Ladies and gentlemen…the bench!
The Cavs will not have their new toys in time to play against the Wizards on Friday, nor will they have their recently discarded toys. Of course, they are still battling injuries as well. So who in the world is left to play?
Well there’s LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. That was easy. Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic are out with injuries. Andy Varejao reportedly tested the ankle prior to the Pacers game, and is a possibility for Friday. The point? Well my guess is that we will see Eric Snow and Damon Jones sharing the responsibility. That leaves one more starting spot, assuming Varejao would be somewhat limited in his return. Personally, I’d put LeBron at the 4 and start Devin Brown. That would mean Snow and Damon Jones in the back court, with Z, LeBron and Devin Brown in the front.
I can already hear you. “Don’t mess with LeBron, just surround him with the other guys and let him try to win one himself!” Yeah, yeah except that Washington isn’t a big team, and we’re really only talking about at the defensive end anyway, so keep your pants on.
The biggest problem might be the bench. Assuming that Andy can go at least part time, which is a large assumption, that leaves a bench of…Dwayne Jones. Yep. That’s right. Do the math, our roster on Thursday morning was 15 players. We traded away 6 (Hughes, Marshall, Gooden, Newble, Brown, Simmons) and we will receive 4 back (West, Wally, Wallace, Smith) hopefully in time for Sunday’s game. Two of them are injured, and 1 is questionable. Fifteen minus the six traded players is nine. Nine minus the two injured players is seven. Five will start. That leaves two bench players and one of those will more than likely be a hobbled Varejao. Unless there is a ten day contract in the next 20 hours, the Cavs are playing with half a deck.
Can Eric Snow play 48 minutes? We know Zydrunas can’t, and fortunately we still have Dwayne Jones, so he can get a breather. Another injury and this game is over. If I were the Wizards, I’d be looking to attack the basket and get the Cavs in foul trouble. Oh, and I’d double Lebron. A lot. Like all the time. Seriously.
UPDATE: Have no fear Cavalier fans, the bench got 2 players from the development league today. That’s right, your new Cavs (who are destined to roam the courts in Colorado 10 days from now) are Kaniel Dickens and Billy Thomas! Whew….I was worried there for a minute. Now Lebron only has to score 60 or 70 to beat the Wizards tonight!
Author: Rick
Rick is a co-founder and editor of WFNY. His love of Cleveland sports is surpassed only by his faith and love of his family. Follow him on Twitter- @rickwfny.Rick has written 743 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
This is actually a disaster. The Cavs have to sign some guys to 10 days. There’s absolutely no way they can play with only 6 active guys (7 tops). This game is going to be a nightmare to watch.
I hope they have a fan raffle where they pick seats and whomever is in them gets to suit up. It’s a great way to get attendance for what could be a really rough game…
And they’re still favored by 3. Call your bookie.
That’s hilarious! This is going to be a terrible game, and I can’t wait to watch it! If LeBron is going to try to go for 3 triple doubles in a row, he’d better have some shooters to get him assists. From looking at the roster, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be going 3 in a row. http://www.feigningenius.wordpress.com
We had 2 roster spots open, anyway. These guys are the new Simmons and Shannon. They’ll only be on the active roster as long as we’re banged up. Come April, they’re roster spots 14 and 15.
The real question is whether Lebron can go for 50, 20 and 10 if Andy can’t play much.
Damon Jones to the rescue!