Recap: Minnesota 127, Cleveland 99 (or, Seasonal Ineffective Disorder)

I feel for LeBron James. He has gone through visible struggles every single January since he’s rejoined this team. In 2015, he went through his infamous two week “Miami Trip” which ended with the team trading for Timo, J.R., and Shump and subsequently turned the season around. In 2016, the Cavs’ post-Christmas swoon got David Blatt fired. In 2017, the Cavs went 4-7 during a three week January stretch that was punctuated by an overtime loss at home to the Kings. Tonight featured one of the worst losses of LeBron James’ career, a game in which he was -39 (a career low) with ten points on just eight shots in 27 minutes.

As someone who has suffered from depression and symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, it pained me to see a clearly upset LeBron after the game with his head down, his voice low, saying “I don’t care about no damn plus/minus,” I’m certainly no psychologist, and it’s wildly irresponsible to make armchair psychological diagnoses, but he was completely disengaged from the game tonight on a level I’ve rarely seen. So after a game like this, instead of anger, I’ll respond with empathy, because clearly, something is going on here. I hope LeBron gets some help, because, as someone who’s suffered, I know that learning to recognize when you’re going through negative cycles as you’re going through them is the first step to mitigating them.

That being said.. this game was a disaster of biblical proportions. David Aldridge on the Tony Kornheiser show said recently (paraphrasing), “every team has 3-4 games a season that no matter what happens, it’s just not their night, and nothing they do is going to work. They’re just not going to win no matter what they do.” Tonight, the converse was true for the Timberwolves. Everything was working, and they were never going to lose this game. Combine those two phenomena and the Cavs ended up on the receiving end of an epic beatdown.

It never helps when you spot a team a 20-4 start, and much of that came because of the Cavs were defensively uninterested in challenging any shots around the basket. Of those 20 points in the first seven minutes, 13 came within four feet of the basket, including this gem where LeBron just decided not to guard anyone and let Taj Gibson score a layup on a cut from eight feet from the rim. This complete unwillingness to defend shots around the basket, box out, and rebound infected every member of the starting unit and was exacerbated by a similarly incoherent offense. This tweet by David Wood about sums it up.

I want a reporter to ask Lue how many plays the Cavs ran tonight. I counted one out of the timeout where KK got a 3 after an offensive board. And, the first bucket Crowder scored. #CLEvsMIN

— DJW (@nothingwood) January 9, 2018

The Cavs got some open looks early, and continued to fire away from distance, but nothing dropped, including my least favorite Cav offensive option, the Jae Crowder quick trigger three. Kevin Love heard lusty boos from the crowd and it seemed to rattle him as he missed early and often, throwing up bricks and airballs to the delight of the crowd.

It’s pretty predictable that LeBron James might be disinterested in a game in January in Minnesota, but his level of dispassion set new lows. He didn’t attempt a field goal till the 4:01 mark when he went to the basket for an and-1. James and Wade (who’d subbed in for the ineffective Thomas) combined with Jeff Green to start attacking the basket, but Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins were having none of it as they combined to drop 12 over the final three minutes – clearly in a rhythm- to put the Wolves up 32-18.

Jamal Crawford came in to lead the Wolves in the bench battle, and he and the Wolves got to all their pet spots on the floor (STOP GOING UNDER THE SCREEN, DWYANE!) and scored at will to go ahead 45-24 at the 8:37 mark, at which point Ty Lue took an exasperated timeout. Somehow, the only professionals in the rotation this game, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, (and yes) Tristan Thompson helped lead a mini run with Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade to get the Cavs back within 14.

There was a lot of debate and gnashing of teeth on Twitter and in the live thread about Tristan Thompson playing instead of Channing Frye yet again, but this was not the night for that argument. Tristan Thompson played fine, and offered some good rebounding and hustle during this stretch to keep the Cavs at least close enough to contemplate a comeback.

After LeBron James returned, though, things fell apart. The Cavs stopped defending around the basket again, leading to this two offensive rebound possession that netted a basket for the Wolves, a Wiggins layup then followed, and then Wade made an and-1 to stop the damage. That didn’t help though, as the Wolves went on an 11-0 run to end the half up 69-42. Yuck.

That run was aided by a maddening trend I’ve seen from Dwyane Wade. Whether it’s turnovers, bad shots, ill conceived offensive rebound attempts, or going for steals at half court, Dwyane Wade leads the Cavs in plays that result in runouts for the opposition. This stretch featured a, “my handle’s not what it used to be” turnover which gave Tyus Jones a dunk followed by an “I just made an and-1 and I’m Dwyane Freaking Wade” dribble between the legs five times step-back brick from the right corner that gave Wiggins a layup. It’s called floor balance, Dwyane, and other teams are destroying you when you forget about it. I saw him pull this act the other night against the Celtics going for steals and offensive rebounds that gave the Cs runouts. It’s lazy, awful basketball.

Of course Smith and James turned it over and threw up bricks, while Jimmy Butler did this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ77_XkKzls

You’d think the Cavs would look to play with some pride in the second half. Well, you’d be wrong. LeBron started the third taking a crazy defensive gamble, which led to a Gibson layup. With five quick points from Napoleon Dynamite, there was some talk on the broadcast of the Cavs maybe being able to come back, but Jimmy Butler (21 heard it and stepped on the Cavs’ necks by dropping a nasty turnaround, stealing the ball from Thomas, and then drilling a three to put the Wolves up by thirty-freaking-one.

When he called timeout, Ty Lue had his photograph taken so he could add his helpless visage to the Cleveland Cavalier Hall of Ineffectual Coaching. The portrait of unbemused slightly panicked frustration is being installed between a bust of Byron Scott with his arms folded and The Mike Brown fart smelling exhibit. (Lue’s pic is right across the way from the David Blatt being belittled by LeBron James virtual reality theater).

