WaitingForNextYear

Coast To Coast is your bi-weekly (as in, twice a week, not every other week…or does that mean it’s semi-weekly?) look at the NBA outside of Cleveland through the perspective of the Cavaliers. Because to understand the Cavaliers is to understand the NBA.

Let me start off with a brief intro to our newest regular feature here at WFNY. The NBA is not static by any means. In fact, it’s actually quite fluid. A lot of ebbing and flowing, and whatnot. A lot of what goes on can have an impact on the Cavaliers in some ways. Other times, there are things that happen that are just fascinating in general and well worth reading. Yet other times, there are things that happen involving the Cavaliers that we don’t get a chance to write a full post about. In any of those scenarios, there are things well worth reading, looking at, and knowing. It’s my goal to make this process a little easier for you, and to give you some additional analysis, rumors, and viewpoints that you otherwise may not be exposed to do. I hope you enjoy this feature. So without further rambling on my part, I give you: The NBA, Coast To Coast…  

So Larry Hughes wants to be traded again. Big surprise, huh? You know, when all is said and done, the Larry Hughes signing may be considered the worst signing of Danny Ferry’s career as a GM (we can only hope), but the Larry Hughes trade may go down as the best trade in Cavaliers history. Just think about it. Ferry got rid of Hughes who simply wasn’t working, the consistently inconsistent Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden, and Shannon Brown, and in return he got Joe Smith (who somehow turned into Mo Williams), Ben Wallace (whose defensive presence, intensity, and leadership was been immeasurably important here), Delonte West (who has proven to be a steady defender and a solid starting 2 guard), and Wally Szczerbiak (who might yet still turn into another key component). Unbelievable….especially when you consider how much criticism Ferry has unfairly faced in his stint here. Anyway, needless to say, the people over at Blog-A-Bull wouldn’t mind seeing Hughes leave, either.
[Larry Hughes,  Bulls want same thing: to part ways]

David Lee is on the trading block. I’m not afraid to admit that it kills me to see the Knicks trying to move Lee and not hearing anything about the Cavaliers inquiring. There are plenty of pluses and minuses to Lee’s game, but I really liked this abstract way of looking at David Lee and his dependability from KnickerBlogger:

“But watching last night’s game against the Thunder, down the stretch Lee’s defensive rebounding was excellent. If you were concentrating on him, it was amazing watching his positioning and tenacity. There were a few rebounds that I don’t think any other Knick (or most big men in the league) would have secured. I honestly don’t think the Knicks would have been in yesterday’s game at the end if it weren’t for Lee’s rebounding.

The same goes for his inside scoring. Fill in the blank in the following sentence: Chris Duhon drives the lane and is double teamed, so he passes to an open David Lee who…

{Have your answer?}

Depending on your imagination you might say:
* dunks the ball.
* makes a reverse left handed layup.
* draws the foul for 2 shots.
* makes the buckets and draws the foul.

Now fill in the blank on this sentence: Chris Duhon drives the lane and is double teamed, so he passes to an open Jared Jeffries who…”

Getting a guy like Lee would give Mike Brown the same versatility with his frontcourt as he currently has with his backcourt. It would also give the Cavaliers options if they are unable to re-sign Anderson Varejao in the offseason. But alas, there has been no talk whatsoever about Lee coming to Cleveland. Hopefully JJ Hickson’s continuing development will make this a moot point.
[The Expected]

Don’t Sleep On The Magic. For all the talk this year about the Celtics and Cavaliers, it sometimes sounds like foregone conclusion that the Eastern Conference will be represented by one of these two teams. But everyone keeps forgetting about the Orlando Magic, who just keep quietly lingering within striking distance of home court advantage. This post is a little old, but the point remains….as Third Quarter Collapse explains:

With that said, Orlando’s current DRtg of 100.3 closely matches the DRtg’s of recent Title winners. The Magic, at the moment, have the 3rd-best DRtg in the NBA (league average is 106.6). Only the Boston Celtics (99.1) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (99.6) have better DRtg’s than Orlando. The Los Angeles Lakers are 4th (102.2).

It would be a mistake to dismiss the Magic as a Title contender, simply because the team’s DRtg falls in line with the DRtg’s of past NBA champions. The stats don’t lie.

I would tend to agree. Orlando is currently in 2nd place in the East, just a half game behind the Cavaliers at 30-8. I don’t think I can ever recall hearing less about a team with a .789 winning percentage.
[Orlando Magic=Title Contenders? Better Believe It]

The Utah Jazz season isn’t turning out as planned. The Jazz were believed to have a true title contending team this season. One of the most solid starting lineups in the NBA and perhaps the deepest bench as well. But as it is, the Jazz are currently in 8th place with regards to the Western Conference playoff picture. Hammy of True Blue Jazz breaks down the opportunities the Jazz let get away from them:

In my estimationThe Jazz should have won at least 2 of the 4 gave it away games and 4 of the 5 WTF losses, that would put their record at 27 – 9.  We would be 2 games ahead of San Antonio for 2nd and only 2.5 game behind LA for the #1 seed.  I really hope that this is more a product of the injuries than a reality of what this team is.  Combine the really bad losses with the increasingly alarming problem of having horrible 1st quarters and I am really worried.

