Some might wonder where the minutes that Joe Smith will play will come.
You won’t hear Zydrunas Ilgauskas complain about losing a few. Ditto for Anderson Varejao. Coach Mike Brown said as much today when asked if Smith would see action tonight against the Celtics:
I’m going to try. I’m probably going to throw him out there. Being gone as long as he was, he’s going to be a little bit behind offensively, but we really won’t know defensively until he gets out there into the flow of the game. He’s got to react. We’ll see if it’s instinctive or if he’s got to think about it and he gets there a little late.
Smith gives Brown some much needed flexibility and depth with his big men, even more so once Ben Wallace returns from injury. He’ll also be able to dial back Ilgauskas and Varejao’s minutes, but guess who’s going to take the big hit? The rookie. J.J. Hickson. Since Wallace went down his minutes are up significantly and they are about to vanish.
When the Cavs lacked that depth at those positions, they almost had to have Hickson ready to contribute during the playoffs. Once Wallace – who is expected to return for the playoffs – is back and providing they stay healthy, that’s less the case.
Hickson has grown throughout the year, but if you listen closely to Brown and pay attention to the way he chooses his words regarding his rookie big man, it’s easy to discern that he’s not exactly ready to trust him right now, primarily because of his defense.
If Smith can show that he still knows the defense, you can expect him to gobble up Hickson’s minutes – quickly.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Exactly, George. The sole reason Smith is now on the team is because of Hickson. If Wallace hadn’t gotten hurt, then Smith is filling the roster spot on the Lakers.
I wonder what Fegan really got out of both Oklahoma City and Cleveland, that guy does nothing without improving the financial position of all of his clients. No doubt a Ferry promise that Smith won’t take Varejao’s minutes came in the deal, too.
If Wallace does make it back on the court this season, Smith is going to play Ilgauskas’ position, and Varejao will eat more of Wallace’s minutes. At least that’s my guess. They’re both the same player, Ilgauskas and Smith, only Smith is a little shorter and blacker. They’re both slow and pretty much crippled, neither can play defense. But when Ilgauskas is out, they lose a mid-range shot, since Varejao and Wallace have none, thereby leaving only James for a consistent mid-range shot. Then they have to depend on undependable shooters like Gibson, Pavlovic and Eyebrow Guy heaving balls up from the Netherlands and praying they go in. In the playoffs, that’s what kills them.
Smith will just plug into Ilgauskas’ role of mid-range shooter, that’s the one thing Smith does have and does pretty well. The same type of pick and pop thing they run for Ilgauskas should work for Smith.
That James dude sure covers up a lot of flaws. If he’s not the league MVP, then it’s criminal. The Cavs have got to be the only team in the league who need to have picks set for their big guys instead of the other way around. It’s like watching Mark Price having to set a pick for Brad Daugherty.
holy cow is “eyebrow guy” funny. did you steal that from bill simmons? come on – fess up. wally is shooting 44% this year, 40% from 3 point range. not bad at all, but why should actual statistics get in the way of making REALLY witty commentary like “eyebrow guy”? oh wait – maybe windhorst actually broke into yahoo’s statistics records and added 5 percentage points without anyone noticing? that way, when windhorst sends out his next ‘fictional’ report on wally’s season statistics, everyone will think they are real.
No, actually “Eyebrow Guy” I made up myself. That guy has eyebrows that could double as the drapes in my living room.
And Eyebrow Guy has a slow release on his shot, he’s slow, he’s unreliable, a poor defender and can’t pass. Lousy playoffs last year. I don’t care what he’s shooting during the regular season now, he’s a crapshoot and a liability when it counts.
And are people supposed to be impressed by that 40% three-point shooting stat? Considering that he’s a reserve white guy that can’t do anything else at this point in his career, he should be shooting better than that on his salary. In fact, I’ll bet this box of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran to my left that right now he’s no better than 40th in the league. You look it up, I’m far too depressed and way too lazy.