A friend of mine recently went through one of those demi-divorces where he and his live-in girlfriend ended their relationship about a month before their lease was up. I’ve heard most of the story, and the rest exists in my head: two people, still sort of in love, but not really; trying to be adults about the whole situation; trying not to divide their friends; sharing a bed; having weird, emotional sex still, when they’re both drunk, for some reason; separating their stuff; trying to figure out what to do next; being emotionally exhausted; watching DVDs together; trying to be friends; remembering; talking; supporting each other over this thing they had built, then expunged. I wonder if they both felt an inarticulable anger for a month. Like, I don’t hate you, but I need to not see your shoes next to mine when I leave for work in the morning. I need a shower of flame to burn the smell of you off me. My friend told me some of this, in an unenervated tone, at a bar last week. His eyes were like gas lamps.
There’s some solace is being done with things, is what I mean. Even horrible things that leave you with a gut full of disquiet and day whiskey. Fortunately, no Cavalier fan has had to share a home with this team—your grocery bill would be insane—but I think we’re all ready for the season to be over. To count the bruises and move on. To write draft profiles, count ping pong balls, and never speak the name Ryan Hollins again. There’s not much edifying to be taken from the remaining seven games the Cavaliers have on their schedule. Samardo Samuels isn’t going to bloom into Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving, whether or not he steps on the court again this season, is one of the best under-23 players in the league. We’re not learning anything or learning to love anyone. Rather, we’re sitting, cramped, maybe a little angry, in this middle space between realizing the end and its arrival. Before the shower of flame.
The shower of flame, by the way, is something I support. Here’s the only part of this dead relationship/dead season analogy that’s completely congruous: I just don’t want these people in my life on a daily basis anymore. Antawn Jamison’s contested pick-n-pop threes with 15 seconds on the shot clock incense me. The dejected face Samardo Samuels makes after he impotently fouls whomever he’s guarding makes me sad. The fact that Anthony Parker, when healthy, is the starting shooting guard of choice causes me to think I know more about basketball than three-time NBA champion Byron Scott. It’s not a healthy relationship. Can the Cavaliers head into the 2012-13 season with Irving, Tristan Thompson, Andy Varejao, Alonzo Gee, Luke Walton (because they, like, have to), Omri Casspi (again, contracts don’t always end when you want them to), and a new squad of also-rans? I have stared at this Rorschach test slide too long and need some new nobodies about whom I can think If that guy develops some chemistry with TT on the pick-and-roll, starts buckling down on defense, and stops turning the ball over so much, I think we might have ourselves a middling backup point guard! I can no longer do this with Donald Sloan. I’m sorry, Donald. I have peered into thine eyes for too long and now see only myself. And I would be a horrible NBA point guard.
I guess this marks the start of what’s going to be a deluge of eulogies in this space where I do these longform-y pieces once or twice a week. Because, outside of silly recaps and draft previews, there isn’t much else to do. The most productive thing we can do is recount our experiences with this team and try to wring whatever useful knowledge we can from them. So, y’know, I’ll be recapping the season. I’m making it sound dramatic when it’s not. But real talk: I’m sad this season has ended the way it has and annoyed it isn’t over already.
I remember when you guys used to do those rebuild plans for 2013. Since we are getting a bit closer to the draft, could you guys start doing those again? It would also be cool if us commenters would also give our own ideas about what the Cavs should do in the comments section of those posts.
This season has been an absolute war of attrition, and that includes my loyalty and attention span. Tankapalooza 2012 has absolutely killed my will to live.
I will take this season over 2010-2011 any day. So much more potential
Nothing like coming to my favorite blog and reading a detailed recap of my current life in the most recent post :)
Major positive….not living in Cleveland anymore, so I don’t have to watch this misery every night…
Having just gone through one of those “demi-divorces,” I can say that it seems to me both a terrible and a terribly appropriate analogy for this season. Let it end and let us build a team anew.
