rayonsports.com

For the past few seasons the Cleveland Cavaliers have been trying to figure out how to transfer their regular season success, riding the outstanding play of LeBron James, into similar success in the post-season. The unlikely ride of the 1974-75 Golden State Warriors might be an ideal blueprint to follow to get there. The Warriors, under coach Al Attles, finished with a 48-34 record, good enough to win the NBA’s Pacific Division, but weren’t taken very seriously going into the playoffs. But they caught lightning in a bottle and swept through the Western Conference rounds, then shocked the heavily favored Washington Bullets, sweeping them in the Finals to claim the championship. The Warriors were constructed much like the current Cavaliers. They were led by superstar Rick Barry, one of the game’s all-time greatest shooters, while the rest of their roster was made up of lunch-bucket journeymen who played together and hustled. Centers Cliff Ray and George Johnson were no threat to score but dominated on defense and usually controlled most of the rebounds. Johnson had an uncanny shot-blocking ability that often turned into fast-break baskets at the other end for his team. They had a sweet-shooting rookie forward nicknamed “Silk”, Keith Wilkes, who would go on to greater fame with the Lakers as Jamaal Wilkes, and a solid backcourt rotation including Butch Beard, Phil Smith, Charles Dudley and Charles Johnson. Barry had one of the NBA’s all-time greatest shots, and also one of the league’s all-time biggest egos. But Attles got him to buy into his system of team play, and the unsung Warriors would go after opponents in waves, substituting freely and getting significant contributions from their entire 12-man roster. It was the closest thing to a perfect “team” that I’ve ever seen in the NBA. Getting back to the Cavs, they are in a position now where they need to replace both their general manager and coach, and most importantly, somehow re-sign James. Once they get those things accomplished, they need to take a hard look at their style of play. Their system seems to totally revolve around King James putting on a show, and that just doesn’t work in the playoffs when the defensive play gets more intense and defense, rebounding and getting open shots by movement and getting the ball to the open man is so much more important. Cleveland’s supporting cast around LeBron is plenty talented enough, they just need a coach who implements a system that gets everyone involved. LeBron wants to win more than anything, and is easily a much more unselfish player than Barry was for most of his career and certainly a better all-around player. Whoever winds up as their coach should dust off Attles’ playbook and get on with the business of transforming the Cavs into a true championship contender.