Oct
23
Cavs Continue to Set Ugly Precedent after Brutal Appearance in 2007 NBA Finals
After witnessing Lebron James dominate the Detroit Pistons in the best performance of his young career during Game Five of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals and then being carried to the Eastern Conference crown by the hot shooting of rookie guard Daniel Gibson two nights later, the Cleveland Cavaliers were a flop against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals.
The Cavs were pretenders rather than contenders during San Antonio’s ugly four-game sweep. Beginning and ending with James, Cleveland was passive and in over its head.
Just as when it looked like James had established himself as a dominant closer in the pivotal Game Five against Detroit, Lebron took a major step back during the Finals. It only took James 15 quarters in that series to start attacking the rim. By the time he did, it was way too late.
Even though the Cavs proved to be one of the worst teams to have ever reached the Finals, things would seem to be on the upswing entering this season, right? For heavens sake, James is entering his fifth year and is still only 22 years old. And he’s already taken the Cavs to the Finals while still being a long way from reaching his prime!
Cleveland fans are going to need to develop such idealistic views this season as the Cavs took another dramatic step back in the offseason. Regardless of what you think of the games of starting guard Sasha Pavlovic and backup forward Anderson Varejao, Cleveland failed to resign these two players.
What’s the big deal? Well the Cavs haven’t replaced these guys with anyone (please don’t consider Devin Brown and Cedric Simmons replacements).
Pavlovic was one of the few Cleveland players to be aggressive in the Finals. And while he clanked a lot of shots, at least Pavlovic kept firing when James was passing up shots. Pavlovic obviously has a lot of flaws, but at 6’7’’, he’s a unique player who can create his own match-up problems with James on the court.
As for Varejao, he’s a stiff with little skills. However, he’s one of the few guys on Cleveland who plays with energy. In fact, Cleveland is coached by a guy in Mike Brown who does nothing but keep in his hands in his pockets on the sideline, further creating this blasé attitude on the team.
Basically, Cleveland General Manager Danny Ferry and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert are setting a dangerous precedent here in not resigning Pavlovic and Varejao (or at least one of them). James is apparently getting angry with the Cavs’ failure to build off a team that was lucky to make the Finals due to a weak Eastern Conference which has steadily improved.
Could James eventually become as frustrated as Kevin Garnett became in Minnesota and opt out of his contract in 2010-2011? If Cleveland doesn’t surround James with the right talent around him, it will waste the greatest player to have landed in its lap.
James has already admitted that the team is worse than last year without Pavlovic and Varejao.
In simple terms, Cleveland is in trouble. Besides James, the Cavs have little to be excited about. Drew Gooden and Gibson are solid role players, but besides those two guys, Cleveland is old and full of question marks.
How long do the Cavs think that Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow can be valuable contributors? Snow needs to retire and go into coaching, Ilgauskas has lost the little mobility that he ever had, and Marshall looked like he lost his shooting eye in the Finals.
Who is this team’s second scorer behind James? It’s unrealistic to think that Gibson can fill those shoes at this point in his career and clear that Larry Hughes won’t.
And will James ever develop the competitive greatness, at least in Cleveland, to go with his skills? For as much of a physical specimen and talent as James is, he still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of taking over games and playing as if he’s being challenged every time on the court.
James is obviously more talented than 99.9% of the players in the league and he knows it. Michael Jordan knew this when he played but was such a competitor that he personally challenged himself each time on the court. Lebron doesn’t have this competitive greatness to begin with; thus making this idea of surrounding him with no talent especially disconcerting.
Overall Synopsis:
After taking advantage of a weak Eastern Conference and apathetic Pistons team to reach the Finals last year, this is a Cleveland team that could fall anywhere from a four to a seven seed this season. But does anyone care?
From Brown to James, the Cavs looked indifferent in the Finals. This indifference has already carried over into this season, beginning with Ferry and Gilbert, who has reportedly been looking to cut back in the wake of the mortgage crisis in the United States (for reference, Gilbert is the President of Quicken Loans).
And now questions about James’ future in Cleveland are already beginning to prop up! Not a good sign.
Just when Cleveland fans should be turning to its basketball team to get over the disappointing collapse of the Indians in the American League Championship Series, the Cavs are already looking like a disappointment. At least, the Cavs aren’t going to create any false hope in 2007-2008!
However, if the Cavs continue to give a reason for James to look to greener pastures, as the organization is currently doing, Cleveland fans will wholeheartedly disagree with the idea of this season as being one without heartbreak. The 2007-2008 season could be the founding point for Lebron’s grievances with the organization and ultimately lay the groundwork for his future departure from Cleveland.
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
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After witnessing Lebron James dominate the Detroit Pistons in the best performance of his young career during Game Five of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals and then being carried to the Eastern Conference crown by the hot shooting of rookie guard Daniel Gibson two nights later, the Cleveland Cavaliers were a flop against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals.
