Mike Brown is asking for it. Jarret Jack knows it is needed. Kyrie Irving was discussing it. Anderson Varejao usually provides it every night. That “IT” that everyone is talking about, but not giving, is EFFORT. Better yet, 48 Minutes Of Maximum Effort, or “48MOME”!
The Cavaliers are not a good enough team, not even close, to think they can just go through the motions and flip the switch late in a game against an equal or lessor opponent and come away with a victory. They need to give maximum effort for 48 minutes, every night, or they’re going to get beat.
Case and point, Anderson Varejao’s comments to me following the 98-91 home loss to the Wizards on Wednesday night, “We went to Washington, we beat them there. We came back to Cleveland, we thought we were just going to show up and beat them. It’s no way.”
(Anderson Varejao 1 on 1 Interview with Kenny Roda)
Varejao is one of the veterans on the second youngest team in the NBA and he usually leads by example with his all-out play on the floor, but he told me that he’ll pick his moments when he feels the need to step up and say something and I’m guessing that time is now.
Yes it’s only 12 games in to an 82 game schedule, but at (4-8) the Cavs look like a team that is totally lost, or not united, or both. They held a players only meeting already, and while it has been rumored that the meeting got physical, there is no proof of that. Here’s an idea, how about getting physical on the floor with the other team from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
“48MOME”! That’s what’s going to be needed every night to win games from the all-star Kyrier Irving, to the veteran Anderson Vareajo, to the number one overall pick in the NBA draft Anthony Bennett, to the undrafted rookie point guard Mathew Dellavedova and everybody else. And the sooner the Cavalier players realize this and actually go out and do it instead of just talking about it, the sooner they can turn this season around.
If not, trades will happen, heads will roll, and we’ll be looking at another non-playoff, losing season with plenty of ping pong balls in the hopper. So Cavs players how about giving “48MOME” so we can avoid playing for “APPBITH”!
