SH Blog: LeBron James says 29-point loss to Hawks is not embarrassing, Mavericks trying to acquire Rajon Rondo

After going on an eight-game tear through the early parts of December, it looked as though the Cleveland Cavaliers were finally starting to figure things out. LeBron James took on more of a point forward’s role, Kyrie Irving became the go-to scorer, and Kevin Love was seemingly the third option on most nights.

But just as things began to look much better, the tides have turned again recently, with the Cavaliers losing three of their last four contests, including Wednesday’s 127-98 blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks at home. In the previous contest between these two teams back on Nov. 15, the Hawks were blown out by the Cavaliers by an eerily similar score of 127-94.

So how are James and company reacting to such a terrible loss on their own floor? Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com has quotes from the locker room:

James’ worst loss as a Cavalier was also in the playoffs — a 36-point loss in Game 3 of the first round against Washington in 2008.

So perhaps that’s why when James was asked if he was “embarrassed” by the 29-point shellacking he and his teammates had just endured, he shot back “nah, I’m embarrassed losing the Finals.”

“We’ve got some work to do tomorrow,” James said. “I don’t view it as we’ll get ’em next time. We’ve got some work to do, we need to figure out why we keep having so many break downs.”

[…]

“I don’t want to get up and walk out of here, that’s not fair to you people, but I don’t have too, too much to say,” Blatt said. “But I will say this.  That was embarrassing how we played. I apologize to all the good fans who came out here, as they always do. Really just a poor, poor performance.”

Blatt was on the verge of despondence. “I thought our defense was nonexistent throughout.”

[…]

Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, reacted to the bad night of team defense by running back out onto the court for upwards of 50 minutes of … shooting?

“I just felt that way,” Irving responded later, when asked why he went out to shoot after taking just nine shots (making four) against the Hawks.

Of the loss, Irving said, “I wouldn’t necessarily call it embarrassing, but it’s something we can learn from. That’s it.”

Talk about all over the place.

To James, the loss was not embarrassing. He seems to be taking a patient, diplomatic approach to the situation rather than overreacting. He, at least, does realize that the team’s defensive issues are very much real – through more than a quarter of the season, they are the ranked as the eighth-worst defensive team in the league. It’s clear that this is a personnel thing more than anything else, so talking through it may not be the solution, but that’s about the only option James seems to have right now.

Of course, David Blatt took a completely opposite approach, blasting his team for what was, in fact, an embarrassing performance. The way they lost was inexplicable, especially given that starting point guard Jeff Teague was out of the contest due to a hamstring issue.

Then there is Irving, who perhaps had a problem with his shot more than anything else, given his decision to work on it after the loss. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today has more on this:

“Getting good looks. Just have to knock them down for our team,” Irving said. “It’s frustrating for myself when I’m getting the looks I want to get and they’re either in and out or I’m just being lazy with my jump shot. I’ve just got to figure it out. Tonight, just getting extra shots up. That’s what I needed to do, and I felt like I needed to do and a couple of my teammates came out there.”

Asked to explain what he meant by “lazy with my jump shot,” Irving said, “It’s just a few inches to the left, a few inches to the right right now. That’s why a little extra work never hurts. Just got to knock down the looks I’m getting.”

But Irving said it has nothing to do with form or technique.

“Alright guys, let’s not go deep into my jump shot,” he said, “because I’m the basketball player and you guys just watch. For me, I’m very meticulous when it comes to jump shooting. The coaches really can’t do anything. It’s got to come from me knocking down open looks. My teammates have to trust in me and continue to give me the ball in order for us to be successful and part of our process of growing, I’ve just got to knock down the open looks I’m getting off the ball.”

There is nothing wrong with working on your game. In some ways, Irving should be praised for showing good work ethic even after such a tough loss. That said, the fact that he’s working on his shot, of all things, after getting blown out by 29 points makes you wonder if there is a great understanding of where his team’s biggest issues lie right now. The timing of his desire to work on getting shots up is, well, peculiar at best.

There is a clear problem for the Cavaliers at the shooting guard spot right now. From a long-term standpoint (even when discussing this season alone), starting the 36-year-old Shawn Marion at that position is borderline ridiculous. He’s not a shooter, for one, and is best-suited to play the forward positions – preferably in a backup role, as he probably expected to be when he decided to go to Cleveland. Yet, that’s what they’ve been employing since making the decision to bring Dion Waiters off the bench. For what it’s worth, the front office is trying to correct this major, major issue, from Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group:

To upgrade the position, Cleveland was in talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves for Corey Brewer, but those conversations have subsided.

As of now, a rash of injuries has deterred Minnesota from handing over their best perimeter defender.

The idyllic fit for the Cavaliers to fill their void for toughness, shooting and defensive tenacity resides in the Pacific Northwest: Wesley Matthews of Portland Trail Blazers. Cleveland has adored Matthews for quite some time and its quest of him has been repeatedly vetoed, league sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Barring an unexpected plummet, the Trail Blazers are dismissing all overtures for Matthews. He is a free agent at the end of the season and they have every intention of re-signing him next summer, a league source said.

When it comes to big man needs, Memphis Grizzlies’ center Kousta Koufos is certainly a legitimate target. His $3 million salary would absorb perfectly into the $5.3 million trade exception Cleveland acquired in the Keith Bogans deal during training camp.

