This will probably make many of you happy, although I’m not 100 percent sure it will work, but I am told by a source today that Mike Brown is planning on making a change to his starting lineup for tomorrow night’s game.  For the first time in 139 games, and the first time since Brown’s been the head coach, he is not planning on starting Eric Snow.  Instead, he is planning to start Daniel Gibson.  Although minds can change, Gibson worked out there in practice today before the media was allowed in.

Watching the last two games, you could see it coming. Gibson’s minutes have been rising, Snow’s dropping.  In the last two games, Snow has played just 13 minutes each. Those are his fewest of the year.  After the game, Brown indicated he wanted to give Gibson an extended look.

My only thing is, I don’t think Gibson is a point guard.  I think he’s a shoot first guard at heart.  So, to me, this means more point guard duties for Larry Hughes.  But Gibson has earned everything he’s gotten since the preseason

In addition, as you know, I believe Snow’s defense is valuable.  Over the last 10 games, they are allowing 103 points and 48 percent shooting per game.  I know I’ve been harping on the offense all year, but that was with the understanding they were playing good defense.  Now, I’m more worried about the defense because without it, they have nothing to stand on.

That said, knowing Mike the way I do, he didn’t come to this decision on a whim.  He’s probably been thinking about it for a long time before making the decision.  We’ll see how it works out.  Who knows, maybe he’ll change his mind, but he’s told Eric he’s not going to start.

I know plenty of you are all fired about how terrible you think the Cavs are and are ready to rip them after their 1-3 week.  As you know, as your certified realist I am not opposed to spreading doom and gloom.  That said, I’m here to tell you that you should be optimistic.  I’ve actually liked a lot of things I’ve seen from the Cavs over the last few games and I think it bodes OK for the near future.  Once LeBron is healthy again.  My bet is he’s going to miss at least one more game with this toe injury.  If Sunday wasn’t a national TV game, he would’ve sat and considering he re-injured the toe, and he should’ve.

Before you read these, please realize the Cavs are 8-7 for the month.  If they handle their business against the Warriors on Tuesday, and that’s not a guarantee of course, they’ll finish it 9-7.  This was their hardest month and they went 6-4 on the road.  Which is solid.  Of course, being 2-3 at home sucks.  No, it’s isn’t great, but this isn’t a great team.

Three things to like

1. The past two games the Cavs have played excellent offense.  Against Philadelphia it was because they didn’t have LeBron to watch dribble and actually had the move the ball and execute.  Against Phoenix it was because they had to.  But for the most part they really moved the ball well from side to side and worked to get open shots.  They penetrated, drove and kicked and worked the ball in and out of the post.  They even posted LeBron a few times.  They’ve scored 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 13 and Dec. 15.  Folk, that’s progress.

2. The re-emergence of Daniel Gibson.  He’s played more minutes than Eric Snow in the last two games.  I still believe Snow is a cog on the team, but a combination of Mike Brown’s unwillingness to play the rookie and Boobie’s periods of productionless play (and while many of were demanding he get more time he was playing plenty of these types of games) had limited his time over the last month.  Perhaps now Brown will ride him a bit more.  I’m not saying he’s the answer, but right now he’s not a bad option.

3. Good play from Drew Gooden.  Of course the Cavs played coy, but the guy had a sprained wrist that slowed him down for a week and it showed in his production.  I know he disappears at times, but he’s actually had an excellent month and the lackluster games against Denver, Golden State, and Orlando are now a little bit explained to me.  He told me today sprained his wrist against Denver.

Three things to hate

1. The Cavs defense over the last three weeks.  Remember when they were a good defensive team?  Well, they aren’t right now.  The Suns are great, but they were the fourth straight team to shoot more than 50 percent against the Cavs and it’s happened in five of the last six games.  Not acceptable.  It comes down to laziness quite often.  They are not rotating well or defending the paint as well.  Also, they been turning the ball over a lot lately, which has led to easy shots.

