Lost in the excitement of the Browns’ thrashing of the Patriots on Sunday is the performance of Cleveland’s pro hoops team, currently sitting atop the NBA Central Division at 3-3 following back to back road triumphs over the weekend.
Look, no one is saying the wine and gold will remain in that position, but consecutive road victories in two nights in the Association are nothing to be overlooked. And it gives the team confidence early in the season.
As for the negative people who will point out that the Cavs only beat the 76ers and Wizards, two teams thought to be in Cleveland’s class, would they prefer that the wine and gold lost to those teams?
In both games, the Cavaliers got off to excellent starts and held leads going into the locker room for halftime. They had tough third quarters, and then recovered with great fourth quarters to gain wins. It would be a good bet that Byron Scott would like to eliminate the poor efforts to start the second half.
There is no question that the return of Mo Williams has made an impact for this team. Williams scored 50 points in the two road wins, and is averaging 20.7 PPG in the three games he has played thus far.
The other star on the trip has been Daniel Gibson, who is becoming a “go to” guy in the fourth quarter, something no one would have thought a year ago. Gibson is averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 assists per game in the young season, and is shooting 46% from the floor, 36% from the three-point line.
The other member of the Cavs “Big Three” so far is J.J. Hickson, who has emerged to score 16.5 points and 5.5 boards per night, while shooting almost 51% from the floor. He’s also shooting over 80% from the line, and in fact, the team in total is knocking down 77% of its free throws.
Another interesting thing seen from the stats is that this is truly a team effort. Only two players are averaging more than 30 minutes a night, Anderson Varajao at 34.4 per game and Anthony Parker at 30.8 a night.
This is in stark contrast to past years when at least a couple of starters where getting over 35 minutes of playing time. Of course, coaches tend to lean on superstars a little more often.
Williams, Gibson, Hickson, and Jamario Moon are all getting about 28-29 minutes per game.
One player who has emerged on the trip is veteran small forward Joey Graham, who played well in both contests. Graham played 15 minutes in Philadelphia scoring 10 points, and came back the next night to log 10 minutes against the Wizards. If Jawad Williams doesn’t pick it up, Graham could take his minutes when Antawn Jamison’s knee is healthy.
The other thing that Scott has to be concerned about is the defense, which fuels his running game. Right now, the wine and gold is allowing over 102 points per game. The coach probably prefers about 7 to 10 points a night less.
One of the problems the team has defensively is that they are small. Only Varajao has the height and muscle to be a defensive force inside. Backup center Ryan Hollins can jump, but can be overpowered by bigger and stronger guys. The team could use another big body defensively.
That’s another reason why Graham is important to this team.
All in all, Cavs’ fans have to be encouraged by a 3-3 start going into another winnable road game tonight in New Jersey. According to some experts, Scott’s crew should be 0-6 right now.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 