INDEPENDENCE — The Cavaliers are better than they were, but not as good as they eventually will be. And that’s exactly the way it should be with less than 20 percent of the regular season completed.

That’s the opinions of superstar LeBron James and coach Mike Brown, who remain focused on the big picture heading into tonight’s game against Chicago at Quicken Loans Arena.

“We are a really good team,” James said Wednesday after a 107-90 thumping of Phoenix improved the Cavaliers to 13-5. “We are still getting better. We are still not as good as we want to be, but you do not want to be great in November and December. You do not want to be that great right now. You want to continue to improve and continue to get better.”

Brown concurred Thursday at Cleveland Clinic Courts, saying, “We still have a ways to go in terms of how good we can be, but we’re certainly headed in the right direction. I hope we’re not there right now or next month. Sometimes it’s good to go through adversity to see how, as individuals and a team, you handle it.

“Come playoff time, you’re going to go through a lot of adversity in a seven-game series. Going through it in the regular season, hopefully, will prepare you for your playoff run. I don’t want to peak too soon.”

Cleveland enjoyed a magical regular season in 2008-09, running off an NBA-high and franchise-record 66 victories, then sweeping Detroit and Atlanta in the first two rounds of the playoffs before getting upset by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.

Until being eliminated by the Magic, the entire season had been remarkably smooth sailing for the Cavaliers, but 2009-10 has been anything but.

The Cavaliers have had to deal with Delonte West’s arrest on weapons charges and ongoing battle with bipolar disorder, as well as adjust to playing with, without and once again with center Shaquille O’Neal.

Most recently, Brown’s benching of Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the night the veteran was slated to break the franchise record for games played created a lot of off-court drama for an organization that prides itself on doing things the right way.

There have also been a few glitches in terms of losses — last week’s defeat in Charlotte and an earlier debacle against Chicago at The Q, for example — but Cleveland has not only persevered, but improved.

The Cavaliers displayed a lot of positives in recent home victories over Dallas and Phoenix, which aren’t physical clubs but are still near the top of the Western Conference standings.

“We’re moving the ball and are a very unselfish team,” O’Neal said. “Guys are playing together, helping out and rotating on defense. I think if we can get this and bottle it up and become a little more consistent, then the further we go, the better we will become.”

There are a number of reasons for the Cavaliers’ improved play, with West’s solid contributions the last two games being right near the top of the list.

“He’s a very good player and he can help us win,” Brown said. “When we have him in the fold, we’re a different team.”

The Cavaliers have also been getting great play off the bench from Anderson Varejao, Jamario Moon and Daniel Gibson — seven players scored in double figures against the Suns and 10 had at least eight points — but everything still starts with James.

The league’s reigning MVP hasn’t been putting up mindboggling point totals, but he’s been the man most responsible for Cleveland’s great first-quarter starts, as he had eight assists in the first period against Dallas and seven against Phoenix.
“We’ve played great offense because our defense has been so strong,” James said. “It has allowed us to get into our sets early and feel more comfortable because we get stops.”

Tip-ins

• NBA veteran Grant Hill, who played with O’Neal in Phoenix, is impressed with how the 7-foot-1, 325-pound center has performed with the Cavaliers. “They don’t need him to come out and be the Shaq of 2000,” Hill said. “I think they are doing a good job of monitoring his minutes. They almost have two different units with him and the second unit with Ilgauskas. They’ve got a nice team. They’re good players and they have a great coach. When it’s all said and done in the East, they will be there fighting for the spot to represent the Eastern Conference (in the NBA Finals).”
• The Sporting News recently asked a panel of experts to select the top 50 active players in the league, with James finishing second to the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.

Tonight

• Who: Cleveland vs. Chicago
• Time: 8 o’clock
• Where: The Q
• TV/radio: FS Ohio, ESPN; WTAM 1100-AM

Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

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