So dramatic. Man, we never should have flirted with the playoffs, its got all you people depressed when in the big picture this season couldn’t have gone much better. We have a pretty solid chance of landing an impact player (barnes would be a consolation prize at this point) in the draft, cap flexibility to spare, one future star in Kyrie (i’m not going to hedge here, the guy will make many (at least 5) all-star games, even if he doesn’t live up to his hall of fame potential), a young running mate who SIGNIFICANTLY improved on his by far biggest weakness as the season went on, watching his FT% jump from low 40s to mid 50s be seasons end in one of the hardest catagories to improve in, and we only started sucking when our best player got hurt with a non-career altering injury, and our 3rd or 4th best player who had no future here got traded for a first rounder and better pick next year.
Was it fun to watch any of the games in the last 2 months? No. If you want to build something great, you have to be willing to sacrifice. watching this season is the equivalent of missing out on a ton of college parties to bust your ass off in medical school, and next season or the season after, we will be collecting some damn nice PHD paychecks because of it. Suck it up and stop bitching.
Completely agree with Matt. We need to focus on the positives from this season: Kyrie, Gee’s improvement, Andy playing very well, multiple draft picks, and lots of cap space. Better times are on the way. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the prize.
I find both sides of the discussion, Matt and the original poster, to have a bit of merit. Gee and Thompson may not be as good as we want them to be, and that is probably my biggest concern. I have given up on expecting consistency/solid play from Lester, Donald, Samardo, Semih, Omri, and Luke. Might as well add Boobie to that list too. I worry that we both can’t get a good player in free agency, and that players in free agency wont want to come to Cleveland. I worry that our draft pick will end up 7th and we will take Jeremy Lamb, a player who I think will be good, but just isn’t at the Beal/MKG/Davis level of impact players. BUT
Kyrie Irving is a player.
Anderson Varejao is consistently mentioned when it comes to best value players for the amount of money he makes. If we want to keep him, great. If we find a deal for him that makes sense and brings back something worthwhile, great.
Tristan Thompson still shows a lot of promise, and will get a full summer with Cavs coaches to learn the game of basketball. He sure as hell didnt learn anything from Barnes down at Texas. No one questions the talent.
Alonzo Gee has proven himself to be a good perimeter defender who can excel in transition. He can improve his jump shot, and not force mid-range jumpers. He looked significantly better when Kyrie was out on the court.
Draft Picks – 2 first rounders this year, and I think next year might be the year Sacramento slips out of the lottery, which could mean 3 next year. If we trade Varejao for a first round pick, that would mean 4. crazy.
For my sanity’s sake, I really want to see this team play .500 ball next year and fight for a playoff spot. This year was fun because we were competitive with some good teams, and even beat a couple of them. We had guys worth watching. Next year i want to see some growth, some consistency. One thing I will not tolerate next year is tanking again. The benefits just cant reach the negatives of a losing culture, and our young guys not improving. We need to compete next year, all year.
I like the med school metaphor. Hopefully we won’t fail the “finals”.
I don’t think this season is even comparable to last. I REALLY enjoyed watching this team until Andy went down, and even kinda enjoyed it until Kyrie went down. C’mon Bradley Beal! It would sure be fun watching him and Kyrie take turns scoring tough baskets and making some noise as an up and coming 6th or 7th seed
The problem with the grand idea of sacrificing to be better is that much of the outcome of all this supposed sacrificing is entirely out of our control. It’s not like by watching a terrible team for a month we’re assured next year will be great – so much has to work out for that to happen (good drafting, smart FA signings, player progression, etc.)
That’s why these seasons hurt so much – all the talk about the future is exhausting when the future could really go either way. Cavs fans (and Cleveland fans) don’t we know how meaningful (or not) potential can really be?
Obviously there really isn’t another choice – we have to be this bad in order to draft to get good, etc., but that doesn’t mean we have to sigh and accept it. Colin really nailed it – I couldn’t be happier for this year to be done – it was incredibly hard to watch the last month of D-Leaguers/Geriatrics struggle game in and game out. It’s mentally exhausting and really kills any rational person’s love of the game.
