The Cleveland Cavaliers have had an active couple of days since being blown out by the Detroit Pistons. The Cavs rumors have been hot and heavy and they all revolved around the most important parts of the team.
First their were some echoes of rumblings about Kevin Love after he took one for the team and sat out the 4th quarter in the Cavs win against the Orlando Magic. There is a murmur of unsubstantiated unrest from the Love camp. Love for his part has done his best to put those to rest.
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Then came word that David Blatt was not getting the attention of his players and that they wanted Tyronn Lue to coach the team instead. Lue, a former player and a assistant coach in the league for a few years, was said to have the ear of the players in a way Blatt could not. (Funny/Interesting that Lue has a big hand in the Cavs defense which has been terrible but is thought to really have the ear of the players.)
The Blatt drama got worse and included star player LeBron James not respecting Blatt. It went farther downhill as James gave what many believed was a lukewarm response when asked about listening to his head coach. Kyrie Irving on the other hand came out in strong defense of the 1st year NBA coach yet James’ response holds a much greater weight.
So here we are, at a time when we hoped the Cavs rumors we would be dealing with would be related to a rim protector, a shooting guard or a wing defender and we are talking about leadership. We are talking about a head coach “losing his team.” We are talking about a star player “hijacking” the offense. We are talking about Mark Jackson and others has possible replacements as the head coach a team that is configured to make a championship run.
So what do we make of all of this? How do we deal with Cavs rumors that seem to pop up out of no where, with little substance behind them and yet have tons of legs? Here are some thoughts:
- Ignore them
- Media created drama is driven by clicks, listening to the radio, watching television and commenting on stories or via social media. After reading them, ignoring them can be helpful.
- Totally get that by writing this article I am ignoring the first thought. After seeing, watching and listening to all of this I felt like addressing them was necessary. One of my many goals is to give a local perspective on the national coverage of our teams.
- Use perspective
- Similar stories were coming out about Erik Spoelstra losing his locker room, Chris Bosh not liking his role on the team and Dwayne Wade and LeBron James not being able to co-exist on the floor, when the Heat were early in their first season.
- There were also stories about how flawed the team was and how they were missing key ingredients to make a serious run. There was some talk that James could be dealt for Dwight Howard or Bosh could be moved for someone in the post as well. None of those things happened and the Heat turned out just fine.
- Continue Cleveland’s Negative Narrative Traditions
- Cleveland has had a rough sports history, we just “celebrated” 50 years since the last Title any team one. That, along with the national and local media, has created a negative narrative that fuels many fans. Anytime anything goes a little wrong Chicken Littles come out. Yet a win is often blown off as if not important. That negative narrative seems to fuel fans in Cleveland, we seem to embrace it because it is all we have known. Most are not aware that they are doing it, which makes it tougher. Some will be offended just by me writing this.
- Side note: All the Cleveland sites I write for do much better when the teams are playing bad or something is going wrong during the season. The only thing that rivals that is the off-season. When the Browns, Cavs, Indians or Buckeyes are winning traffic on our sites goes down significantly. I’d still rather cover a winner.
- Analyze everything
- This is a tough balance of things to do. Analyzing things can often look like you are either turning a blind eye or continuing the negative narrative. Instead analyze what is happening and try to come to some conclusions on your own. Here are some of mine:
- LeBron James has far too much power on the Cavaliers. The Heat were successful for a variety of reasons but the top one, after talented players, is that Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra were in charge of the team and the players were going to fall in line. One reason I supported Dan Gilbert after James left is that he said he wouldn’t let a player dominate the organization again. Yet James seems to have that power once more. He doesn’t run the offense that has been Blatt’s specialty for years, stays back on defense a ton and pouts more often then the best player in the world should.
- However James, Irving, Love and Blatt are the 4 most important people involved in games on the court and are all going through major transitions. Based on everything we know of them, they are all smart, high basketball IQ guys and will get it figured out. Smart people tend to do smart things, it just may take some time.
- Change is difficult. I give all my counseling clients homework in their first session: Switch which leg you put in your pants/shorts first when getting dressed for two weeks and report back to me. Most either forget, get frustrated or refuse to do it. Some get angry with me. Change is hard, even when it isn’t an important thing in your life. Now multiply that by being on a national stage with a ton of pressure. The Cavs, especially the Power Four, are going through some tough changes.
- I think the players want to win and trust their talent over the system, especially on offense. I don’t think that is a long term way to build a team. Coaches should coach to players’ strengths while still using a system that can be replicated over time. On defense the Cavs actually seem to have little confidence in their skills so decline to provide effort in a “Why try, it won’t help” kind of way. This is where a trade might help above and beyond bringing in new talent.
- The team will be much better next year after using Brendan Haywood‘s contract, their draft and the Memphis draft pick to bring in some players.
- It would be nice if the Cavs brought in a player or two now to help improve the team but if they don’t win the title this year, or even get to the NBA Finals, it doesn’t mean the season was a bad one.
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Those are some options to deal with the Cavs rumors that are floating around. Doesn’t mean one is better than the others or you can’t combine a combination of them all. At this point it would be shocking if players go from describing David Blatt as borderline genius in the pre-season, LeBron James and Mike Miller, and now don’t believe in him or want him fired.
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It is also important to realize that everyone has people. Players, agents, coaches, media, front office people, trainers, etc. All of them talk to their people who talk to other people’s people. The childhood “telephone game” can get out of control very quickly with whispers from sources. Each entity has an agenda. The media wants to get a story, the agents, players, etc want to push their side of things and fans are waiting for any drama they can get. That is why soap opera’s (thanks to my wife I just learned why these are named that) and things like WWE make millions of dollars a year.
So as we go into the New Year this is what we will say about the Cavs rumors: Coaches and players are frustrated with losing. The Power Four, and the rest of the team, are making big adjustments that are difficult. They are a talented bunch that is likely to figure it out. And finally media has grabbed on to stories and they have gone from whispers to yelling quicker than they ever should have.
What do you think of all the Cavs rumors?
- This is a tough balance of things to do. Analyzing things can often look like you are either turning a blind eye or continuing the negative narrative. Instead analyze what is happening and try to come to some conclusions on your own. Here are some of mine:
- Cleveland has had a rough sports history, we just “celebrated” 50 years since the last Title any team one. That, along with the national and local media, has created a negative narrative that fuels many fans. Anytime anything goes a little wrong Chicken Littles come out. Yet a win is often blown off as if not important. That negative narrative seems to fuel fans in Cleveland, we seem to embrace it because it is all we have known. Most are not aware that they are doing it, which makes it tougher. Some will be offended just by me writing this.
- Media created drama is driven by clicks, listening to the radio, watching television and commenting on stories or via social media. After reading them, ignoring them can be helpful.