From Distance: Heir to the Throne?

four point play….

1. It was a rough week of Cleveland basketball for fans of tanking. The surging Cleveland Cavaliers have now won three out of their last four games! We might not need to organize a parade just yet. The Cavs did only beat three of the worst teams in all of basketball on their way to their winning week. But to “tank or die” folks, that is precisely why this week was so annoying. After knocking off the Knicks and Suns, the Cavs are now snugly tucked into only the third worst record in the NBA.

Fortunately, the Chicago Bulls have recently been playing at a competent level as well. As long as the Cavs climb no higher in the standings, they will still have an equal shot at claiming the number one overall pick.

Unfortunately for tanking fans, the return of Kevin Love has significantly lifted Cleveland’s overall play on both ends of the floor. With Kevin back in the starting line-up, the Cavs have an offensive game plan with specific objectives that had eluded them with the All-Star wearing street clothes.

Love’s play-making and outside shooting have a allowed Ante Zizic room as a strong dive man in the Pick and Roll. Though Ante missed a few bunnies against the Knicks, his presence on the offensive glass, and his good angle play defensively have created much better floor geometry for Cavs success.

With a front court of Zizic, Love, and Cedi Osman playing smart rotational help defense, the Cavs have been able to eliminate many of those easy buckets that had previously killed any chance of winning. There have still been many hiccups in the overall defensive scheme, but the contrast between “generally bad” and “all time horrific” has been rather stark.

2. Offensively, the improvement has been even more blatantly obvious. Coach Larry Drew already took the offensive reins from rookie Collin Sexton some time ago, and it has been for the best. Since Sexton has been taken off ball, he has played far more within himself taking fewer bad mid-range jumpers. Instead, Collin is running out quickly off misses knowing that an outlet pass is likely to come.

Sexton is leveraging his speed in the open floor to create easy hoops. He is also hoisting more frequently from deep while maintaining his accuracy. Essentially, Sexton is playing more like Darren Collison or Patrick Beverley. He is not best suited to play permanently on ball. He does however have a good skill set to contribute without having to have a particularly high usage rate.

By taking the ball from Collin and giving it to Cedi Osman, Drew has improved two players. Of course, Osman has himself to thank as well as it is clear that he is finally feeling more comfortable in NBA  games as a primary handler. Over the last week, I have seen more spin moves to a left-handed finish than I think I have seen in his previous time as a Cav. He is beginning to feel more confident in that left-handed LeBron-esque spin and finish.

At his 6’8″ stature, and with a quick first step, it is nearly impossible to stop Osman one-on-one if he is able to consistently finish either direction. By adding that left hand to his NBA repertoire, his game has expanded exponentially.

3. With Love (Nance and Delly  off the bench), it isn’t as though Cedi has to do all the play-making on his own. As we know, passing is often contagious. When your starting lineup begins to consistently make “hit ahead” passes and no dribble ball swings, it carries through to every single player on the team. Even Jordan Clarkson has made more simple ball swings over the last week than he had before Kevin returned to play. With the influence of Delly and Love, Jordan seems to occasionally notice his offensive teammates!

Many of us picked the Cavaliers to make the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed if they were healthy this season. Love’s return to the lineup, albeit against poor competition, has made that seem less ridiculous. If nothing else, the Cavs are far more entertaining to watch in this iteration than that pre-trade deadline abomination. The Cavs had four twenty plus scores against the Knicks. That screams balance and ball movement hat equals efficiency. Efficiency is fun!

4. Speaking of fun, the recent hubbub over the Los Angeles Lakers, and more specifically our longtime friend, Mr James, is both hilariously old news and comically new news. I get a kick out of various Media personalities claiming how smart they are for having pointed out Lebron’s defensive limitations before this past week. What is even more ridiculous is when they claim that no one else was reporting LeBron’s defensive demise before they did as far back as last year. Yes Ryen Russillo, I am making fun of you. You sage. It’s been about four years buddy.

I, for one, very much want to see the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. LeBron in playoff mode is too wonderful, and necessary, compared to LeBron in regular season mode. It would be such a shame if this whole year were to be wasted for the King without even getting the opportunity to remind people what he can be come playoff time. It would certainly start a conversation.

Approximately ten years ago, many fans still claimed Kobe Bryant to be the best player in the NBA even though it was objectively clear that LeBron was better than Kobe had ever even been. Instead, people focused on playoff success and poo pooed the regular season dominance that LeBron had displayed. They even derided LeBron’s playoff performances because he had not yet won a championship.

I think I will be on the right side of history when I claim now that LeBron is no longer the best player in the NBA. It may seem the wrong time to make such a claim considering James is still coming back from a groin injury, and is mired in a losing situation. I make the claim now not because I think LeBron is so much worse than he was only a year ago, but because the rest of the league has gotten better.

With Kevin Durant and now Giannis Antetokounmpo at the top of their games, it is hard to see LeBron as number one. The Greek Freak is basically having a LeBron 2009 season. We all know that LeBron was already the best player in the NBA that year even though the Cavs lost to the Magic. Was 2009 Kobe better than 2009 LeBron? No way.

Then again I’m going to disagree with myself in this whole argument. The primary reason why pro LeBron/anti Kobe people existed in 2009 was not solely based on LeBron’s superior regular-season production. It was also because LeBron was a monster in the postseason, despite his lack of championships. Kobe was rather overrated as a postseason performer.

I guess what I’m trying to say is Giannis Antetokounmpo is frickin good. We are going to look very foolish in four months if the Milwaukee Bucks take down this all-time great Warriors team on the back Giannis’s incredible play. Anyone have the guts to make the claim that Giannis is not only the  2019-2020 MVP, but that he is already the best player overall? That’s why I desperately want the Lakers to make the playoffs. LeBron is going to need a chance to defend his throne. Giannis is coming for him, or he might already have Bron in the rearview mirror.