Barkley's comments ring true
Former star suggests Cavs are too offensive
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
LOS ANGELES - A week and a half ago, basketball analyst/realist Charles Barkley delivered a stinging backhanded compliment to the Cavaliers.
After watching them play a half against the Indiana Pacers, on the TNT halftime show he surmised: ``They have a nice little offensive team.''
By ``nice,'' he meant a team that is probably going to win a lot of games this season. By ``offensive,'' he meant with LeBron James, Larry Hughes and other weapons, the Cavs can score points and are fun to watch.
By calling them ``little,'' though, he was acutely cracking their standing and mentality.
So far, Barkley has been on target.
The Cavs have been offensively good, posting huge numbers and rattling off eight consecutive wins at one point. And they've been little, especially when faced with trying to play consistent team defense on the road.
The latter has been obvious for the past 10 days as the Cavs (10-6) have dropped three consecutive road games looking meek on defense. Especially out on the West Coast, where they've allowed the Seattle SuperSonics and Los Angeles Clippers to shoot 52 percent as they've given up 217 points in the two games.
It has frayed some nerves. The players know they're not living up to the defensive standards set by coach Mike Brown, yet fail to routinely execute them.
``You have to want to stop people,'' Hughes said after the 102-90 loss to the Clippers on Saturday. ``You have to want to figure it out. You have to want to find the angles on the court. You have to want to play defense and not let that guy score.
``If your guy scores, that should make you mad.''
The Cavs' usual answer to that anger has been to try to make up for it on the offensive end. They have the ability to simply outscore opponents. They've done it all year at home and have even done it occasionally on the road. But they're all aware that isn't the way they need to play to maintain success over the course of the season.
``Our defense has to fuel our offense,'' Brown said. ``Our offense cannot fuel our defense. When we believe and understand that we can be a pretty good team, especially on the road, and right now it is not happening.''
Specifically, the Cavs defensive issues can often be tied to not making the extra effort, whether it is bringing help defense, rotating to the weak side, getting around a pick, or even getting a hand up.
They often are caught a step behind or a moment too late. This is an issue to every team at one point or another. The reaction to the problem defines seasons.
The Cavs took Sunday off after playing three games in four nights and traveling more than 3,000 miles, but their defensive fortitude will be tested again Tuesday in Sacramento. The Kings are below .500 but can dominate when their offense is clicking.
``I feel what coach is saying,'' said James, who has averaged 30.2 points in the Cavs' four losses in their past five games.
``We're not getting enough stops. That's not what our motto is. We need to clean some things up.''
Beacon Journal