The news was released yesterday that Shaquille O’Neal would likely miss the balance of the regular season with a thumb injury that requires surgery. The operation will occur today. What this means for the Cavaliers is once again they will have to use the depth they’ve accumulated over the past year.
Anderson Varajao will log a majority of minutes at center, at least until Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ likely return to the roster on March 22nd. With “Wild Thing” playing the pivot, it means more time at power forward has opened up for newly acquired Antawn Jamison, and also the reduced time for J.J. Hickson will be put on the back burner.
It also makes the pick up of recently activated Leon Powe more important because he will get time up front as well.
O’Neal provided a huge low post presence on offense, but the guy who Mike Brown will replace him with will be just as dangerous near the basket. Because the player who will become the new go to guy in the low post will be LeBron James.
Just as James took over point guard duties because of injuries to Mo Williams and Delonte West, he will replace O’Neal in the post. This is just another reason why James will be named the MVP of the NBA for the second consecutive season.
It’s reminiscent of the Lakers’ Magic Johnson playing center in the NBA Finals against Philadelphia when Kareem Adbul-Jabbar went down with a leg injury. It’s also another reason why James is more like Johnson as a player than Michael Jordan.
The difference here is it’s not just a one game thing for LBJ.
Offensively, the wine and gold will try to run more and use their athleticism to create easy baskets. But, if and when they need a hoop late in the fourth quarter, they will go inside and James will be the primary option. Jamison will get looks there as well because he is very creative near the basket, but LBJ is the first look.
Defensively is where the Cavs will miss Shaq most of all, especially with Ilgauskas still on the sidelines. Cleveland is one of the league’s best teams in terms of least points allowed in the paint, much of it due to O’Neal. You can still see Dwyane Wade driving to the rim against the Cavs and seeing him bounce off Shaq. That’s the defensive presence of O’Neal.
Between the size of Shaq and the length of Ilgauskas, it was a deterrent to opponents trying to attack the basket. That’s gone for the time being.
It would not be surprising to see Darnell Jackson get some minutes to provide some of the bulk missing from the Cavs’ lineup. However, no one comes close to providing the enormousness of Shaquille O’Neal.
This is another case of the depth of the Cavaliers paying dividends. Jamario Moon missed some time in January. Mo Williams and Delonte West missed a great deal of time, yet Daniel Gibson was ready to fill in. Actually, Shaq also missed some time with a shoulder problem early in the season, but Ilgauskas was there to fill in. That’s why the team was put together in this manner.
Before any panic sets in, remember that the reason GM Danny Ferry picked up O’Neal was to combat Dwight Howard with Orlando, and the size of the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s worked because the wine and gold is 4-1 against those two teams.
However, with a six game bulge in the conference standings, the one remaining game against the Magic isn’t going to make a difference in the regular season. If the big man returns and can play in the playoffs, particularly against those two teams (assuming the Cavs get that far), then there is no need to worry. Actually, you will probably get a fresher Shaq at that point.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 