Cavalier Fans, Are You Ready?
The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic, and I haven’t been able to write between obligations to work, my family, and just overall exhaustion. Luckily, I have a wonderful wife who enjoys watching the Cavs with me. Between that and listening to podcasts while at the gym, I’ve kept up on everything going on with Cleveland’s best chance for a championship, even if I haven’t been able to write about it. Now, as the playoffs are nearly upon us I must steal a question we hear before every home game at Quicken Loans Arena and ask, Cavalier fans, are you ready?
The answer to this question seems easy, of course we’re ready! We’re ready for a return to the playoffs! We’re ready for the excitement of high stakes games! We’re ready to see the Cavaliers bring Cleveland it’s first championship since 1964!
Of course you’re ready for that. We all are. But what about the other stuff? What about the scrutiny, the negative storylines, and the overall panic that can come from a playoff run, particularly in Cleveland?
Whether generated by the national media, local media, or just talk around the office, these are the things the Cavaliers (and their fans) have to be ready to deal with. For the most part, the players will likely block all of this out rather easily. While the pressure of the playoffs will be new to some of them, the intense media scrutiny will not be, not after the Cavaliers have been the “it” team of the NBA this season. The reason it will be for fans such as ourselves to be able to deal with this is far more simple. If we let every negative rumor or story get under our skin, then the playoff run that should be nothing but fun for Cleveland fans will instead become anything but that.
Take the latest “Cavs Drama” for example. On the B.S. Report earlier this week, Brian Windhorst mentioned that LeBron James will sometimes call plays and coach David Blatt will relay the call to the rest of the team. Immediately this was picked up by various blogs, radio and television shows, and even news outlets (we’re looking at you Worldwide Leader!) took this and reported it as big inside news. It was claimed that James was once again ignoring Blatt (there is no doubt that their relationship got off to a rocky start), and that the Cavaliers were in trouble again. Obviously this is a huge story right? Wrong. This is a complete non-story. As James himself said, he has the right to call some plays, and has had the right to do this his entire career. You know who else has this right? Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, and practically every other top level player in the NBA who has the ball in his hands. Windhorst himself has said as much and that this is not a story at all (although he seems to be a bit embarrassed and seems to have backed of a bit on his criticisms of Blatt in recent appearances on ESPN Cleveland).
But things will be quiet after wins in the playoffs right? Wrong again! The Cavs can sweep their way through the first two rounds and into the Eastern Conference Finals, but if Kevin Love doesn’t seem engaged and isn’t really a big part of those wins, then the talk of him leaving in free agency will be as loud as ever. Should we all worry? Only if you think Kevin Love is lying every time (and there have been lots) that he says that he plans on being in Cleveland for the long term. Oh, you also should worry if you believe that Love misses being the man like he was in Minnesota so much that he would rather sign on to be the Alpha Dog of a middling team like the Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers than help a team like the Cavaliers contend for a title, even if it means sacrificing his stats. After all, it doesn’t matter that Love has said the exact opposite and that leaving would at least somewhat pigeonhole him as a liar and good stats/bad team guy, we have to be worried about this.
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Or not. After four years of watching some pretty terrible basketball, and whether or not this team does win a championship, I plan on enjoying as much as possible of this playoff run. Where other people see locker room issues, I see a team that has come together tremendously over the past two and a half months. Where some see the bench as a weakness, I see a rebounding machine, a terrific defensive wing, and a backup point guard who is playing his best basketball of the season right now. Those three are reinforced by a cast of veterans with championship experience who can be relied upon when the going gets tough. Where some see a coach who struggled to gain the trust of his team, I see a man who seems to be gaining more and more respect from his players as the season has gone on, and who has done a tremendous job of integrating new players on the fly. Finally, where other people see stars who may not be best friends (because everyone is best friends with their coworkers right?), I see three of the twenty-five best players in the NBA on one team, OUR Cleveland Cavaliers, and I think they will take this franchise to places it has never been before. And for that, I am ready.
So, Cleveland Cavalier Fans… ARE YOU READY?