Season Previews Cleveland Cavaliers

[KG-MVP21]

It's very hard not to like LeBron James. He's personable, down to Earth, and he's even a pretty good basketball player, I'm told. Unfortunately for him, he's still stuck in Cleveland.

Now, I'm definitely not bashing the city of Cleveland, nor am I one of the many conspiracy theorists who insist he's always looking for a way out of Ohio. I'm upset for him because he's stuck playing for one of the worst managements in the NBA.

LeBron is a player of so many talents, and yet this squad has once again spent another summer fine-tuning a roster that doesn't maximize his talents. For this team to win on a nightly basis, it requires far too much of James and far too little of his teammates. He's asked to be the team's primary playmaker as well as their primary scorer. He has to log 43 minutes per game just to make sure his guys have a shot at winning, and then his reward is doing twice as much once the playoffs start.

This summer, the team once again found itself unable to come up with a player who could handle the ball and relieve LeBron of his playmaking duties, and will once again go into the season with Eric Snow and Damon Jones splitting time at the point.

They did nothing to acquire some shooters to pair alongside LeBron aside from drafting Michigan State guard Shannon Brown, who will have to learn to get his shots up quickly when he's on the court because he's going to have to find minutes behind Snow, Jones, Larry Hughes and LeBron himself.

The problem is this team is not short on individual talent but rather lacking in cohesive talent. On their own, or on other teams, all of their rotation could serve as integral cogs to someone's team strategy. In Cleveland, however, they appear to be much more of a mish-mash who waits for LeBron to do his thing and will try and clean up the leftovers when he's done.

A lot of this falls on the shoulders of head coach Mike Brown, too, who couldn't coax offense out of the Phoenix Suns if he had the chance. His 'offensive strategy' of 'give the ball to LeBron' should come with half his salary going to King James for having to do all of the offensive coaching duties himself, in the moment, on the court. The burden that he's placing on James every game is unbelievable, and it's only due to LeBron's inhuman talent that it doesn't blow up in his face.

But soon the Cavaliers will learn what so many teams of late have learned: Without a team surrounding the star, the star will only shine so bright. Sure, they got the second round of the playoffs and threatened to knock out the Pistons when they got there. But they didn't upset the Pistons, and they lost in the second round, and that is the kind of fate they should get used to. Ask Kevin Garnett or Tracy McGrady how it feels to be a team's only weapon in the playoffs. Or maybe check in with Allen Iverson or Jermaine O'Neal. Hey, even ask Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing, if you like. When any team decides its offense is going to consist of 'give the ball to our main guy and let him work', they are destined to fall to teams who involve all five guys in the offense. After all, even Dwyane Wade needed his teammates to show up before his outrageous output translated into wins last spring.

Until this team can wrap its game plan around LeBron instead of mounting him on top of it, they're going to continue to falter when it matters most. Oh, and canning Mike Brown in the process gets the thumbs-up from me, too.

PROBABLY STARTING LINEUP

PG - Eric Snow

He's as steady and consistent as they come, but his age is starting to catch up with his defense, and one day soon he'll find that his will and tenacity just aren't enough to keep him on the court anymore. Until that day happens, there will always be a place for Eric Snow on someone's roster, but once that day arrives, his lack of an all-around game will have him retirement bound as fast as you can say Chris Childs.

SG - Larry Hughes

Still a great player on the wrong team. There are so many places where he could maximize his off-the-ball defense and ball-handling skills, but Cleveland just isn't one of them. He needs a system in place to help him find his points on offense, and without a stronger presence in the post, his defensive gambles are as good as two-points for the other team. Here is one case where a trade would benefit both sides of the equation.

SF - LeBron James

What more is there to say about James that hasn't already been said a million times?
Well, when he was growing up his mother got fed up with him because he wore a Batman costume year after year for Halloween. How's that?

PF - Drew Gooden

I was glad to see him re-sign in Cleveland. It might just be a case of not getting to watch all 82 Cavs games each year, but I've never understood the lack of respect Gooden gets. I'm not saying his contract was underpaying him, I think he's getting perhaps even a little more than he deserves, but he's a quality starter who doesn't need plays run for him to be effective offensively. He's also a rugged rebounder who probably suits the role best of a complimentary player to LeBron, at least as much as anyone on this roster. But then again maybe I just don't watch enough Cavs games to truly understand.

C - Zydrunas Ilgauskas

A solid centre, Ilgauskas just doesn't do it for me on this team. He needs too much ball and too much time to be effective offensively, and if he isn't involved in the offense, you lose him on defense and on the glass. His sweet mid-range game would work in so many cities, but this team needs a banger down low to allow the midrange to be manned by LeBron and Hughes, since neither is a player who should be drifting out beyond the arc.