Posts tagged Cavs

Cavs Should Deal for Ron Artest

By on February 6, 2008

As we quickly approach the NBA trade deadline, the Cavaliers are in prime position to make the playoffs.  They took down the mighty Celtics last night in Cleveland.  This is the second time that the Cavaliers have beaten the Celts, although this is the first time they played them with Kevin Garnett being out injured.  They are currently second place in their division behind Detroit, and fourth in the east behind Orlando.  The Cavaliers have had their own injury problems up to this point and just like last year the rumors are swirling for the Cavs to pick up some help.  And just like last year, most of the rumors are flying about point guards.  At first I was thinking that way too, but the more I think about it, I think the Cavs should go a different direction.

Sure, the Cavs still don’t have a bona fide point guard on their team.  Boobie Gibson plays more of a gunning three point shooter.  Larry Hughes is a slasher who can play a bit of point guard, but he is certainly not your prototypical PG.  On top of that LeBron plays point-forward a good portion of the game.  In that sense, the Cavs’ game isn’t really broken.  They get the ball up the floor and get into whatever “offense” Mike Brown has drawn up and everything is fine.  So, instead of overpaying for one of the available point guards, the Cavs should just look to add the highest quality player with the least amount of risk.  In this case, that player would be Ron Artest.

Ron Artest isn’t without his history.  We all know that he was involved in the worst fight in the history of the NBA, this side of Kermit Washington.  He has had more than his share of off-the-court problems to be sure.  That being said, Artest has kept a pretty low profile the last couple of years.  On top of that, his on-court production hasn’t faltered.  Artest is a defensive-minded player that consistently puts between 18 and 20 points on the board.  He rebounds well, passes well and plays some kind of a hybrid between the small forward and a power forward.  He would fit in perfectly on this Cavaliers team.

He comes to a team with an established culture and an undeniable superstar in LeBron James.  There is no secret about who runs this team.  He comes to a team that stresses defense first.  That won’t be a problem for Artest who is known in Cleveland as one of the guys who used to work extra hard to shut down LeBron when his Pacers teams played Cleveland.  On top of that, Artest would provide a minimum exposure risk to the Cavs as he has stated he will opt out of his contract following this season.  That means that if “renting” Artest for half a season doesn’t work out, the Cavaliers can wave goodbye after this season.  This would be a wonderful contrast to guys like Eric Snow and Damon Jones that are eating up the Cavs’ cap.

So, how do you get the Kings to agree to give up Ron Artest?   Using ESPN’s handy Trade Machine, I found a workable deal.  The Cavaliers would trade Drew Gooden and former first round pick Shannon Brown for Ron Artest.  Artest makes about$7.4 million this season.  Gooden makes just over $6.4 million and Shannon Brown makes just over $1 million on his rookie contract.  This is Shannon Brown’s last year and Gooden will have one more year after this current season.  The Kings stand to gain nothing from Ron Artest opting out of his deal at the end of the season and right now the Kings are a good 6 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.  The Kings get a solid power forward in Drew Gooden and they get a chance to try out a former first rounder that hasn’t found a niche in Cleveland’s slow-paced offense in the East.

If this isn’t enough then maybe the Cavs can throw in a second round draft pick to make the deal work.  Anyway, I like the idea of adding a player like Artest to the mix.  It would help the Cavs a lot to have another solid defender and decent scorer in the rotation and as soon as Varejao gets back, they won’t miss Gooden all that much.

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Why Give Mike Brown An Extension?

By on January 15, 2008

Yesterday, when I heard they gave Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown an extension, I had nothing else to say but, “WHY???!?!?!!?”  And seriously, don’t assume that I am overstating things with the capital letters and all that additional punctuation.  If extending Romeo Crennel’s contract was a bad idea, then extending Mike Brown’s contract was the worst one ever.  You see, in football there are at least two coordinators that can help with the game planning.  And to Romeo Crennel’s credit he is very good about letting his coordinators coach without too much interference.

Mike Brown, on the other hand, is on record as saying that he wouldn’t hire any offensive coaching help after last season.  If anyone needed an offensive coordinator after last season, it was Mike Brown.  He didn’t want there to be any confusion on the team with too many voices making noise from the sidelines.  Seriously.  That’s what he said.  I would think that the Cavs would be better off with a little bit of confusion about who is talking rather than the widespread general confusion with which they run their offensive “sets” on a nightly basis.  But what do I know?

So, what were Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert thinking?  None of this makes any sense to me.  The problems with the Cavaliers from a coaching standpoint have been well-known since Mike Brown got here and yet none of them have been addressed.

  1. Mike Brown’s offense is confusing, inconsistent, repetitive and doesn’t lead to as many high percentage shots as a good offense should.
  2. At the ends of quarters, halfs, games and on important inbounds plays the plan usually consists of getting LeBron the ball and watching him dribble and probably shoot a fade-away jumper.
  3. Mike Brown does not develop young talent.  Daniel Gibson had to force his way into the lineup.  And even still, Gibson has done nothing but perform and Mike Brown continues to start Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic in front of him.
  4. Mike Brown’s player rotations are continually mind-boggling.  He can have guys start who disappear completely before the game is over.  Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are usually the most likely candidates for disappearance.  But the weird thing is how Ira Newble or Damon Jones can show up and play for two weeks, not play too badly and then disappear completely for two months.  This also contributes to number three and specifically Shannon Brown who got some playing time, seemed to be getting comfortable and then had “DNP – Coach’s Decision” next to his name in the box score for two months without warning or explanation.
  5. The 3rd quarter has been, and continues to be a HUGE problem for the Cavs.  They come out flat, they give up leads, the fall further into deficit.  Whatever.  It has been ongoing for as long as Mike Brown has been in Cleveland.

