Re: Game #25 (Cleveland Cavaliers @ Miami Heat) WEDNESDAY December 15th, 2010; 7:30 P
No blame amid Cavs' shame after Heat game
December 11, 2010|Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel Columnist
It would be simplistic to point to that grisly night just over a week ago, when LeBron James returned with the Miami Heat and humiliated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 118-90 nationally televised disgrace, as to when it all went south.
It, of course, fell apart well before then, well before the Cavaliers strung together five consecutive double-digit losses for the first time since 2002, well before Cleveland last week found a way to become the first team in a decade to lose three in a row to teams with sub-.300 winning percentages.
It fell apart in July, when LeBron left.
And now, everyone is just piling on.
"For the last five or six years, you've been pounding people," Antawn Jamison said of Cavaliers teammates whose tenures surpass his one year with the team, "and a lot of organizations look at this as an opportunity to do the same to us. We have to understand that."
It is a difficult life lesson, one the Heat endured by going from champion to punchline when the 2006 title was followed by 15-67 in 2007-08.
"A lot of guys in that locker room who've been here the last five or six years haven't gone through anything like this," coach Byron Scott said. "So they're not used to this. It's how we deal with it.
"You're going to find out what guys are really made of."
Actually, you will find out none of that. The players aren't good enough, not in a star-driven league where the New York Knicks had to turn to Amare Stoudemire for salvation, where the Chicago Bulls recognized the need for Carlos Boozer to keep pace in the East. You can't take a roster of complementary pieces, a roster built around a unique talent, and expect any type of enduring success. Don't for a second kid yourself about where the Orlando Magic would be without Dwight Howard.
You also can't drop it at the feet of owner Dan Gilbert, as many have during these tough times.
The notion that Gilbert should have had a Plan B is preposterous. This wasn't like Toronto, where Chris Bosh continually dropped hints last season that he might be moving on.
Gilbert had no choice but to build around LeBron. This wasn't about kowtowing to James' inner circle. If you haven't noticed, free agents generally don't line up to play in Cleveland in the dead of winter. In that respect, Cleveland is Sacramento, Minnesota, Memphis, a desolate outpost in the NBA recruiting game.
Over the past decade, the Cavaliers' biggest free-agent signing also stood as one of the most lamentable, the addition of Larry Hughes. And that was after Cleveland struck out with Michael Redd and Ray Allen. Otherwise, all by trades and one highly fortuitous 2003 draft lottery.
Just as the Heat are finding out now with the likes of James Jones and Carlos Arroyo, complementary talent tends to complement a lot better when there is actual talent. For J.J. Hickson, Anderson Varejao and Boobie Gibson, that no longer is the case in Cleveland.
Wednesday, Round II of LeBron vs. Cleveland will play out at AmericanAirlines Arena. Scott no doubt will attempt to push a few buttons before that one.
But all the lineup reshuffling, all the appeals to pride don't change the reality that these are Ted Stepien's Cavaliers all over again. This is not a team to be mocked, but rather one that is an Iguodala, Bargnani or Gerald Wallace away from merely being mediocre.
Link:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...-col-s121210_1_lebron-james-larry-hughes-cavs
@American Airlines Arena
