The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their first major injury of the 2005-6 season with the news that guard Larry Hughes will miss 6-8 weeks due to surgery to repair a broken finger. GM Danny Ferry wanted to put together a deeper team for this season, and although Coach Mike Brown likes to go about eight deep in games, Hughes’ injury will show if there is depth for the wine and gold.
Last night, Brown started Damon Jones in place of Hughes, and the early return was not promising. Jones made just one shot, a three pointer, and struggled on defense as usual. In fact, Brown turned to seldom used Mike Wilks to place defense after watching Milwaukee guard Michael Williams drive the lane uncontested several times late in the third quarter. Shortly thereafter, the Cavs went on a 19-0 run to take the lead and put the game away for good.
The guess here is we will see more Ira Newble and Luke Jackson in Hughes’ absence. Newble offers the defensive presence that Hughes gave the team, and Jackson can provide the offense once he gets more confortable on the court. The team will need Donyell Marshall to provide the scoring that will be missing as Hughes is the second leading scorer at 16 PPG.
However, the biggest thing that Hughes supplies is a second guy who can create his own shot. Outside of LeBron, the Cavaliers really do not have anyone else who can do that. Also, the former Wizard is another player who will hit the open man. So, his loss will be more of a factor on offense than people may think.
The Cavs’ are going to need someone to step up while Hughes is out, both offensively and defensively. How successful they are in finding someone could determine whether or not they have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. After so many years on the outside looking in, that’s a pretty good thing to have to worry about.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 