This might be asking a little too much, but with the 26-game skid behind us, could we see a consistent effort on a nightly basis? The win against the Clippers was great. Solid effort all around, inspired play. The loss to the Wizards was just pathetic. Why must the Cavaliers have an embarrassing letdown after such a great game? After the 15-point loss to the Wizards, I was quick to assume that the Cavaliers were back to their old ways. In my defense, I had every reason to make that assumption. The Cavs were lazy, carless, and appeared generally uninterested in Sunday night's game, and then last night happened.
A truly inspired win over the 2-time defending champs shocked the entire basketball world. How could the same team that got blown out by the previously winless on the road, Wizards, beat the Los Angeles Lakers? I personally could not believe what I was seeing. I was asked several times during the game, "What is going on?" and "Are they gonna hold on?" Perhaps it comes from being a longtime, suffering Cleveland sports fan, but I was convinced it was only a matter of time before the Lakers woke up and cruised to an easy win. It never happened.
The Cavaliers were resilient despite a severe discrepancy in talent. So my question is, who are these Cavaliers? I think it is fair to say after the wins over both LA teams, that this team is not bad enough to lose 26 games in a row again. But then again, I do not expect the Cavaliers to be beating teams such as the Lakers very often. In order for us to get a good idea of what this team needs to do to become competitive again, a consistent effort is necessary. Questions about personnel and strategies going forward will not be answered until management can paint an accurate picture of the 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers. Going into the all-star break, I really couldn't predict how many more games the Cavs will win the rest of the season. Is this a team that gets blown out by Washington? Or is it a team that hangs tough with the likes of the Mavericks and the Lakers? Of course they are somewhere in between the two extremes. Hopefully Byron Scott and Co. can figure out how to put forth the kind of effort that we saw on Wednesday night on a more regular basis. Hopefully we get a better idea of what type of rebuilding effort is ahead of us. I love the version of the Cavs that enter the break riding high on a huge upset over the Lakers, but the question remains, which version will emerge?