For those who missed it back on Wednesday, the Plain Dealer’s Jodie Valade wrote an article focused primarily on the challenging relationship between J.J. “Glitch” Hickson and Byron Scott. Her post appears to have been prompted at least in party by Scott’s decision to keep Glitch on the bench in favor of Joey Graham for the final 18 minutes of the Cavs’ Tuesday win over the Sixers.
To put it bluntly, Glitch does not make a good showing in the press on this one. Whether accurately or inaccurately, Valade primarily frames the dispute around J.J.’s consistently unimpressive rebounding numbers. Scott essentially blames this on poor technique and poor focus. Having watched Glitch for 2+ seasons, I’d say that those are fair judgments.
However, Glitch’s argument is different. The main problems, he says, are twofold. First, he’s boxing out properly but “the ball hasn’t been falling [his] way.” Second, he plays next to rebounding machine Andy Varejao, who, he implies, is grabbing so many boards that there just aren’t many left for anyone else. Hickson even goes so far as to suggest that the only way for him to up his rebounding total some nights will be “stealing” boards from his teammates, but that if that’s what Scott wants, that’s what he’ll do.
Now, I am as big a fan of Varejao as any man with an unblemished record of heterosexuality can be. But the idea that J.J. can’t average more than 2 rebounds per game because of Andy’s presence is just patently insane. As a team, the Cavs currently rank 29th in the league in Total Rebound Rate at 47.91. That means they’re one of only 12 teams who currently grab less than half of available offensive and defensive rebounds. Suggesting that there’s no room for improvement in that figure doesn’t add up—especially considering that J.J. is currently posting the worst TRR of his young career (11.6 vs 14.1 last season and 14.0 in his rookie year). Rebounding is a zero-sum game, but primarily one played between your team and your opponent’s, not between you and your teammate.
Personally, I suspect that there are more dimensions to Lord Byron’s thought process than just J.J.’s rebounding deficiency. For instance, Glitch—a guy whose inconsistent defense has been a calling card for the past two seasons—is currently posting the worst Defensive Rating of his career (108 points allowed per 100 possessions). In addition, his newfound confidence in his jump shot and LeBron’s departure as focal point of the offense have led him to a dramatic increase in Usage Rate. At present, his 26.9% USG nearly matches that of 2009-10 Derrick Rose (27.2% USG).
The redeeming light here is Scott himself. In theory, this is exactly what he was brought in by management to do: challenge young players to reach a level that a more player-friendly coach wouldn’t push them toward. In that sense, I don’t at all mind that his relationship with Glitch is somewhat rocky. In fact, I almost think it would be great if J.J. grows to hate Byron. Hatred would at least prove that he was engaged enough to feel passionately one way or the other about his career, and I don’t know that I’ve necessarily seen more than flashes of that in him so far. Consistent strong feelings—even negative ones—could signal real progress, as long as they’re channeled correctly.
The question will be whether or not the relationship (and J.J.’s play) will improve as the season goes on. Scott has a history of this kind of tough love with his players. Some times it succeeds tremendously (Chris Paul), and some times it crashes and burns (Jason Kidd). We won’t know until later in the season, at least, which of those two categories it looks like Glitch is trending toward. But one thing’s for sure: there is definitely room for improvement in the young man’s game, and Scott seems to be correctly identifying the weak points.
-T
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