The 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the most confounding teams in recent memory. They come out ahead from time to time and other times when they are on the floor they don’t even look like a basketball team. Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum on his podcast Pull Up with C.J. McCollum talked about the Cavaliers and the words are not too kind.
“Cleveland is one of the worst defensive teams I’ve ever played against, honestly,” McCollum said when speaking on the Eastern Conference Finals, as transcribed by Larry Brown Sports. “I think it’s just the spacing, they have a lot of different players on their roster throughout the season, so terminology’s not the same, the continuity isn’t always there.”
McCollum continued: “Think about how many players they’ve had on their roster the last three or four years […] They’re literally in and out, new guys every year. So it’s hard to be on a string and be united as one when you have all that uncertainty: ‘Hey, if things don’t go well, I might get shipped out.’ So I think that’s one of the reasons why their defense has been up and down. But then when it’s time to lock in and focus on one team, they’re a lot better.”
It is tough to disagree with McCollum and what he has to say about the team. If they play together they are tough to stop. Most of the time they are individuals that play for themselves. It makes the potential of the team that much more frustrating. Being born in Canton, OH, this likely wasn’t coming out of a place of hate either, this is a guy stating facts.
A player giving out truth bombs shouldn’t be as newsworthy as it is but here we are. Keep being you, C.J.!
[Larry Brown Sports]