Now, I can’t take anything away from Mike Brown’s commitment to defense, but these other things are real bona fide problems with Mike Brown as a coach that he hasn’t been able to rectify.  Maybe I overstate the negatives, but I can’t help but feel like this team would do better with someone who was a complete master of the game.  At this rate and with the numbered problems above, I still view Mike Brown as a defensive specialist who hasn’t figured out his weaknesses and how, as leader of the team in the East with arguably the most talented player in the NBA, to overcome those weaknesses.

Maybe this is a result of my fears that LeBron is going to leave this town and this team at the end of his contract if they don’t win a championship.  I feel like that fear is relatively tangible and it feels too real to be fake.  With those stakes in mind it confuses me to think that Danny Ferry and Dan Gilbert think that Mike Brown gives the Cavaliers their best chance to protect their market value by winning a championship and subsequently keeping LeBron here.

I sure hope they are right.

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Shannon Brown Could Be Cavs Next Big Loss

By on January 11, 2008

According to reports, Shannon Brown has requested to join the Cavaliers’ development league team due to a lack of playing time on the pro roster. You will remember that Shannon Brown was the Cavs’ first round draft pick (number 25 overall) in the 2006 NBA draft. Put him on the long list of Cavs draft picks that have been shuttered off into the abyss.

The Cavs have already stated that they won’t pick up the option for Brown’s third year on his rookie contract. That means that unless the Cavs change their minds, Brown will be an unrestricted free agent and could be signed by anybody league wide.

Now, I am not willing to jump in front of a train for Shannon Brown. We don’t know exactly what he has to offer as a player at the professional level. What I do know is that Brown has gotten inconsistent chances, at best. He has been inconsistent overall, but at the same time the whole situation just stinks of mismanagement of talent by the Cavs. Mike Brown has an affinity for veterans and throughout Brown’s two years in Cleveland those veterans have gotten the nod for playing time. This includes Larry Hughes, Eric Snow, Damon Jones, David Wesley, and the younger guys who are more like Brown’s peers, Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic.

That list makes me want to tear my hair out. You are telling me that Shannon Brown, who had a pretty damn good college career at Michigan State wouldn’t be able to contribute more consistently than any of those guys? We know he is a hell of a lot more athletic than any of them other than Daniel Gibson.

Add to this the fact that the Cavs have been MISERABLE at developing talent in the past, and I just cringe at the thought of what some other coaching staff might be able to do with Shannon Brown next season when he gets more of an opportunity. Look at Jason Kapono. The Cavs let him get away in the expansion draft because they didn’t feel he was worth protecting. For comparison’s sake, the Cavs protected Dajuan Wagner, Jeff McInnis, Desegana Diop, and Kedrick Brown as they let Kapono leave for Charlotte. Kapono has gone on to become a VERY solid contributor with Miami and now Toronto. Dajuan Wagner recently signed a deal with a POLISH TEAM CALLED PROKOM TREFL SOPOT.

All the Cavs had to do was evaluate their own talent better and they would solve a lot of their own problems. While I don’t know for sure about Shannon Brown, I would hate to see another player who is capable of contributing to this talent-starved team disappear.



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Video: You Shouldn’t Taunt LeBron James

By on January 8, 2008

So, when LeBron and the Cavs are playing horribly through three quarters and they appear to be on the brink of losing to the Toronto Raptors, just sit and enjoy it. If you taunt LeBron, he might just come back almost single-handedly and score 24 points in the fourth quarter to steal the game. It will be even more embarrassing for you if you happen to be Chris Bosh’s girlfriend. It must have been an awkward dinner later that night with Chris and his girlfriend.

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The Cleveland LeBrons Are Back

By on January 3, 2008

When I panic too early in an NBA season again next year, can someone please remind me that LeBron James is on the Cleveland Cavaliers? Also, it doesn’t hurt that 16 teams get the “honor” of playing in the NBA playoffs. And maybe my panic wasn’t totally unjustified. Sasha Pavlovic held out. Anderson Varejao held out and said he didn’t want to play in Cleveland anymore. Larry Hughes looked horrendous and then got hurt. Right after an impressive win where LeBron willed the Cavs to victory over the Boston Celtics, LeBron got hurt. The Cavs lost six in a row and I was starting to be convinced that the season was over.

That might have been a bit premature. Pavlovic came back. Varejao signed and said he wanted to put the past behind him. Larry Hughes got better, health-wise and talen-wise. Finally, LeBron came back from his finger injury. Since LeBron has come back from injury, the Cavs are 6-5 but they are getting better as they have one three out of the last four games including an impressive performance last night against a much improved Atlanta Hawks team.

The team is finally playing a bit of defense, although you wouldn’t know it from the score – 94 to 98 – in favor of the Cavs. The Hawks were bombing threes and making them at the end of the game, which accounted for the high score. Joe Johnson of the Hawks was 4-6 from three point land including two huge threes with very high difficulty at the end of the game.

The problem was that he was facing the most untradeable player in the NBA according to Bill Simmons. LeBron started slowly, but scored 36 points. He scored 32 points in the second half and 19 in the 4th quarter. Anderson Varejao played that crazy, energetic style off the bench and picked up 11 rebounds. Larry Hughes shut up his critics (myself included) for another night as he was 6-10 from the field. Slowly but surely, this team appears that they might be starting to play like they did last season.

And that is why I need someone to remind me about who LeBron James is next year when I panic early.

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