Before the Miami Heat decided to form the ‘Big 3’ in South Beach, the idea of a ‘super-team’ seemed unlikely. The closest we had come to such in recent memory were two-star tandems like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers or Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls.
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Yes, there was the occasional exception to the rule like the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980’s or the Boston Celtics of many years before, but that was in a different era where salary cap and big money contracts were all but non-existent. What took place in Miami was certainly unique and LeBron James is all but attempting to make it happen with the Cleveland Cavaliers. So far so good assuming the Kevin Love trade goes through, but will the roster be a disappointment?
It certainly seems that way according to Basketball Insiders, though such disappointment will only be due to the Cleveland Cavaliers absurd (and non-realistic) expectations.
"Go back and read the headlines around the HEAT in 2010 – it will be much of the same. Fans will expect the Cavs to win 70-75 games, and they’ll likely win 55-60 games — that means they’ll lose at least 22 games, and every one of them will be treated like an epic let down. That is what comes with expectations."
No matter how much talent you place on one roster, players will need to learn to play together. That takes a good 20-25 games usually and with little practice time in the NBA, we’ve seen it take longer than that.
Winning 70+ games in an 82-tilt schedule is absurdly challenging for even the most seasoned of teams and to expect such from a newly constructed Cleveland Cavaliers roster simply isn’t being fair.