2. Forgetting about Z again.  I know he doesn’t exactly fit against the Suns, but he’s had some huge games against them in the past.  OK, Amare Stoudemire abused him early, but he can outplay Stoudemire, too.  Sunday was the third time in four games he’s scored less than 10 points on less than 10 shots.

3. David Wesley’s jump shot.  I know the guy is playing hard or whatever, but he’s here to make shots.  They reason he got benched was because he couldn’t make them and in these last three games he’s gotten time, he’s a woeful 3-of-12.

My formative years in basketball were spent with a calculating coach named Lewis Seikel.  He was a cutting, demanding and often fiercely sarcastic man.  An accountant during the day, it was generally not a good thing once tax season started.  He was my coach in seventh and eighth grades and, whether I knew it or not at the time, he largely shaped the way I look at basketball.

Coach Seikel played a tight 2-1-2 zone defense, we were not to leave the paint.  This generally did not favor us when we played good shooting teams, you understand.  On offense, any shot attempted outside 15 feet was sure to land you a spot on the bench.  A 3-pointer?  Ha, surely you jest.  When two of our best pivot players didn’t come out in eighth grade — man, we had been a "long" team, jeez we must’ve have five guys 5-foot-10 or taller — let’s just say it hurt.  We were terrible, but perhaps that was a personnel issue.  Anyway, here’s my point…I hate the jump shot to this day.

This no doubt colors the way I watch and evaluated the game and therefore, cover the Cavs.  If any of you can actually be bothered with reading my game stories, you will notice I am constantly mentioning the scoring in the paint and the number of 3-pointers the Cavs attempt.  Perhaps this is boring, but I firmly believe it is the proper way to evaluate a team’s offensive efficiency.  I eye the points in the paint stat as closely as any other stat during the course of a game.

Don’t think I’m a basketball prude and think you can never take jumpers or craziness like that.  I just don’t prefer them.  And when they are taken, they should be as a result of the ball coming inside-out, either from a pass from the post or off a drive and kick.  Because, as we all know, it is much easier to make a jumper stepping into it after receiving a pass from dead on that dribbling into it or catching from the side off a pick-and-roll.

Which is why I’m constantly rolling my eyes at the Cavs offense.  Regardless of the plays being called, I can’t hear them anymore because they’ve moved my seat off the floor, the Cavs end up taking handfuls of these "bad jumpers."  There are only three guys on the team that get to catch and shoot on a regular basis: Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow.  Jones is the best jumper shooter and is having a pretty good year, Marshall’s skills have appeared to diminish, and Snow, well, no comment.  In addition, when the ball does go into the post to Drew Gooden or Zydrunas Ilgauskas it isn’t coming out, those guys COMBINE to average less than two assists per game.  And with teams knowing the Cavs can be suckered into taking bad jumpers, they will just play zone or go under pick-and-rolls and make it all but impossible to drive-and-kick.  How many times over the last month have you seen Larry Hughes start to drive and then pull up from 16-20 feet?  This is why.

During the preseason I was impressed with the Cavs offense.  I remember that night in Manchester, N.H., when they took the wraps off.  I watched backdoors and lobs and middle posts for LeBron and my eyes glazed over.  Driving, passing to the post, high-percentage shots.  Oh, if only Coach Seikel had seen it, too!  I waxed about it over and over for that month, even if it did seem so dry to the reader.  I thought perhaps this would turn the corner.

Now I see the slow, muddy, bad-jumper mess it has been reduced to and I can only shake my head in print.  Lame pick-and-rolls 23 feet from the basket, no inside-out action, standing around, fadeaway jumpers at the shot clock buzzer.

Oh, how I hate the jump shot.

Denver — Let’s get a few things straight here because I’m sensing from my e-mail, comments on Ohio.com, and message boards that I’ve looked at today that everyone is getting a little emotional and delusional.

