Obviously the lack of a perimeter game seems more glaring for a perimeter player, especially one who can't really penetrate all that well. I'll concede that. But is it really that much worse than an interior player with no interior game? All I'm saying is that this would be a big problem on a lot of teams, but I think it's only a small problem on this team.
Ferry's backcourt additions were meant to further marginalize Snow's lack of offense. An important, and often overlooked, detail in this discussion is that the Cavs are only counting on Snow for about 25 minutes a game. Every team has a fifth best starter. The good teams are the ones with the best 3-4 starters plus the best bench.
The Cavs have a similar situation with Ilgauskas. Zydrunas's critics often point out that he is a liability on defense, and that his style of play conflicts with the Cavs' otherwise athletic, up-tempo roster. But the Cavs frontcourt depth will allow them to play more athletic lineups early in the game. This should have effect of negating Z's foul proneness by slightly reducing his minutes played which will ensure that he will always be available as an offensive weapon in close games when the tempo slows down. Over the course of an entire season, this should also ensure that Zydrunas will be fresher for the playoffs. So, Zydrunas is not the "wrong" center for this team as it is currently constructed. On the contrary, he is an unbelievable weapon when employed appropriately.
Jones is playing more minutes than I thought he would. He is still our most likely player to be traded.
Last night brown used Hughes at the 3 (defensively) when Lebron rested. He went big (tall) at the other two frontcourt spots, playing Z and Varejao. He played Jones and Wesley at the guard spots, but on offense it looked like Hughes was handling the ball. I thought it was a sound lineup. He left Hughes in, and surounded him with both height and perimeter shooting without sacrificing too much ballhandling. I think a lot of lineups could work, but I suspect the main rule will be that when Lebron sits, Snow will sit as well.
Sasha Pavlovic is not yet 23 years old. On this team he might be trade bait. I think he has plenty of potential, but given the team's overall depth I would be thrilled if we could get him 10 minutes per night.
I'll dig up my old "thesis," which compared the evolution of the Cavs to MJ's Bulls. As I recall, I was pretty bullish (no pun intended) on the Cavs chances for THIS season. My main point was that the Bulls went from being a very average team (in MJ's first three years) to a championship team without making any drastic changes (though they did have the benefit of some high draft picks). On paper, those Bulls teams were every bit as "flawed" as LBJ's Cavs.
Saturday, November 4, 2006
Cavs beat Spurs
I'm not so sure that one win could be so significant this early in the season, but it was certainly a benchmark of some magnitude. I think the fact that we haven't won in San Antonio since 1988-1999 season is significant. Combined with last season's playoff showing, we can certainly feel this victory marks the return to the late 80's glory. It looks like the team has taken a step forward. Everyone came to camp in great shape and you can sense a comfort level, trust, and comraderie that wasn't yet fully developed last year. This is what a venture deep into the playoffs can do for a team. As I said at during last offseason, the team will get better with time. Some national pundits have questioned why Ferry didn't do more this offseason, particularly with the backcourt. As usual, these gurus failed to give a single example of exactly what plausable moved Ferry should have made. Ferry made some small, but significant changes, and would probably be willing to make a big move if the right deal presents itself. But, barring injury, this team is a contender without making any changes, so the deal would have to be absolutely perfect.
Yes, the Cavs are a great rebounding team. This is one of the reasons I like the Gooden deal so much. Had he been on the floor late against the Pistons ....
We have great, quality frontcourt depth and flexibility. Just about every possible combination of frontcourt skills can be put on the court at the same time. About the only weakness (and its only a slight definciency) is physicality on defense. This weakness is somewhat mitigated by several related factors:
1) The new rules that de-emphasize the interior game
2) Depth (highlighted somewhat dubiously in this case by the Pollard
aquisition) gives us plenty of fouls to go around and
3) lack of quality big men that can score inside and also make foul shots
The Cav's backcourt defense seems improved, but it's too early to make any statements. I would like to think the Lebron's experience with Coach K in the Olympics will improve his defensive game. Based on what we've seen from LBJ so far, I think it's a good bet. Hughes and Snow both look to be in excellent physical condition.
One overlooked factor for the Cavs backcourt is David Wesley. As mentioned earlier, Ferry's critics seem to think that his failure to significantly upgrade the backcourt is a major shortcoming.
1) As one astute comentator pointed out, the Cavs major offseason aquisitions were Gooden and Hughes. This team played most of the season and all of the playoffs without a healthy starting SG. Getting a healthy Hughes back is a big deal.
