State of the Cavs

[Wisedude42]

With the current roster after the epic signing of Joey Graham, Dan Gilbert and Chris Grant better get used to seeing 10,000 or more empty seats at the Q next season. One thing Gilbert did was force season ticket holders to re-up for this years season about five months ago. So Gilbert already has a lot of season tickets sold. But how many will show up game after game when this team loses and loses and loses.

Grant stated that he needs to be patient and wait for opportunities. He'll be waiting 3 years for opportunities that will not come with a floundering team. Instead, Grant needs to be more aggressive today in identifying players he can obtain who can be traded for. There are those types of players but I will not name them but Grant knows who they are.

This team is so weak at the Center position, it's pathetic. Verajao is not a starting NBA center. He will be destroyed. I've seen grandmas with bigger muscles than Andy. The guy never stepped foot into a weight room.

If this is the roster for this coming season, you better close your eyes because Gilbert and Grant are not doing what they need to do.

Gilbert will find out the hard way that Clevelanders will only come out to see a winner - nothing else.
He better be prepared for the non-stop criticism he will get this winter.

He doesn't have a clue at the freight train coming right at him.

[RRT]

Hickson and Varejao handled most of the center time last season while shaq and z were out. so what's the problem now?

[Gordon Bombay]

personally, i think the way lebron left bought gilbert some time with the fanbase (gilbert's stupid guarantee not withstanding). most knowledgable fans understand that this franchise is in a state of flux and is going to need a few years to get it back on track again.

i expect mo, jamison and av to be dealt during the season and the cavs will move forward with the youth movement centered around hickson, eyenga and to an extent, sessions

[mcfly1204]

Oh, and thanks again for starting a thread about how terrible Cleveland is going to be. Very orignal as well as constructive.

As others have said, Hickson held his own as the starting center while Shaq and Z were out towards the end of last season. With a full summer of lifting and working on his game, I think Hickson can be serviceable as the starting center, with Varejao continuing to come off the bench. Keep in mind that Scott wants to get out and run to get easy buckets, and a mobile center like Hickson will help facilitate that.

[TheOUTLAW]

I'm with you McFly, this is getting annoying. While Hickson will always be undersized at the 5 position he has the strength to deal with anyone in the NBA except Howard and Yao.

[gflem]

I guess we should be going after those unnamed guys without regard to the salary cap and trading away future draft picks and basically following the path to mediocrity. Dont come here and claim guys are available and then not name them. You have no credibility doing that.
If you think guys are available why not name them and suggest ways to acquire them? Grant isnt a magician, he cant make players appear from nowhere. I believe we all know the team is going to suck for a few years, you dont just lose a player of Lebron's caliber for nothing more than future picks and not take a few (or more) steps back.
I would love to see this team remain a contender, but I am satisfied that the team isnt making any knee jerk moves to try to placate the front runners among us. If you take a look at the Browns, that stadium is filled every home game and they havent won anything in a loooong time. Granted they only have 8 home games per year, but they have been so bad for so long and it still doesnt seem to matter to the Cleveland fans that you seem to think are a bunch of front runners by saying that we only come out to see winners.
The Indians are different, they have had the players to be contenders, they just refuse to pay them the (inflated) market values, instead trading them away. Of course fans will get tired of that kind of ownership and lose faith, but Dolan isnt anywhere near the caliber of owner that Gilbert is, so I dont think we have to worry about that now do we?

[gflem]

I guess we should be going after those unnamed guys without regard to the salary cap and trading away future draft picks and basically following the path to mediocrity. Dont come here and claim guys are available and then not name them. You have no credibility doing that.
If you think guys are available why not name them and suggest ways to acquire them? Grant isnt a magician, he cant make players appear from nowhere. I believe we all know the team is going to suck for a few years, you dont just lose a player of Lebron's caliber for nothing more than future picks and not take a few (or more) steps back.
I would love to see this team remain a contender, but I am satisfied that the team isnt making any knee jerk moves to try to placate the front runners among us. If you take a look at the Browns, that stadium is filled every home game and they havent won anything in a loooong time. Granted they only have 8 home games per year, but they have been so bad for so long and it still doesnt seem to matter to the Cleveland fans that you seem to think are a bunch of front runners by saying that we only come out to see winners.
The Indians are different, they have had the players to be contenders, they just refuse to pay them the (inflated) market values, instead trading them away. Of course fans will get tired of that kind of ownership and lose faith, but Dolan isnt anywhere near the caliber of owner that Gilbert is, so I dont think we have to worry about that now do we?

