Last weekend, the optimism generated by a better than expected start by the Cleveland Cavaliers was brought to a sudden halt after the wine and gold was blown out in consecutive nights by the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.
Granted, both teams are among the Eastern Conference elite, and the Bulls may just be the best team in the league, but the effort put out by Byron Scott’s team wasn’t up to his standards.
Everyone is aware the Cavs are a very young team. Their best player is just 19 years old in Kyrie Irving. The bulk of their roster is made up of players under 25 years old.
They need the few veterans they have, guys like Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker, and Anderson Varejao to step up when they play the better teams in the NBA.
Unfortunately, two of those players, Jamison and Parker, haven’t been up to the task.
They may be showing great leadership in the locker room, but they haven’t performed on the court.
In the seven games that Cleveland has played against the better teams in the league (Indiana, Portland, Utah, the Lakers, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami), Jamison is averaging just 9.3 points per game on 28% shooting.
For the season, the veteran is scoring 15 points per night on 41% marksmanship.
Granted, the competition is better, but Scott needs more production from his second leading scorer, and he’s just not getting it.
And Jamison needs to score to justify his playing time because he’s not exactly a force on the defensive end of the floor. Use the Miami game for instance, Chris Bosh torched the wine and gold for 35 points.
As for Parker, he is supposed to provide three-point shooting out of the #2 guard spot, and for the season, he is hitting on 30% of his attempts from long distance.
Against those seven teams listed earlier, Parker has made just 5 of 29 shots from behind the arc, a paltry 17.2%. He’s contributed more than five points in a game just twice, the third game of the year vs. Indiana (12) and against Utah (8).
Thank goodness for Varejao, who has remained consistent no matter who the opponent has been.
Overall, the “Wild Thing” has scored 9.8 ppg and grabbed almost 11 boards per night, and shot 47% from the floor.
Against those seven teams, he’s scoring 10.4 points, garnering 10.7 rebounds and is shooting 49%.
He’s the only veteran playing well against the better teams that the Cavs have faced. Thank goodness for that.
What is galling is that Jamison was vocal after the two blowouts about how the offense is moving the ball enough.
Here’s the one thing about basketball, you can execute the play perfectly, but someone can miss a good shot. Or, you can be terribly disorganized and have somebody make a tough shot.
The offense isn’t as precise as Scott would like, but it would help if his veteran, second leading scorer would MAKE A SHOT!
It would be better if Jamison would pick his game up and be a player who can get some points when his team needed them.
It would also helped if the former Tar Heel All-American played better against good teams because then he may create a market for himself, and perhaps a team looking for a veteran scorer to help get them over the top. You can’t imagine a playoff team wanting Jamison like he’s played recently.
The schedule remains tough for the next ten games or so. If the Cavs’ vets don’t pick up the pace, games like last weekend may just be the norm.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 