I was livid that Lue let the starters go back in the game. Any coach worth his salt would’ve benched the lot of them for coming out of the locker room with their heads firmly impacted in their own backsides. What transpired in the next few minutes was an embarrassment to the city and the organization, as the Cavs dicked around with the King chucking up hero ball shots while the Wolves took it to them until Isaiah Thomas decided he didn’t want to be in the game any more.

Thomas whacked Andrew Wiggins in the neck with an absolutely cheap shot that got Napoleon kicked out of the game and should get him suspended for an additional game. It was dirty, ridiculous, and unprofessional by Isaiah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKSI5yDITuI

The Cavs’ starters were begging to be benched and chewed out by the coach, and Ty didn’t have the nuts to do it until the 4:12 mark, when a Wiggns three put Minnesota up 94-55 before Lue pulled the plug on the starting lineup (minus the ejected Thomas).

The lack of composure and professionalism by the Cavs’ starters, 1-5 was among the most embarrassing I’ve seen from the team in their regular season history. They failed to compete and play with any semblance of engagement, passion, or desire. There was absolutely no adherence to any defensive or offensive principals by LeBron James who spent the third running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

On one possession, Jae Crowder didn’t even get to half court on D till five seconds left on the clock. On more than one fast break, the Cavs would get a stop only to be outrebounded because only two guys bothered to get back on D. Kevin Love rarely bothered jumping. The Cavs complained endlessly to the refs about calls while the Wolves were running for layups and transition triples.

Pop, Spo, Kerr, Doc, and Rick Carlisle would’ve planted these guys’ butts to the bench and ripped them a new one. Ty Lue is lucky he has a ring, because David Blatt was fired for a lot less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5xgekQ5mjY

Thankfully, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, and Cedi Osman came in to close the third and play the bulk of the fourth. They added some much needed effort and professionalism. I greatly appreciated all three as they set screens, executed the offense, defended, and – you know – tried. Korver ended up finishing +9 with 19 points and five triples, passing Paul Pierce on the all time list. Jeff Green attacked the basket relentlessly in transition and threw in a couple late garbage treys to notch a game high 22 for Cleveland. Cedi Osman scored six points in 16 minutes and hustled his way to a team high +11. Tristan Thompson was not awful with six points and eight boards in 23 minutes.

For the Starters, the box score was a dumpster fire. James posted his all time low of -39, to go with his lowest scoring game since 2007: 10 points. Kevin Love alligator armed his way to three points and two boards in 21 minutes, and J.R. Smith shot a tentative 0-7.

OK. I still love these guys, but cussing them out was therapeutic. There’s so much going on with this team right now that needs to be solved, though. It all starts with James’ effort and professionalism. He sets the tone for the entire team, and when he’s taking plays and quarters off the rest of the team is going to as well. When he’s running around trying to get steals from every possible angle, allowing his opponent to pass for easy layups, the Cavs are going to give up because this isn’t a defensive scheme that’s sustainable, and none of his teammates know where the hell he’s going to be.

Defensively, The Wolves got the memo and went right at Isaiah Thomas. He looked like a traffic cone at times. Similarly teams have figured out that putting Korver on roller skates in isolation leads to good things. The Cavs’ have a humongous rebounding problem because James and Love aren’t every rebounding on the same night and the Cavs’ guards aren’t crashing the defensive boards like they were when the team was playing well. I’ve seen few nights where James and Love were both boxing out. In Love’s defense, James is usually the King of missed boxouts (pun intended).

Offensively it’s hard to know what we were watching. Cleveland seems to be only running set offenses out of time outs and for the second unit. James, Wade, and Isaiah seem to be doing the “my turn/your turn” thing. Also, James is either iso-ing or firing laser passes to three point shooters who don’t want to shoot (I’m looking at you, J.R. Smith) or firing up iso treys (the LeChuck Special) having fallen in love with his J. He, Wade, and Isaiah all try to do things with their handle that end up resulting in turnovers, because in Wade and Bron’s case, it’s sloppy, and in Thomas’ case, he hasn’t played in 9 months. Anyway, that’s all superfluous to those guys trying, executing a game plan, and being professionals, which in James’ case doesn’t happen in most first quarters, and didn’t happen in any quarter against Minnesota.

And yes, Minnesota is good, as Butler finished with 21 and nine dimes, Wiggins with 25, and KAT and Taj both had double doubles. Dieng and Crawford also scored in double digits. Cleveland, heck, even Austin Carr seemed to have no idea how good they were when they walked in the building. Carr kept saying “they look like a playoff team.” Well, no kidding, Austin, they’re fourth in the West. That usually gets you to the playoffs.

As for Tyronn Lue, the dude does himself no favors sometimes. His obstinance after the game and his canned answers hint at dangerous obliviousness.

We were down 41 you said? It happens, It happens three or four times a year to a lot of teams. We’re not normally a team that gets beat like that.

Very few teams go down 41 at any point in a season, coach. I know he’s not this obtuse, but he needs to listen to himself sometimes. More than scheme, rotations, and tactics, he needs to change his attitude. Teams adopt the attitudes of their leaders, and the Cavs need passion and a sense of fun and purpose more than they need “I’m never going to rock the boat” answers. Ty’s got to step up.

As for LeBron, I wish he’d just take two weeks off in January, or move somewhere he’ll be happy in the winter. It would be better than this. Find your joy, Mr. James. I don’t want to see you miserable any more, because you’re proving that Kyrie Irving was right.