The 2009-10 NBA season for the Cleveland Cavaliers ends without a championship. Again.
Despite a concerted effort to build a championship team during the offseason (Shaq, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon) and in the middle of the season (Jamison, re signing Ilgauskas), LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers will again watch the NBA finals from their homes after being whipped in 6 games by the geriatric Boston Celtics.
Before joining the other speculators on where James will play next year, let me first say that I think James should stay in Cleveland, if he really wants to prove he is a winner. Late in Game 6, one of the announcers, Mark Jackson I believe it was, mentioned that it was time for James to take charge. It was not the time for James to play pick and roll or dish off and expect his teammates to step up, rather, it was time for him to lead by example and take charge. An assessment of Cleveland's play in Game 5 & 6 led to the conclusion that the Cavaliers as a team simply quit, led by none other than their superstar LeBron. Cleveland management did their part...they assembled the best team they could to try and win the title this year. Unfortunately, the players both individually and collectively just didn't get the job done. As they enter the offseason, the team needs to assess and answer the following questions:
1. Does LeBron have what it takes to be a winner? In Games 5 & 6, my honest assessment is that LeBron gave up on the game before his teammates did. Shaq showed more intensity and desire to win in games 5 & 6 than their supposed leader LeBron did. There just didn't seem to be any fight in him after the Cavs fell behind.
2. Is Mike Brown really any good as a coach? Despite his coach of the year award last year and his impressive regular season winning numbers, all I see in Brown is a coach who wins because he has a team stronger than every other team. He has not shown any indicator that he can coach a team to play at a higher level than simply matching the sum of the parts. And for the past two years, his team has lost to a weaker team, all the more indicative that his coaching does not add to the overall capability of the Cavs.
During the past two seasons, the Cavs have been the league's strongest team on paper. And yet, their on-court performance has not been able to even match up to the level of their talent. In fact, as their playoff flameouts have shown, they end up playing below their talent level. When that happens, and in the absence of any major personality issues within the team, that just means that the team's leaders have not been able to rally the team behind them and to get the team to perform as more than the sum of the parts. Simply put, Cleveland has failed to win the title the past few years because of a failure of leadership, both on the court (LeBron) and on the bench (Brown). And if LeBron really wants to show he is a winner, and that he can LEAD a team to a title (rather than just being a player on a championship team), he should stay with Cleveland and build on the core of this team for another run at the title. This year he learned how to congratulate his opponents after losing (after snubbing the Magic last year). Maybe this offseason he'll learn how to lead a team to a championship.
