One great player is not enough in the NBA
Five things that need to be understood about the Eastern Conference Finals which moves toward Game Five tomorrow night, at Quicken Loans Arena:
Game One: CLEVELAND 106, Orlando 107
Game Two: CLEVELAND 96, Orlando 95
Game Three: ORLANDO 99, Cleveland 89
Game Four: ORLANDO 116, Cleveland 114 [OT]
#1. The No. 1 seeded Cavaliers [66-16] should have been eliminated already from the post-season, swept away [4-0] by the No. 3 seeded Magic [59-23].
#2. Lebron James is an all-time great basketball player. Of this, there is little doubt.
So, too, however, was the incomparable Michael Jordan, during the first 5 seasons of his career with the Bulls, prior to the ascension of Phil Jackson into the Head Coach role for Chicago:
1984-1985, Kevin Loughery [38-44/.463]
1985-1986, Stan Albeck [30-52/.366]
1986-1987, Doug Collins [40-42/.488]
1987-1988, Doug Collins [50-32/.610]
1988-1989, Doug Collins [47-35/.573]
#3. Orlando is the better TEAM in this ECF series, not Cleveland.
#4. Danny Ferry [GM] still has a lot of work to do … e.g. re-vamping the Cavaliers’ roster and coaching staff … if Cleveland is going to win a NBA championship with King James at the center of its roster.
#5. Basketball is a TEAM game, most of all; and, in general, it’s the Best Team, overall, that triumphs in a 4-out-of-7 playoff series in the NBA.
Tags: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Danny Ferry, Doug Collins, Kevin Loughery, Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, Stan Albeck
May 27th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Do you think Ferry should have pulled the trigger on the Wally for VC trade when it was available? Mo Williams isn’t the type of scorer LeBron needs imho. As good as he did in the regular season, having this sort of post-season pressure, is not something a player of his calibre should be expected to carry.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Raps Fan,
Wince Carter would have been a terrific short-term add for the Cavs.
Cleveland’s problem isn’t so much what type of “scorer” Mo Williams is per se but the “collective attributes” which he and Delonte West bring to the table, as guards, playing beside King James.
In general:
Mo is a weak defender/rebounder and a smallish player at the PG spot; while Delonte fits into a similar category at the OG position.
If either player was built along the lines of 6-6/6-7, 215-225 it would be a different story altogether.
In addition, neither one is a Pass-First player, or someone who can get to the rim and finish in a powerful way vs a strong shot-blocker.
IMO, Mo and Delonte each have the attributes of a part-time role player coming off the bench for a mid-level team in the NBA, not a legitimate achampionship contender.
———-
PS. The Cavs best 5-Man Unit, in a playoff series against another legit contender looks like this:
PG – Daniel Gibson [Pass-first & stick open jumpshots]
OG – Wally Szczerbiak [Shoot-first with good size]
SF – Sasha Pavlovic [good size who can defend, rebound & slash a bit]
PF – Lebron James [ALL-WORLD]
C – Zydrunas Ilgauskas [mid-range shooter who can board]
supported by:
PG – Mo Williams or Delonte West
OG/SF – ?
PF/C – Anderson Varejao
Cleveland is wasting valuable resources with multiple Bigs like Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Darnell Jackson, JJ Hickson & Lorenzen Wright all on their 15-man roster right now … when what they needed most was a omplementary Wing player to go with or back-up LBJ.
PPS. Mike Brown is far away from being a Top Notch NBA head coach.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I thought it was a bad mistake for Ferry to pass up on Vince Carter. That’s about as close of a guarantee of a title that he could have manufactured this past season.
It’s very hard to see LeBron failing to win a title with Vince alongside him, and a superb supporting cast behind them both. I think it would have had a similar effect as Pau Gasol had on the Lakers, it would have taken Cleveland to whole other level (terrifying thought for the rest of the league!).
Vince was the legit second option, second playmaker, that LeBron needed. Imagine Mo as the third scorer, third best playmaker? Big Z as the fourth scorer? Still having Varejao and Big Ben? Delonte off the bench as a combo guard? Wow … that team would be loaded.
May 29th, 2009 at 8:51 am
I agree Dave. If that rumour was legitimate, Ferry sealed the fate of the Cavs by not pulling the trade. He wont be able to get anyone with Wally’s contract coming off the books in the calibre of carter this summer, as they are over the cap.
khan: how many minutes are you imaging for Wally as a starter? He hasn’t looked at all for months now. Maybe it’s how he’s being used, but I thought he had some other injury type problems.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Raps Fan,
Whether Wally starts, or not, is largely irrelevant.
Best 5-Man Units need not necessarily be used as a team’s “Starters”.
e.g. In relative terms, Wally [OG] becomes a “wasted player” beside someone like Mo Williams [PG].
Thus far, in his career as a NBA head coach, Mike Bown has not demonstrated that he knows how best to use a group of 5 players like:
PG/Daniel Gibson
OG/Wally S.
SF/Sasha Pavlovic
PF/Lebron James
C/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
or
PG/Daniel Gibson
OG/Wally S.
SF/Lebron James
PF/Anderson Varejao
C/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
or
PG/Lebron James
OG/Wally S.
SF/Sasha Pavlovic
PF/Anderson Varejao
C/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
or
PG/Lebron James
OG/Wally S.
SF/Sasha Pavlovic
PF/JJ Hickson
C/Anderson Varejao
or
PG/Mo Williams
OG/Sasha Pavlovic
SF/Lebron James
PF/Anderson Varejao
C/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
or
PG/Delonte West
OG/Sasha Pavlovic
SF/Lebron James
PF/Anderson Varejao
C/Zydrunas Ilgauskas
or
etc., etc., etc. …
The Cavaliers have two main problems right now:
1. Danny Ferry’s decision-making, re: personnel;
and,
2. Mike Brown’s coaching ability.
May 30th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
sorry khan, when i say starter, i mean someone who plays significant minutes at a position, not necessarily the person who starts the game. i guess i should have qualified that first.