Published: November 7, 2009
Through the first week of the NBA season, a few popular championship picks have come out a little flat. Granted the season’s barely cracked dawn, but apart from the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, nearly every preseason contender that had made a significant addition in the off season as an attempt to mold their already stellar team into an even better one, has been limping out of the gate.
Let’s just say general managers in the NBA don’t subscribe to the saying, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
The Cavaliers would have to be at the top of the list right now. Largely thanks to their desperate addition of Shaquille O’Neal, Cleveland’s makeup looks a little different from last season’s 66 win squad and offensively they’re lethargic; looking a little off as they strive to win a ring for the king.
Through seven games, the Cavs have lost two games at home, the exact same amount for the entire 2008-09 season. One of them was an explainable defeat against the best team in basketball on opening night, but nonetheless it’s still a disappointing start for a city with such high hopes.
So why is it that Cleveland doesn’t look like the dominant team most expected them to be?
First and foremost, their decision to sign a player whose infamous temperament could complicate their trek towards a championship was a questionable move at best. The primary reason for bringing the larger than life O’Neal into the fold was a knee-jerk reaction to their playoff collapse against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. The thought process here was that the 19-year veteran could beef up the defense in the paint and plug some of those interior leaking holes that Howard exposed so evidently last May.
So far it hasn’t exactly been the smoothest looking transaction and here’s why.
When they added the 37-year-old O’Neal, Cleveland predictably enough threw him into the starting lineup and figured he’d co-exist with LeBron James and his sharp-shooting minions. This of course put Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the bench, creating their first problem.
Ilgauskas, a player who is actually quite dangerous from outside six feet and much more suited to play with James, is now relegated to an even lower supporting cast role. Since 2001 when he took over as Cleveland’s franchise big man, Big Z’s been through four coaches, a few ankle surgeries and hundreds of nights that ended with his club on the losing end of things. That’s countless beads of sweat, hours upon hours of ankle taping and just a whole lot of unbending devotion towards a basketball team and notoriously bleak city.
Ilgauskas seems like a good guy so he probably wasn’t going to speak up about it, but to take the starting spot away from him at this point in his career is something Danny Ferry should have examined a little harder. Here’s a comparison of what O’Neal (on Phoenix) and Ilgauskas did last season.
O’Neal’s per game numbers last year (in 75 starts) are 18 points, 8 rebounds, 1.4 blocks.
Ilgauskas’ per game numbers last year (in 65 starts) are 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks.
Last year Ilgauskas posted double figures in the first 19 games. So far this season, he’s scored 6, 4, 15, 10, 3, 2 and 9 points in the seven games Cleveland’s played. They simply need more production out of that guy; he’s intrinsic to their offense.
Unless of course they’re planning on dealing him for another big man before the trade deadline as he’s a free agent next year and his expiring contract would be extremely valuable to a number of clubs. But that’s besides the point.
The offense looks jumbled whenever O’Neal is on the court. He’s still decent when he gets the ball low enough on the block, but his passing and defense are just a step too slow on numerous occasions. He doesn’t need to be doubled anymore which especially makes everything slower and more bogged down for James and his sidekicks to operate.
Last Thursday night against the Bulls, O’Neal’s stat line looked decent enough (14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks) but his time on the court was anything but positive for Cleveland. Early on he couldn’t get to his spot in the post against the bamboo thin Joakim Noah; managing n0 offensive rebounds and a few point blank turn around shots that aren’t going to cut it.
O’Neal isn’t the worst center in the league or the Eastern Conference or even the Central Division. Late in the fourth quarter of a tight game against Chicago, O’Neal’s defense was made clear as one of his blocks led to a Mo Williams jump shot and the other made rookie Taj Gibson question whether or not he should stick to the less hazardous perimeter.
However, he clearly isn’t what he once was and that’s something only he can come to terms with. Some sacrifices must be made and if this keeps up, the Cavs have no choice but to put the big guy on the bench and have him realize where he’s currently sitting at this stage in his career. As mentioned before, Ilgauskas is the better option for this team right now for the opening tip.
Another change that has gone rather unnoticed is being reflected in their so-so overall performance on the glass. After losing Ben Wallace (who led the team in offensive rebounds a year ago) in the O’Neal trade, Cleveland currently sits as the fifth worst offensive rebounding team in the league. They’re 13th overall as a team and an impressive fourth in the league defensively, but whenever Anderson Varejao is on the bench they don’t really have that guy who’s sole responsibility is to wipe the backboard clean. Last year they had Wallace and Joe Smith who are now both gone.
Replacing them on the roster are O’Neal, the average Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon.
An extremely athletic swing man, Moon might be able to at the very least get the crowd going with his jaw dropping ability to walk on clouds, but unfortunately he can’t buy a minute on the floor. Through the first week he’s averaging just over 10 minutes a game. For his career, about 25.
It should be mentioned that the Cavs shouldn’t be this stagnant for too long, but only if they can figure out a way to smoothly incorporate Shaq into their already questionable offense. Defensively they’re at the top of the league (last season they finished first in point allowed and today they stand at fifth.)