Try they may, bringing in Matthews or Brewer is pretty much out of the question so we’ll just leave that alone. If they can manage to bring in Koufos, though, that would certainly be of tremendous help. They may even want to plug him in as the starting center, which would really help shore up their defense, with Anderson Varejao coming in as the backup center. If the defense improves, you can live with Marion playing out of position, given the amount of talent the rest of the starting lineup contains.

It’s still a fluid situation in Cleveland, but it appears the roster they have right now will not necessarily look the same before the season is over.

OTHER NEWS AND ITEMS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE: 

• The Dallas Mavericks are a very good team in the Western Conference, but they clearly have a glaring hole at the point guard position. They may be looking to fix that, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “The Boston Celtics are engaged in discussions on several fronts to trade All-Star guard Rajon Rondo, with the Dallas Mavericks emerging as a motivated suitor, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Boston has been exchanging proposals with several teams on Rondo, including the Mavericks and Houston Rockets, sources said. As part of package, the Mavericks are willing to give Boston a 2015 first-round pick with limited lottery protection, sources told Yahoo Sports. Before a deal is consummated, Dallas needs to confer with Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy, about the franchise’s ability to re-sign him as a free agent in the summer. Those conversations wouldn’t happen until an agreement is in place. The Mavericks’ interest has grown in the past several days, prompting the organization to begin further fact-finding on Rondo, sources said. The Mavericks are searching for ways to close the gap with the first-place Golden State Warriors, and are weighing a Rondo-Monta Ellis backcourt.”

• In order for the Mavericks to make a deal for Rondo, they obviously would need some kind of assurance that the point guard would be willing to sign with them long-term. Here is that assurance, from Ken Berger of CBSSports: “With Celtics president Danny Ainge seriously engaging several teams on Rondo trade scenarios, a league source told CBSSports.com Thursday that the point guard is open to re-signing with at least two of them — the Mavericks and Rockets. Other teams, including the Lakers and Knicks, have been on the periphery of talks. But Ainge is unlikely to deal Rondo within the conference, much less within the division. As for the Lakers, who can offer a top-five protected pick in 2015 and Steve Nash’s $9.7 million expiring contract (paid mostly by insurance), they are viewed as more of an option for Rondo in free agency next summer if he is not traded by the Feb. 19 deadline.”

• Speaking of the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki recently had some things to say about Kobe Bryant, from Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas: “Few appreciated Kobe Bryant surpassing Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list as much as the man who is six spots below the Los Angeles Lakers legend. Of course, Dirk Nowitzki has always been a big fan of Bryant, who now sits in the No. 3 spot among the league’s all-time scoring leaders with 32,331 career points. “He’s probably the greatest player in my generation that I played against,” said Nowitzki, who has 27,239 career points and will likely pass Elvin Hayes and Moses Malone over the next few weeks to move up to seventh on the list. “Obviously Shaq was very dominant, Tim Duncan was great, but I just loved watching Kobe. I don’t think there will ever be another MJ, but he’s definitely as close as it gets that we’ll ever see. “He had it all. He’s a clutch player, can make shots from anywhere. I’ve had a blast from watching him during his career very closely. That’s a heck of an accomplishment for sure.”

• If you saw the big showdown between Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, you probably saw the refs make some highly-questionable decisions down the stretch. Yes, I’m talking about this crazy no-call on a four-step travel on Mike Conley at a critical juncture of the game, and exacerbating the problem by assessing two technicals – one on Steve Kerr for arguing and one on Andre Iguodala for mocking Conley’s move. The unwarranted four-point swing pretty much helped seal the deal for Memphis, who ended the Warriors’ franchise-record 16-game winning streak. But hey, at least we got this hysterical little gem out of it:

• Check out this piece from Tim Kawakami of Mercury News, who hopelessly tries to figure out the best solution at the backup shooting guard position for the Warriors as is. There probably isn’t one, other than shifting Stephen Curry to the two when Klay Thompson sits, which is why signing Ray Allen would be a terrific idea: “What’s the solution then? This is exactly why the Warriors have put feelers out for free agent Ray Allen, but have so far gotten no indications that he’s ready to sign with the Warriors. Allen would obviously not be a defensive force, but can you imagine closing a game with Curry, Thompson and Allen on the floor at the same time? I know the Warriors can and have. Plus Allen could at least give the Warriors 10 minutes a game at the SG alongside Livingston, and you know he’d space the floor. But again, Allen has given no indication that he’s interested in joining the Warriors–it still sounds like Cleveland is his first option if he comes back. After that… Kerr got Justin Holiday some time the other day, and I could see that role expanding if Holiday continues to look OK.”

• Andrew Bogut’s knee situation started out as tendinitis, but it turned out to be something a bit more serious than originally believed. There is no word on just how serious the situation actually is, but surgery is not an option at this point, which is a relief for the Warriors. Instead, the big man did what Dwight Howard recently did, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com: “Andrew Bogut had PRP (platelet-rich plasma) procedure on knee today. Likely to have another in a week. Same procedure as @DwightHoward had.”

• David Lee, who has been out all season with a hamstring injury, hopes to practice over the weekend and get back into the thick of things by next week: “Bob Myers says on @957thegame that David Lee will prospectively practice Fri-Sat-Sun with the hope of playing Monday.”

James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.