+Cleveland Cavaliers
Overall Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 4-12, fourth place Central Division |
15
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This Month:
28
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Anthony Bennett
 This guy will probably not only go down as the worst number one pick of all time, but also as the biggest embarrassment in Canadian sports history. When Anthony's name was called by the Cavaliers as the number one overall pick in last summer's draft, it was not only a proud moment for Canada as a nation but a sign of how greatly developed basket has developed North of the 45 parallel. Unfortunately once the regular season arrived it was a complete different story as Bennett came out of the gates ice cold scoring his first field goal five games into the season and has only scored a grand total 28 points in the 12 games that he has played. If this trend continues, Anthony's failure as an NBA rookie could prove to be an even more greater blow to Canadian pride than Ben Johnson leaving Seoul in disgrace in 1988 Summer Olympics having been stripped of his gold medals after testing positive for PEDs. It can also possibly be worse than the time the Team Canada ice hockey was run to the ground by the the supposed "Great One" himself, Wayne Gretzky which not only ruined his reputation among fans, but also diminished Canada's long standing stature as the top in the sport. Nonetheless, things better had improve or Bennett's poor performance may affect the status of another Canuck who looks to be the top pick in the NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, as many may get scared off worrying about history repeating itself. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Anderson Varejao
 After a missing 165 games over the past three years, it seems as if Lady Luck has finally shined on the much maligned Anderson Varejao, who has spent most of the last three seasons on the bench in street clothes due to injury. So far Varejao has fared quite well health wise as he has suited up for and played in every game in the month of November making an appearance in the starting lineup for nine games. His play thus far has been solid if not unspectacular as he averages 8 points, 8 boards, and a blocked shot per game, but just seeing him play up to 30 minutes per game without incident must still give Cleveland fans something to cheer for, especially with the way this season has been thus far. Hopefully he will last longer that the 25 game mark that he has reached the last couple seasons, because Cavaliers fans need all the good news that they can get with their team falling well short of their lofty expectations. After watching their both the home team's number one overall pick in the draft along with his teammates stinking up the court when they were expecting them to contend for a playoff berth in the East, basketball fans in Cleveland need at least one small thing to cheer for and if it is the average return of a marginal player, then so be it. |
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After three long years of suffering the sting of +LeBron James' betrayal, the Cleveland Cavaliers wounds' seemed to have finally healed and looked to be poised to return back to respectability after having possibly the best off seasons that the much maligned franchise has had in recent memory. It started off in may when it was announced that the Cavs would once again have the first overall pick in last summer's NBA Draft--the second time in three years--and with their previous number one pick +Kyrie Irving panning out quite well thus far, it looked as if history would repeat itself. Adding to their blessings, the Cavs also managed to greatly upgrade their roster by acquiring a bevy of talented free agents which included Jarrett Jack, who played a crucial role in the +Golden State Warriors ascension to the NBA's elite late season, and +Andrew Bynum, who despite missing all of last season due to injury, the former All Star seemed poised for a big return. To cap it all off, the Cavaliers brought back a familiar face into the fold hiring Mike Brown, who had not only won Coach of the Year twice in a row while on the sidelines in Cleveland, but also coached the Cavs to franchise record seasons in wins. Altogether with the returning pieces that consisted of All Star point guard Irving, and a solid supporting cast of young players such Tristan Thompson, +Dion Waiters, CJ Miles, and +Tyler Zeller, Cleveland looked to finally climb out of the immense shadow that Lebron left behind when he chose to cut the heart of the city's fan base in such a humiliating way, and start a new legacy of winning seasons and playoff appearances. Unfortunately, that did not happen once the season went underway as to the shock and dismay of their long suffering fans, Cleveland stumbled out of the gates and fell flat on their collective face looking more like a train wreck than the power juggernaut that it was expected to be.
Following the premise of Murphy's Law, anything bad that could have possibly happen did as after a respectable 3-4 start, the Cavaliers went on to lose eight of their next ten games to finish the month of November. To make matters worse, their much touted number one draft pick, Anthony Bennett, stunk up the court the second he touched the floor as he had only managed to make his first field goal attempt after five games thus making him potentially one of the biggest draft day busts in NBA history. It did not get any better when Bynum, who many applauded Cleveland for taking a chance on despite his health issues, began to justify every fear that his critics and doubters had on him. The moment he came on the court, Bynum looked as a shell of his former shell complaining of pain every time he stepped on the floor and even alluded to the idea of possibly retiring thus leaving Cleveland high and dry. During the month of November, absolutely nothing was going right for the cavaliers as they could not even hold onto the ball let alone find the bottom of the net as the Cavaliers rank near the bottom of the league in points, field goal percentage, and turnovers per game. Defensively the team was not that much better as they had allowed their opponents to score nearly 102 points per game losing by ten or more points in seven of the team's twelve losses--two of which include a 29 point spanking on the road by the +Minnesota Timberwolves (11/13) and a 30 point slaughtering by the +San Antonio Spurs (11/23). Other embarrassing moments include a fifteen point loss to the +Indiana Pacers where the Cavs were held to just 74 points (11/2), another 15 point loss at the hands of the +Philadelphia 76ers who were projected to be far worse than the Cavs (11/8), and an even more embarrassing 17 point loss to another supposedly lower caliber team in the +Boston Celtics (11/29). Unlike their opponents who seemed to score at will on them, Cleveland only managed to cross the century mark four times in November and were held under 90 points in seven of their seventeen games that entire month. Upon looking at the box scores of the entire month, one can certainly see how disjointed and unfocused the team as they have yet to find any real consistency or flow in their offense nor do they have the coherence or the chemistry on the defensive end either. The Cavs certainly do not look anywhere close to becoming a playoff team as previously projected by myself and so may others which definitely does not bode well for their future. This season is quite crucial for the Cleveland Cavaliers because it was supposed to be the turning point for the direction where not only have to prove to prospective free agents that Cleveland is a viable playoff destination, but also to a key player that hold the future of the franchise as well. In his third year and coming off of two rather lackluster season, Kyrie Irving is at a point in his career where he has to decide whether he wants to stick with Cleveland or look to other avenues in order to keep his aspirations to reach the post season and potentially a championship ring. At the end of this season he will be eligible to negotiate a long term maximum contract extension and with so much money and time at stake, he may have to reconsider his long term career plans if the Cavs falter yet again returning to the lottery once again. And the last thing that either the Cavaliers, the city of Cleveland, and its fans is another "decision" scenario where they wait to have their hearts ripped out again by another superstar leaving them high and dry once again. Unfortunately with what has happened thus far and the way it currently looks as of the end of November, that may just possibly happen and unless a major move occurs or there is signifigant improvement, Cavs fans may just once again have to suffer another emotionally traumatic event that may just cripple their collective psyche. With five months left in the season, it is still early to hammer the last nail of the coffin as Cleveland Cavs still have a chance to pick themselves up and make an effort to salvage what's left of their season. The Eastern Conference remains rather weak to say the least and save for the top two spots that has been already claimed by the +Miami HEAT and the Indiana Pacers, the rest of the East remains pretty wide open from the third to eighth seeds. That is especially the case in their own Central where the only team's ahead of them are a hobbling +Chicago Bulls squad who had lost their star player +Derrick Rose for the season YET AGAIN and a far less than stellar +Detroit Pistons team, who like the have, have also failed to live up to expectations. Add in the rather shameful performances by the the +New York Knicks and +Brooklyn Nets who many anticipated would dominate the East with their deep veteran rosters, there still remains plenty of daylight left for Cleveland to not only climb up to respectability, but possibly surpass some of teams that were highly favored in the East to make the playoffs. If not for their own sakes, but for the collective mental and emotional wellness of a fan base that has had to suffer so much over the past four years, the Cavaliers need to make an effort to turn things around because if they do not now, they probably never will. |
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Monday, December 16, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 28. Cleveland Cavaliers
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