Cavaliers, Now with Few Holes or Excuses, Rolling Toward Title Contention
DETROIT — Though he typically shows more patience in his press sessions than on the sidelines, Stan Van Gundy will occasionally come across a question he'll feel compelled to cut off prior to its completion, because it doesn't square with his sensibilities. One came following Tuesday's shootaround, with the Cleveland Cavaliers in town. It was regarding whether the Cavaliers were a championship-caliber team after having "gone through a lot" so far this season.
"First of all, I don't know what Cleveland's gone through," the Pistons president and coach interjected. "I used to hear that (about) Miami (the past four years) too: 'Gone through so much.'"
Van Gundy, however, was just getting going.
"(LeBron James) missed some games," Van Gundy said.
"Took some time off to get healthy," he continued. "What else have they gone through? (Anderson) Varejao went down, we lost Brandon Jennings. I mean, injuries happen. I don't know what they've gone through. What have they gone through? I mean, we could probably go down the list and 20 of the 30 teams in the league have gone through more than they've gone through. But it's the 'Boy, we're overcoming adversity thing.'"
His riff wasn't over.
"What they have is a ton of talent," Van Gundy said.
"I don't know what they're going through, s--t. They got a lot of talent. They've played very well. Are they a championship-caliber team? Yes. But as far as all this adversity, they've overcome. I don't know, list it for me. I don't know what the adversity is. A lot of teams have had more guys miss games and everything else. They've been able to make trades for really good players. I don't see it."
No, what Van Gundy sees, a loaded squad that any coach would love to have, is what the majority of the NBA world sees. Most certainly see that more clearly than the Pistons saw the basket in Tuesday's second half, as they squandered a 14-point lead and fell, 102-93, to a visiting team that didn't get peak efficiency from several players, including LeBron James or Kyrie Irving, but did get eight three-pointers from Kevin Love and a determined defensive effort down the stretch from everyone.
The Cavaliers, after catching some heat in the first half of the season, are catching fire and catching breaks, to the degree that that they can now be declared, at minimum, co-favorites in the East along with the Atlanta Hawks. They were trending that way even before this 17th win in 19 games, one that James called an "eye opener" because of the way his team responded to a deficit against a desperate squad on the road. They were trending that way even before Tuesday's devastating news, which broke after the Cavaliers' locker room cleared out, that Chicago's Derrick Rose had suffered another injury that could sideline him for significant time, if not the entire season, per the team's website.
So for all the good work David Blatt has done, hanging in amid speculation since the season's start, it's long past time for him to stop going through the relatively short list of setbacks (Varejao out for the season, Matthew Dellavedova missing a month, as well as the most legitimate, James missing eight consecutive games) that may have kept the Cavaliers from clicking earlier. None of that could compare to what other teams have endured, from the Thunder to the Rockets to the Raptors to the Heat and now the Bulls, to count just a few.
Instead, everyone on the Cavaliers should embrace this reality, since it doubles as a compliment for general manager David Griffin on down:
Nearly every team in the NBA would have taken Cleveland's adversity, such as it was, and Cleveland's title chances, such as they now are.
The Cavaliers, who started the season with significant holes in talent and trust, have used their assets wisely enough to assemble an embarrassment of riches, creating a team that can win big in the very short term. They did so primarily, as Van Gundy noted, with the pair of trades that brought in Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
"Every team is at a different place," Van Gundy said. "For us to make that kind of move would not have been smart, with where we are. But for them, when you've got a chance to win, I think you've got to go for it. And they've got a really talented team of guys that aren't real young or anything, other than Kyrie (Irving). So they are going to go for it. I think David has done a really good job of putting together that roster."
How upgraded is that roster?
Mike Miller and Shawn Marion, the two key veterans added to supplement the star trio, are now entirely out of the rotation, so much so that the announcement of Marion's hip injury (and likely two-week absence) hardly made a sound. Second-round pick Joe Harris, who stunningly played the final 19:28 of a November clash with the Spurs, now only gets that kind of time for the D-League's Canton Charge.
The depth was superior to James' first Miami Heat team (2010-11) before the season even started, and now Mozgov, Smith, Shumpert and newest addition Kendrick Perkins have taken the place of the gifted but ill-fitting Dion Waiters, plus fringe players Alex Kirk, Lou Amundson and A.J. Price.
