Are they even trying?

I've tried to control my temper, but my frustration with the Cavaliers is about to boil over.
In Tuesday night's latest embarrassment against the New Jersey Nets, the Cavaliers played absolutely, positively no defense. That is not an exaggeration. The Nets are the second-worst offensive team in the NBA, and they did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to do it in a 111-80 rout. It was the Cavs' worst loss at home since 2001, and at 31 points, tied their worst loss of the season, set several weeks ago in Dallas.
I have to seriously question whether the majority of players on this team even want to make the playoffs. There might be a lot of guys in the Cavs' locker room just playing out the string so they can go home, or in the case of Jeff McInnis, get the heck out of Cleveland.
Despite their best non-efforts, despite the flogging their record has taken since the all-star break, the Cavs still sit in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with a 38-35 record. LeBron James might be able to singlehanded lift the Cavs to another two or three wins to get them into the playoffs. He'll probably have to. His teammates, in large part, appear very willing to let the young prodigy do all the heavy lifting for the rest of the season.
Maybe it's ingrained onto this team from a pile of 50-loss seasons in past years, but the Cavs' collective attitude appears more suited for the Atlanta Hawks or New Orleans Hornets, last place teams who have seen their playoff hopes disappear down the dumb waiter months ago.
Teams in the Cavs' position are usually playing like cornered animals. Every possession, every quarter, every game could affect the outcome of the season. But this team is bobbing along like the 17-65 team that was awful enough to land LeBron two years ago.
Still, they are doing just enough right to make you believe there remains a pulse beating somewhere deep down. But they have to pretty much have a winning effort cattle-prodded out of them. Sunday, two days after a pathetic effort against Sacramento, the Cavs appeared headed for some kind of record-setting loss against the high-octane Mavericks at Gund Arena. I personally didn't even bother to tune in. I get enough Sunday afternoon stress watching the Browns in the fall.
Lo and behold, not only do the Cavs win, they win convincingly, 100-80. The Mavericks, jockeying for positioning in the Western Conference, made a spirited run, but Cleveland held them off. The ejections of Robert Traylor and Drew Gooden, for flinging armbands into the crowd in protest of a referee's call, might have jump-started their fight.
My hopes up, I tuned in to Tuesday's game. By halftime, they were down double figures, and I had better things to do.
Just another chapter in this frustrating, confusing second half for the Cavs.
General Manager Jim Paxson might not be around to see how this season ends. Rumors have put the crosshairs of owner Dan Gilbert squarely on Paxson's forehead, possibly as early as today.
Not that it will do much for the rest of this season. The trade deadline is long past. This team has to crash-land on the deck of the playoffs with what they've got.
Paul Silas is gone. Paxson's days are numbered (very low). And Gilbert has a mess to try and make some sense and wins out of. Getting LeBron playoff experience this spring is of utmost importance. LeBron is ready for showtime, but playing with teammates who are very obviously not.
The one guy who comes out of this season smelling like a rose is former majority owner Gordon Gund, who is now $375 million richer after selling most of his stock to Gilbert in January. Gund, now a minority owner, made a cameo at Tuesday's game. He recently returned from a several-week sojourn to China and Taiwan, where the only two basketball words known by the populace are "Yao" and "Ming."
Gund said he misses the hustle and bustle of owning an NBA team. But, presuming he stayed for the whole game, he must have been reminded that life is a whole lot easier when the ship is sinking and you are not the captain.