Surprisingly, Anderson Varejao didn't fix everything. Cleveland hasn't put together a decent string since Varejao ended his standoff with Cavs management nor since LeBron James deemed his finger healthy enough to play with. As such, Cleveland sits at 12-16, a worse record than Atlanta, Indiana and New Jersey, and only the 9th best in the conference. Cleveland's fans are worried -- they booed the Cavs through the Sunday loss to Golden State.Thus, it is not a surprise that Cleveland would be looking at the trade market. There's apparently fire behind the rumor the Cavs are interested in Andre Miller, though Philadelphia Inquirer Sixers beat man Mark Narducci says Miller's too good for anything Cleveland has. (I disagree on this note; Drew Gooden and expirings are plenty for a 31-year-old, expensive point guard who doesn't score enough.)
The problems run deeper of course -- Cleveland got to the Finals on the back of their terrific team defense a year ago; that same defense is #26 in the league right now. Unfortunately, you can't point to one position on defense which needs improvement -- the whole team must tighten up to get this team back to defensive heights. And you almost wonder if a different target -- say, a Ron Artest -- should be targeted to firm up the team's postseason aspirations.
ADVERTISEMENT
_thumbnail.jpg "NASCAR Cowboy Hats")
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Doesn't score enough? Miller is avg 16 points a game and is having no problems scoring on the Sixers; during the Sixers win over Memphis he shouldered the majority of the scoring load while Igoudala was struggling in the first half.
Posted at 5:30PM on Dec 24th 2007 by Josh
2. Added bonus for getting Artest: he's antagonize division rival fans in Indy, Chicago and Detroit...
Posted at 11:56PM on Dec 24th 2007 by Matt W.