Mallory,
I don’t think anyone is accepting being this bad. I believe the Cavs have done everything they could have to improve in the past two seasons. But they haven’t had cap space, and they need more talent. Both of those problems could be solved this off-season.
Overall, it’s been pretty tough to watch since LeBron left, but that could be changing very soon. I’m a little surprised that fans want to jump ship now, when the opportunity to make a change is just about here. They have the potential to add 2 quality starters before the start of next season. After all that Dan Gilbert has done to win a championship, are we really going to question his dedication now? My optimism is running higher, not lower.
No one said anything about jumping ship – in fact, we’re all eager for the off season. But as fans of the NBA (which I’m assuming everyone on here is) isn’t more than a little depressing that for two straights years we’ve had the least relevent team in the NBA? (I’m talking cumulatively here – obviously the Bobcats are much less relevent this year)
I’m optomistic about next year, but cautiously.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. I really don’t care what’s happened for the past two years. It’s in the past. I’d prefer to what’s right around the corner. Draft picks, cap space, and an owner willing to spend to win.
If Dan Gilbert wasn’t committed to winning…
If the Cavs were going to be stuck over the cap for the next few years….
If the Cavs had no (or few) draft picks in the next copule of drafts…
then, yes. There’s reason to be depressed. But I don’t believe any of these things are true.
IMO, if Cleveland can add one quality starter in FA (Mayo, Gordon) and one promising rookie (Beal, Barnes) they definitely have a shot at the playoffs.
I’d prefer to look at what’s right around the corner.
I agree with Scuzz completely. We are lucky to be in this situation (cap space, picks, owner willing to spend). Since I don’t think that we will be picking high enough to get Beal, I think we will end up with Barnes. Then, we could get Moultrie at the lakers pick. I would also like the Cavs to pick up Gordan and Asik in free agency. That would be an awesome offseason. Except for point guard, we would have either gotten a starter or good sub for every other position. Our team has so much flexibility for above average-good moves and picks.
All they really have to do is add the draft picks, stay relatively healthy (yes, that means you, Andy), and find a couple players that are better than Semih Erden, Anthony Parker, Luke Harangody, and Donald Sloan (which isn’t difficult in the least).
On another note, I posted this to ESPN earlier, and thought it might do well here. It involves how to fix the tanking epidemic that is really threatening to ruin the NBA.
I have a simple solution to the problem that doesn’t involve changing the lottery (though I’d change the percentages a little) system. Simply don’t allow teams to draft in the top 3 two years in a row. If a team gets a pick in the top 3, they automatically can’t get it again the next year. The best pick they could get is fourth, but if they trade their pick before the lottery, the team they trade it to would get their chances. Additionally, any team that drafts in the top five 2 years in a row can’t draft in the top five for a third year. The best pick they could get would be sixth or seventh. This makes bad teams trade their picks for good players, spreads the youth around and sends more veterans to bad teams. Three years in a row in the lottery in the top ten? The best you can do in year four is the 11th pick, etc. Four years a row in the lottery? You are automatically the last lottery pick the next year, but if you trade the pick before the deadline, the team you trade to automatically gets your number of lottery balls. This keeps teams from stinking year after year and forces them to trade their picks for players in order to get better. Also to avoid teams drafting for each other and cheating the system, no team that is locked out of a pick can have a player traded to them that was acquired in the top 3/5/10/14, etc. until the week of the trade deadline or next season. This is to keep a team from trading their pick to a team with a wink wink agreement to trade the player back to them. It’s a rough idea, but I really think it would cut down on the tanking, and incentivise teams not to tank year after year.
HoopsDogg, I don’t personally like that system, as a lot of first round picks bust, so only getting a chance at one top pick keeps the bad teams bad. And a trading team that knows the pick isn’t worth as much to you isn’t likely to give you a fair deal for a top 3/5/10 pick. And trading for veterans is hardly the guaranteed panacea everyone on this blog seems to make it out to be. There are tons and tons of trade/free agent busts every year, just as much as 1st round draft picks. not-top tier players depend a lot on there team dynamics, scenery, and just some luck to be effective, and swapping them from team to team can have disastrous results, especially when they are going to a team that has sucked for a couple years in a row. Not to mention traded players have shorter contracts and are more likely to flee from garbage teams
The current system is no threat to ruin the NBA, its been this way or worse for 35 years, and the NBA has never been better (except maybe MJ years, which also occurred with the same system and was kicked off with even more egregious tank jobs). Just cause ESPN sensationalizes doesn’t mean you need to believe them.
