Something doesn't look right with the Cavaliers and they need Evan Mobley to fix it

The Cavs-Mavericks game was not complete by presstime. Check chroniclet.com for result. Anybody out there feeling good about the Cavs these days? Me neither. They went into Friday night's game at Dallas having lost five of their last nine games. That is not going to cut it when it comes time to, well, you know, cutting it. This is otherwise kind of a weird thing. In those five losses, the Cavs lost to Oklahoma City, 121-113, lost to Milwaukee, 118-116, lost to Detroit, 122-119, lost to Boston 109-98 and lost to Orlando 128-122. More amazingly still, in losing those five games, the Cavs actually outscored their opponents by a combined score of 587 to 579. Somehow, however, the Cavs were unable to win a single game in those five attempts. How can that be? Hey, don't look at me, I just work here. But something is clearly not right. In a series of five consecutive games, in any sport, the team that scores the most is almost always the team that wins the game. Then we have the Fighting Atkinsons, who in their last five games (going into Friday night's tilt) had outscored their opponents, but had somehow still lost all five games. (Kids: don't try this at home!) So what we have here is a Cavaliers team that is having trouble when trouble shouldn't even have been invited to the party. But the NBA season is getting down to cases. That means all hands on deck. It also means that it's time for the heavylifters on the Cavs' roster to start lifting, to start producing and, for the more highly-paid employees, to begin leading the way. The Cavs have been down this road many times before, and it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Actually, it has never been smooth sailing. There was the postseason three years ago when the Cavs and Knicks locked horns in the playoffs and the Knicks ran the Cavs off the floor without much resistance from the home team. That paved the way for another playoff grudge match last year, in Indiana, where the Pacers took the Cavs to the woodshed and the docile Cavs had neither the inclination nor the want-to necessary to send any kind of message at all to the ferocious home team that intimidated the Cavs the way playoff teams tend to intimidate opponents. And the Cavs sat back and let it all be. Fast forward to present day. The Cavs are again playoff-bound. But are they playoff-worthy? Better yet, are they playoff-ornery? If there is one Cavs player who needs to step forward and lead the way to a playoff charge, it's the former Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, who has yet to establish himself as a bonafide team leader, particularly in the playoffs, when leadership is not just needed, but coveted and demanded. We haven't seen that yet from the Cavs player most troublingly passive. When leadership is necessary, it should not require bargaining. Too many times Mobley's body language doesn't appear willing, capable or inclined to answer the call for his teammates. There are, indeed, moments when he seems to prefer the shadows more than the spotlight, to the point where one wonders how he feels about his occupation. Does he enjoy playing basketball? Who knows? Not us. Perhaps, maybe, not even him. All that aside, however, now is the time for the biggest of all the Cavs players to step up, step out and lead. It's playoff time. Needless to say, there is a lot at stake in the coming weeks for the Cavs, their coach and the career of Mobley. By the end of the regular season, and certainly by the end of the playoffs, the legacy of the biggest Cav of them all will be more clearly defined than ever. For himself. For his teammates. For his city. The clock is ticking. So, too, is the season. So, too, is his career. Contact Jim Ingraham at (440) 329-7135 or jingraham4@gmail.com.