George Thomas on the Cavs
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Add Wally Szczerbiak to this list of Cavaliers wounded. The guard-foward left the game against the Orlando Magic with 3:33 left in the third with a left knee sprain.
The team had an MRI performed on Szczerbiak today at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks.
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George, the term “M*A*S*H Unit” implies that the Cavaliers have spent the season amongst the walking wounded. When, in point of fact, they have been amongst the luckier teams in the league.
Why do the local sportswriters always exaggerate this? Every season. It’s ridiculous. Other than the Cavaliers of the early 90’s, which was a very real and very legitimate problem, it’s been bogus.
If James or Williams ever go down for any length of time, sure, then it’s worth noting as a valid concern. Otherwise, come on, man.
By the way, you’re not one of those cerebral guys who believes the post-Colonel Blake, post-Trapper John self-important non-funny era of M*A*S*H was actually good, are you?
Oh quit nitpicking. They’ve been lucky, sure. But they had their fair share of injuries that tested the team’s depth.
As for my preferences on M*A*S*H the TV series it remained hysterical right up until the final two-hour episode.
Shoulda traded Wally for Shaq when had the chance! West, Wallace, Shasha, Z, and now Wally — um that is not so lucky. Mash it is.
George, it’s not nitpicking. And you lost some of my comedic respect with that M*A*S*H view. Hysterical??? Since when is preachy and self-important hysterical? It went straight into the ground from seasons five through the end as Gene Reynolds and Alan Alda systematically hijacked and ruined both the tone of the show and the show itself.
it’s pretty much nitpicking alan. lebron and mo are 2 players. just about every other player on the team has missed games. 3 of the starters have missed a significant number of games. by your standards, boston is relatively injury free since two of the big three are still on the floor and no one else on the roster counts.
It’s not nitpicking, terje. The Cavaliers really haven’t lost anybody who is integral. Tell me Garnett isn’t integral to the Celtics. When they lost Rondo, they played lost.
And really, what’s a “starter?” As far as I’m concerned, you’re not a “starter” unless you play starter’s minutes, 30 or more a game. Otherwise, you’re just a role player with a grander title. A Don Ford. A Marc Iavaroni. A Mike Sanders. John Havlicek winning the Sixth Man of the Year award when he came off the bench and averaged 34 minutes a game makes as much sense as referring to Ben Wallace as a “starter.”
Same with Ilgauskas. At this point, against bigger guys, he really shouldn’t be considered a “starter” any more than whoever the Indians are platooning this week. He’s a matchup player.
The Cavaliers haven’t really lost anybody important. Heck, up until January, they hadn’t lost anybody at all.
If the Cavaliers lose Williams their whole scheme goes back to James against five and no scoring from at least one of the two in the backcourt. Possibly neither of the two, depending on the night. And if they lose James, obviously they’re finished. I’d argue these are the only two guys who really matter on the Cavaliers. No, on second thought, I’d argue that Varejao is a third guy they would really miss. Other than these three, interchangeable role players. You don’t agree?
rondo is integral now? jesus. put rajon rondo on another team and he is rafer alston at best. he is definitely a guy who looks a lot better when he’s playing on a good team.
to be an injured player you don’t need to be great. you just need to be under an nba contract. that is the point of this post and the m.a.s.h. unit. dudes are hurt. are they the best dudes on the team? no.
and no, i don’t agree. basketball requires a little chemistry also. i sure wouldn’t want to go back in time and take the 2007 version of eric snow and put him in place of delonte west. ben might be half of his former self but his brain functions like a normal human being. drew gooden might as well throw his arms in the air and call the “big giant head” in the middle of the game ala harry solomon. big giant head to drew: you’re a dummy. larry hughes is only interchangeable for the cash saved on the advil and the whiskey chaser you needed to pound before every game he played in cleveland.
But Rondo isn’t on another team. He’s on the Celtics. What’s he now, like fourth in the league in assists? The top rebounding guard in the league? They need him. Not to mention he’ll again be garnering a lot of votes for the All-Defensive Team. Not exactly Rafer Alston. He runs their show. There are no other assists guys on the Celtics. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, actually use James as the point guard, point forward, whatever you want to call him.
Williams is simply a good player. Nothing more. But on the Cavaliers, they absolutely need him. Or somebody like him. A scoring guard who can also play the point and penetrate when necessary. Otherwise, James has to do everything.
The Cavaliers have not missed any of the guys who have gotten hurt to date. Period. Role players. That includes West. If Williams gets hurt, that means West’s marginal point guard play comes in. And all their other shooting guards are generally worse than West. Not much worse, but worse. And then they have to rely on James to pick up the points load.
Go back and look at the box scores of prior seasons. Look specifically at the games Snow scored. They almost always did well in those games.
So, no, they haven’t missed any of the guys who have gotten hurt to date. I’d argue they were even better when Ilgauskas was gone.
I have to agree with alan t. as far as M*A*S*H is concerned. That show sucked after Trapper and the first colonel left, for all the reasons alan noted plus I’d add the wimpy Mike Farrell. And Radar was all right for a season or two, but after that his schtick got a little creepy. A stalker when he returned to the states, no doubt.
Alan,
The Cavs lost 4 games, or 30% of their season total, while Z was out. They weren’t better.