Commentary: Cavaliers must find way in hurry with playoffs next

It was fun while it lasted, but is it still lasting? Are we still having fun? Are THEY still having fun? It certainly doesn't look like it. With the Cavs, it seems, it's always something. Remember back in the not-so-long-ago days, when the Cavs decision-makers decided that maybe it was time for a change in coaches? This happened near the end of the four-year J.B. Bickerstaff Era, which featured sideline foghorn John Blair Bickerstaff, during his six-year reign as Cavaliers coach, associate head coach, cheerleader and general, all-around freelance NBA referee baiter who never saw a striped shirt he couldn't out-glare. Ah, the good old days! Good or bad, John Blair Bickerstaff had his moments, as any NBA game officials worth their whistles would tell you. The Cavs' winning percentages during the Bickerstaff years were nothing to sneeze at, unless your idea of sneezing was winning percentages of .537, .622 and .585. Inevitably, of course, the Cavs did not win the NBA championship during those years, so, again, inevitably, Cavs officials came to the conclusion that it might be time to give another head coach a chance to head coach. So, following the 2024 season, Cavs officials made the decision to hire a head coach not named Bickerstaff. Instead, they hired Kenny Atkinson. At the time it seemed like a terrific hire, especially when Atkinson's new team started the season with a 15-game winning streak, lost two games, then won 15 more in a row, and followed that by winning 12 in a row, four in a row, and then finished the regular season by winning 16 in a row. On March 2, the Cavs' record was 50-10. That's right, 50-10. They were a winning machine. They played the game like their hair was on fire but they could do no wrong. Even when they did do something wrong, it turned out right. Those Cavs went forever between losses. No, really. From Feb. 2 to March 14, their record was 16-0. Nobody could beat them. Almost nobody wanted to play them. Atkinson could have gone on a European vacation between Cavs losses. And it wasn't just the outcome of the games that excited everyone. It was how easily the Cavs made winning look. For a while it almost looked like no matter what the Cavs did, it worked. At one point it looked like the Cavs didn't need ANY coaches. Whatever they did, it worked. Whatever didn't work, worked anyway. The players were unstoppably cocky, and deservedly so. Every game looked like the Harlem Globetrotters. It wasn't a matter of which team was going to win. That was never in question. Only the final score mattered, because the Cavs seemingly won by whatever score they chose. This wasn't NBA basketball. This was recess. Some of the top teams in the league had no idea how to halt Kenny's Kids. They played the game the right way, they were unselfish, and opposing teams had no clue how to stop them. This was the kind of team and the kind of season that didn't even need a coach. The players basically did what they wanted to do, and whatever that was, it worked. Over and over and over again. The Cavs obviously reached the playoffs, but they weren't there for very long. Whatever they had tried during the regular season had stopped working. As you may know, the Cavs did not win the NBA championship last season. Whatever magic they carried with them had disappeared, and all of a sudden the Cavs looked like just another ordinary team. You could almost hear the head-scratching coming from the team's executive offices. Something had to be done, but nobody knew what that was because it had been so long since Kenny's Kids had been halted. By anyone! Nobody knew it then, but certainly some Cavs officials secretly suspected that their magic potion no longer worked, and nobody had any ideas on how to fix it. The team that nobody could beat the previous year couldn't figure out how to beat the chump teams the following year. Which was this year. The Cavs team that nobody wanted to play a year ago ... teams can't wait to play them this year. At least that's how it looks. There is virtually no comparison between last year's Cavs and this year's version. The train has jumped the track, and nobody knows what to do. That's the way it looks, anyway, even WITH James Harden. Where did the Cavs go wrong? Maybe by waiting too long for it to go right. So here they are. The best-looking team in the NBA a year ago is not that today, and the playoffs beckon. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.