[OSTMD]

Wisedude you are not!!!

The Cavs are doing exactly what they should be, getting younger with better contracts for the future. We may be undersized at the center position but we will run and bigger centers will not keep up with Hickson or AV. I truly believe this team will shock a lot of people, we will no longer have the offense of sit and watch Lebron dribble, dribble, dribble and then force a shot. And I believe that players like Mo and Jamison will play better without him here. Sessions has played with Mo before and both were very productive together. Our team no longer has to worry about how lebron will react to this or to that, which is the main reason some players were so tentative on the court.

Byron will push the tempo. We still have players who have won and want to win. The team will play hard and we will be right around 40-45 wins.

[Wisedude42]

You people say you don't want mediocrity yet you provide a win/loss record that is mediocrity.
You either tank and get a high lottery pick OR you build a championship contending team.

The team today is in the middle of the pack most likely. So you are going nowhere.

[mcfly1204]

You people say you don't want mediocrity yet you provide a win/loss record that is mediocrity.
You either tank and get a high lottery pick OR you build a championship contending team.

The team today is in the middle of the pack most likely. So you are going nowhere.

People are saying that they do not want Cleveland to be stuck in mediocrity by taking on a long term contract of a player that is likely not a piece that gets them back to the Finals. For example, some people feel Monta Ellis is available, but he is not a proven winner, and he is set to make $44 million over the next 4 seasons.

[kenneth9265]

With Lebron gone, we can finally can see what this team is made of...

[mcfly1204]

Nice write up on non-rookie summer league F/C stand outs. Seems as though Hickson is headed in the right direction. I hope he can put it together this season.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/NBA-Coverage/#NBA-Summer-League-Review-2010-Las-Vegas-Profiles-Part-One-3533

[tidho]

Wiseguy you say the fans won't show up when the team "loses, and loses, and loses" then you say the team will be stuck in mediocraty and be "middle of the pack". Which is it?

Like it or not, we didn't have an opportunity to put a dent in the production hole LeBron has left for us. With or without LeBron everyone knew we'd be pretty well locked into the existing roster for this season. Its next season that the team starts to have quite a bit of flexibility.

You will see some half empty nights at the Q, but I think the LeBron era probably created some new basketball fans in town and it likely won't be as bad as when the team struggled pre-LeBron.

While an all out tank this season is tempting, keep in mind a lock out next season is likely. If it continues to look this likely you're going to see a lot of the prized players sticking around for another year school. This works for us because the depth of our picks starts in two years and that could be a huge class.

Until then they should keep doing what they did this off season. Almost nothing, lol. Fill out the roster but don't commit to anything long term unless its bringing in more picks.

[gflem]

Had the Lecon thing went down differently I could see an empty Q, the attendance will definitely be down but not as bad as some think. The lockout is definitely affecting how most teams are going about business right now, and I believe the Cavs can benefit from this situation.
This team will be in the bottom third of the league imo, but after the labor situation is solved whether there is a lockout (almost a certainty) or not, the attendance will pick up afterwards with the team being able to sell hope with the extra draft picks and cap space.
What will really make the most difference in the teams future is how it uses the huge trade exemption from the Lecon fiasco. I cant say exactly what they should do with it, but they absolutely cant screw it up or it will cost us fans years of sub par basketball. I hope Grant is up to the task.

[Curtis Lemansky]

What happened to Gibson btw? He had a very solid rookie year then fell off the earth for some reason. Is it possible for him to assume a larger role with Lebron gone or will he continue to fade into obscurity?

[mcfly1204]

What happened to Gibson btw? He had a very solid rookie year then fell off the earth for some reason. Is it possible for him to assume a larger role with Lebron gone or will he continue to fade into obscurity?

He had some nagging injuries, and I think Mike Brown felt he was too redundant to Mo to play him. Byron Scott has had talks with GIbson about having a bigger role this coming season. I'm interested to see how Gibson handles it. If he continues to work on his ball handling and his defense, I think he will surprise some people.

[93 Phillies]

I think you guys will be the overachievers of the year, which makes for a nice story but a worse draft pick. I like the front line depth of Varejao, Jamison, and the budding Hickson. Byron Scott always does great the first two years.

[B Mac]

Im with 93Phillies. I think we will win too many games this year.

