Cavs Board

Prepare to be ballwashed Mr. Ilgauskas.  There couldn’t be less news going on if we lived in China so I’ve decided that you’ve earned a look back at your achievements in the NBA, and a look towards your post-career legacy.

Certain statistics get brought up all the time during FSN Ohio Cavalier broadcasts.  Things like Lebron James’s 4th quarter scoring average, the NBA’s “youngest to” stats, or where James’s season statistics rank against the greats like Magic, Oscar Robertson, and Larry Bird are plastered all over Cavs telecasts.  The graphics are ready to go and are used as frequently as the dump button for microphones within 20 feet of Kevin Garnett during an NBA game.

But last year, during one of the Cavaliers regular season match-ups with the Celtics, FSN pulled out a new statistic that I had to let sink in.  

At that time, Zydrunas Ilgauskas trailed only Paul Pierce as the NBA player with the longest tenure on one team yet to win a championship (642 games for Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Pierce’s 732).  He now sits atop that statistic, for better or worse, as the one stable component to Cavaliers’ basketball for the last decade.  

He has played in 642 games for the Cavaliers during his 11 year career, and the his most celebrated moment was quite possibly when he was the recipient of a hug from Lebron James after winning the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.  

Look at the photo.  His face is shielded from view, and when time passes and future generations unfamiliar with his game reflect upon Z’s contributions, that photo gives the impression that he was riding the pine (thanks to the warmups).  Z has had plenty of on-court triumphs, but none on the NBA’s biggest stage, and it’d be a shame if the most viewed video of Big Z on YouTube turns out to be this one:

Don’t worry.  There’s competition (such as directly below), but generally speaking, if you’re YouTube highlight video contains footage of making regular season free throws and starts with you missing your first attempt, you’re game wasn’t one that translates well to the YouTube generation.

But as much as I kid about his awkward motion on the court, or his less than exciting midrange and free throw proficiency, Z is taken for granted by too many.

For the better part of 10 years, Cavs fans have had an upper echelon center when the rest of the team has been in constant flux. While he’s only made two All-Star appearances (2003 and 2005), a look at his numbers shows a tremendous level of consistency. While other centers have fallen off considerably after the age of 30, Z is still going strong and has developed the strengths in his game that will remain in tact irrespective of age (i.e. his shooting touch, his ability to hit free throws).

His 2007-2008 season brought his best year for rebounding (9.3 per game), his 4th most productive scoring year (at 14.1 points per game), and a third consecutive season of shooting north of 80% on his free throw attempts.  He also logged more than 70 games for the 6th straight season.

Six names grace the retired numbers list of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are as follows:

7 - Bingo Smith, F, 1970-79 (12.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 720 games as a Cavalier)
22 - Larry Nance, F, 1988-94 (16.8 ppg, 8.22 rpg, 2.5 bpg, 433 games as a Cavalier)
25 - Mark Price, G, 1986-95 (16.4 ppg, 7.2 apg, 90.4 FT%, 582 games as a Cavalier)
34 - Austin Carr, G, 1971-80 (16.1 ppg, 81 FT%, 635 games as a Cavalier)
42 - Nate Thurmond, C, 1975-77 (5.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 114 games as a Cavalier)
43 - Brad Daugherty, C, 1986-94 (19.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 548 games as a Cavalier)

Add Zydrunas to the mix and you wouldn’t raise many eyebrows from a numbers standpoint.  Sure he presided over some of the Cavaliers worst teams following the departure of Mark Price, but one man does not make a team.  Three of the Cavaliers greats (Price, Nance, and Daugherty) won so much because they happened to be on the team simultaneously, and one of the remaining three (Nate Thurmond) barely played with the Cavs.  Z’s numbers nestle in there seamlessly:

11 - Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C, 1997-? (14.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 642 games as a Cavalier)

Now we’ll likely see those career numbers dip, but if Ilgauskas logs just 79 more games over the remainder of the two years left on his contract, he’ll be atop the list amongst Cavalier greats for the longest time wearing the Wine & Gold (or putrid lightning bolt accented white, black, and light blue…those uniforms never happened).

Every Cavs fan knows about Z’s character.  They know about his resiliency, bouncing back from devastating early career foot injuries to become one of the Cavs lynchpins.  They know about his personal hardships, having to suffer through some tragic events during what was the Cavaliers best season in team history.  They know about how professionally he’s handled the Cavs decision not to allow him to compete in the Olympics due to injury concerns (a decision that despite my love for the Cavs I wish they would have reconsidered).  

And hopefully, when Z walks away, future generations will know him as the last player in Cavalier history to wear #11 and the second to hoist a championship trophy (right after Lebron gets to touch it).

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