Nothing to Worry About?

photo courtesy of espn.com

CLEVELAND, OHIO - I'm at a loss for words (actually no, I'm not). After the loss to the Magic Monday night at home, Cavs star Lebron James told the media that the team was still close to the top in the East and that there was "Nothing to worry about (and boy was he ever wrong)." Tonight, the Cavs played host to the Philadelphia 76ers, a team who was coming in on the second night of a back to back and had previously been 5-20 on the road this year (they were also 1-11 on the second night of back to back games this year). The Cavs let another one slip away 118-115 in double overtime, and now we have to wonder when things are going to turn around. Andre Iguodala played a fantastic game, scoring 34 points (including 12-12 from the line). He came up very big down the stretch, taking it to our beloved King, and scoring at will (Did anyone else see Lebron stand and watch Andre shoot and make the three pointer at the end of regulation that cut it to a 1 point game? Or maybe you saw Lebron escort Iguodala to the basket at the end of regulation to sink the basket that put the game into OT? I must have been having a bad dream).

Let me first say that yes, Lebron James is one of the best players in the NBA today. He is our only realistic chance at a championship anytime in the near future, and for that reason maybe we're expecting too much out of the 22 year old. Tonight he scored 39 points, but allowed his man to score 34 (The problem here is that Iguodala hit all of his free throws, and James missed 3 huge free throws down the stretch. Is this ever going to stop being a point of concern with this guy?). But hey, there's nothing to worry about! Tonight's "Average player who played out of his mind against the Cavs Award" goes to Samuel Dalembert, who went off for 20 and 10 (This is double his yearly pts. average). Congrats Sammy!

After the game, Mike Brown told the media that the team needs to "reestablish it's defensive identity." Hey Mike, there is no defensive identity! Lebron James has proven to be unable to cover anyone 1-on-1, and the slow lateral movement of our enforcer in the middle (Yes, I'm talking about Z, who's hardly an enforcer and eats more elbows than any center in the game) has proven to be a major crutch in our helpside defense. Offensively we don't run, we don't shoot for a high percentage, we don't move without the ball and we don't make free throws (Things are lookin' good). Friday the Wine & Gold pushovers go into Philly to mix it up with these same feisty Sixers, and then they'll host Phoenix on Sunday (We match up about as well with these guys as Dennis Rodman did with Carmen Electra). However, all of these problems that I just discussed aren't significant, because King James says there's "Nothing to Worry About."