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.