LeBron James is stating the obvious, the Cleveland Cavaliers are not a good basketball team. Right now, the Cavaliers are struggling on both ends of the ball something that was highlighted by a home loss to the Detroit Pistons. James is certainly not happy about the way things are looking for the team, but is not ready to hit the panic button. As concerns rise over head coach David Blatt, James says fault falls on everyone.
When James signed with the Cavaliers he told the media that he knew the next few years could be challenge. He stated that championships would not come right away and things would take time to work out before success started. He was certainly right in that assumption as he has started multiple times after the losses to the Miami Heat and the Pistons that the Cavaliers are nowhere near a championship right now.
"We're not a very good team," James said, via ESPN.com. "As far as on the court, we're still trying to find our way as well. We've won some good games, we've lost some games. But right now, we're just not very good in every aspect of the game that we need to be to compete every night."
The Cavaliers are struggling on defense after losing Anderson Varejao to an injury. The continue to turn the ball over, putting up 18 against Detroit. Kyrie Irving is dealing with knee issues along with James who sat out against the Atlanta Hawks. Kevin Love admits that right now they just simply are not doing a good job on either side of the ball.
Blatt takes blame for the losses noting that the team is just not competitive at the moment. ESPN has reported that there is a divide between the players and Blatt as several players do not believe in his methods and plans for the teams. James and Irving have both denied that idea stating their relationships with Blatt are just fine.
Blatt is concerned as injuries pile up. With Varejao out, the Cavaliers will be forced to make some kind of trade in the upcoming weeks before the deadline. Tristan Thompson and Love are filling in for the short-term, but they are not long-term answers. Irving is slowly returning which is good news since his backups combined to go 1-for-11 against the Pistons.
"We're going through a few things right now," Blatt said. "We lost some pretty important players. On one hand, it's easy to overlook and just say, 'Hey, everybody else step it up, and it's going to be OK.' On the other hand, particularly if it's tough, you miss those guys. But it's just at that point that you have to be more competitive and more determined and fight your way through that, or else this happens. It's not an excuse.