In-san-i-ty n. : Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

So the Cavs got a little red-faced by the Pistons last night. It is nothing to get worked up over, it is the same stuff I’ve been bellowing for weeks about. Bad offense, the toughening of the schedule, etc., etc.

By the way, was I the only one to notice that Larry Hughes hurt his ankle again? I guess so since no one mentioned it in any story and it isn’t on any message board I’ve seen.

Anyway, What seems to be especially painful is that the Cavs had the exact same issues last May. But, then why would anything be different, it is the same team. I was impressed with some facets of the new offense early on, but it has dried up. I wrote about it weeks ago here. If they don’t make jumpers or get a bunch of fastbreak points, they don’t have much of a chance.

So, as I said before, I have nothing new to add at this point, because nothing has changed. So I will empty my mail here:

Jerry from Georgia writes:

Coach Brown, a good guy who keeps his cool and has the Cavs hustling, is being out-coached play after play on the offensive end. I am not an expert, but I have coached some basketball in various venues, and can see obvious things. While the Nets and Pistons were isolating and spacing such that passes and drives to inside people would appear with patience, the Cavs would be bunched up time after time leaving no space for passes or drives, and allowing defenses to easily cover players. The only things this type of offense does are ensure three point attempts and second chances on the offensive boards. I think we will find the Cavs high in both categories, especially second attempt put backs.

BW: Mike is an excellent defensive coach. His weakness has so far proven to be his offense.

Steve from Arizona says:

Once again you mention no productivity from Hughes ,Wild Thing and each game it is different except for Snow. Is it such a given that he will never produce offensively that you never mention it.This puts a burden on everybody to make the differenceup.Once again in any other city the beat writer would be all over this obvious flaw with Snow .His age and lack of production are going to age LB a lot quicker.If you do not guard gibson he will dunk on you. If you took the plus minus of Snow verses all the point guards he played against and it would be staggering. I know he is a nice guy but these are facts not personal attacks.

BW: Yes, but I didn’t mention the zero production from Donyell Marshall, Daniel Gibson and Damon Jones either. I agree Snow is a siutational defender at best at this point in his career. But he is still the team’s best point guard other than LeBron.

James A. says:

Larry, Larry, Larry…why don’t you just pack it in and go home? Every time someone passes you the ball doesn’t necessarily mean you have to shoot it right away. Come on, dawg. Drive and dish. Drive and shoot. Pass it back out. One thing has been proven through the years, you are not a jump shooter. Play to your strengths. Otherwise, those low FG% shots are going to take the Cavs down. I’d rather have Pavs out there shooting where you typically shoot. And another thing is pretty evident, you certainly can not make a basket with a guy in front of you out there. Pump fake, take a couple of steps closer, and then take a clear shot at the basket.

BW: Hughes’ jumper was pretty good in the preseason and before he was injured, in fact I think he was shooting like 45 or 47 percent. But since he’s returned it has been flat except for one game. He seems to be looking for it rather than finding other ways.

Tim from Cleveland adds:

The Cavs 4th qtr performance last night against Detroit was about as pathetic as any nba performance I have seen, and we’ve seen some bad basketball. LeBron needs to take some blame for the apathy of the team. And, I especially noticed this last night, and kind of had an epiphany, but he is as much to blame for the offensive ineptness as anyone else. When he gets the ball, he tends to hold it forever and wait for a double-team to come so he can pass, or the shot clock runs out and he jacks up a bad shot. He doesn’t come off screens decisively, he can’t post up smaller players and he basically slows everything down when he gets the ball. Now, most of the players around him stink and that’s a big problem, but he needs to mature as a player as well.

BW: I think you are right to a degree. Not all of it is his fault, he has to be put in a position to be successful.

Ben from Ravenna writes:

When the Cavaliers hired Dan Rosenbaum (stats consultant) I thought they were taking a major step forward in player and team evaluations. However they don’t seem to be using him at all. All the numbers point to Snow and Gooden being a horrible combination in the starting lineup. Snow starting is worse on the offense and defense believe it or not. Gooden when matched with Jones is extremely effective.

BW: I have to admit, I’ve seen the numbers and I can’t defend it at this juncture.

Newark, NJ — Going over a few things since we last spoke:

–The Nuggets stole Allen Iverson from the 76ers.  Pretty much the 76ers tossed up their hands and took a package of a quality player, an expiring contract, and picks.  This is the sort of deal that could make a major impact on the NBA.  Like Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons three years ago, which was a steal as well.  Or it might not work out with Carmelo Anthony, like the Chris Webber-Iverson attempt in Philly.  The bottom line is this: Denver got a star without giving one up and the rest of the league can’t be happy.

