Jockeying for Position

Hey, Cavs fans! It’s AC – what’s happening?

The Cavaliers definitely struggled through the month of March, and frankly, I’m glad it’s over.

I think basically, it’s been the change of personnel. Our system is set up where you have to not just know the system, but have a good feel for the system. And it’s taken a while for that to happen.

And when you look at the injuries – if you’re going to be together for a while and be a good team, you have to play around 30 games before you have a feel for what’s going on. And that’s basically the situation: we just haven’t had enough continuity to make it work. You see spurts of it, but then somebody gets injured and it slips away.

But time’s running out. So you almost have to force it now; and let’s hope we can get the job done by doing it that way.

Can the Cavaliers still get it done in the postseason? Of course they can. But I think the key is going to be having home court advantage in the First Round. That’s going to be the key to getting us over that hump. I think if we can get past that first series, we’ll be ready to roll. (I should say, if we get through that first series healthy, then we’ll be ready to roll.)

Coach Brown had to make a change after that Detroit game on Saturday, and so far, it’s worked out well. Our problem, I think, is that we come out too player-friendly in the first quarter and we just kind of go through the motions – you can tell by the body language.

I think by inserting Devin Brown into the starting lineup, he changes that dynamic a little. Devin’s the kind of guy who only knows how to play one way – 100 percent. And I think that’s going to create that attitude early in the game, which we need.

Sasha can get his minutes back, but he’s got to earn them, simple as that. That’s what all coaches want. You have to earn your minutes. He’ll just have to focus better, moving forward.

One guy who definitely seems to be picking up his game is Delonte West, who is finally getting back to the aggressive play that I love seeing out of him.

Think about it: what have the Cavaliers been looking for ever since they got LeBron? The “Robin” to go with the “Batman.” We’ve needed someone who can give some balance to LeBron. The other day against Philly, he gave LeBron four or five assists and he scored on four or five shots that LeBron assisted on – and they were key baskets at the right time.

But what I like about Delonte is when he pushes the ball and flattens the defense out. When the defense is flat and you have LeBron or Ben or Z coming in behind that, there’s not much a team can do about it – because now you have some major horses coming at you full-steam.

I would tell Delonte: ‘If you can get to the hoop, get to the hoop and don’t worry about mistakes. He cannot worry about mistakes. This is not a perfect game. Go out and play the game. The more you relax, the better you’ll play. The tighter you are, the worse you’ll play. It’s as simple as that.

And you can see that when he plays like that, he’s so much better. You can see that his defense is already pretty strong, and he gets off his shot very quickly. He’s a solid point guard, but he’s got to be the point guard. He’s got to be the facilitator. He gave LeBron some key baskets; LeBron gave him some key baskets. It’s a good mixture, and the rest of the guys can play off of that.

That’s a nice one-two punch and we’ll need those kinds of combinations down the stretch.

There are seven games left and I think if we win our next two or three, we can lock up the fourth seed. I think if we lose two of these next three, it’s going to be a fight to the finish. The all-important thing at this point in the season is the loss column. And I think we’re up three games on both teams trying to get at us.

But I think with the amount of games we have left, if we win the next three right now, we should be able to close it out.

Actually, I think having to fight for it will re-energize the team. They understand how important it is to have that homecourt advantage. They have to understand how important it is, especially with all the injuries and new players. They’ll need that in the First Round – to get their feet under them and be ready to come out and play in the Second Round.

If any team in the entire NBA understands the importance of seeding, the Cavaliers would be that team. After what happened last year, how that last game changed their fortunes. They got a good seed and by playing well, they were able to run their way to the NBA Finals.

And that should definitely be enough motivation to get them through the final seven games.