Cavs must find way to replace Gibson's offense
By Pat McManamonLet’s not minimize the loss of Daniel Gibson. Boobie was the fifth best three-point shooter in the league this season (among guys who took at least 100 threes). He made 44 percent, a very high percentage. Now he sits with a separated shoulder. And it’s not good. LeBron James trusts Gibson – to the point that when Gibson returned from a sprained ankle coach Mike Brown refused to take him out of the rotation even though he was struggling late in the season. Gibson was a guy who played at the end of games, which says something about his value. Now someone must make threes, and for some reason I don’t have a lot of faith in Sasha Pavlovic. Not sure why he’s gotten the minutes off the bench in this series, but he has. I say (again) that it may be time to dust off Damon Jones. The guy can shoot, and there are times the Cavs simply need someone who can put the ball in the basket. He helped during the regular season. It may be time to see if he can help now.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas played 26 minutes in Game 5. That does not seem like enough, especially when Anderson Varejao was 1-for-3 from the field and 2-for-6 from the line. Varejao did have seven rebounds, but he was not nearly as effective on Kevin Garnett as he was in Game 4. At a certain point it seemed like the Cavs needed points, which might cry for Z and Jones (or someone other than Pavlovic). But there also is the argument that to get back in a game you have to stop the other team, and the Cavs got a few stops only to see long rebounds go to the Celtics. Brown is a defensive coach, so he's usually going to go with the defensive lineup. But there are times when the team needs to score. And now the Cavs will be without Gibson.
The Cavs just have to find some way, any way, to win. Blowout, one point … doesn’t matter. They have to win this game (that’s a ‘duh’ statement if ever there was one) and then take their chances in Game 7.
