anyone outside of Cleveland who picked them to make it to the Finals. So if very few basketball experts thought the Cavs were worthy of playing in the Finals in the first place, why is there such a strong backlash against the team? I’ve heard just about every adjective under the sun used to describe this series, especially “worst ever.” Is it really fair to call the Cavs the worst Finals team of all-time? Has anyone bothered asking how any of the other Eastern Conference teams may have fared against a powerhouse Spurs team? Detroit may have taken a game, but it’s pretty safe to say any Eastern Conference challenger would have gotten their tails kicked. Is the real issue with the Cavs or with the terrible television ratings and lack of competition between the two conferences in general?

The Cleveland Cavaliers should have taken at least two games against the Spurs, but they lost four straight. Do LeBron James and Mike Brown deserve to be crucified for this by the media? No, because James can not make his teammates hit wide-open shots, or absorb playoff experience from the Spurs through osmosis, or shelter his teammates from the expectations of a championship starved city (most of which already rests on his shoulders).

It’s a flawed team, but that does not change the fact that they are the Eastern Conference Champions. Rather than look at what they haven't done, how about looking at what they have done.

The team's defense (only the second full year the players have been running under such a game plan) was excellent for most of the playoffs, but the team's offensive short-comings were exposed time and again in the playoffs this year. The defense won games, but the offense usually lost them. The Spurs were more than ready for the Cavs; Popovich knew exactly what he was doing against his old protégé and had plenty of time to prepare his team ahead of time. It doesn't take an expert to see that the Cavs had been struggling with their shooting most of the postseason and the Spurs knew how to exploit this to their advantage.

The Cavaliers were obviously in over their head. While the Cavs proved they were fully capable of handling Detroit, the Spurs are arguably the best defensive team, have several premier offensive players, and possess a colossal (but often overlooked) advantage in experience over the Cavs. Matched up against that, the Cavs are now the "worst finals team of all time." How does that work?

Analysts are quick to confuse being overmatched and inexperienced with being just flat out bad.

As I’ve said before, experience is a crucial element to any championship team. This Cavs team had only been to the playoffs once before making the franchise’s first ever NBA Finals appearance. Each year the team’s young players have matured and each year they have advanced a step farther in the playoffs. This year’s experience should help the team address several issues such as isolating the team’s major weaknesses, finding a balance between offense and defense, and learning how to handle key situations late in a playoff game.

GM Danny Ferry and owner Dan Gilbert are going to face some tough decisions in trying to retain part of the team’s young core (Varejeo and Pavlovic are restricted free agents this off-season), while addressing needs for now (a true wingman for LeBron) and the future (replacing an aging Ilgauskas). The Cavaliers are already facing salary cap issues, making things that much more challenging. There have been rumors that Ferry is going to try and acquire a first round draft pick to bring in some help.

Finally...

The audacity of the media during the Finals was amazing. If you don't believe me about the media hyping everything up to add drama to a "boring" series, just look at the opening sequence for Game 3. It’s the first game with championship implications to be played in Cleveland in 10 years and they go right to the city's history of losing in the playoffs. Why? It's not enough that two of the top teams in the league, with two of the best players in the world today (James and Duncan) are playing for a championship?

Apparently not.

First, we have to throw the crowd a hook, like Cleveland’s championship drought (oh, well I'll just have to root for them and watch to see if they break it!). I'm tired of my city being used as a doormat by the rest of the American sports scene, enough already. It's like kicking a kid in a wheelchair at this point, what are Cleveland fans going to do but sit there and suffer through.

It's the middle of the finals, an Akron native is making history with the hometown team, and all everyone else wants to do is bring Cleveland fans down by dredging up the painful past. At this point it's cruel, they weren't even talking about basketball for most of the time, just failures in general.

Criticism of the team’s inability to hit the open shot or make any kind of stand on offense are certainly valid, but I’ve heard almost as many complaints about the quality of the games and the television ratings as I have about the teams themselves.

