Whether he’d admit it our not, Byron Scott has to be questioning his decision to take the helm of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are now mired in an 11 game losing streak, and they’ve only notched a single win since facing LeBron and the Heat on December 2nd.
On Tuesday night, Cleveland had one of those performances that may haunt them for a while. The Cavs nearly got doubled up, 112-57, by the Los Angeles Lakers. Their 57 points and 29.9% from the field were both NBA season lows. The Lakers really pulled back on the reigns in the second half, and Pau Gasol was the only Laker to surpass 28 minutes on the court, yet Cleveland never mounted any type of rally to regain respectability.
After the game Scott told reporters he was embarrassed by the effort. “I thought that was embarrassing,” he said. “I told them at halftime, `You look scared. You look flat-out scared. You’re playing against the world champions, and instead of just competing and playing hard, you look scared.”
Kobe Bryant, who teamed with Scott as a rookie, said he felt for the coach. “It’s a tough situation to be in,” Bryant said. “He’s like an older brother to me, so it’s always tough to see him go through something like that.”
Others, however, we’re not so compassionate. During the finals minutes of the game, LeBron James posted the following on his Twitter page:
Crazy. Karma is a b****.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything
While no direct mention of Cleveland or the Cavaliers was made, Yahoo Sports drew the easy connection that the tweet was, in fact, a barb at James’ former team. Perhaps LeBron believes the Cavaliers deserved what they were getting.
In any event, it appears Scott may have bitten off more than he can chew. It’s not just the loss of LeBron, but multiple other changes that sent the Cavs reeling. No more Shaquille O’Neal or Zydrunas Ilgauskas inside, as both guys are now starting on top Eastern Conference teams. Anderson Varejao is out for the year now, and many of the other key guys on the roster have been banged up as well.
In addition to all that, the Cavs appear to have quit. Since they were all palling around with LeBron six weeks ago, and James, in turn, torched his former team for 38 points in a 118-90 Heat win, Cleveland has apparently lost all passion and heart. They are 1-20 since that point, with the only victory a surprising overtime triumph over the Knicks in mid December.
It has been a perfect storm of injuries, departures, and defeatist mentality that has doomed this vessel. And Byron Scott is now the captain of a crumbling ship. It doesn’t matter how well you steer, if there are giant gashes in the hull, the ship is going down. Hopefully Scott can find a life raft.
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