CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Thoughts following the Cavs 120-88 loss to the Boston Celtics:
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There is no one reason the Cavs are in a 3-2 hole to the Celtics after what probably was the worst performance -- considering the stakes -- in the 40-year history of the franchise.
But there are signs that some of the culprits are deeper and that they are decaying the team that won 61 games and assembled a rock-solid postseason resume after an impressive six-month season.
Let's start with coach Mike Brown, since that is where many of the fans have started. There are several players who are upset with him and how he's handled his rotations during the playoffs, sticking guys in and yanking them out of the lineups.
This came to a bit of a head after Game 4 in Boston, where Shaquille O'Neal was upset that he didn't come back into the game after leaving early in the fourth quarter.
He's also been moving around playing time for Zydrunas Ilgauskas and changing roles of bench players and even starters. During the playoffs, Anthony Parker has played as little as 19 minutes and as many as 42. O'Neal as few as 15 and as many as 28. The players haven't been fully comfortable with those role adjustments,
Ultimately it goes back to the fact that the Cavs didn't have a complete team until the first game of the playoffs. The return of O'Neal forced one odd man out and it destabilized the rotation. The pressure of the playoffs already causes enough back-and-forth and adjustments, but coming into the playoffs blind has taken Brown out of a comfort level and it has carried over to the players.
After nearly a month of it, tempers have flared. There were a number of angry players Sunday in Boston. They were displacing their frustration over the loss on the coach and not on the lacking effort they clearly put forth.
Also, Brown seems to be searching during games without any real plan of what to do. The players can sense this and it undermines him to a certain degree. Very rarely during the playoffs have the Cavs made in-game adjustments that have provided fruit. In between games with practices and film sessions, yes. But not within the game. When the Cavs look like they are going to lose in the first quarter, usually they have lost.
This is either because Brown isn't making proper adjustments or that the team is not executing those commands. Either way, it is a sign of trouble.
Beyond Brown, however, there are other responsibilities.
It lies with the captains and that means LeBron James. While he will be the first to tell you that he's a leader and you can see that his teammates are fully invested in that situation, he has not seemed to act like one during much during this series.
First off, he's undermined his coach by acting lax after losses when Brown has been sounding alarm bells. It is James' personality not to be too worried about anything and it was not expected that he'd be throwing people into lockers and such. But his "we'll get 'em next game" philosophy has clearly backfired.
With the exception of Game 3, despite all the handshakes and nonsense, the Cavs have been knocked on their heels in every game.
It has further become problematic that James has been disengaged during the games. Not only has he fallen into the trap of "letting the game come to him," but he's been increasingly distant. In huddles he's looking at the ceiling or into the distance. It is not the James anyone on the team knows and his teammates and coaches have seen it. More problematic, they can't explain it and that is making the entire locker room uneasy.
On Tuesday it was Zydrunas Ilgauskas and O'Neal that actually were more proactive. They were showing more leadership than James both on the floor and off the floor.
There were two skirmishes on the court. One was with Kendrick Perkins and O'Neal and the other was with Mo Williams and Rajon Rondo. James showed no such fire and then didn't get get involved in the exchanges, staying off to the side.
Whatever James says in the locker room behind the scenes stays there. In the past, it has been quite obvious that James has a huge role in everything that happens. Perhaps that is still the case. But the way his teammates are playing they have either tuned him out or he's not showing the same fire as he regularly did during the season,
All of this is magnified because right now the Celtics have excellent chemisty. They are playing like the team that is tighter and has more confidence and more stars. That is only making the issues more glaring.
And there's very little time to figure this all out.
Cavs' sudden tailspin indicates team chemistry problems: Windhorst Beat Blog | cleveland.com
this could be said for literally damn near every criticism of every player ever in the history of basketball
1 man