–Please stop running whatever trade machine you use or speculating about Jason Kidd.  Yes, there’s been some reports the Nets would be willing to trade him.  Of course they would, he’s owed a crazy amount of money and he’s nearing the end of his career.  Would he help the Cavs?  Are you kidding? The guy is a Hall of Famer, of course he would.  But until you can answer me this question, I have absolutely no use hearing or reading any more trade nonsense: Why would the Nets make a trade to improve the Cavs?  Next.

–The Cavs are not a bad team.  They are a good team, a quality team, a team with lots of potential.  They are also flawed, especially offensively and especially especially from the offensive point guard spot.  This flaw is going to continue to cost them games, as every team’s flaws are going to cost them games.  I have written this many times before and, dang, it ain’t even midseason yet.  After the whole Carlos Boozer debacle a few years ago, Gordon Gund wrote a long and bearing open letter to fans about the ordeal.  Every time he or anyone in the organization was asked after that, they just referred to that letter.  Well, until I see changes I think I should just refer to this blog post and let it stand.  Also, whenever someone complains to me about Eric Snow, I should refer to this.

–Yes, the losses in Seattle and Portland were bad, bad losses.  Pretty much inexcusable to blow the game in Seattle and then forget to show up last night.  But that’s what happens on the West Coast, there’s bad losses.  It happens every year, that’s why they’re like 9-34 over the last seven years on this trip.

–That said, the Cavs have missed a chance to put air between them and the Pistons, who keep losing at home.  Is it even a big deal to win in the Palace anymore?  ESPN.com’s Buster Olney wrote a great book called the Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, referring to the events that took place after the Yanks lost to the Dbacks in the World Series.  I may be proven wrong on this at some point, but I can see the evening of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals being the last night of the Detroit Pistons mini-dynasty.  On that night I wrote this piece about some of the flaws the Cavs found in the Pistons.  It proved to be too late for the Cavs, but the Heat took advantage and then Ben Wallace left and now they are looking more mortal by the day.  Like I said, I could be wrong, but it is leaning that way.  Remember, everyone was picking the Pistons to make their 3rd straight Finals last year and win a second title at that moment.

–After the game Wednesday Mike Brown was as fired up as I’ve seen him in a year and a half.  Closest I can remember was in Dallas last season after the Cavs blew big leads to the Heat and Mavs on the same road trip.  But that was understandable, those teams were the best in the league.  Not the same with the Blazers.  Anyway, Mike was going on about how the team ought to be embarrassed and ashamed and all that, it was good stuff.  I went into the locker room a few minutes later and many Cavs were just laughing and carrying on.  Guess they didn’t feel the same way.  So, they’re not worrying about it, why should you, right? 

Portland, Ore. — I’ve been asked by a reader for my take on the big Warriors-Pacers trade that just went down.  There were eight players dealt, the principals being Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson for Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy.  So here it is.

These are two teams that are sort of back in the pack trying to make a move up with a shake up.  I don’t see either as having "won" the trade at this point.  The Pacers got two guys who have been under-performing with massive contracts.  Although Ike Diogu has lots of upside and a year ago was considered untouchable in Golden State.  It has been interesting that Don Nelson has been ripping Dunleavy and Murphy recently, which goes against NBA 101, which is you don’t publicly devalue your assets.  The Warriors were getting better play from younger and cheaper guys, so it made sense they’d try to figure a way to move the expensive ones.  I’m sure Harrington and Jackson are somewhat happy because it is fun to play the way they play at Golden State, I’ll get a first-hand look on Saturday night.

For the Pacers, I think this deal hurts their athleticism a bit.  Murphy is a quality big man and those are tough to find.  His contract isn’t crazy out of whack, but it is longer than Harrington’s.  I believe the Pacers probably knew when they were signing Harrington they were buying an asset just as much as a player.  They had that trade exception they stole from the Hornets, which everybody in the league feels was a favor to the Pacers owners from Hornets owner George Shinn for future help when he tries to extract his team from New Orleans, and he was the best player they could get for it.  That’s why they were pleased when they got him to sign a three-year deal, it made him more tradeable.  Although I don’t think they thought they’d do it this soon.  They also wanted to be rid of Jackson ever since he went Yosemite Sam in the preseason.  The problem, as I see it, is that Dunleavy is probably going to be their starting shooting guard unless they are going with average Marquis Daniels.

