It’s only two games, but the star-studded Cleveland Cavaliers have hardly been the free-wheeling, ball-sharing offensive juggernaut that so many predicted early in the 2014-2015 season. LeBron James and company have managed merely average offense thus far; their 103.4 offensive rating ranks 14th in the league. Half of that mediocrity, of course, is due to the season-opening outlier in which the four-time MVP played one of the worst games of his career and Cleveland scored just 90 points. But even the Cavs’ 114-108 overtime win over the defensive-oriented Chicago Bulls on Halloween didn’t spell offensive harmony.
Cleveland shot just 39.4 percent from the field and only 3-15 from beyond the arc against the Bulls. More troubling than a lack of shot-making might be shot distribution. The Cavaliers assisted on just 18 of their 41 baskets Friday night, and LeBron attempted 30 shots – a mark The King hit only once last season when he scored a career-high 61 points.
David Blatt’s team has had help on just 54.8 percent of its makes through the first two games of the season, the 24th-lowest rate in the NBA. That’s not exactly the type of offense expected from a team featuring playmakers like James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love and running a read-and-react system that’s lauded for creativity.
But like all those within the league mostly unfazed by takeaways from the season’s first week of play, LeBron isn’t concerned by the Cavs’ lack of offensive comfort and continuity. And though the numbers say otherwise, he’s adamant that selfishness isn’t the cause of Cleveland’s oft-stagnant offense. Why? The two-time champion simply won’t stand for it.
Via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
“I won’t allow individuals to be selfish,” James said after shootaround Tuesday morning in advance of Cleveland’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. “If I’m on the team, you automatically have to be unselfish. So, I’m not worried about it.”
Sacrifice is of utmost importance to the Cavaliers in their first year together. James, Irving, Love, and even supporting players like Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson will be asked to play roles in 2014-2015 that they’ve never held before.
There’s only so much ball to go around on a basketball team. And as LeBron knows from his time spent with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach, it takes time for players to warm to that reality. The Miami Heat only realized their immense offensive potential once they failed in 2010-2011 and were forced to change, after all.
So James understands the importance of players being receptive to change more than most. Of course, he isn’t the one who will have to endure real sacrifice. Blatt’s not taking the ball from the best player in the world, no matter what LeBron says about the Cavs being Kyrie’s team.
No matter, LeBron has the clout to wield such authority, and Irving, Love, and even Waiters have said all the right things about buying into a team mentality. That collective attitude will pay off on the court in the form of breathtaking offense soon enough – perhaps in a couple hours against the Portland Trail Blazers.
What do you think?
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