Injuries have really derailed the Jazz this season.  As it is, it looks like they will be fighting for a playoff spot all year in the incredibly tight Western Conference. But if they ever fall out of contention, might they look to move Kirilenko for an expiring contract to help them address their own expiring contracts of Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap, and Mehmet Okur? It’s something to keep in the back of your mind. (There will be more on this in an upcoming collaborative piece we’re doing with Amar from Cavalier Attitude)
[What Could (Should) Have Been]

The Lakers know how to find value in losing. Or so to speak. As I said in my recent “What’s Wrong With The Cavaliers”, losing games is a part of the NBA season. Kurt from Forum Blue And Gold, though, points out that there’s virtue in letting your team learn from those losses. He is particularly talking about the Boston Celtics, but he writes:

When the Lakers played like crap in December, Phil Jackson was coaching for April and May. He let them struggle, and while his placid style can drives fans nuts during a game against Sacramento, Phil knows it’s not about the Kings. A loss now can be a lesson learned as the team finds its own path. We all know from our lives, despite warnings from those in the know, sometimes we have to learn hard lessons for ourselves. And those are the lessons that stick.

I think that some of that can be applied to the Cavaliers as well. There is value in the Cavaliers learning how to win without Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Sure, it would have been great to have him playing in the game against the Celtics on Friday night, but they won without him, and they did so by learning from their mistakes when they were initially losing games and/or playing poorly when Z first went down.
[Lessons In Losing]

Perhaps LeBron James’ abilities are in a realm incomprehensible by our mere mortal minds. Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko wonders this very question aloud. He makes some good points, too….I mean, who am I to disagree?

And here’s where we return to Jordan. Was he mortal? If you look at his career arc, it seems to be that of a man who got more mortal as he matured into a champion. There’s a possibly depressing parable for you, and one that bodes well for Kobe’s continued relevence. However, I also wonder if James’s genius might be that he’s managed to buck that narrative. His ascent will require no such humility, or reining in of his messianic instinct (see also Dr. J, Black Jesus, for other examples of the usual trajectory). If anything, for LeBron James actualization only engenders more potential. At this point, as each game unfolds, they occur simultaneously. That’s truly frightening, but it’s also a message of hope. If just this once, a player can make changing the game and winning it absolutely inseparable pursuits. From a strategic standpoint, it’s all too brilliant, and so seamless you might not even notice what a radical notion it is.

The key point here is valid in my mind. There’s much more joy in watching the unexpected that is LeBron James vs the scientific and rigid approach that is Kobe Bryant. Both are great players, but great players on very different axes. There’s no limit to the potential of LeBron James if he can prove that winning can exceed what most great players thought was a mere vacuum.
[Bites Eat Everything]

Did you notice Jawad Williams wasn’t on the Cavaliers’ bench? Unfortunately, that’s because the Cavaliers released him last week. As always, Windhorst has the goods:

The Cavaliers released the rookie forward Wednesday, but there’s a chance it may not be permanent. The Cleveland native and former St. Edward star made the team after a good training-camp performance. This Friday, however, his contract would have become guaranteed for the rest of the reason and would have limited the Cavs’ roster flexibility.

Before releasing Williams, the team had the maximum of 15 players on the roster. Now they will have a spot to use if they want to pick up another free agent or make an unbalanced trade, where they’d take back more players than they send out.

If the Cavaliers could ever get finality and clearance from the NBA on Eric Snow’s disability retirement claim, it could possibly open up a slot for Jawad. Look, I know he’s not a player that’s probably ever going to step foot on the court in the playoffs, but I have always really liked the guy and I enjoyed seeing him on the Cavaliers bench. I know why the Cavaliers had to release him, and it was the right move. But that’s not going to stop me from wishing Jawad nothing but the best and hoping that he can still find his way back on the Cavaliers’ roster this season.
[Cleveland Cavaliers’ Jawad Williams Released]

I was just thinking the other day that the only thing missing from the Cleveland Cavaliers this year is a theme song. Well, now we can evidently check that off the list. The one, the only, the incomparable Bootsy Collins has written his version of a love song for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I can’t speak for the legitimacy of this, but you HAVE to check it out by clicking here. And I can think of no finer way of ending this edition of Coast To Coast than that.
[It’s Bootsy Baby?]