Two years ago I picked the Pacers to reach the NBA Finals before the melee in Detroit, when they were about to get a huge early statement victory in the Palace, if you remember.  Now, they’ve pretty much dumped the whole team save for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley.

As for the Cavs, I would say it is a challenge to them that the Central teams are trying to improve themselves around them.  I’m on the record saying I will not consider them a serious contender until they get a offensive point guard.  Now, I’m getting questions about Saraunas Jasikevicius, who was just moved to the Warriors.  Is he the guy?  I’m not sure, but he’d probably help and he’d be an upgrade.  We know that Danny Ferry likes him and he fits the profile of what they want, an experienced character guy.  But he’s questionable on defense and he’s aging, I’m not sure if he makes a huge impact.  What I am sure of is his regret over picking the Pacers over the Cavs two summers ago.

I will have to evaluate the Warriors roster and maybe see them play for a little bit before I can decide whether there’s a trade that would make sense.  The exceptions won’t get it done, although the Warriors may be looking to dump salary.  It is possible, especially in a few weeks time if he’s not able to stay in Nelson’s rotation.

I am all for not making a move just to make a move, but I believe the Cavs will be under pressure to do something before the trading deadline.

Seattle — Just wanted to pop in before I leave KeyArena for a little snap judgment on tonight’s game, which the Cavs lost 101-96.  This is still the difference between a team like the Cavs and a team like, say, the Spurs or Mavericks or whomever up there.  None of those teams loses a game like tonight.  In my opinion the Cavs have been turning a corner over the last month because they’ve been dedicating themselves to defense, which I wrote a little about today.  If they stay on this path, and I’m making no predictions, they will win a bunch of games the rest of the season.  They are really getting it, I can see it and I can feel it in the locker room.  They say the right things and doing the right things defensively.

But while they continue to make strides there, I still believe they will occasionally be these setbacks due to focus and offense.  Nine of the Cavs last 10 shots were long jumpers.  Which is why they lost.   After handling the Sonics zone all night with drives and excellent passing, they just bombed away.   This is partly due to focus and partly due to not having a more sound offensive attack in crunch time, which can be blamed on the sideline and the guys on the floor.

Here’s what I mean.  After the game, LeBron James said:

"When you shoot 18 percent from the 3-point line it is going to be tough, we had some great looks we usually knock down."

I see 3-of-18 on 3-pointers and don’t wonder about the "3," but the "18," especially when I see 41 percent shooting overall.  The Sonics writers here are all impressed with their team because LeBron was held to just a few points in the fourth, I was more interested in that Zydrunas Ilgauskas didn’t score more in the fourth against the zone he was eating up all night.  LeBron wished more 3s would’ve fallen, I think they should never have been taken.

Until those lessons become more honed and more toward second nature — like the defense is showing some signs of — this team is still very much of a work in progress.  A good team, yes, but not a complete one.

Los Angeles — I’ve had a rare treat during this road trip, one that many of you I’m sure take for granted.  Twice I’ve been able to listen to Joe Tait call the game on the radio.  I DVR most of the Cavs games off TV and watch pieces of them, but I never get to just listen to the games live because I’m always there.  It just so happens some of the media seating configurations on the West Coast allow me to sit next to him and I borrow a headset.

I grew up listening to him call games, indeed I am from the Akron area.  I especially remember West Coast games like these when I’d listen to the radio in bed.   Listening to him call games out here and thinking back to those nights, well it is just comfortable.

Sure, I used to cut out stories about Danny Ferry, too.  But being a grizzled beat writer, I’ve become certifiably objective and I’ll rip Ferry whenever needed, just ask him.  A pro in my position sort even loses the ability to be a fan of any team in any sport, sort of an irony of the trade.  When I’m off, the last think I really want to do is go to a game of any sort.

