Cavs Look Shaky Early On

Some interesting takes from Ken Berger of CBS.

What we know so far - CBSSports.com

* It's too early to panic about the Cavs' 0-2 record. But with their offense reverting once again to LeBron Against the World, and with coach Mike Brown searching desperately for the right combinations, you can definitely see how things could unravel pretty quickly. The Cavs miss John Kuester, who left his post as Brown's de factor offensive coordinator to coach the Pistons. The Cavs have zero identity as an offensive team, and they're not digging in defensively, either -- especially when Brown goes big with Shaq and Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the floor together. Let's scrap that look, shall we?

* More on the Cavs: As the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst pointed out, the most alarming stat from Wednesday night's loss in Toronto: Shaq's plus-minus was minus-25.

*And one more thing: Kuester's role of drawing up offensive sets has fallen to assistant Mike Malone, the brother of Magic assistant Brendan Malone. The Cavs believe the younger Malone is going to be an excellent tactician, but the Cavs are going to need strong leadership to get through the early part of the season. That has to come from the head coach. 

SBNation has more (lots more) on the Cavs struggles.