The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a power house in the NBA for years, but things are shifting this year, and people don’t realize it.
Teams are figuring out how to beat the Cavs, and it’s finally kicking in. Yes, the season has just begun, but that doesn’t matter when teams are consistently out playing them night after night.
The Cavs are having problems everywhere on the court. The point guard position is up in the air, and the impact of the loss of Kyrie Irving is looking clearer than before. Derrick Rose can’t seem to stay healthy, and with IT out until January (hopefully), LeBron’s been forced to play the 1. With Eric Bledsoe still on the trading block, the Cavs might want to consider giving up something for the vet.
Line-up changes have been the main theme the last couple weeks for Cleveland. They’ve added Jr Smith back into the starting five, and it hasn’t seemed to make a difference. Although, Smith has improved since being put into the starting five, Dwyane Wade has been experiencing a lot of issues trying to fit in the system. Averaging a season low of 7.7 points per game, followed by a low PER of 9.45, Wade is doing more damage being on the court.
Kevin Love has been struggling offensively, and he’s shot an unhealthy 39% from the field and 35% from three. Struggling to find his shot and being undersized, teams have been exposing Love. Despite his numbers (18.4 PTS, 11.8 REB), Love hasn’t been playing up to his full potential this year, and it’s translating on the court. He’s playing out of position, and the small ball line-up the Cavs are preaching this season just isn’t working. Tristan Thompson is the closest thing to a complete big that Cleveland has, yet he’s coming off the bench.
Most of the league knows that Cleveland is struggling, and Coach Lue even had a ‘air it out’ meeting last week. Wade had a few remarks regarding the Cavs struggles:
“Ain’t nobody afraid. Teams come in here to whip our butt and they’re whipping our butt. One thing I did notice at Miami, teams were afraid of us a little bit. Ain’t nobody afraid. Maybe at some point it will get there, but not right now. Everyone’s playing free, it’s early in the year, and everything’s going right for everybody but us. And we’ve got to figure it out.” (Bleacher Report)
LeBron can only do so much, and even though he scored 57 against Washington, they fell right back to old habits losing against the Hawks 117-115.
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