Back to School

After spending most of last week in Los Angeles without easy access to a computer, I'm back. Miss me? Fine, go read Bill Plaschke for all I care. Fortunately, I was able to catch Game 1 of the NBA Finals from my hotel.

While I was impressed with the Cavs' first half efforts, the Spurs picked them apart in the second half. The fact that Cleveland was only down by five at halftime made it pretty clear that they were capable of hanging with a veteran Spurs team, or were at least good enough to make it a close game. In a nutshell, the Spurs made the necessary adjustments, and the Cavs didn't. Popovich and company went about their business by speeding up the offense and locking down the paint on defense. The Cavs could not keep up with the Spurs speed and precise passing schemes, resulting in a game changing run early in the second half. Throw in another mid-30% shooting performance by Cleveland to close it out and that's your ballgame.

Now, the optimistic fan (not me, but play along here) would expect the Cavs to use Game 1 as a learning experience and come back with a refined plan of attack over their two off days. I honestly wasn't as concerned with losing Game 1 in such an ugly manner because

- The team showed it can take it to the Spurs in the first half.
- LeBron needed a couple games to warm up the engine in the last series, as well.
- Game 1 was on the road.

On Game 2

Oddly enough, Game 2 ended up a lot like Game 1, only in reverse. San Antonio gradually built up an imposing 11 point lead to end the first quarter. LeBron picked up two quick fouls in the first, forcing Coach Brown to bench his best player three minutes into the game. James did not return to the floor until the start of the second quarter. Everything fell apart after that. The Cavs looked lost on both ends of the floor: the passing was sloppy and the offense often looked like it didn't have a plan (or at least didn't execute). Cleveland just looked out-classed trying to guard the Spurs. Whenever they would double-team Duncan or another big man inside, they'd get stung by the three-pointer. It was brutal to watch the Spurs rack up the points, even when a defensive play seemed to be working; the Spurs were just too good.

Lebron's early foul trouble was very visible on the floor and set the tempo on offense for the Cavs in the first half. In the first two possessions of the second quarter for Cleveland, LeBron took two perimeter jump shots, missing both. He looked rushed and was obviously hesitant to rush inside the paint in case he had to go to the bench again with foul trouble. LeBron's aggressive play was crucial to the Cavs' previous wins and was absent for much of Game 2.

The majority of the game can basically be summed up by two series of possessions. On the Cavs end, with his team down by over 20 points, James drove hard to the hoop three straight times, but was forced to attempt a very difficult layup to avoid a wall of Spurs. James did not score in these three possessions. On the Spurs end, they out-hustled the Cavs to get three straight offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive before hitting the perimeter shot. The Cavs looked ragged just trying to keep up.

On the Comeback

To be honest, I was only casually watching the late third and early fourth quarters. I looked up one minute (I had muted the announcers' Robert Horry love fest) to find the Cavs are only down by 12. Qué? Somehow, the Cavs managed to kick it into overdrive, going on a 25-6 run in the fourth quarter. That's a 29 point deficit erased in roughly 12 minutes, boys and girls. That's fairly encouraging after watching one's team get demolished for 3/4 of the game. The Cavs near comeback was done with San Antonio's starting five on the floor and essentially came down to who wanted it more for a stretch. Cleveland was just out-hustling the Spurs during their run, gaining confidence with each shot. The good news is, Cleveland avoided an embarrassing loss, showing a strong pulse and possibly regaining some of their former swagger. The bad news is, they got San Antonio's attention in a big way. Popovich and Duncan are too professional to let their team forget something like a 25-6 run in the final quarter of a game.

The key to Game 3 will be how each team reacts to the events of that fourth quarter.

Even when they were down by over 20, the Cavs bench could be seen smiling and giving high-fives after a good shot. Eric Snow continued his quasi-assistant coaching duties, taking players aside and revving up the team. Even though the game was all but lost at that point, positive attitudes prevailed, preventing unneeded tension. The Cavs may be inexperienced, but they showed their maturity and determination in Game 2.

