Thursday, March 16, 2006
Cavs Too Relaxed?
The Cavs might want to consider sending Browns general manager Phil Savage a thank you note. His windfall of free agent signings created the ultimate smokescreen. Think about it: in Cleveland, heads were spinning so much from signing to signing that we almost forgot about the Cavs collapse-in-progress.
Almost.
But this is not exactly the old tree-falling-in-the-forest argument we're talking about here. No, I'm pretty sure that if one of those tall timbers crashed as hard as the Cavs did in three road games, you'd hear it. Even with earplugs.
Let's assess the damage. In Orlando, the Cavs blew a 10 point lead and lost to the Magic by 29. Two days later, in Miami, they allowed the Heat to wipe out a 15 point lead and lost by six. Then, in Dallas, the Cavs watched the Mavericks erase their 19 point halftime lead. In one quarter! Yes, everything is bigger in Texas - including the Cavs problems.
LeBron James called that third quarter (where they were outscored 27-8) a disaster. Coach Mike Brown blamed the collapse on failure in effort and execution. Then, he gave his team the day off. Even President Bush knows when to call of a trip to the Crawford Ranch in tight times.
On Thursday, Brown said days off are too precious to throw away; but he admitted a part of him wanted to haul his players into work to watch film, lift weights, and prove a point: they still have plenty of work to be done.
"We played a lot of games in a short amount of time, which meant we didn't have practice time, we didn't have days off," said Brown, after running his players through two hours of drills. "We've got to take advantage of this stretch of the schedule by being productive on off days, and game days."
The latter, at least in the last three games, has to be concerning. Damon Jones (of all people) took a moment to emphasize the point. He has experienced playoff basketball, at least enough to recognize that the situation in Dallas was the closest to it that these Cavs have come.
"That's how playoff games are going to be. If we want to be good in the playoffs, we have to understand that's how the games are going to be. We're going have to move the basketball, move bodies, and close possessions out by getting rebounds."
Zydrunas Ilgauskas spoke with a sense of urgency, clearly seeing the possibility for this season's stretch run to mirror last year's. "The ball is in our hands, it's for us right now. (The fourth seed) is ours to lose."
But the one player who needs to push his team through it's troubling time gave no indication that he feels the need to. LeBron James shrugged off the suggestion that this last month of basketball is crucial to the Cavs. "It's not as crucial as people (say). You just come out and play a game. It's only basketball, you know? At the end of the day, it's only basketball. We come to win games, and that's it.
Only basketball? Right, just like it's only the playoffs. And just like LeBron is only 21 years old. Maybe we are expecting too much. LeBron, and the Cavs, are still learning how to win. With the playoffs around the corner, they'll need a crash course to avoid another crash landing.
Comments? Please send them my way: Chandler@newsnet5.com
Almost.
But this is not exactly the old tree-falling-in-the-forest argument we're talking about here. No, I'm pretty sure that if one of those tall timbers crashed as hard as the Cavs did in three road games, you'd hear it. Even with earplugs.
Let's assess the damage. In Orlando, the Cavs blew a 10 point lead and lost to the Magic by 29. Two days later, in Miami, they allowed the Heat to wipe out a 15 point lead and lost by six. Then, in Dallas, the Cavs watched the Mavericks erase their 19 point halftime lead. In one quarter! Yes, everything is bigger in Texas - including the Cavs problems.
LeBron James called that third quarter (where they were outscored 27-8) a disaster. Coach Mike Brown blamed the collapse on failure in effort and execution. Then, he gave his team the day off. Even President Bush knows when to call of a trip to the Crawford Ranch in tight times.
On Thursday, Brown said days off are too precious to throw away; but he admitted a part of him wanted to haul his players into work to watch film, lift weights, and prove a point: they still have plenty of work to be done."We played a lot of games in a short amount of time, which meant we didn't have practice time, we didn't have days off," said Brown, after running his players through two hours of drills. "We've got to take advantage of this stretch of the schedule by being productive on off days, and game days."
The latter, at least in the last three games, has to be concerning. Damon Jones (of all people) took a moment to emphasize the point. He has experienced playoff basketball, at least enough to recognize that the situation in Dallas was the closest to it that these Cavs have come.
"That's how playoff games are going to be. If we want to be good in the playoffs, we have to understand that's how the games are going to be. We're going have to move the basketball, move bodies, and close possessions out by getting rebounds."
Zydrunas Ilgauskas spoke with a sense of urgency, clearly seeing the possibility for this season's stretch run to mirror last year's. "The ball is in our hands, it's for us right now. (The fourth seed) is ours to lose."
But the one player who needs to push his team through it's troubling time gave no indication that he feels the need to. LeBron James shrugged off the suggestion that this last month of basketball is crucial to the Cavs. "It's not as crucial as people (say). You just come out and play a game. It's only basketball, you know? At the end of the day, it's only basketball. We come to win games, and that's it.
Only basketball? Right, just like it's only the playoffs. And just like LeBron is only 21 years old. Maybe we are expecting too much. LeBron, and the Cavs, are still learning how to win. With the playoffs around the corner, they'll need a crash course to avoid another crash landing.
Comments? Please send them my way: Chandler@newsnet5.com
Posted at 2:03 PM
<< Home