Random Thoughts on the Cavaliers

So with school interfering quite a bit, I haven’t been able to watch every moment of every game like I prefer to. But having caught last night’s loss against a Nets team who has talent but really doesn’t know how to close games, I saw a number of trends with the Cavaliers (some disturbing, some not) that I am sure I am not the first to notice. In no particular order, let’s dive in.

Ramon Sessions has plenty of talent, but it’s really frustrating watching him charge the hoop toward guys much bigger than him, while he has no apparent plan once he gets there. I know that it’s very early in the season, but his shooting numbers (sans free throw percentage) are much lower than his career numbers. You have to believe that this will improve, as the stat dips are rather drastic. His turnover rate is also up, probably due to the aforementioned reasons. I feel pretty confident that he’ll get better only because he’s never been a running point guard before. I have supreme confidence that Byron Scott and company will help correct his issues.

I cannot stress how important Mo Williams is to this team. When he’s distributing, the offense seems to maintain a continuity that is apparently lacking when he’s not. For all of his offcourt issues, he’s doing a pretty commendable job leading this team out of the post Lepocalyptic ashes, but unfortunately it looks like he duplicated his preseason injury on the opposite leg. Here’s to hoping that he heals correctly and doesn’t miss a month like he did last time.

Booby (new spelling) Gibson might be the one to stand to benefit the most from Byron Scott’s presence on the sideline. His play so far has me scratching my head wondering if he would have been this good last season, given the chance. I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive Mike Brown for burying him at the end of the bench, because now it looks like he could have been a solid contributor in the playoffs, had he been given the time to play last year.

If I have to pick anyone to take the last shot of the game, Gibson is the guy, hands down. When he squares up for 3, I’m at the point where I almost expect him to make it. His true shooting percentage is down, but his rebounding rate is up, and his assist rate is through the roof. I’m praying beyond prayers that he stays healthy this year. If he and Mo end up injured at the same time, I could easily see this Cavaliers team going in to free fall mode. If you don’t already, I would highly recommend following Gibson on Twitter. He’s one of the good guys, seems to sincerely enjoy Cleveland, and pretty entertaining as well.

I’m not sure where to start with J.J. Hickson. He is absolutely the most explosive player on this team, without debate. His major problem is focus. Now, before the Cavaliers drafted Hickson, I had never heard his name uttered once. However, you can really tell by watching him play sometimes that he has depended on his size and freakish athleticism to overpower other players for his entire career. One moment, he drops a Kareem-like skyhook and has you in awe, the next he looks like he’s staring through the floor and getting stripped by Jordan Farmar when the game is on the line.

Chris Jent has done an absolutely fantastic job working with Hickson and his perimeter game this season, and J.J. is at this best when he gets going early and forces opponents to respect his jumpshot. When this happens, he uses that explosive first step to get to the rim, with excellent results. At this point in his career, he can either go the Karl Malone route, or the Drew Gooden route. I obviously don’t have to tell you which one I’m hoping for.

Anderson Varejao is going where I was hoping he would go this season. There were thoughts (myself included) that he may have been a huge beneficiary of playing along with he who shall not be named, and may have been overrated due to that fact. However, he’s picked his game up nicely, averaging over 9 and 9 per night. His jumper is ugly to be sure, but his confidence in it has been a very pleasant surprise and the results are promising. If Sessions could learn how to get him the ball off of the pick and roll, he would become an even bigger offensive weapon. It’s certainly no secret that he’s one of the best big men in the league at rolling off the screen. He took a rib shot and left the game for a little while last night, but it doesn’t appear to be serious at this point.

Ryan Hollins has been a huge surprise to me. I honestly have never heard of him before he donned a Cavs uniform, but his early development has been a huge key to the Cavaliers success so far. His PER is a staggering 23.3, and if he could only get his fouls under control, would probably be contributing more than his 14.6 minutes per contest. A 7 footer who has his sort of athleticism is surely helpful, and his energy and emotion is definitely welcome on a squad who is severely lacking size. Being on his fourth team in 5 years, hopefully some continuity with coaching and a stable system will continue to develop his game even further.

Now we get to Anthony Parker. I don’t have a lot to say about Parker. I feel like he plays too many minutes, and it’s almost an instant facepalm when he tries to create for himself off the dribble. Sure, every blind squirrel finds a nut, but last night in the waning seconds of the game, that shot never, EVER, EVER should have been taken. It was simply awful. I wish he would stick to catching and shooting in the corner. It’s obviously no fault of his, you just really need to get more out of your starting 2 guard than what Parker provides.

Jawad Williams is serviceable. That’s all I have here. He has a great looking stroke, and sometimes he hits a 3, and sometimes he airballs it. I don’t think he would contribute many meaningful minutes to many teams in this league.

Have I left anything out that you feel should have been included? Feel free to let me know.

That’s probably all for today, hopefully I’ll be able to get some fun Browns / Jets stuff up by the end of the week. Hope your Thursday is a good one.