FanNation - The Republic of Sport

   This could be the year that Lebron averages a triple double. Even more impressive is that he could accomplish this feat while averaging the fewest minutes per game of his career.

   Through the first 7 games, Lebron is averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal, and a block- all in 36 minutes per game. Coach Mike Brown has long talked about needing to reduce Lebron's minutes, but until this season the Cavaliers have barely been able to function without Lebron on the court. This has been blamed on a lot of things, such as; a lack of a solid second scorer to take over when Lebron needs a breather, a limited offensive scheme implemented by a young coach, and the abscence of a point guard who can truly run an offense. These concerns, after one off season trade, seem to have been remedied.

   When the Cavs engineered a three team summer trade to obtain point guard Mo Williams from the Milwaukie Bucks, there were still a lot of questions unanswered. Could a player like Mo Williams, who seemed to play at his best while dominating the ball, co-exist with Lebron James? Could Williams truly run an offense for a team expected to win big (with a very real risk of losing Lebron in a couple of years if they don't win)? Would there really be anything resembling an offense for Williams to run in Cleveland?

   Nobody doubted that Williams could be a capable second scorer, as he had proven himself to be quite gifted in that field the previous season with the Bucks. He had good assist numbers too, 6 assists per game during the last 2 seasons. But there were reports from Milwaukie that Williams could be a bit of a ball hog, that he played poor defense, and that he had gotten along poorly with Buck's star Michael Redd. Any one of those character flaws could be cause for buyers remorse in Cleveland.

   But so far, the results are positive. Williams is averaging 14 points and 4.5 assists per game to date. Those numbers are below his recent Milwaukie averages, but to see how this trade has worked for Cleveland you have to look beyond the stats.

   One common gripe about Cleveland in recent years had been that one of their most valuable assets, Zydrunas Illgauskas, was not getting enough touches or getting the ball in spots he could capitalize in. So far, Big Z has his highest scoring average in 3 years and his field goal percentage has shot up. In short, Williams is getting him the ball where he can score.

   Offensively in general, Cleveland looks a lot sharper this year. They are still a work in progress, as Mike Brown is still trying to get his offensive schemes anywhere near as effective as his stellar defensive principles, but so far the Cavs are shooting a not to shabby 46% on field goals. With James playing fewer minutes and handling the ball less, Mo Williams deserves a fair amount of praise for his ability to run the team so far.

   Defensively, the Cavs are dominant as always. Of course, Williams will not be a candidate for defensive player of the year, but it is obvious that he is also not as huge a liability on the defensive end as some detractors had feared.

   Whether or not Lebron averages a triple double this season, he has to be thrilled that his team is (so far) accomplishing one of his other goals- winning with less dependence on his dominance. In fact, this team is far superior all around to any team the Cavaliers have fielded during the Lebron era. That's saying a lot too, considering the Cavs played in the NBA Finals 2 years ago.

   This team still has room to gro chemistry wise and offensively, so it is difficult to predict where they will end up when all is said and done. Given how great they are playing with less of Lebron, it's scary to imagine where they could end up when Lebron pulls his usual end-of-the-season-heroics- which is exactly why coach Brown must be so thrilled to be able to conserve James' minutes a little more in the early going.