Put aside all those worries, James says Cavs are OK

Las Vegas- The Cavaliers ended the season at the All-Star break by winning six of their last 10 games and finishing with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

This was done by a team that many wondered if it was underachieving, and whose coach was pressured to use more of a fast-breaking offense. Now that the dust has settled, Cavs All-Star LeBron James said the team has reached a turning point.

"The first half of the season could have ended a lot worse," James said Friday. "We weren't playing inspired basketball at one time, but we got to a point where [we] decided we needed to play Cavaliers basketball.

 

The way we ended the first half [114-108 win against Los Angeles Lakers] . . . was a great way to go into the All-Star break."

The Cavs have used a more up-tempo offense, and James got more into the groove by driving to the basket on numerous occasions against the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Talking to coach [Mike Brown] about the offense had been a turning point," James said. "But he said if we get stops on the defensive end, he'd allow us to run more. That inspired us because we feel we have the athletes to run. We scored 114 points [against the Los Angeles Lakers] and that was big."

Misquoted:

A recent report out of Washington quoted Wizards star Gilbert Arenas saying this about James: "The guy LeBron needs is [Los Angeles Clippers guard] Sam Cassell. He needs someone who wants to take the big shots at the end of the game. LeBron would much rather have Sam Cassell take the final shot. People don't realize that LeBron doesn't want it."

Arenas said his quote was taken out of context.

"I was asked what was wrong with the Cavaliers and LeBron, and I said nothing was wrong with the Cavaliers because they have the second best record in the East," Arenas said. "I also said that someone like Sam Sam Cassell would fit right in with LeBron because Sam Cassell would take fourth-quarter shots and that would open up [James' game] more. That would give them two players who can take the big shot in the fourth quarter. I don't know why that brought up so much hoopla."

 

 

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