I think it can be agreed that the Cavs are one of the underachievers of the League so far this season. Okay, you can argue that they overachieved in getting to the Finals last year, but regardless of that they are still underachieving this year. They should be playing better. Interestingly, until this season, they used to play well without LeBron, but this year they went 0-5 when he was out. That is unacceptable by any standards and they need to improve. Here are my thoughts on how: <ul>[*]Get back to basics. The Cavs are at their best when playing simple basketball, running picks, setting screens and passing the ball around until they get an open shot. If they do that, Ilgauskas and Gooden are likely to get between 25 and 30 points between them purely due to slow rotation after big men move to double team LeBron as he drives. In addition, it will create open shots for those on the perimeter. Granted, they perimeter players are not hitting their shots at the moment, but that's a whole other problem.[*]Play defense. Last season, it was their best attribute. This season, it's seemingly non-existant. They need to lock down defensively, forcing the opponents to break them down in a slow half-court game. If they can do so, they should be able to turn their season around.[*]Reinstate Hughes to the lineup. Overpaid or not, he is better than Pavlovic in terms of skill. Personally, I am a fan of Hughes' game. Yes, he does suffer from injuries, but when he plays well he can be the pivotal player on the court. He can be a fantastic complement to LeBron's game when he plays well, as he can be a lock-down defender as well as a decent perimeter/mid-range shooter. He needs to rebuild his confidence like the rest, but in a few games time he could be the difference between wins and losses. He showed glimses of his ability when he scored 36 points against the Pacers.[*]Rebound hard again. The Cavs were arguable the best rebounding team in the League last year, but this year average just 42.6 boards. Granted, it's a decent average, but it is significantly lower than last year. If they can get it back up to the 45-47 range from last year, they could once again become formidable.[*]Rest Pavlovic. Anyone with eyes can see that he is too tired for basketball. His legs are not in his jumpshot and his defense has been questionable to say the least. If given a break of 10 days or so, whilst practicing his jumpshot, he might become the influence we saw last season.[*]Rest Varejao. "Rest" might not be the best word for this. What I really want them to do is rebuild his fitness. He might not have gained much weight over his long summer, but he lost his sharpness and some of his tenacity, as well as his stamina. He needs to leap higher for rebounds, be more energetic and keep it up for longer to get back to the level of play he was at last year. If he wants to justify his salary, he will have to play a LOT better than he has been (check the sig). This could possibly take longer (perhaps up to 3 weeks). But 3 weeks without Varejao, then 3 months of great Varejao is better than around 4 months of crap Varejao.[/list] So, for the next few games, I propose this depth chart: C Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Dwayne Jones PF Drew Gooden/Ira Newble/Dwayne Jones SF LeBron James/Devin Brown SG Larry Hughes/Shannon Brown PG Daniel Gibson/Eric Snow/Damon Jones It might not be the best possible lineup of players, but it would build up to Varejao and Pavlovic being able to play at their best, hopefully leading to this depth chart: C Ilgauskas/Dw Jones/Varejao PF Gooden/Varejao SF James/D Brown SG Hughes/Pavlovic/S Brown PG Gibson/Snow/Da Jones Comments and further discussion appreciated
Have Shannon Brown get more minutes. And get Varajeo and Gooden back in their grooves. Right now, one's unconditioned, and the other is just playing poorly. Lebron might have to start carrying this team until they get back on their feet. Because as is, mostly everything this team did great last year is non-existent this year. It's a little strange to see. I'd also say that you're in need of either a new assistant coach, or Mike Brown needs to allow someone else to take hold of the offense while he controls the defense (Similar to Boston).
Part of the reason is that these are the first few games where the whole team is together. You need some time to develop court chemistry to play defense. Cavs will fine IMO.
