All season long, we have been talking about the depth of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The deepness of the wine and gold roster has never been more evident than in the team’s current eight game winning streak, much of which has occurred without primary ball handlers Mo Williams and Delonte West.
In fact, the Cavs have won five straight with Daniel Gibson as the starter, and using LeBron James more and more to initiate the offense. Gibson was getting very little time over the previous four weeks, with Jawad Williams getting more minutes after Jamario Moon went out with a pulled abdominal muscle.
Basically, Mike Brown was in a situation where he had to give a player who wasn’t getting any minutes about 30-35 minutes per game, and his team didn’t miss a beat.
They’ve won close games (one point wins against Oklahoma City and Miami), road games (Miami and Indiana), and blowouts (14 points against Minnesota, 21 points vs. Indiana, 25 points against the Clippers). They are looking better and better as each month of the season passes.
Having James at the playmaking spot allows Brown to use a big and versatile lineup with Anthony Parker at guard, Moon or Williams at small forward, Anderson Varajao at power forward, and either Shaquille O’Neal or Zydrunas Ilgauskas at center. And they all can defend, which is most important to the coach, and also needed at playoff time.
This added depth has also allowed the team to not rush West back from his broken finger. Had the wine and gold struggled with him out, the team might have had him back in the lineup at less than 100%. The winning allows him to heal completely because they are actually gaining in the standings, as they now have a 5-1/2 game lead over Orlando for the best record in the East.
Many people have labeled Parker a disappointment, but those people are overlooking the former Raptors’ play on the defensive end. He did a very good job on Kobe Bryant a few weeks ago, and offensively, he is in there to hit open three point looks, which he does. Anyone who thought Parker was going to come in and average 10-12 points per night didn’t understand why the Cavs signed him.
They say in the playoffs, coaches play eight guys and trust seven. Mike Brown has the unenviable position of playing up to ten guys without much of a drop off. Because most of these guys are role players, it may not be a difficult as it looks.
Then again, all the depth accumulated by GM Danny Ferry and developed by the coaching staff may come in real handy in a couple of weeks when the trading deadline arrives.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 