The infusion filled every need but one, backup point guard, and that may have been addressed had Heat president Pat Riley, according to sources, signed off on three-way deals that would have sent Norris Cole to assist former teammate, and fellow Rich Paul client, James in Cleveland. Riley did not, so the Cavaliers turned their attention to further bolstering the frontcourt.
After he was traded by Oklahoma City to Utah, bought out and then cleared through waivers, Perkins was free to sign wherever he wanted. James, his former AAU teammate, recruited him, as did his former Celtics coach Doc Rivers, now with the Clippers. Perkins said he chose "the King."
"I've been wanting to be on the same team with him for a while," Perkins said of James. "So I feel like everything happens for a reason at the right time.”
Then Perkins got a little time Tuesday, and in his two minutes had one shove of Anthony Tolliver that showcased the sort of physicality he will likely offer in limited but powerful doses. Perkins isn't a starting-caliber center anymore, but he remains useful to have around.
"He brings toughness to our interior, a great locker room guy, all he cares about is winning," James said. "That's very important to our chemistry, that's very important to what we're building here. We're happy to have him."
James hardly seemed happy early in the season, but he's been buoyed by the much better mix of players and personalities, to the point that he keeps touting the team's chemistry; the excitable Smith and Shumpert have infused plenty of life, the humble Mozgov has blended well into the background, and the pugnacious Perkins won't take long to say his piece—before leaving the locker room Tuesday night, he colorfully mocked Love for icing his feet for so long. More important, as Van Gundy noted, the pieces fit on the court.
Blatt now has the flexibility to match up with various opponents.
"At this point, with our roster, we can play whatever the game presents itself," James said. "We want to play uptempo, because we have the athletes, we have the speed. We don't face a half-court defense every night, but if the game gets to a possession game, which it will get to, especially in April, I think we're capable of executing and making plays happen."
They ought to be.
Even in an off performance (nine turnovers, 6-of-14 from the field), James still did some significant stuff Tuesday, and it wasn't just spiking his defensive effort in the second half or sinking a late three-pointer to drive in the stake.
With his 11 assists, he passed Scottie Pippen for the most assists by any forward in NBA history. It is a remarkable accomplishment at just age 30, and one that James called "one of the greatest achievements that I've had in my career," because he deems it emblematic of what he represents.
"It means way more than what I did on Sunday, passing Allen Iverson (for 22nd on the scoring list)," James said. "I've always took a lot of pride and I get more of a rush seeing my teammates succeed more than myself, and that's what assists are all about."
And, as he's said many times, Pippen, along with Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Grant Hill, was one of his childhood models, as a triple threat.
"When I started to shape my game, I kind of knew that that point forward was something that was going to be my trademark," James said.
"Obviously I looked up to Michael Jordan, that's someone that gave me a lot of inspiration, but as a kid I never thought that I could get to that point," he continued. "You know, Jordan just felt so surreal. Pippen and Anfernee Hardaway and Allen Iverson was those guys that I kind of really really thought that I could be. Because MJ just felt like you could never catch him as a kid. I always just felt like he was so far in the distance."
Early in the season, James kept saying that contention was also quite far in the distance. He hasn't been saying that as much lately.
Certainly not Thursday, as the trade deadline passed without the Cavaliers making another move. James made it clear that the Cavaliers "can win a championship with this roster," so long as they're healthy and clicking.
"This roster can challenge any team out there," James said.
Why should he say anything different?
This is by far the best team he's had in Cleveland, at least on paper, and he was in contention for each of his last five seasons of his first stint, even if he reached just one NBA Finals.
Van Gundy beat one of those teams, the 2009 Cavaliers, in the Eastern Conference Finals, but he noted that "the team he has now is a lot more talented around (him)." That's illustrated by James' assist numbers. In 2008-09, Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored the most baskets on his passes, per Basketball-Reference; actually, as James guessed correctly, Ilgauskas scored more (785) off them than anyone in James' career. In 2009-10, J.J. Hickson and Anthony Parker tied atop the Cavaliers with 94 conversions of James assists.
This season, the primary beneficiaries of James' assists have been Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
Those are much more appealing offensive partners.
Love certainly was Tuesday; five of his eight three-pointers came off James passes, often on simple pick-and-rolls.
"Different guys are going to step up and have big nights," Love said. "We just can't care who it is. Against Washington, the first game back, I didn't play particularly well and didn't shoot the ball that many times, but we won by 38 points. As long as we're winning, I'm happy and I think that goes all the way down the line. Guys are just happy with the roll we're on right now."
What the Cavaliers went through earlier doesn't matter.
What they're going through lately is the league.
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