[mcfly1204]

I am interested to see how the organization makes their draft selections. If they were to acquire a few more picks, the organization could bounce back relatively quickly depending on how the young players on the roster develop.

[rjgraca]

A couple of news links from Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst of the PD:

ABOUT THE CAVS AFTER WATCHING FRIDAY'S SCRIMMAGE . . .

1. One of the biggest adjustments to Byron Scott's motion offense will be to get the Cavs away from spreading out on the court, standing and waiting for a pass -- then taking stationary shots. Their job was to give LeBron James room to dribble and set up his shot. Now, Scott wants them on the move -- and either slashing to the basket, curling around picks for jumpers -- or working off a pick-and-roll play.

2. You can see the Cavs breaking off their movement, waiting for a pass to come. It's why he has Daniel Gibson (who looked pretty good) handling the ball at times. Scott wants Gibson to stop limiting himself to being a stationary shooter.

The faster pass -- not always evident -- is ideal for new point guard Ramon Sessions, who was the most impressive player in Friday's scrimmage. He gobbles up loose balls and long rebounds. He throws superb bounce passes to set up fast-break layups, and he drives and easily draws fouls.

3. Several players threw long passes to start the break, rather than have one guy dribble it -- that is a pleasant change. Because the Cavs have had grueling practices all week -- their legs were tired Friday night. Also, when Anderson Varejao (at a funeral), Mo Williams (groin injury), Antawn Jamison (sore knee) don't play -- the offense suffers.

4. Assistant coach Chris Jent has been working with J.J. Hickson to improve the big man's medium-range jumper. Scott has been putting Hickson on the wing -- not solely to shoot jumpers -- but to use his quickness to drive around bigger players and get to the rim. Hickson also is a forceful finisher when he runs the court and scores on a fast break.

5. According to ESPN.com's John Hollinger, the Cavs had three of the NBA's top five in shooting percentage "near the rim." They were James (.712), Hickson (.657) and Varejao (.656). James set up those other two for easy shots -- and it will be interesting to see if their high-percentage shooting near the rim continues.

6. Remember seeing poor 7-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas about 30 feet from the basket chasing a guard while trying to defend a pick-and-roll play? Scott doesn't want his big men that far from the rim, so that should stop.

7. Forget replacing an MVP at small forward, simply sorting through the small forwards will be a challenge. Jawad Williams is a solid stationary shooter, but a poor rebounder and ineffective driver. Joey Graham is a bullish defender, but not much of a shooter. Danny Green and Anthony Parker can play some small forward, but their size is better suited for shooting guard. That is why Scott is thinking about Jamison at small forward, although he may have defensive problems against quicker players.

8. While Scott's offense is not designed for a lot of possessions in the low post, the Cavs think they can score inside in some instances with Hickson and Jamison.

9. Maybe Christian Eyenga (first-round pick, 30th overall in 2009) becomes an NBA player, but he is a galaxy away right now. The Congo product is very raw. At 6-5, he can run and jump, but seems to have few real basketball skills needed to be a small forward or shooting guard.

10. The Cavs did a super job with the giveaways and family atmosphere created at Rhodes Arena in Akron for the scrimmage. More than 4,000 fans showed up on a high school football night. Yes, it was free, but that's still impressive. Well done by the marketing department.

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/...hes_are_s.html

For Cleveland Cavaliers, center spot is looking thin

There are some other options, including sneaking power forwards over; both J.J. Hickson and Leon Powe played center at times last season. But at the moment, Hickson is playing more on the wing than inside, and Powe is not even taking part in all of practice as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

But Scott isn't ready to say the team needs to be on the lookout for some more help.

"I don't know yet [if another center is needed]," Scott said. "I think the guys we have right now are doing a pretty good job. We're just going against each other; until we see ourselves live against somebody else, we can't get a perspective of what we need. What we're lacking in size, we make up for in speed, and that's the way we want to play."

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf ... enter.html

A nice optimistic piece on the CAVs from Hoopsworld of places:

Six Things To Know About The Cavaliers

It is not all doom and gloom in Cleveland. Here are six things we need to know about the new Cleveland Cavaliers.

1) The Cavaliers have leadership.


2) What are all these extra bodies doing in training camp?


3) Head Coach Bryon Scott knows how to build a team.


4) Who will be the starting small forward?


5) How will the Cavs win games this year?


6) Can the Cavaliers get back to the post season?


http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17488