–I’m told by a good source the only other team deeply in the running for Iverson was the Miami Heat.  They publicly pulled out Monday, which is why the deal went through Tuesday.  Yes, yes, yes, the Cavs had talks with the 76ers, but they didn’t go anywhere.  Now, as for getting one of those three first round draft picks Philly now has, the Cavs may be interested in that business down the line.

–I’ve written a bunch about the Cavs issues over the last week or so, you can catch up here if you want.  I’ve decided I am going to sit back and watch a bit as their schedule toughens up from now until the end of the month before I form new conclusions.  Here’s what I know: They are a good defensive team, which in general they bring everyday but are a poor offensive team other than some nights when they get hot from the field, which usually happens at home.  Getting a team to play good defense is harder than getting them to play good offense, so there is some hope.  That said, the reason the Cavs score more at home than on the road is they rely too much on jumpers and emotion and less on fundamentals.  I’m not sure that is going to change, but like I said I have criticized enough, I am in observation mode.

–Two interesting signs at Quicken Loans Arena that have shown up on the videoboard, hinting someone in the control room has a sense of humor.  One read: "Hey (Adam) Morrison, shave your dirty Sanchez."  Look it up on your own.  The other read "Bruce (heart) Sasha."  Pavlovic, I presume. I’m glad someone does.

–LeBron is tired, here’s my idea of what to do about it.

–Some of you may remember when I ranked the NBA cities last May, New Jersey was dead last.  This is in terms of NBA travel, not for tourists or anything else (In case Mr. Soprano and/or NJ Dept. of Trade is reading).  So I’m here and not thrilled, but am happy it is the Cavs only trip of the season here.

Oklahoma City — Here we go again.  Seems like I keep writing the same story in different towns on different days.  Last night the Cavs get beat by the Hornets here.  Mike Brown says it is because of bad defense.  LeBron James says it is because he smartly passed the ball and his teammates didn’t make jumpers "they usually make" and they’ll get ‘em next time.

I say the Cavs lost not because of defense but because of bad offense, Mike.  And LeBron, you’re great, but saying jumpers didn’t fall in the fourth quarter is a cop out. You’re a superstar, find a way to get to the basket.  I’ve seen you do it so many times before, I know its in you.  If those guys are going to keep saying that stuff and remain about a .500 team (that’s right, 6-6 in the last 12), then I’m going to keep writing it.

So the Hornets had a hot night.  Jannero Pargo, Hilton Armstrong and Marc Jackson were out there making jumpers.  That happens.  Other than the fact that Chris Paul had his way going to the basket — and that is no surprise, he’s a quick, skilled guard and the Cavs simply can’t defend guys like that right now — I thought the Cavs were OK on defense last night.  Hearing me say that might give Brown palpitations, but I’m serious.  If the Marc Jacksons and Jannero Pargos of the world want to take on long jumpers, many of them contested, then so be it.

But for LeBron James not to score in the fourth quarter, for him to get one free throw all night (and that was on a bad call), for Larry Hughes to be chucking 3-pointers in crunch time, that simply won’t do gentlemen.  It didn’t get it done in Charlotte, in Toronto, in Indy, in Houston, at home to New York.  Need I go on?  I fear I will soon when describing another similar loss.

The only thing I am seeing offensively that I like right now is the production from Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson, who is shaping up to be a crafty steal.      

Henry Abbott, who runs perhaps the best NBA blog on the web in Truehoop, broke this story today about LeBron James.  If you don’t want to go to the link, Henry has had several sources tell him at least three USA Basketball coaches wanted to cut LeBron James after the first few days of Team USA training camp last summer in Las Vegas.  Henry reports they were overruled by Jerry Colangelo.

I was in Vegas during that training camp and the media were not granted access to the practices.  I do remember being told by several sources that James didn’t "look too good" in the first few days of practices but turned it around quickly.  I thought I wrote about this briefly at the bottom of a story (I can’t find the link at this moment), though I never thought he was ever close to being cut.  He must’ve turned it around because by the end of camp Mike Krzyzewski named LeBron one of the captains and then praised him all during my three weeks in Japan.  Of course, we all know Coach K doesn’t exactly give the straight dope all the time.

