Lebron on an Island

Things couldn’t have gotten much uglier in Cleveland this year: Two key players (Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao) missed training camp and the beginning of the season with contract disputes. Predictably, both wound up injured and neither regained the form that garnered them the new contracts in the first place.

In addition to those injuries, super-sub Daniel Gibson missed significant time with various ailments, and even Lebron James went down for six games. The Cavs record in those games? 0-6.

Then came the mid-season trade that sent 6 Cavalier players packing in exchange for four players from two different teams. The Cavs struggled to develop any sort of rhythm or chemistry following the trade and they had a particularly difficult time winning on the road.

Cleveland slogged through the 82 game regular season, beset by injuries, poor chemistry, and general malaise. They won five fewer games than they had won in the previous two seasons, and they entered the playoffs looking quite under whelming.

Yet, there they were.

They had the ball down by one point in Game 7 on the road against the team with the best record in the NBA. Against a team with a trio of stars. Against a team that won 22 more games than they did in the regular season.

How can a team that was so middling all season suddenly find themselves in such a position?

Lebron James has your answer.

But in the end, that one possession told the story of entire season. Cavs fans can only pray that it doesn’t tell the story of an entire career.

Lebron brought the Cavs back on Sunday as he has done time and again in his career. Down two games to none in 2006, the Cavs rallied and took the Pistons to Game 7, where they ultimately lost. Down two games to none in 2007, Lebron again rallied the Cavs against the Pistons; this time capturing the series in six games and sending the Cavs to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

And he did it again in 2008. Down two games to none to the Celtics, Lebron brought his team back to the brink. In Game 7, Lebron was brilliant. Paul Pierce was equally brilliant, but Lebron had an answer for virtually every tough shot Pierce made.

But in the end, when both Lebron and Pierce were triple-teamed and both stopped scoring, the Celtics had enough to finish. The Cavs did not.

Brings us back to that one possession.

Down 89-88 with under two minutes remaining, Cleveland had their first chance to take a lead in the game. If they score there, perhaps Boston never regains the lead. As he had been doing throughout the fourth quarter, Lebron handled the ball at the top of the key and attempted to drive the lane. He was met by three Celtics who cut off his path to the basket. Clearly, Boston was not going to let Lebron decide this game. As he always does, Lebron found the open man, but none of his fellow Cavaliers seemed able (or willing) to take the shot. The ball bounced around from man to man, eventually landing back with Lebron, who had to take a desperation three as the shot clock buzzer sounded. No good.

Even with that miss, the Cavs still had one more good look. Down by three with less than a minute remaining, James passed to a wide open Delonte West, who missed a game-tying shot. From there, Boston sealed the deal with free throws.

Lebron led the charge. He just needed someone (anyone) to help him shut the door on Boston. When Pierce couldn’t get open in the final minutes, he found Kevin Garnett, who hit a tough jumper. When Lebron couldn’t open in the final minutes, there was no Kevin Garnett to bail him out.

Michael Jordan won two championship rings behind the game-winning shots of Steve Kerr and John Paxson. Having a Hall of Famer in Scottie Pippen taking some of the pressure off didn’t hurt either.

The players surrounding Lebron are solid. They are tough, both physically and mentally. They play hard and fight till the bitter end. But there simply isn’t anyone with enough talent to compliment Lebron. He simply has to work too hard to lead this team. The Cavs have a bunch of guys who are good 4th and 5th options on a championship team. But they desperately need 2nd and 3rd options.

Much of the blame in the eyes of the fans falls on head coach Mike Brown. But I believe those criticisms to be misguided. True, the offense certainly seems to lack creativity at times, but Brown gets his players to buy into his defensive system, and for the most part, he utilizes what he has quite well.

Lebron is under contract for two more years in Cleveland. The clock is ticking. If I’m sitting here writing a similar story two years from now, Lebron may have played his last game in a Cavs uniform. But there is plenty of time for the Cleveland front office to keep their star happy. Following next season, the Cavs will shake loose of at least a little over $30 million in salary, making them a major player in the free agent market. General Manager Danny Ferry would be smart to focus on that available space and not panic heading into next season. He should make some general tweaks heading into 2009, with an eye on the big prize in 2010 when the rubber will meet the road in terms of keeping Lebron.

Lebron is a local kid. He wants to win in Cleveland. If the Cavs do the right things, he will stay. It’s not as if he needs a Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant to compliment him. He just needs one or two more guys that are capable of creating their own offense. A couple of guys that can hit a shot in an 89-88 game.

As a Cavs fan who clearly remembers the misery of the franchise in pre-Lebron era, I can tell you how nice it is to be playing Game 7’s in late May. I shudder at the thought of returning to those dark days.

We have the King. Time to find his Court.

The clock is ticking.