Cavaliers In Desperate Need Of Hope

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in desperate need of some hope as the NBA Playoffs come into view.

That statement is a unique one. The #1 seed in the Eastern Conference needs hope.

The team with a 52 – 22 record needs hope.The team with LeBron James playing great basketball needs hope.

The team with LeBron James playing great basketball needs hope.

The team with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith needs hope.

The team with the highest payroll in the league ($108 million) needs hope.

As a unique of a statement as that is, it is very obvious. All of the drama surrounding LeBron has muddied the story of the Cavs season.

All of the continued talk about trading Love, including the assumption that the Cavs deal him next season, has created uneasiness.

That stories continue to come out about how the Big 3 struggle to find a way to play together on offense, has caused every play to be hyper-analyzed.

There are two major problems causing the need for hope: Lack of Leadership and the Golden State Warriors.

First, while LeBron is supposed to be the leader he has used social media like a petulant child. All of the “Drama King’s” way of doing things has been well documented. Random, vague Da Vinci Code statements about no one and everyone at the same time. Unfollowing the Cavs Twitter account, talking about going dark on social media then tweeting about adding another social media account. Saying he wants to team up with his friends and would be willing to take a pay cut to do so.

LeBron as a leader leaves a lot to be desired.

Also in the leadership area is Tyronn Lue. Brought in because the players reportedly respected him, Lue has seemed to struggle in his move to the big chair. Games get away from the team without timeouts, Irving and James hijack the offense and rotations are far from clear this late in the season.

Lue as the coach and leader of the team has been underwhelming based on expectations from GM David Griffin when he fired David Blatt.

No stabilizing veterans see much playing time. LeBron and J.R. are the two veterans that get plenty of minutes. The rest of the main minutes go to younger players with Mo Williams, James Jones and Richard Jefferson getting inconsistent minutes. Listening to guys sitting the bench isn’t as powerful as listening to guys who are in battle with you on a regular basis.

The Cavs need Williams, Jones or Jefferson to have a more consistent role on the court.

(Rumors that Mo wasn’t really hurt, just upset with his playing time, do not sit well with anyone.)

If it wasn’t for the Warriors, the leadership issue probably wouldn’t be noticed, or at least not as a big of a factor. In all concieveable ways, the Warriors are THE problem for the Cavs.

That Golden State is about to break the record for most wins with Stephen Curry considered by almost everyone the best player in the game, looms over everything the Cavs do. In any other season, the Cavs (and their fans) would be excited about the team’s chances for an NBA Title. While they are not playing at the level they can on a consistent basis, they are still very good. They have shooting. They have some size. They have creators. They have youth and veterans. They have depth.

Any other year the players, organization and fans would be full of excitement on the ramp up to the NBA Playoffs.

This year, the Warriors (and a little bit the San Antonio Spurs) have made the players, the organization and the fans feel like nothing short of perfection will be good enough. Even with the Cavs playing “perfectly,” many don’t believe it will be enough to knock off the Warriors.

So how can the Cavs get the hope they need?

Within their control, the Cavs can destroy their opponents to end the season. The Cavs have games against current Playoff teams in the Atlanta Hawks (2), Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. Winning those games in dominating fashion would be huge toward giving the team hope. Outside of their control, only the Warriors struggling or sustaining a major injury would give the Cavs the boost of hope that they need. The Warriors push for history will likely lead them to playing hard to end their season.

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Should the Warriors struggle, or outright lose, their two games to the Spurs, the Cavs’ hope could quickly rise. While the Spurs are a very good team, the Cavs matchup better with their style of play.

While a series with the Spurs would still be tough, the hope of Cleveland would be much, much higher.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 2 games up on the Toronto Raptors for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference, 30 games over .500, have LeBron James and a Big 3 and have depth. Yet with all that, the Cavs still are in desperate need of hope.

What level of hope do you have for the Cavs?