On LeBron's Pressure











Michael Wilbon described LeBron's playoff run as an "apprenticeship," given the fact LeBron is still learning things that he would have otherwise picked up playing in big games in college. I would certainly agree with the statement that James has faced a steep learning curve as he leads his Cavaliers deeper into the playoffs this year. It took the first two games of the Detroit series for James to figure out how to approach Detroit's stifling D. Like the Conference Finals, it seems that James has hit a learning curve against the Spurs. And, like the last series, it is unreasonable to place the burden of an entire city on a 23 year old playing in his first NBA Finals (and only second playoff appearance).

Fans and the media are quick to forget just how inexperienced James truly is. While he exudes maturity and leadership and is arguably the most talented player on the floor, there is no substitute for experience, perhaps the most valuable asset of all in this series.

The Cavs have proven they can beat San Antonio (2-0 in the regular season), but San Antonio is as professional as they come and is a proven playoff team. The Spurs will not panic in the face of a late, 25-6 run or implode before a charging LeBron (like Detroit).

It is absolutely ridiculous to place the blame solely on James, as his teammates have absolutely failed to rise to the occasion in this series thus far. One could make the point that James needs to pass more, or be more aggressive, but the bottom line is, the rest of the Cavs have been struggling just as much as James and he can not be expected to deal with the expectations and burden of winning a championship by himself.

Game 5: Eastern Conference Finals

Cleveland at Detroit

109 - 107
2OT

WITNESS

Royals Unimpressed by Fausto

Fausto Carmona proved human after all in Game 43 against the Kansas City Royals. The Royals brought a consistent offensive attack, scoring 3 runs on 9 hits off of Carmona. Despite having to deal with baserunners in nearly every inning, Carmona didn't panic and induced 4 double plays to get out of jams. Carmona pitched fairly well, but the Royals came up with some quality hitting to match. A 6th inning homer by Mike Sweeney off of an elevated pitch over the plate was Carmona's only glaring mistake over 6 innings.

The Indians had plenty of opportunities to score, but left five on base. Odalis Perez brought some good stuff to the park today, holding the Tribe to only 3 runs over 6 innings. Perez utilized an effective changeup and kept the Indians off-balance, striking out six. The Royals' bullpen came up big, giving up one hit over the final three innings to seal a 4-3 win at Kauffman Stadium.

I normally don't give any Dap to the opposing fans, but the Kansas City fans have to be among the most underappreciated in baseball. To be able to root for a team that's been as bad as the Royals for that long and still be as enthusiastic and supportive of your team is the ultimate display of dedication. The crowd at Kauffman always seems so spirited and into the game, even if their team isn't playing well that night (or that month). The fans have reason to be excited though, they have a dangerous, young team on the rise in K.C. The Royals have a dangerous, albeit inexperienced team this year, but give them three more years and they should be turning some heads.

Last Word on The Brick

After taking some time to ponder LeBron's decision to pass for the win, rather than finish his drive for the tie, I keep finding myself in agreement with his decision. "We told LeBron to go ahead and attack and make a play," Coach Brown said to the Plain Dealer. "If you get to the rim, go ahead and finish. If you feel like the defense is collapsing, go ahead and kick it. So it was his read." Marshall was wide open as Rasheed Wallace collapsed to cover a driving LeBron, so he did exactly what Coach Brown wanted.

This is exactly the style of play that LeBron has brought all season. James distributes the ball because he trusts his teammates and they've delivered all season. This is nothing new. I doubt the odds would have been much better to win the game in overtime against the surging Pistons than it would have been for Marshall to hit the open three-pointer. Tony and Wilbon summed it up nicely on PTI today (unfortunately I can't hunt down a video), making essentially the same point above and agreeing with LeBron's decision to pass. They went on to say that you can't fault LeBron for maintaining his style of play during the final possession (as a facilitator), but that you can absolutely fault him for not scoring more points over the course of the entire game.