The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled out of the gate with a 4-4 record through the first three weeks of the 2017 NBA season. The bad news is that they’ve been blown out multiple times – even at home – by bad teams like the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. The good news is they seem to have righted the ship – at least for one game – by beating the Washington Wizards on the road.
While nobody in Cleveland will panic this early, the reality is that there are some pressing concerns preventing this team from playing to its potential early on. While some of the issues have to do with the current construction of the roster, the players also have to evaluate their own individual effort levels following a poor start. Here is a look at the four biggest issues plaguing the Cavaliers right now.
Lack Of Effort
While there are a number of areas to point to when it comes to Cleveland’s early season struggles the most obvious of them is the lack of effort at both ends of the floor. That fact was clearly evident in losses to the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks. Regardless of issues having to do with player personnel and structure, the Cavaliers are far too talented to be losing games to teams that are clearly inferior. A number of changes will need to be made in Cleveland to turn things around following a poor start. The first thing that needs to happen is for the Cavaliers to deliver a more consistent effort on a nightly basis.
Chemistry Issues
While the effort needs to be better, the players on this roster are also dealing with a lack of familiarity. A number of offseason moves led to a severe lack of chemistry early on. Cleveland has had slow starts in the past but they were always able to rely on their familiarity and chemistry to help turn things around even when they were dealing with effort problems. That won’t be the case this year after a number of players exited in the offseason including star point guard Kyrie Irving. The Cavs have quickly found out that they do, in fact, miss Irving. It also doesn’t help matters that the player that was meant to replace him – Isaiah Thomas – is still out of the lineup.
The Cavaliers remain a work in progress with several new key players still trying to get up to speed including Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade.
Coaching Struggles
While the players are responsible for a big portion of the blame in Cleveland, head coach Tyronn Lue undoubtedly shares a big portion of the responsibility as well. It’s one thing if the Cavaliers lose to the Golden State Warriors. It’s another thing altogether if they can’t beat either the Nets or Knicks. It’s Lue’s responsibility as the head coach to make sure his team is prepared and focused when they take the floor every night. That hasn’t been the case. He has publicly stated that his team has looked disinterested many times. While he can call them out, at the end of the day, it’s his job to make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s clear that Lue simply hasn’t done a good enough job so far during his team’s 4-4 start. If that doesn’t change, the Cavs might decide to make a change on the sidelines.
Problems In The Paint
One specific area where Cleveland has struggled on the floor is in the paint. The Cavaliers rank 17th in the NBA with an average of 43.4 points in the paint per game and rank just 20th in the association with an average of 43.1 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Cleveland has allowed an average of 42.9 points in the paint per game and ranks 26th in the NBA with an average of 110.1 points allowed per game this season. The Cavaliers need to be better in a number of areas and they can start with improved play in the paint at both ends of the floor following a terrible start.
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