Once upon a time, you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime
Didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware Doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all
Kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal
There's genius in the words of Bob Dylan.
66 wins, one division title, one coach of the year, one MVP, one dominant home-court advantage, all boosted by the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA.
Gone.
There was a wondrous feeling of destiny about this team, shared by about two million Northeast Ohio sports fans -- myself included.
Gone.
Following a 30-point loss disguised as a 13-point loss in Game 6 at Amway Arena, I sat there speechless with three friends who were rooting for either the Cavs or a LeBron-Kobe Finals.
Gone.
So the question becomes...
How does it feel?
There's no cute, curt description of agonizing pain that fits. There was simply paralysis. I sat there for 15 minutes without saying a word, and when the time came for the TNT crew to present the Magic with the Eastern Conference championship trophy, I bolted for my room faster than LeBron James bolted for the team bus last night.
There was no other way to respond to the first unqualified playoff failure of the LeBron James era. Pushing the Pistons to seven games in the 2006 conference semis was an unexpected boost for the future. Just being around for the Spurs to sweep in the 2007 NBA Finals was a tremendous feeling. The Celtics were too strong for a Cavs team discombobulated by a season's worth of distractions in last spring's conference semis, and that series still went the distance.
It was a run of overachievement as encouraging as Cleveland's run of heartbreak. I find it awkward when people my age reference the Drive, or the Shot, or any other disappointment that took place when we couldn't walk yet, so I stick to what I know: Art Modell moving the Browns, the Game 7 implosion in the 1997 World Series, the Cavs' record-setting choke job in 2004-05, the fumbling away of the 2007 ALCS, the utter futility of the Browns since their return.
I think the 1995 World Series is a fairly apt comparison of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. The Tribe brought the offense, the Braves brought the defense (i.e. pitching). This year's Magic brought the offense, and this year's Cavs were supposed to bring the defense.
Instead, the Magic proved beyond a doubt they are the best team in the NBA. They throw the ball in the post to Dwight Howard, who either schools his defender one-on-one or finds open teammates when he's doubled. Those teammates either re-post Howard, use their athleticism to get to the basket themselves, pull up for a jumper or find another open teammate. The Magic are equipped with an army of tall, strong players who can shoot from anywhere. More importantly, the ball never stops moving in Orlando's offense, and they get high-percentage shots because of it. The Cavs are as good as anyone in the league on defensive rotations, and they looked silly chasing Orlando's shooters around the floor. When it's clicking, the whole operation is basically unguardable.
And yet, it's not the offense that won Orlando the series. As thoroughly obnoxious as Stan Van Gundy is (a Marlins cap at practice? Really?), his non-stop stressing of defense has given the Magic a supreme advantage. People will bemoan LeBron's lack of help, but the Magic didn't luck out because of it. They were ready for anything. They have big, physical perimeter players who can defend most guys one-on-one, and when a player like LeBron James is on the wing, they funnel everything into Dwight Howard, who has done a better job of bodying up drivers and altering shots without fouling. The Magic were disciplined, they were crisp, they got big stops when they needed them, and it's a credit to their staff, no matter how prehistoric Mike Brown's offense is.
That didn't stop LeBron from single-handedly keeping the Cavs in every game but the last one. I know it sounds trite, especially coming from a Cleveland fan, but he is truly the best basketball player on the planet and an otherworldly talent, the likes of which we haven't seen since Michael Jordan. Isn't it amazing that people still find ways to criticize a 24-year-old who just averaged 35.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists in a single postseason, including 38.5, 8.3 and 8.0 in the conference finals? When LeBron improves his post-up game and adds Kobe's killer instinct, the results may be incomparable.
Basketball is still a big man's game, however, and it's Dwight Howard, not LeBron, representing the East in the NBA Finals. Howard is also the leader of a more complete team, and as savvy as Danny Ferry's trade for Mo Williams was, more help is needed. Jalen Rose said it best on Sportscenter following the game last night: The Cavs have a bunch of specialists. Good teammates? Yes. Hard-nosed guys? Yes. But still specialists. Delonte West has a versatile game, but he's better suited being the first guy off the bench. Anderson Varejao can defend, rebound and bring energy. Daniel Gibson can hit 3s. Wally Szczerbiak can hit 3s (although his defense did improve). Ben Wallace can defend. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Joe Smith are big bodies that can shoot and provide a veteran presence. Mo Williams can be a terror on offense, but he was decidedly un-clutch for most of the postseason, and it seems he's best suited being the third option.
That leaves a hole at LeBron's side, a void that still hasn't been filled after six years. The prospects this summer are rather bleak, and Varejao is a free agent who will likely command $10 million a year. The Cavs' payroll will come down a bit, considering Szczerbiak's expiring contract and Wallace talking of retirement and a buyout. But there's a very good chance the Cavs will be a little worse next season.
Of course, any steps backward will feed the LeBron-to-New-York speculation, which is only going to hit its furious apex in the next 12 months. LeBron might have to accept that he won't have a sidekick in Cleveland before next summer, when the organization will have enough money to give him a gigantic extension and still sign any of the superstars available. Will he accept it? That's the million-dollar question.
I suppose there's something encouraging in all this. The superior Orlando Magic simply exposed the elephant in the room. The Cavs were a tight-knit, talented group that played together and had one transcendent star, but they weren't a truly great team. The fact that LeBron still led them this far only makes the future brighter.
Maybe, just maybe, that's the pathetically optimistic Cleveland fan talking. This team was supposed to buck the losing and win a championship. It's not what the Cavs hoped for, it's what they expected. It didn't happen.
It didn't happen for us, either. The drought continues.
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal
