LeBron And Cleveland Has To Learn How To Win

Its Not All His Fault

The Cavs crushing lost is not all LeBron's fault. The Cavs have failed him in a few areas as well. But first I am going to touch on a few things about LeBron that I noticed. LeBron never has learned how to win and college could have taught him that. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar touched on this earlier this week when he spoke about the quality of play in the league today. The benefit of players going to college is they learn how to deal with adversity and how to win. Most players who turn pro in team sports, go to a minor league and develop and learn the nuances of the game. The NBA's D-league is not yet a functioning farm system, therefore its rare you actually see anyone come up and make a huge impact. Lebron's talent is great but he was handed the NBA and has to go through growing pains on winning. Michael did it, Kobe did it and now Lebron is having to figure out how to win. Lebron never got in any one's face or he didn't try to fire his team up. Its area where college would have helped him figure out how to motivate not only himself but his teammates.

No Chip

Something the great ones always have and majority play with. That's a chip on their shoulder. Michael Jordan got his by the freeze out in the All-star game. Kobe repeatedly tells himself he's better Shaq and wants to prove he is a leader of a team. D-Wade's chip is LeBron, Chris Bosh, Darko and Carmelo were all chosen ahead of him. Tim Duncan is everyone thought his game was boring. But its that one area or thing that drives a player to be great and I don't see that with LeBron. Think about this he breezed through high school and was already given the name " The Chosen One" and " King James". ESPN was televising his high school games. At 17 and 18 the world was his oyster. Everything has been given to him at such a young age and with all the hype he hasn't used anything to motivate him daily. Maybe this loos will drive him to be great. The funny thing is people are talking more about his impending free agency than his poor play. I know the elbow was hurting him but this was his chance to cement his legacy in Cleveland and he looked disinterested for much of the series.

Danny Ferry Is Not Innocent Either

The Cavs will most likely drop Mike Brown. When your team gets blown out in three or the four games and defense is your speciality, then the team will probably show you the door. However, Danny Ferry should not be far behind. Ferry has not surrounded LeBron with the talent to win either. The Cavs have had opportunity to build through the draft but Ferry has chose to trade picks and bring in role pieces instead of developing a players. Mo Williams is not really a point guard or a two guard. Varejo is limited offensively and the Big Z was aging and nothing was done. Ferry just keep to plug in holes instead of fixing the issues. The Cavs are in trouble because teams like the Magic, Bucks, Grizzlies and Thunder are building teams the right way, through the draft. When you are small market its easier to build that way and try to keep your own free agents than trying to trade away valuable picks. Its interesting because Ferry became a GM because he was so highly thought of with the Spurs. He should have used their model because they had Tim Duncan and drafted Parker and Ginobli and won 3 more titles. The Bulls had one great player but Scottie Pippen is also a hall of famer. You need at least two studs to win in NBA.

I wrote last year that I thought LeBron would probably stay in Cleveland. But I like most people feel that after this series, I think he is gone and that will be devastating to that city. I doubt he goes to the Knicks because he said he wants to win and they aren't close to winning. That leaves Chicago, Miami, Portland and Dallas in a sign and trade and Cleveland. If home is truly where the heart is then LeBron will stay. However sometimes its good to leave home and see what else the world has to offer. The city of Cleveland needs their native son to stay home so they can keep their identity.

NBA Playoffs So Far

I've been down with an ear infection so my apologies for not updating. Here are some of my thoughts on the NBA Playoffs:

Know Your Officials

What turns most people off to the NBA is the isolation's plays that some teams run for players, but even bigger than that is how the officials dictate the game. Look its bad when I can name Dick Bavetta, Joe Crawford, Joe Forte, Steve Jave off the top of my head. Name another sports where you know the referee's by name. There has always been that suspicion that the games are fixed. The league dodged a big pr nightmare when Tim Donaghy got busted for gambling but I think it really confirmed what most people believe, the league tries to setup its championship games for ratings. At first I was a skeptic but now I am coming over to that side. You want all the exposure that you can get so people are talking about your product. No one will talk about the finals if San Antonio or Utah makes it. Its all about star power or bigger market recognition. That's why rooting for a team like Orlando to knock off Cleveland, even though Dwight Howard is a star in his own right.

Speaking Of The Magic

Can someone please make the Atlanta Hawks disappear Has a team ever played so poorly but been in the playoffs? How can lose by an average of 29 points to a team with a 40 point blowout in the first game. This looks like a 1 seed versus a 16 in the NCAA tournament, but the Hawks are the supposed 3 seed and the Magic are the 2, the match-up should be closer. You can take any of the five starters from the Hawks and you would love them on your team but collectively they are awful. You can tell they have no clue on how to play together as a unit. Some of that falls on Mike Woodson the coach, but I put most of it on the players who have to recognize that the teams around them have better chemistry and understand how to play the game. Look for Joe Johnson to bolt and Mike Woodson to be let go. What should really happen is the management should give refunds to their fans for their teams pitiful play this postseason. That would send a real message to their team. (Two side notes to beat the Magic don;t let them hit 10 or more 3's because if they do it over. Also Dwight Howard shot over 80% in a series which basically sounds like no one guarded him. Tells you how pathetic the Hawks played)

The Suns Rise Again

You have to be happy for Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. They finally beat their long time nemesis the Spurs, and in a sweep which is shocking. The cool thing is no one expected the Suns to be here, the bad side is the Lakers should and will destroy them. This is a different Suns team from the ones in the past. Their bench is young and deeper which gives Steve and Amar'e some help. The only way the Suns beat the Lakers is by outscoring them. The Lakers are way too big and a half court game would end up just killing the Suns on the board. Nash deserves to be in a Finals before the book closes on his career. What I found great is last night Steve got his eye busted and with one eye scored 10 points and 5 assists!! That shows you how talented these guys are.

Cleveland Is Playing With Fire

When the stars align for you to win championship, you shouldn't mess around. But the Cavaliers are not taking the Celtics seriously and it could comeback to haunt them. The Cavs have no answer for Rondo who messed around and got a triple double. Putting Lebron on him could help a little or it could get Pierce, Allen and Garnett going. What I see in the Cavs is a team who relies completely too much on one player. They sit around and wait for LBJ to bail them out, and if they really want to be a great team, they better stop building their team like the Mavericks and get Lebron a solid Robin. What I mean is the Mavericks are built around Dirk and he can't do it alone. Mo Williams, Varajeo, Moon, Parker and now Shaq are role players, not a solid player that takes the pressure off Lebron. The other thing I noticed is the Cavs don;t have a sense of urgency, they have that feeling that they can turn it on at anytime. They better put the Celtics away in the next two games because if its goes seven, the Celtics will win it. The C's are now a dangerous "Big 4" and if they start rolling they are one of the few teams that can unseat the Lakers because of their physical style of play and their defense.

Also I will update where a part of my blog was mentioned on ESPN later on this week. Thanks for reading....