FanPost

What the Cavs Need to do to Win an NBA Championship

Oh, how ONE off-season changes everything...

It started with the prodigal son, LeBron James coming home. Not only did the Cavs' situation change, but the whole landscape of the NBA changed because of LeBron's decision. *Cough* I predicted he would come home in one of my earlier fan posts a few months ago...*Cough* In case you forgot, LeBron is currently the best player in the world.

The Cavs weren't done yet, though. They had already signed Kyrie Irving, a 2 Time All-Star, Rookie of the Year, Rising Stars MVP, All-Star MVP, 2013 3PT Champion, and now a FIBA Gold Medalist as well as being the FIBA World Cup MVP, for the next five or six years to a max extension.

LeBron and Kyrie sounds like a pretty scary duo, right? Well, that wasn't enough for the Cavs either. They decided to trade their two number 1 overall picks (Andrew Wiggins & Anthony Bennett) for superstar power forward Kevin Love. Love is a 3 Time All-Star, a 2012 3PT Champion, 2011 NBA Most Improved Player, 2011 Rebounding Leader, NBA 2009 All-Rookie Second Team, and a 2 Time All-NBA Second Team player. He's also won a couple gold medals in FIBA and the Olympics himself.

Since the Love trade, the Cavs are considered by many people (myself included) to be the favorites to win the NBA Championship. This dangerous trio with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love has the potential to be one of the greatest offensive trios ever, if not THE greatest offensive trio ever. Also, take note that we haven't even mentioned Dion Waiters, TT, Mike Miller, James Jones, Shawn Marion, Delly, a healthy Brandon Haywood (?), and possibly Ray Allen. Of course, there are some questions about what the defense would look like. People say that the Cavs' shortcoming will be on the defensive end, but I don't necessarily believe that. IF everything goes as planned, we could be a top 10 defensive team. During the FIBA tournament, Kyrie showed good effort on defense that we've never seen before from him. He still has much to learn on that end, but giving effort is the first step to becoming a good defensive player.

LeBron James, while locked in, is the best perimeter defender in the NBA. If you compare his defensive stats from last season to previous years, though, he had a down year defensively. The difference here is that he had a down year defensively by HIS standards. Instead of being elite/otherworldly, he was good. LeBron not performing up to his defensive standards is most likely because he had to carry much of the offensive load as Dwyane Wade would rest his knees and sit out for a lot of games. Now, with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving being the second and third offensive options, LeBron shouldn't have to worry about wasting his energy on offense as much and focus on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, the same thing goes for the whole Cavs squad. Everybody should have enough energy for the defensive side because they won't have to worry about scoring on offense as much.

When healthy, Andy is a quality defensive center. He does everything well on that end except for protecting the rim. Kevin Love could never be an elite defensive player, but he can be above average. TT also has some nice defensive potential, due to him being mobile, athletic, and having a nice wingspan. Shawn Marion is still a very good defender, as he's still able to defend 3's and 4's. Dion could also become a good defensive player, because he has the athletic ability to become one. Delly, as we all know, is a bulldog on defense and always gives maximum effort when he's on the court.

I'm not too worried with our lack of rim protection because having good perimeter defense means that wouldn't matter as much. For example, look at the past Miami Heat championship teams. They didn't have any elite rim protector on their team, but what they did have was elite perimeter defense. LeBron and Wade we're obviously leading the pack on this, and it led to two championships. This Cavs team could possibly do the same thing.

But as much as I've talked about defense, that is NOT the most important thing the Cavs need to do to win the championship. Of course, it's definitely required, but this Cavs team biggest need is chemistry. Sacrifices will have to be made for this team to go to the next level. For all of the offensive options on this team, there's only one basketball to shoot with. Kevin Love won't get all of the shots he got when he was playing for the Timberwolves. Same thing goes for Kyrie and Dion. Heck, it goes for the entire team. When you have so many offensive options on one team, there's only so many shots you can put up. This is where learning from the past comes into play.

In this excellent piece from Greg Swartz from Bleacher Report, he explains how the Cavs could learn from the past.

I absolutely agree with everything Greg Swartz stated in that article. Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, and Larry Nance all made sacrifices so the Cavs could be successful. As Swartz states, the flair and swagger weren't there with Price, Daugherty, and Nance, but it's definitely there with LeBron, Irving, and Love. The past Miami Heat big 3 is also a good example. They didn't win in their first year, but they went on to repeat as two time champions because they sacrificed for the team. Wade let LeBron be "the man" because he realized that it was best for the team. Bosh realized that him being the third option was best for the team.

Even though the Cavs team from the late 80's to early 90's couldn't get to the promised land, (insert Michael Jordan game winners here) they did what the current Cavs team exactly needs to do to be successful. They need to sacrifice and create chemistry to get to the mountain top.

Here's more from Greg Swartz's article.

Take this quote from then Philadelphia 76ers head coach Fred Carter in a 1993 article by Harvey Araton of The New York Times: "They have no flair. They have no superstar. They have no swagger. They just come out and methodically get the job done."

While this may have been viewed as one of the most backhanded compliments in sports history, it speaks volumes for the way those stars played together.

That night, Cleveland won its 12th straight game, at one time going on a 27-to-1 run that was described as "humiliating dominance".

Price was a talented scorer but could also use the pick-and-roll to set up teammates as well as any guard in that era. Daugherty chipped in his share of scoring and rebounding but was also viewed as one of the best passing big men in the game. Nance regularly put up gaudy scoring numbers, yet was also a three-time member of the NBA's All-Defense Team.

If Price's shot wasn't falling, he knew Daugherty and Nance could make up the offense themselves. If Daugherty got into foul trouble, Nance could slide over and protect the rim in his place.

The point being, each of Cleveland's star players didn't just focus on one area; they excelled in many. This was a group that not only meshed their own talents together, but were willing to do whatever was best for the team.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on FearTheSword.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff at FearTheSword

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