I don't think you can say that the Cavs kept downgrading their roster when Sasha Pavlovic was starting for that Finals team.
Yeah, I think I can. I just did.
I disagree.
I think Cleveland just kept downgrading his supporting cast. He was still very close to eliminating the Celtics in the following year though. They were the 2nd best team in those playoffs and the one which actually had a good shot of knocking down the eventual champions.
completely disagree.
They brought in better and better players, and at incredible expense (bad contracts, but still good-but-not-great players). Unfortunately, Lebron made them all worse by running the no-motion offense.
I agree about the expense.
They brought in expensive players with big names, with reputations. They brought in some big time scorers, at least guys who had scored a lot in the past. Names don't win games though.
That Cleveland team last season had 2 elite defenders (LeBron and Varejao) plus a good one (West, who had all those health problems and couldn't be relied on). Then a couple of average ones and the rest of the roster - the largest part of the rotation - was filled with awful defenders, gigantic defensive liabilities (Shaq, Jamison, Mo were probably the worst defenders at their positions amongst starters in the entire league, but then they had Hickson, a washed up Parker, the uber slow Ilgauskas). Plus, playing Varejao + Shaq together was impossible because it'd eat to much spacing and hurt LeBron's game immensely. Shaq was always a bad fit but the fact that he was limiting Varejao's playing time - especially in the playoffs - made it horrible. The only quality starter in that team was Varejao. Jamison has always been an inefficient volume scorer except in his year in Dallas when he was coming off the bench. He's a good 6th/7th man, but his defense makes it a negative to start him. Ditto for Mo Williams - he could start because LeBron runs the offense, but he's still a scoring combo off the bench in most good teams. Hickson was a dumb young player who had no idea on how to play defense and with a very poor work rate. Parker and Moon would do great 4th wings. West was not dependable with all those health issues. That was an awful supporting cast. A team with no identity. A team with inefficient scorers and bad defenders as options 2 and 3, a second shot-creator limited to 25 mpg, an All-NBA defender limited to the other 25 mpg and some washed-up journeymen. A team of guys put together without much thought A team extremely limited in their defensive potential because there were so many awful defenders and limited in their offensive potential because the main options out of LeBron were inefficient scorers, the efficient scorers were one-dimensional and couldn't create and there wasn't a 2nd quality playmaker.
The 07 team had an identity. A team of above average defenders. More importantly, a team of long and quick above average defenders with lots of guys able to guard multiple positions which allowed them to switch all the time. That perimeter defense of Hughes/Pavlovic/LeBron was a nightmare to score on in the halfcourt. Very big. A team of hard-workers where everybody knew their role. Defenders, shooters, Z protecting the rim, Hughes as the secondary ball-handler, Varejao with the energy of the bench, Gibson with the instant offense, those veterans like Snow, Damon Jones and Marshall filling small roles. A good supporting cast? No, a poor one, lacking in talent, lacking in outside shooting, lacking in a 2nd and maybe a 3rd scoring options. But much better than last year's one.
Reputations and inefficient scoring don't win championships, especially when paired with bad defense. The '07 Cavs were better than last years' edition - even though LeBron was better in 2010 than in 2007.
Topic: Was it worth Lebron further hurting his rep to join Miami? (Read 15458 times)