Basketball time at the Q starts this week without longtime Cavaliers’ radio announcer Joe Tait, who will miss hopefully just the 2010 portion of the 2010-11 schedule due to heart surgery. Get well, Joe! The games won’t be the same without you.
As for the actual team, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a team in transition. They have lost long time center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and also resident superstar LeBron James. They have a new coach in Byron Scott, who is cause for optimism for this franchise.
The reported demise of the team has been reported by many, with some even going as far as saying the Cavs will be the worst team in the Eastern Conference. That’s not even close to being true.
It’s understandable that the so-called experts think that way, because they considered the Cavs a terrible team without James. And if the wine and gold played the same style game as last season without him, they probably would rank as one of the league’s worst teams.
However, they won’t. Scott has a different style of offense and has a defensive first mindset as well. Therefore, you will see more production out of guys like Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Daniel Gibson on the offensive end.
Heck, Parker was even seen going to the basket in exhibition play, something he did on rare occasions last season.
The biggest reason for optimism for the 2010-11 season is a pair of young players: J.J. Hickson and Ramon Sessions.
Hickson could wind up being a candidate for the league’s most improved player award next spring. He is expanding his offensive range and could wind up scoring around 15 points per night this season. The coach has already started to get on the talented youngster; he’s still just 22 and should be an NBA rookie this season had he stayed at NC State, to improve his attention to detail. He’s basically telling Hickson to be more professional.
Sessions is just 24 years old and came to the Cavs in the Delonte West deal after spending a year in purgatory with Minnesota. Two years ago, in Milwaukee, he averaged 12.4 points and almost 6 assists per night with the Bucks. Last year, his minutes were down in backing up rookie Jonny Flynn, and his production dropped as well.
Various NBA experts have mentioned Sessions in the discussion for Most Improved Player as well. If the Cavs have two candidates for that award, plus veterans Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams, and Anderson Varajao, it could then be determined the Cavaliers will not be the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
And if Sessions does indeed show he can start, could a trade involving Williams be far behind? You would think you could something decent in return for him.
The Cavs lost arguably the most talented player in the NBA, however, it says here that having that player stifled the talents of some of the other players on this team. Those players will contribute more in 2010-11 under Byron Scott.
And that’s not a rap on James either (we don’t want to end up on his “list”). There was just a tendency to stand around and watch. There was no movement on offense, either by design or as a result of LBJ’s need to have the basketball. That will change this season.
This year’s edition of the wine and gold will make the playoffs again with a 43-39 record. And based on the projections for this team, it might just win Scott some honors as coach of the year.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 