But that doesn’t apply with Mr. Tait and his style of calling the game…"Snow over the timeline and into the forecourt, dribbling between the circles.  A whistle and, now what?  They’re gonna get Z on a moving screen.  Oh, Dick Bavetta is having one of those nights, folks…"  And absence has only made the heart grow fonder. 

It is corny for a 28-year-old to be nostalgic?  I don’t care.

–Larry Hughes has been getting his left leg treated for this tendinitis for more than a week.  It has been getting worse and his ankle still isn’t 100 percent, either.  He landed hard on it in Sacramento and grimaced all the way back down the floor.  He’s been playing pretty well, but it is prudent to expect he won’t have his legs at full strength for quite some time.  This is what life is going to be like with Hughes, he’s always going to be dealing with injuries, just look at his resume.  Stop sending me e-mails complaining about it and prepare to deal with it.  More on this, LeBron vs. Yao, Cavs vs. Magic in China, new ball vs. old ball (it ain’t over it), speculating about Earl Boykins, clearing up a rumor about Steve Blake, and a new phrase, The Br-Vinci Code, in my Monday Column.

–Stopped in the Clips locker room to see Luke Jackson Saturday.  He’s changed his number to 7, for luck. he said.  He’s worn 33 since high school, I think, out of homage to Larry Bird.  Of course, he couldn’t exactly wear that when he went to the Celtics now, could he.

–I always think the Jack in the Box commercials are funny when I come to the West Coast, too bad the food is terrible.  Though, the Plain Dealer’s Branson Wright and I did find our way to In-N-Out Burger while we’re in Cali.  Branson calls them "Crackburgers" because they are supposedly so addictive.  And folks out here do refer to eating there as some sort of religious experience.  Hey, it’s good, but it’s a burger.  I’ll take Harry Caray’s in Chicago any day of the week.

–So all the Cavs are gearing up to head out for a night on the town after the game Saturday.  They’re organizing their limos, talking about where they’re headed, and whatever millionaires do in L.A. when they’re told there’s going to be practice Sunday at noon.  The team always gets Sunday off, especially when they are also off on Monday.  Not happy campers, especially since they’ve just won nine of 11.  Then on Sunday, just before practice time, everything is canceled.  Either Mike Brown just wanted to make sure the boys didn’t get too out of control on their extra night in LA or someone came to him and talked him out of it.  Either way, an interesting little moment in a long season.

–So old friend Jeff McInnis gets ejected because of some messed up paperwork.  See, Jeff is right, none of it really is his fault.

–Every now and then stuff happens on the road that makes you pause, cock your head and give a weird look to no one in particular in the distance (picture Jim Halbert from The Office if you will), and then move on.  About 10 days ago in Milwaukee I was walking down the hallway of my hotel when I heard a scream come from a door I was walking by:  "Ahhhh, don’t bite my leg."  Okey dokey.  Friday as I was bugging out of my Phoenix hotel I passed an open door near the elevator and saw the maid making out in the doorway with a guy I believed to be a guest.  In the awkward 90 seconds that followed as I was waiting for the elevator I half expected to hear some bad 70s music start playing.

Phoenix — So I’m on my way to dinner on Wednesday night and I was listening to the Mike D’Antoni Show on a local radio station here.  One guy called asked "If you were coaching against the Suns, how would you stop them?"  The coach thought for a second and said "I don’t know if you can."  I think he might be right, they’re pretty good.  The Cavs have done a pretty good job of late in ignoring the other team and playing their way, but tonight will be the ultimate test.  Win or lose, pay attention to whether the Cavs get seduced by the way the Suns play.  It will be telling about their development and just how good there defense we’ve all been raving about is for real or not.

Other stuff:

–I know this road trip is brutal and supposedly the West is so dominant, but, sorry, it isn’t what it used to be.  After the Suns game, four of the games are against teams under .500 and the only winning team, the Nuggets, are currently one game over and will be without Carmelo Anthony.  It won’t be easy, the last four games are in five days, but if the Cavs are legit they should win a majority of those games.  Again, we’ll see.

