It’s the defense.
No, it’s chemistry.
Wrong, it’s style of play.
Beg to differ, it’s age and athleticism.
Actually, it’s a little — or a lot — of everything.
A whole bunch of things are wrong with the Cavaliers.
The team that most gave a ticket to a fourth straight Finals — and an eighth in a row for LeBron James — has behaved and played more like a Phil Jackson Knicks team than a championship contender. After fashioning a 23-8 start, the Cavs have lost 11 of 15 games. On Saturday, they were annihilated by the Thunder, who scored 148 points.
“I don’t think I’ve ever in my basketball life given up 148 points. Not even playing video games,” James said before being asked what he felt was the team’s No. 1 problem.
“It’s not one. It’s one, two, three, four, five,” he said.
Against Oklahoma City, Kevin Love, the Cavs’ perennial scapegoat, exited after he felt “super dizzy, disoriented,” then skipped practice Sunday. On Monday, the Cavs held a super-secret team meeting that stayed as secret as a presidential tweet. What started as a basic attack on Love evolved into everyone airing gripes.
“That was something we tried to keep in house … but obviously it didn’t stay there,” Love said Tuesday at the Cavs shoot-around in San Antonio. “We just had a meeting, we aired any grievances we had and we’re going to move forward. Hopefully, we’ll be better for it. We have been in the past. … Did I feel like a target? I think everybody, most people, were a target.”
Some feel the meeting may prove therapeutic. Can’t hurt. The Cavs need help. A group of NBA scouts gave their impressions of what’s wrong, and all stressed how bad Cleveland has become defensively. Entering Tuesday, the Cavs ranked 26th in points allowed (109.5) and 28th in shooting defense (.474).
“Defensively, they’re terrible,” said one title-contender team scout. “They have nobody to defend the ball. It starts with on-ball defense and then you have no rim protection. Those two things right there limit what they’re capable of doing.”
There has been a lot of noise about the Cavs trading for defensive help. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan’s name has surfaced.
“DeAndre would help them for the basic rim protection, but it still wouldn’t solve their on-the-ball defense because Isaiah [Thomas] and Derrick Rose have never been really good on the ball,” the scout said, noting the departed Kyrie Irving “wasn’t that good but he was capable. He’s better than what they have.”
In what could be an attempt to add backcourt defense, reports of their interest in trying to acquire George Hill from the Kings have resurfaced.
The Cavs own an enormous trade chip, the Nets’ first-round pick. No one believes Cleveland will trade it because of the uncertainty surrounding James’ future. That leads to another problem: chemistry.
“From the outside looking in, I don’t think they all get along. Half the team thinks LeBron probably has one foot out the door,” one Western scout said.
“There’s a different chemistry than the last two years,” an Eastern scout said. “You’ve got the dynamic of Derrick Rose just not being Derrick Rose — but he’s still Derrick Rose. There’s the fact he had to question whether he still wanted to play. They had none of that drama before. Channing Frye has been diminished to no role by playing [Tristan] Thompson off the bench. Frye had a pretty good year for them last year. He made big shots. They got rid of Richard Jefferson, who’s a good locker-room guy.”
Another scout pointed to style. The Cavs want to run but lack youth and athleticism.
“They really lack athleticism. [Dwyane] Wade , Rose, [Kyle] Korver are older. They have no protection at the rim because they’re playing Thompson off the bench,” the scout said. “A year ago, you’d say they’re just bored waiting for the Finals. It’s an uphill battle this year. They look out of sync.
“They’re trying to play faster but can’t. They’ve got Isaiah pushing the ball but they don’t have enough guys that can run ahead of him. They’ll figure it out but, for now, those guys can’t run ahead anymore. They’re old.”
The Cavs, even with Thomas in and Irving out, remained favored to win the East. They still might. But Boston and Toronto both are serious threats.
“Toronto is really hard to prepare for because they have two different teams. Their starting unit plays a certain way but then their bench comes in and plays fast,” one scout said.
“Each is a different kind of threat. Boston is really good defensively and they’re long. But they’re young,” the East scout said.
“Toronto is more veteran. And they’re good. [DeMar] DeRozan is really good. Kyle Lowry is really good. They have a toughness about them.”
But betting against LeBron, who scored his 30,000th career point in Cleveland’s 114-102 loss to the Spurs Tuesday, is tough even if eventually it will be a smart wager.
“LeBron’s Superman, let’s face it,” the Eastern scout said. “But everybody gets to the point where they can’t continue to carry their team. They would have to win two series on the road.”
But even if they do, does it matter?
“The Cavs can still come out of the East simply because of LeBron,” one veteran scout said. “But the Warriors are like the Yankees back in the day. They add the right piece somehow. … They’ve got four [expletive] All-Stars. C’mon, Golden State is so much better than everybody.”