Cavaliers Will Go Where LeBron Takes Them

You could describe the Cavs this year as “Jekyll and Hyde” and I wouldn’t argue with you. They went to Milwaukee and absolutely throttled a Bucks team that will likely make the playoffs. Then, they played atrocious in Memphis and Houston, losing both while looking like a completely different team. Friday night back at The Q, they continued their terrible play in the first half against Portland, then something happened. I couldn’t tell you exactly what happened, but it resulted in better defense and a second half that the Trail Blazers couldn’t deal with.

The Cavs most recently went to Oklahoma City to play a dangerous Thunder team and budding superstar Kevin Durant. They got another win that came about with solid offensive play all game and a phenomenal second half defensive effort to close out the game in style. The question is, why can’t they always play like that?

A lot of people say Shaq is the problem. Many people say it’s Mike Brown. Both might be right, to a certain extent, but I say the real problem is LeBron James. Don’t break out the knives just yet, let me explain. And let me also say that I think LeBron is the best player in the game and I don’t want him to leave Cleveland… EVER. But there are serious problems with this team and I have no choice but to look at their leader. Everyone agrees that the Cavs’ unquestioned leader is LeBron, right? OK then.

I think LeBron has a head problem right now. I think he was run down and tired in the Easter Conference Finals last year and has it in his head that he needs to save a little something for the playoffs. I think he’s messing around with physically and mentally turning it on whenever he wants to. As he’s trying to locate that switch, and determine when and where to flip it, the team is suffering a bit. When LeBron plays defense, the rest of the team plays defense. When LeBron gets dribble penetration to set up his teammates, Mo and Delonte do the same. Conversely, when LeBron is lazy around screens and slow to react on defense, the whole team follows suit. And when LeBron would rather dribble at the top of the key, then launch the LeBron 20 Foot Special over and over, his teammates are happy to oblige.

Who on the team will question him? They follow his lead, without question and without protest. The Cavs are convinced that LeBron will lead them to the promised land. And he will, of course, if they all play the right way. And therein lies the rub.

Take the two losses in Memphis and Houston. LeBron played little defense in either game. He was slow around screens and late to react to what his opponent was doing. He was quite simply not there mentally. Watching those two games, you have to agree that the rest of the Cavs had similar problems. Mo kept running under screens and J.J. was just all over the place in the worst possible way. Everyone was falling for pump fakes and reaching in. It became systematic. And on the other end, the Cavs were slow to get into their offense and inexplicably lazy with their passes. It seemed in those two games like the concept of a defender sticking his hand in the passing lane was totally foreign to them.

By halftime of the Portland game, however, every Cavs player was chest up on their man, including the ballhandler. They were anticipating passes and going after them. They were contesting shots smartly and they won the rebound battle in both the Portland game and last night in Oklahoma. On the offensive side, they stayed active, rarely allowing LeBron to dribble the air out of the ball, and they cut way back on turnovers. What changed?

All this is, of course, speculation. But I contend that the difference is simply desire, and more specifically, LeBron’s desire. You can talk strategy and matchups all you want, but sometimes is just about one team’s will versus another’s. This is especially true on defense. You really can’t half-ass defense in the NBA. You have to WANT to defend. When LeBron gets in that mode, the entire Cavs team follows and the defensive intensity translates into confidence and offensive success. It might be that simple.

There’s a lot of focus on the blogs, including the excellent Waiting for Next Year and Stepien Rules, that the Cavs need to step it up or risk losing out on home court advantage in the playoffs. I have to ask, did home court advantage help the Cavs last year? I think I’m over that whole mode of thinking. I don’t care what the Cavs’ regular season record ends up as. They need to get to the playoffs healthy, and peaking. Last year I might argue that the Cavs peaked too soon. They looked dominant in the spring and compiled the best record in the league. In hindsight, there was speculation that their record was bloated with wins over inferior competition and that they weren’t good against “elite” teams. And that was probably true. Then the Cavs swept their first two series before running into a buzz saw called the Orlando Magic. What good was that 66-16 record? Maybe they should have been focused on just playing good basketball and letting the record work itself out.

That’s where I’m at now. The Cavs need to figure out how to play that intense brand of defense that saw them close out the Thunder last night while only allowing 13 fourth quarter points. They need to figure out how to keep the offense moving, so as to utilize all the weapons they have, rather than just using their best weapon over and over. If they play the rest of the season and the playoffs like they’ve played the last six quarters of basketball, they might be spraying champagne on each other come June. I believe it all starts with the MVP. If LeBron goes there, the team will go with him.

And all the rest is just noise.

Kevin Hignett hawks insurance during the day. He spends the rest of his time being a dad and dreaming of a mid-June parade in downtown Cleveland. You can follow him on Twitter: @KevinHignett