The current system is no threat to ruin the NBA, its been this way or worse for 35 years, and the NBA has never been better (except maybe MJ years, which also occurred with the same system and was kicked off with even more egregious tank jobs). Just cause ESPN sensationalizes doesn’t mean you need to believe them.
Matt -
Think about how many teams have tanked this year – teams traded good vet guys for nothing, teams sat “injured” players, etc. etc. Not all of those teams will strike gold this summer. What about them?
The fact is, as fans, we should demand higher standards of play year to year. Just because we have a shot at striking gold right now doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have at least a passable team (which right now we obviously do not)
I’m playing devil’s advocate, because obviously I’d rather we be bad at this point, but can you honestly say, as a fan of the NBA, that you’re happy we’re so bad right now? If we draft a bust with our high pick next year, and can’t sign a great FA, will you look at this season and say “I’m glad we sucked ass so we could draft lower”?
If the sky falls, will I be happy? Of course not. So what? There is nothing any of us can do about it, and its not like the cavs have actively tried to suck. The only thing that could be construed as that is trading Ramon, and that was clearly a maximizing assets for someone who is walking deal, not a suck for draft position deal. I will always be glad we tried to get something for Ramon, even if we draft a bust in the 20s this year and the Lakers have a better record than Miami next year.
What about bad teams that stay bad? I don’t care about them. They have cheap owners and bad management, it happens in every sport, and isn’t likely to tear any of the leagues apart. Luckily I don’t think the cavs fall under those categories, time will tell. But just cause I’m not guaranteed success doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit hear and whine that the system sucks. Any system that guaranteed success or failure is the system I WOULD whine about. Struggling to succeed is what competition is about.
It is a bad situation for players and the NBA. I’d personally like to know who’s actually watching the games for the Cavs right now. I’m not. I’m not going to watch a team intentionally trying to lose. People won’t pay to watch teams tank games and they won’t watch the game as it happens. I am a fan of a team. I like to watch basketball games. I love a winner as much as the next guy, but lack of parity and teams intentionally losing to “get better” is killing the regular season, which will kill the money, kill the excitement, and make athletes go play other sports. It’s as bad as it’s ever been, and in a way, the D-League with it’s easy access to people who can fill jerseys, has made it worse. I don’t see how anyone can’t see that if it continues the way it is, it’s going to become a bigger and bigger problem.
Its been this way for 35 years, with people decrying it and calling it terrible and not buying tickets the last 1/4 of the season the entire time. The league has gotten by just fine, and will continue to do so. If the same team tanks every year will it last? Of course not, it will be moved to a different city or forced to sell. if a few teams tank each year, with a revolving door of those teams tanking, will it make any difference to the league? It hasn’t for 35 years, and sensationalism in the media is unlikely to change that.
If you think its never been this bad, then you must never heard of the 1984 houston rockets. Tanking has a long history http://www.reclinergm.com/coin-flip-to-lottery-did-the-rockets-tank-to-get-olajuwon/ just for an example article. there are many more. I don’t think the game has gotten significantly worse in the 27 years since.
if you haven’t noticed HoopsDogg, its because you haven’t been paying attention. Its nothing new, and just cause you won’t pay to watch a team tank doesn’t mean that no one will. There are season ticket holders, hope is renewed every year, and dads want to take there kids to local games, they don’t know what tanking is. The league is not in any danger, no matter how pissed you are that your current team sucks at the moment. And the cavs have had a ton of injuries and one PLAYER who no longer gives a damn (jameson, who also has no interest in the teams long term future, so I don’t know how you blame the system for that), I don’t think that even qualifies as tanking.