2) Some critics wonder how the Cavaliers will replace Flip Murray. What these critics overlook is that Murray did most of his damage as a result of Larry Hughes' injury. Murray is also one of the most inefficient players in the league. The guy has to be on the court for 40 minutes to get decent production out of him. For the role we expect him to play, Wesley is actually a far better (and cheaper) compliment. Wesley plays good defense and has a much more consistent shot than Murray. Wesley will also provide a much better mentor for Shannon Brown, who from all accounts will very soon also be both a better defender and a better shooter than Murray. Murray was Hughes Lite, which is just not exactly what we need from a bench player.
3) There seems to be almost an obsession regarding Eric Snow as a starting point guard. While I would love for the Cavs to get rid of Snow's $6 million per year over the next three years, that's just not going to happen. And if it does, Danny Ferry will be a genius in my eyes. But what exactly will six million bucks buy you at the PG position these days? And, all things considered, would that buy a significant upgrade over Snow? Last I checked, Kirk Hinrich just signed a 5 year deal for over $9 million per year. And Hinrich is not exactly a good defender, which brings me to my last point:
Most of the skepticism regarding the Cav's success with Snow at the point is based on a false notion of traditional "positions" in basketball. The NBA has been slowly moving away from defined positions for almost two decades. The Cavs, like the Spurs and Pistons before, have based their organizational philosphy on athleticism and flexibility. With the Cavs, big Z is an
obvious exception. But why is it any more acceptable for a team like the Bulls to have one, or sometimes two, frontcourt starters with little or no scoring ability, but not for the Cavs, who start FOUR very legitimate scoring options (Lebron, Hughes, Gooden, and Z), to have one starter who's primary raison d'etre is defense and ballhandling?
Yes, the Cavs are a great rebounding team. This is one of the reasons I like the Gooden deal so much. Had he been on the floor late against the Pistons ....
We have great, quality frontcourt depth and flexibility. Just about every possible combination of frontcourt skills can be put on the court at the same time. About the only weakness (and its only a slight definciency) is physicality on defense. This weakness is somewhat mitigated by several related factors:
1) The new rules that de-emphasize the interior game
2) Depth (highlighted somewhat dubiously in this case by the Pollard
aquisition) gives us plenty of fouls to go around and
3) lack of quality big men that can score inside and also make foul shots
The Cav's backcourt defense seems improved, but it's too early to make any statements. I would like to think the Lebron's experience with Coach K in the Olympics will improve his defensive game. Based on what we've seen from LBJ so far, I think it's a good bet. Hughes and Snow both look to be in excellent physical condition.
One overlooked factor for the Cavs backcourt is David Wesley. As mentioned earlier, Ferry's critics seem to think that his failure to significantly upgrade the backcourt is a major shortcoming.
1) As one astute comentator pointed out, the Cavs major offseason aquisitions were Gooden and Hughes. This team played most of the season and all of the playoffs without a healthy starting SG. Getting a healthy Hughes back is a big deal.
2) Some critics wonder how the Cavaliers will replace Flip Murray. What these critics overlook is that Murray did most of his damage as a result of Larry Hughes' injury. Murray is also one of the most inefficient players in the league. The guy has to be on the court for 40 minutes to get decent production out of him. For the role we expect him to play, Wesley is actually a far better (and cheaper) compliment. Wesley plays good defense and has a much more consistent shot than Murray. Wesley will also provide a much better mentor for Shannon Brown, who from all accounts will very soon also be both a better defender and a better shooter than Murray. Murray was Hughes Lite, which is just not exactly what we need from a bench player.
3) There seems to be almost an obsession regarding Eric Snow as a starting point guard. While I would love for the Cavs to get rid of Snow's $6 million per year over the next three years, that's just not going to happen. And if it does, Danny Ferry will be a genius in my eyes. But what exactly will six million bucks buy you at the PG position these days? And, all things considered, would that buy a significant upgrade over Snow? Last I checked, Kirk Hinrich just signed a 5 year deal for over $9 million per year. And Hinrich is not exactly a good defender, which brings me to my last point:
Most of the skepticism regarding the Cav's success with Snow at the point is based on a false notion of traditional "positions" in basketball. The NBA has been slowly moving away from defined positions for almost two decades. The Cavs, like the Spurs and Pistons before, have based their organizational philosphy on athleticism and flexibility. With the Cavs, big Z is an
obvious exception. But why is it any more acceptable for a team like the Bulls to have one, or sometimes two, frontcourt starters with little or no scoring ability, but not for the Cavs, who start FOUR very legitimate scoring options (Lebron, Hughes, Gooden, and Z), to have one starter who's primary raison d'etre is defense and ballhandling?
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