The Cleveland Cavaliers will not win an NBA championship this season.

Sorry, Cavs fans. You’re all going to have to wait a little bit longer to taste the champagne because this Cavaliers team, the way it is currently constructed, is not good enough to win in June.

Here are four reasons why the Cavaliers won’t win an NBA title:

1) MIKE BROWN CAN’T COACH OFFENSE
The Cavaliers head coach came from the Gregg Popovich school of defense, but that seems to be the only thing he took with him to Cleveland. Brown can preach and teach defense, but he is an awful offensive coach. His set plays are so basic you might think the Cavs are running an offense from the 1960s. LeBron James is the most explosive, athletic and dynamic offensive player in the league but yet Brown has not been able to get him enough easy shots to help ease the gigantic burden placed on James’ shoulders to win games by himself. All too often, James is at the top of the circle running Brown’s 1-4 set. TNT”s Charles Barkley has said, in more than one occasion, that LeBron needs to play in a system that will take advantage of his speed and athleticism. Going one-on-three 80% of the time can be a bit taxing. Night after night, LeBron has had to work extremely hard for his baskets, and Brown has not done a thing to help his superstar. This kind of vanilla offense may work during the regular season, but it’s not going to get it done in the postseason. Brown’s latest concoction is this ridiculous experiment that has centers Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the court at the same time. This makes the Cavs extremely slow on offense and defense, and it curtails James’ urge to push the ball and create fastbreak opportunities. As long as Mike Brown is the coach, the Cavaliers are not a championship team.

Coach Mike Brown and point guard Mo Williams don't seem to have that championship quality.

2) MO WILLIAMS IS NOT A STAR
To win an NBA title, you have to have a great 1-2 punch. I’ve always believed that if you give LeBron James an All-Star player to play with, the Cavaliers will be a powerhouse. I think it’s safe to say that the Cavaliers should keep looking for that All-Star player because it is certainly not Mo Williams. The much-celebrated offseason acquisition in 2008 has been somewhat of a disappointment. Sure he made the All-Star team last season, but that was only because LeBron begged the league to select him. Williams is not a clutch player, and it clearly showed during the playoffs. Though he finished with decent statistics, when it mattered most, Williams was MIA. He was outplayed by Rafer Alston in the series against Orlando and his decision-making got progressively worse as the games got close. The biggest play he made during the 2008-09 playoffs was his inbounds pass to James that resulted him LeBron’s game-winning shot in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. If Mo Williams wants to be the Scottie Pippen and be the No. 2 guy behind LeBron, he has to step it up big time. He has a career average of 17 PPG, but those numbers were built on against inferior opponents. Williams has to realize he’s no longer in Milwaukee where games don’t matter. He’s playing with The King in Cleveland. If Williams wants to be considered an All-Star, he needs to play like one.

3) TOO MANY OF THE SAME SLOW PIECES
The addition of Shaq made the Cavs bigger up front but it didn’t fix the Cavaliers’ vulnerability against quicker and more athletic big men. Matter of fact, Cleveland became more rigid and are now even more susceptible to quicker and more athletic frontcourts. At this stage of his career, O’Neal is a liability on defense and struggles against the pick-and-roll offense. The same can be said about Ilgauskas. Big Z got exposed big time in last year’s conference finals when the bigger and quicker Dwight Howard ran circles around him. The third part of Cleveland’s three-headed frontcourt problem is Anderson Varejao. Now, Varejao is a unique player who brings boundless energy to the court. However, he’s very limited offensively and lacks a consistent jump shot to space the court when he plays with Big Z or Shaq. In an ideal situation, Varejao is a backup at best. He’s great when he plays just 20 minutes, but when you stretch him to 30 minutes his effectiveness is compromised. He is much more effective in spurts where he can change the tempo with his hustle and can frustrate opponents with his nonstop action. When the Cavs got Shaq, they should have signed a big man who can shoot.

