Ball Played: Offense and Jose Ramirez double down as Indians split with White Sox
May 24, 2016Sane Cavs talk with Brian Spaeth – WFNY Podcast No. 502
May 24, 2016I can’t blame fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers for hovering their hands over the panic button. I don’t blame you if your faith in this team took a massive hit. It’s easy to have a short memory for the dominant run, especially with memories of the pre-Decision LeBron James Cavs teams failing to cash in on their playoff runs. So where do we go from here and try to feel good about the Cavaliers’ chances?
First things first: These Cavaliers have been in worse positions. Just last year in the second round the Cavaliers trailed the Chicago Bulls 2-1 in their series. The Cavaliers won the final three games of including two in the Bulls’ arena—one on this shot. Of course, that’s where the new era Cavaliers examples end, because Kyrie Irving was hurt in the first game of the NBA Finals while Kevin Love had long since been out, and the Cavs ended up being the shell of themselves that we all remember with a dehydrated Delly dragging his flesh onto the court.
So where to next for examples? Hang on, it’s not going to be fun.
LeBron James has been in worse situations before.
I know no one wants to hear about the Miami Heat, but it’s important because it is a part of LeBron James’ past as a player. He’s been in situations that we might not remember that well because they didn’t happen to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but LeBron James has been in worse positions. When the Heat won their first championship they trailed the Pacers 2-1 in the second round. They trailed the Celtics 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. They lost the first game of the Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder before rattling off four straight to win a title. When the Heat won their second championship they were down to the Spurs 2-1 and 3-2 before winning the series. I need a shower after that, but the point remains: LeBron James has been in worse situations before.
The Cavaliers can and should still win this series.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have the players with the talent. They didn’t show it in Toronto, but the Cavaliers are the same team that plastered the Raptors in the first two games of this series. The awful version of the Raptors might not return, but the Cavaliers don’t need that much help to get over the top if they play to their abilities. They played a horrendous Game 4 and still almost found a way to solve the riddle before the end. Sure, it was frustrating to see the Cavs scratch their way back and fall short, but the only hopeful conclusion you can make is that the Cavaliers made an adjustment; that they can make the adjustment.
It’s too bad that the adjustment included putting Kevin Love on the bench, but that’s the way these things go. I am not going to trash Love, but if I’m the coach I have to take a big stand for the players in my locker room to play the guys who are playing best. If that happens to be Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and even an undersized Iman Shumpert, I’m doing it. Kevin Love can play defense and he can rebound, but it’s always going to be the secondary part of his game. If the primary part of his game is failing him, and the secondary part is too, then he just has to sit for periods. You’re going to keep trying to go to him to see if he has it on a certain night, but these are the playoffs and unless it’s LeBron James or Kyrie Irving, the trigger has to be quick. In a game in which the Cavaliers fall short by six, they can’t afford one of their key guys to go 4-14, especially when Bismack Biyombo is rebounding like Dennis Rodman.
All is not lost.
Beyond the specifics, I want Cavs fans to know in their hearts and heads that all is not lost. The Cleveland Cavaliers are tied up and still retain home court advantage. They still have the most talented group of players left in the East, despite how well Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are playing right now. Of course, nothing is guaranteed. We’ve all known from the very beginning of the season — especially in the wake of the Golden State Warriors plastering of the Cavaliers during the regular season — that nothing was guaranteed and that it would be a hard road to the title. Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves tied, not even in a hole, it’s not time to lose all the faith in them.
I apologize that this ride has no seat belts, but it’s an antique model. You can try and dig the lap belt out of the never-ending crevasse between the seats, but it’s kind of a waste of time. We live in the moment – victims of the moment, even – in the modern age, but find an old-timer. They’ll tell you. Playoffs are always like this. Sometimes I allow myself to forget, but when I really think about it, back to the Indians in the 90s and even the Browns back in the 80s, it’s never easy. I think specifically of the 1998 Indians. They were playing Boston and I was living in Boston and at the beginning of Game 2, the Indians were getting squeezed in terms of balls and strikes. When I mean squeezed, I really mean it. Mike Hargrove got tossed. Shortly thereafter, starter Doc Gooden got tossed. This was in the first inning before the Indians had registered an out with Boston already on the board with two runs. The Indians eventually won that series 3-1 before losing to the Yankees in the ALCS. It’s never easy in the playoffs.
I’ll stop short of molding a narrative about this being “good” for the Cavaliers in their quest for a title, but I will say that it’s at least unsurprising. The NBA playoff run is a difficult thing for every team that hoists the trophy. The Cavaliers ultimately lost a year ago, but it took a whole lot for the Warriors to make them yield at the end. These Cavaliers feel a little down after losing two in a row, but their future is still in their own hands. They can still win the East and they can still win the whole thing. It’s far from guaranteed, but this is the path. It’s well worn. Root hard as hell and try to enjoy the ride.
27 Comments
Cheer up folks! Coming to Playhouse Square this June… “Draymond Green and the Natural Shooting Motions”
Petty article, man up and move on to game 5!
Y’all gone learn to put some respek on the raptors
I don’t think this is a normal WFNY reader. Nice to see the fanbase growing, I guess. Looks like we all are “gone” learn.
Petty? Coming from the punk searching for articles to troll
R-E-S-P-E-K, find out what it means to… uhhh… a little help here?
Preach brother! Just like Aretha says…R-E-S-P-E-K
I would take 10 commenters like this gentleman over the spam bots.
I put spackle on my drywall. Is that the same thing as putting respek on the raptors?
My sister in law made $5,456 a week…
https://twitter.com/SurvivinAmerica/status/725360721303887872?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
He cannot even meme properly.
If you tell me she did it while working at home, I’m in. PM me please.
you gotta tweet this out to ESPN. too good. needs traction. (of course, they’ll say it was their idea, but hey – what are you gonna do?)
find out what it means, oh yay.
i don’t like when the team i root for loses games, but if you break it down, it’s pretty simple:
The team who shoots the ball better wins. Period. I don’t want to hear about hustle, rebounding, tactics (paging Coach Lue), whatever. Shoot the ball better than 40% and the Cavs win.
SO let me amend this comment by saying: If the Cavs shoot the ball better than Toronto- regardless of the other stuff – they win. Just make some open J’s, Cavaliers.
Thanks, but feel free to have at it. Let me know what the 4-Letters think. Not all that interested in Twitter to be honest.
i have, i think, very few career tweets. But twitter is interesting. And I dont pretend, for a moment, to be someone looking for tw-attention online, so I’ll forego the tweet.
Ahhhh……… analytics!
But…now what will the talking heads have to talk about?
Why are everyone on the radio, and some (most?) of the writers here trying to calm down Cavs fans and “talk us down from the ledge”? None of the commenters, and none of the people calling in to the radio, and no one I’ve talked to is worried about the Cavs losing a 7 game series to the Raptors.
Not to single you out Craig, but what made you, in particular, feel like this “perspective” piece needed to be written?
I memed it for you…
http://memecrunch.com/meme/BFRXS/coming-to-playhouse-square-this-june-draymond-green-and-the-natural-shooting-motions/image.jpg?w=579&c=1
Ah yes another newbie trying to start fights on one of the best sites I use.
I needed this article. Thanks Craig.
yes, troll deserves a pounding but listen, Raptor fans just experienced an international dissing after Game 2 and then watched their boys knock the heavy favorites back on their heels. There’s probably tons of them looking at Cleveland sports sites just to gloat. That only one has defecated here is a sign as to how nice Canadians really are.
#glasshalffullstuff
http://i.imgur.com/SMSSlve.gif
see JM85 comment below.
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I stand corrected 🙂