What I do know is that in Phoenix back in January I had a very good conversation with Colangelo, who I think generally has done an excellent job putting USA Basketball back together, the night it was announced LeBron would be part of the team.  He made it pretty clear at the time, though not for the record, that LeBron’s place on the team, as well as Kobe’s and a few other select players, was not in doubt even though all players were going to "try out."  Also, LeBron told me that if he were cut he would probably not play the next two summers.

I trust Henry’s sources are accurate, I believe he confirmed it with those who were there.  It is not really breaking news today, but it is interesting for sure.  I also know that, in general, LeBron has always been a good teammate and he was praised for being a good teammate during the worlds by the coaches and players I talked to.  But I also know from eight years of knowing him, that on occasion LeBron can be moody and can pout, perhaps he had an episode for a little while in Vegas.

Houston — I’ve never been much of an autograph buff.  Even when I was a kid and collecting various sports artifacts like baseball cards and the like, I never got too much into them.  Obviously, though, they are a major business and all.  It never ceases to amaze me the hounds that stake out arena entrances and exits and hotels to get autographs.  They’ll stand there for hours in hopes of landing one, which doesn’t seem to be like a worthwhile time investment.

Once, I think in Philly but I am not sure, the Cavs arrived in their bus in the loading dock of the arena and someone from the sidewalk above lowered a jersey to LeBron with a fishing pole.  I thought he should’ve signed it just because the guy was so inventive, but he didn’t.  In fact he doesn’t give out a whole lot of autographs, especially if anyone besides a kid asks.  Regularly teams and even opposing players come to him on the road and ask for autographs.

Once Andre Miller came into the Cavs locker room and asked LeBron to sign a Cavs jersey…for his mother.  There have been others.  In fact, on more than one occasion over the last four years the game officials (gasp!) have secretly sent stuff to be signed.  Bet that’s against some sort of rule.

Last year there was this guy who badly wanted LeBron to sign four All-Star Game posters with him and Kobe Bryant on them.  He must have been some official, because he had access to the locker room.  He’d already gotten Kobe to sign and tried to get LeBron to after a game at the Staples Center.  But that was the game where LeBron missed a last second shot after Kobe gave the Lakers the lead.  He was in no mood after the game.  But a few days later there was that fellow again, this time up in Sacramento.  He got the ink, so I guess it was worth the flight or whatever.

What I’m getting it is the other day I interviewed LeBron while he was doing one of his semiannual signings for Upper Deck.  It was quite a stunning operation, I have to say.  Upper Deck had two reps there at Quicken Loans Arena, one guy to take care of the quality of the signings and the artifacts and another guy with cameras and computers who I assume was doing certificates of authenticity.  Sorry, if I seem ignorant, I’m really not into this stuff.

Anyway, there had to be at least 100 basketballs there for him to sign and an entire table full of shoes.  Each of them had a "Sign Here" label as if it were a contract.  There were also instructions, such as sign "King James" on the tongue or on the toe.  When I was talking to him he was going through a two-inch high stack of posters.  He was signing each with a silver pen, then the one guy would whisk it away with gloves on for it to dry.  Ever so often, he’d have LeBron tap the pen on a piece of paper to make sure it still had good ink, he didn’t want even one to have an untrue signing.  There were an entire bucket of silver and gold pens and LeBron was using some large sort pen holster.

He was settling in for a long afternoon worth of work.  He told me his Upper Deck contract requires him to sign 6,000 pieces of memorabilia a year.  I did some checking and some math — LeBron’s deal pays him $1.2 million per year — and figures he makes about $200 per.  So while I was talking to him he probably pulled down about 20K.  Not bad.

Anyway, I don’t have a point.  I thought I’d just pass along all this sexy behind-the-scenes stuff.  Otherwise…

–For some insight on the Cavs, I have no other new opinions than I expressed in the stories following the loss to the Knicks and the day of the game with the Hawks.  Even though the Cavs beat the Hawks, I am still not convinced all is yet well.

–If you read this before the Cavs play the Rockets here tonight, check out my friend Fran Blinebury as he live blogs the game.  I got to know Fran in Japan during the world championships.  He’s traveled all over the world covering sports and has a great writing style.  Yet his love of the Japanese baths made me scratch my head.

–So I’m getting off the elevator this afternoon in Houston at my hotel after checking in and as the door opens there’s a priest standing there.  News-Herald Cavs beat writer Bob Finnan was still on the elevator headed up to his room.  The reverend asks "Are you going up or down?"  Now, I was a little gitty from lack of sleep, I was up at 5:45 a.m. to fly over from the ATL, so I retorted:  "Are you asking in a spirtual or metaphysical sense?"  Which I thought was really funny.  But no one laughed.  Oh well.