4) LEBRON’S LONG-TERM COMMITMENT
It would help the franchise if LeBron just said “Yes” to a contract extension and put all the rumors to bed. But his continued posturing and constant hints about playing elsewhere doesn’t exactly put the Cavaliers management, coaches, players and fans at ease. LeBron holds all the cards and he’s playing them like he has all the chips on the table – which he does. I find it amusing that he’s even considering playing in New York. The Knicks are a mess. Why would LeBron sign with a team that is about to unload half of its roster just to accommodate him? The allure of playing in Madison Square Garden and being in the center of the media storm can’t be that attractive when you’re playing for a lottery team. If LeBron James is serious about making Cleveland a champion, he needs to commit to the franchise long term.

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Despite a record-setting performance during the Eastern Conference finals, LeBron James is out of the playoffs. (GETTY IMAGES)

LeBron James was so disappointed his Cleveland Cavaliers are out of the NBA playoffs, he immediately left the Amway Arena floor as soon as the final buzzer sounded, skipped the postgame news conference and rushed to the team bus without speaking to reporters.

It was an indication James feels that his Cavaliers, as they are currently constructed, do not have the right pieces to contend for a championship. Cleveland won 66 games during the regular season and James won MVP, but that is all for nothing because the Magic bounced the Cavs in six games and, at the end of the conference finals, The James Gang is still a one-man team.

Eric Snow, who now works for NBA TV, was disappointed his former teammate bypassed the mandatory media session. “He has to come out and talk. Enough said, Bron. You gotta come out and talk. You’re the leader of this team. You come out, you lead, you answer questions, represent your team like you’ve done all season long and you go back on the bus.”

Snow continued, “I know you’re upset; everyone is upset for you. But that’s what you have to do. That’s what leaders do. Leaders go out there and they do the things that are hard. The things that you don’t want to do. That’s what you come out there and get that done. You move on, set the example and the tone for your team to get by this and move on for next season.”

Cleveland coach Mike Brown blamed the loss to poor execution in crucial times. How about lack of talent? It’s the 800-pound elephant in the room that everyone, including Brown, seem to be ignoring.

“We had one goal in mind and we came up short. We came up short because we didn’t execute early on – on both ends of the floor,” Brown said. “It wasn’t about a lack of effort, it wasn’t about a lack of passion, it wasn’t about a lack of heart. Our guys have that. They displayed that the entire year.”

No one is questioning Cleveland’s effort. It’s amazing this team got this far for having so many flaws. They don’t have a consistent second scorer, they’re bench is very average at best and if Anderson Varejao gets in foul trouble, they don’t have a reliable power forward off the bench. Ben Wallace was nonexistent throughout the series and made a crucial mistake by getting picked off by Dwight Howard late in Game 4 that allowed Rashard Lewis an open look at a 3-point shot.

Though James – who averaged nearly 40 points per game, eight rebounds and eight assists during the series – will not publicly call anyone out, much of the blame points to Mo Williams. The Cavaliers point guard had a forgettable series and his unreliable jump shot kept a second and sometimes a third defender in James’ path. When Williams was asked if there was anything more he could have done in the series, he replied, “No.”

Even though Williams averaged a decent 18 points in the series, his 35% 3-point shooting was far below his playoff average. Williams also added extra pressure on himself by guaranteeing that the Cavaliers would advance to the NBA Finals. Big words for someone who has never done anything in the playoffs. We ain’t in Milwaukee anymore, Mo!

ESPN’s Chris Broussard brought up LeBron’s quick exit from the locker room to the bus, to which Williams responded by saying: “Obviously, you’re gonna be disappointed, obviously you’re gonna be hurting inside because you know that you had a team to get it done. And I can understand that disappointment because I’m feeling that same disappointment. At the end of the day, LeBron is a great professional. He’s a very intelligent basketball player. This is motivation and drive for him. I’m 110 percent sure that he’ll be alright.”

Williams continued, “Basically, it’s like you’re at Christmas time and you want that remote control car you’ve been beggin’ you’re mom the whole time. Christmas comes and you open up a present, you open up another present, another present and you never see that remote control car. You could have 10 presents, you don’t have that remote control car you’re gonna be sad and disappointed. But you’ll get over it.”

Funny how Williams would use the Christmas toy analogy because guess what LeBron will be wishing for during the offseason? A player who can help him win a championship.

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