Cleveland coach David Blatt is pleading for managed expectations, saying things like “we have a lot of work to do.” But the fact is with the talent the Cavaliers put on the floor each night they’ll be expected to beat everybody. The only thing the Cavs may not have is enough basketballs. The NBA is looking into shortening games, but the league is irrationally determined to remain a one-ball-at-a-time sport. And that’s going to be hard for LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Shawn Marion, Dion Waiters and company.
Waiters must be thinking WTF–I was just about to become a star! And Love is already talking about touches and shots. Irving is sure to cause problems–it was HIS team just a year ago. Now he’s like Daniel ‘Boobie’ Gibson all of a sudden. Irving was the best player on his team last year. So was LeBron James. So was Kevin Love. But as Bleacher Report notes: “there’s just no realistic scenario in which Love is going to play as big a role as he did in Minnesota.” They’ll all be talking about sacrifice, which is David Blatt’s job to enforce. Enforced sacrifice sounds hard. What about an extra ball?
