The Cavs' Season Ends

The Cavaliers are now officially out of the NBA playoffs. After the first two games of the series, the Cavs played very well; well enough to beat the Pistons. The second half of game 7, however, was an entirely different story. The Pistons built a 15 point lead by the time the forth quarter was half over, and the Cavs' players looked emotionally drained and completely taken out of the game. It became apparent that the game was over. Larry Hughes, who did not play in games 3-6 due to the death of his brother Justin, who he was very close with, looked as if he was the only Cav who didn't need a hug.

Where the Cavs lost the game was in their lazy execution of their Lebron-do-it-all offensive strategy. This is where Lebron gets the ball about 10 feet behind the 3-point line and various teammates (usually starting with Z) rotate setting picks on Lebron's man. So long as the defenders would switch men (as the Pistons did all series), Lebron then finds himself on the better half of a mismatch. Then, Lebron makes his best effort to get into the paint. When Lebron gets into the paint, he usually dishes to an open teammate as he becomes a black hole sucking in opposing teams' defenses.
He rarely scores in this offense. Look at Lebron's point-per-quarter breakdown. The Cavs opened the second half of every game of the series with the Lebron offense, and Lebron's 3rd quarter scoring for the series was miniscule compared to the rest of the game.
Banking on Lebron getting into the key, teammates set up shop on the three point line waiting to receive the ball for a wide open shot after their man sags on Lebron. Notice that Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall are on the court whenever the Cavs run this offense.

There is one major flaw with this offense, and it was brought to the forefront in the second half of game 7. Players looked like puppets with no puppeteer as they watched Lebron try to shake his man and get to the rim. Against the rejuvenated Pistons team seen in game 7, Lebron was not able to bull his way to the lane as he could in... every other game of his life. Lindsey Hunter and Rip Hamilton did a superlative job of keeping the King in check. However, had he been able to get past the first line of defense, he still would have had to deal with the trio with the wingspan that puts Mr. Fantastic to shame; Tayshaun, Ben, and Rasheed. But again, it never got to that point. The Cavs scored 10 points in the 3rd as they watched the game slip away.

Although the offensive strategy was flawed as well as poorly executed, it would be unfair to play the blame game on the Cavs or any Cavalier personnel. Their offense slows tempo, as it seems to use the full 24 seconds of the shot clock every single time, and that is what they wanted against the Pistons. The Cavs beat the Pistons in games 3, 4, and 5 with the same strategy. What I do recommend, however, is to find a new offense for next year. I am surprised that it took 3 games for the Pistons to fully exploit this stagnant offense. It is not easy, even for Lebron, to stand still for 5 seconds 40 feet from the basket, and then try to create with the opposing team's defense set and focused in on, who else, Lebron James.

The Cavs have a lot to look forward to next year; Lebron will be one year older, Larry Hughes will (presumably) be healthy, Anderson Varejao blossomed at the end of the season and should continue to improve, Flip Murray will be with the team for training camp (so long as resigns... he is a Free Agent); team chemistry seemed to be solid; they should be excited. They pushed a borderline "Dynasty" team to 7 games in the first playoff series for the franchise since Z's rookie year 8 years ago.

It looks like Mike Brown does know what he's doing. He has a good basketball mind, and I believe he will learn from his ( very respectable) first season and come in next year leading an even stronger Cavaliers team. I also hear that he is looking to add an offensive-minded coach for next year...

Lebron's head seems to be in the right place as well. "We did a great job of making the playoffs, but our goal is higher now. We're going to try to get better and try to come back and win a championship.''

What does Lebron look to do this off-season to better the team's chances of winning in '07? Perhaps this is a look at things to come: