We knew the Cleveland Cavaliers wouldn't be championship contenders overnight, but no one expected this. The Cavs have limped to a 18-12 record in a historically bad Eastern Conference, and a 23-point loss to the 7-23 Pistons on Sunday exposed their offensive and defensive frailties yet again. According to Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the problems go much deeper than the recent on-court misses:
"Sources told ESPN.com that there is rising concern in team circles about the level of response Blatt is getting on the floor, with Blatt himself acknowledging that the Cavaliers "lost our energy and we lost our competitiveness" in Sunday night's embarrassing home loss to Detroit."
"...the Cavs' effort level, especially defensively, is eroding noticeably, raising the volume on questions about just how much the locker room is listening to the 55-year-old Boston native, who has enjoyed tremendous success internationally but still began this season as a relative unknown to NBA players."
Blatt has won a number of trophies and individual accolades in Europe, but this is his first job in the United States since graduating from Princeton back in 1981. Selected as Cleveland's coach before LeBron announced his intention to return to the Cavs, Blatt is clearly navigating more difficult waters than he expected to find. Unfortunately for Blatt, the problems go much deeper than player-coach communication.
Cleveland is still looking to increase their frontcourt depth, a need that became much more serious when Anderson Varejao went down with a season-ending Achilles injury last week. The Cavaliers rank 25th in the NBA in rebounds per game, and Brendan Haywood and rookie Alex Kirk are the only healthy centers currently on Cleveland's roster. To make matters worse, LeBron James is averaging a career-low 5.3 rebounds per game, while PF Kevin Love is averaging just 10.2 - his fewest since he averaged 9.1 his rookie year with Minnesota.
For all their star power, Cleveland still ranks right in the middle of the pack both offensively and defensively - the Cavs are 14th in points allowed and 13th in points scored. If the Cavs want to turn things around and start playing like a contender, the problems they need to address run much deeper than the coach or the star player.
More Cavs news & rumors | Download the game-changing app for iPhone, now with live scores!
Back to the Cleveland Cavaliers Newsfeed