–Donyell Marshall isn’t really pleased his playing time has been cut, but right now Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao are playing pretty well.  So far, all those big men have kept their composure as the playing time has ebbed and flowed, this is the first time Marshall’s felt the rotation strain.

–It was interesting Mike Brown used David Wesley for the first time in weeks in Sacramento.  It seems he trying to find ways to keep Wesley in it mentally.  Recently you could tell he was struggling to stay focused, often just joking around before, during and after games. 

–The trade market is heating up, but right now I see the Cavs staying on the sidelines for a bit.  They like the chemistry of the team and they don’t really have an spare assets that are movable.  That trade exception worth $2.1 million may be of most value but it may not reach maturity until the trading deadline.  Certainly teams in the East will look to make moves to give them an edge among all the parity and perhaps that will add pressure to the Cavs.

–It was too bad Michael Redd messed up his knee when he threw down a meaningless dunk against the Cavs last week with a few seconds to go.  It’s never good when you suffer such an injury in a meaningless moment (Ask Ted Ginn and Tony Allen).  It’s the second guy who I’ve seen get hurt against the Cavs in such manner.   The Kings’ Francisco Garcia sprained his ankle when he jumped up to get a ball that got stuck on the back of the rim during a game in Cleveland last year.

–Last week in Boston, some young guys who apparently work at TD Banknorth Garden ended up on the subway platform with me after the game.  The had gotten into the Cavs locker room after the team had left and taken a pizza and several items including a sweaty headband and used socks.  They thought they were LeBron’s, which they weren’t because he tossed his headband into the crowd after the game and he wore black socks that night and these guys were swinging white socks, but who am I to them they were Hank Egan’s.  But I digress.  Anyway, these guys were headed to New Hampshire and were desperate for a lighter, back in their car they had something they wanted to smoke, ahem.  They were openly winning to trade the pizza for a lighter but only some middle-aged guys across the tracks had one.  So, on the count of 3, they threw the pizza across and the guy tossed the lighter.  Everybody had a hearty laugh, especially me.  Those guys probably were going to wish they’d kept that pizza about an hour later if you know what I mean.

I got an e-mail from a friend and big Buckeyes fan a few moments ago, he said he was too shocked to be upset.  Not even the most confident Florida supporter could’ve dared to predict a four-touchdown victory.

I’m just back from the Ohio State press conference, where Troy Smith both took all the blame and summed it up to "not everything can be a storybook ending."  He said the team brought a lot of smiles to people Ohio and those can’t be taken back.  That’s true, but it is not all.  This game will haunt Ohio State for a long time.  Not just because they got beat, but because they got beat so badly when, to a man, they were all 100 percent sure they were the dominant team.

Lots of things went wrong for the Buckeyes, starting with the injury to Ted Ginn, but they were completely overwhelmed from the head coach on down.  This was a night when perhaps the greatest team in Ohio State history could’ve been crowned, the greatest Buckeye in history could’ve been established.  Instead it was a worst failure in Jim Tressel’s career and the bitterest end to a bunch of great careers.

No, not everything can end with the roses.  But this ended with so many expected thorns.

Third quarter is over, the Buckeyes season will be soon it seems.

There are circumstances that can be presented, but this is shaping up to be the game that Troy Smith lost.

The Buckeyes have been outcoached and outhustled all night here in Arizona and there’s almost no energy in the building right now.  The Florida fans are basking, the Ohio State fans are sitting on their hands.  Smith’s legacy is being tarnished.

The defense came out in the third quarter and gave Ohio State a chance and they have not been able to take advantage.  Smith has made big mistakes, surely, but it is all the little ones and all the poor throws and poor decisions that have been the most shocking.  This is not the Troy who won the Heisman, but it isn’t even the Troy who played as a sophomore.  As high-profile as he’s been, he’s going to take heat for this for a very, very, very long time.