Blogging About The Cavs
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So I finally put together my first podcast for Cavsboard. It’s 10 minutes of brief, but intial goodness that touches on all things Cavs. Amongst the subject we (or I) discuss:
Thanks to all those who listen, and feel free to comment with suggetions and praise insults and criticisms.
So summer league has come and gone, and the Cavs lost every game. But most were pleasantly surpised with the outcome. The big question going into the Summer League schedule was how would J.J. Hickson perform. Not many casual basketball fans had ever seen Hickson play and when the Cavaliers selected him with the 19th pick, many so-called “experts” were surprised. But Hickson showed the promise that Danny Ferry sees in him and strung together a very good five games. Let’s take a look at how Hickson performed in the five games:
Totals: 19.4 ppg on 53% shooting, 50% (19-38) on free throw attempts, 7.8 rebounds (4 offensive), 1.2 block shots per game, 3 personal fouls per game
That’s a good showing for the young big man. One of the elements that stood out was Hickson aggression and desire to finish at the rim. One of the uglier aspects of his game was his free throw shooting. He’s going to get to the line in the NBA. It’s certainly a concern that he only shot 50% when he got there, but you have to hope that with some work, he can climb into a respectable zone (65-70%) where sending him to the line doesn’t become the smart basketball play (ala Ben Wallace).
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Bob Finnan of the Morning Journal recently weighed in on the Delonte West situation, suggesting that the Golden State Warriors may be in competition for his services. The Warriors have yet to resign their own restricted free agents Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis, and have been linked in some rumors to Philadelphia restricted free agent Louis Williams. Read on:
The Cavs’ next order of business is to attempt to sign point guard Delonte West, another restricted free agent. West’s agent, Noah Croom, wisely waited to see what kind of contract Gibson received. Now, he’ll likely ask for more money than Gibson got because West is the Cavs’ starting point guard.
He’ll likely ask for Udrih-type money because he’s arguably as good as the Kings’ guard.
Unlike Gibson, West may generate some interest from other teams. Golden State apparently thinks West would look great running up and down the court with the Warriors.
That’s probably where the Monta Ellis rumors have come from. Ellis, the athletic scoring machine with the Warriors, is also restricted. The Cavs are enamored with Ellis’ talents. Sources say the Warriors aren’t about to let Ellis leave the team after Baron Davis bolted for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ellis’ camp is asking for a reported $10 million a season.
The Cavs might not have the assets it would take to pry loose the 6-foot-3 Ellis from Golden State.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that West might be close to signing an offer sheet, although it might not be with the Cavs. The Cavs, of course, can match any offer West gets.
During negotiations with West, the Cavs are likely lining up possible replacements just to cover their backs. One possible alternative could be Orlando’s Carlos Arroyo. Both are available after the Magic signed veteran Anthony Johnson to be the backup to starter Jameer Nelson.
Certainly an interesting read from Bob Finnan, but I’m skeptical that the Warriors would get into a bidding war for a restricted free agent when they are going to have their own financial worries having yet to resign Ellis and Biedrins. And if the Warriors are honestly considering working a sign and trade that involved West and Ellis switching teams, then they need to have their heads examined. Ellis is a far superior talent and younger to top it off. The only reasonable logic for making that move as Chris Mullin is that you’re trying to cut salary, and somehow I don’t think a team would put down 10 million dollars a year for Maggette if they were that concerned about their financial situation.
This Friday at 8pm EST/5pm PST, the Cavs take on a Wizards summer league squad full of intriguing prospects. Both squads are out to 0-2 starts, but that’s hardly relevant in Summer League. Unlike the Rockets, and the Knicks before them, the Wizards have several big bodies to throw up against Cavs rookies JJ Hickson and Darnell Jackson, including Andray Blatche (6′11″, 250), Vladimir Veremeenko (6′10″, 230), Oleksiy Pecherov (7′0″, 234), Javale McGee (7′0″, 237), and Dominic McGuire (6′9″, 220 pounds). Pecherov has missed the first two games with a sprained ankle, but could play against the Cavs.
On the perimeter, they are joined by last year’s first round draft choice Nick Young, and Dee Brown, the point guard from Illinois who played with the Jazz.. The rest of their roster and Summer League stats look as follows:
Wednesday night’s exhibition matchup between the Cavs and Rockets was a nailbiter. The Rockets edged out the Cavaliers 73-72. In the matchup that many Cavs fans anticipated, Joey Dorsey did indeed play and spent considerable time defending JJ Hickson. After a largely ineffective first half, JJ Hickson finished with a respectable 18 points and 6 rebounds on 7-15 shooting. Dorsey, though prone to fouling did notch 14 rebounds and 8 points on 4-4 shooting.
I’d try to offer a bit more then a boxscore rundown, but NBA.com failed me as a customer, and I was unable to watch the stream live. As soon as it’s archived, I’ll be analyzing the action and recapping individual performances. For the time being, the boxscores are below:
Continue reading ‘Cavaliers vs. Rockets - Summer League Review - 7/16′
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