Two brief things to comment on after watching tonight’s game:
The first is that for much of all four quarters, we saw the Cavs’ best line-up on display - Mo, Delonte, Moon, Bron, and Varejao/Shaq.
The odd men out in this equation are Hickson and Parker and tonight we saw why: both players are too one-dimensional to consistently be as effective as other options. If Parker isn’t making shots, he isn’t doing much else, and neither is Hickson. Even worse, when Hickson isn’t finishing well at the rim, he’s generally fumbling the ball out of bounds and creating turnovers.
Through 16 games, Parker was shooting 41.1% from the field and 51.7% from 3P, averaging 1.38 TO, 1 Steal, 1.8 AST and 2.7 TRB.
Last year Delonte shot 45.7% from the field and 39.9% from 3P, averaging 1.4 TO, 1.5 Steals, 3.5 AST and 3.2 TRB.
Plus, there’s the ability to create shots for himself and for others and the defense. We all watched Parker get killed in the post against Stephen Jackson last night. Last year, Delonte’s Defensive RAPM was -3.499 - best on the team and 16th best in the NBA.
I’ve said it before, but the Cavs success this year is at least partially contingent on Delonte West playing at the level he did last season.
Again, there’s a reason the Cavs signed Parker to come off the bench - or at least play limited minutes - that has to right itself.
And tonight at least Andy did everything JJ did in his best games - and more. He and Jamario Moon led the team in rebounds with 9 each, and Andy was perfect from the field.
Moon by the way had a simple line of 13 points on 63% shooting, 9 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block.
Finally, the second point. The Cavs have now finished the first month of the season (their next game is against Phoenix on Wednesday, December 2nd) and are at 12-5, fourth in the Eastern Conference (one game behind Orlando for 1st).
More importantly, they played 11 back-to-backs this month. The Cavs’ total number of back-to-backs this season: 17.
That’s right, only 6 more back-to-backs to go.
All things considered - injuries to Shaq, Varejao, and Delonte (at least in the abstract) - and I don’t think there’s too much reason to be concerned.
17 games and one month down. 65 games and 5 months to go.
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josemesaisdead posted this
