Per the Plain Dealer’s Twitter account:
#Cavs announce Anderson Varejao developed blood clot Thursday, on blood thinners, will miss remainder of season.
This doesn’t make a huge difference basketball-wise. Tyler Zeller will continue to learn on the job by playing 30+ minutes each game, and Varejao’s absence will help the Cavs’ lottery odds. But oof, blood clot? That doesn’t sound good. We all want you to get healthy and live a very long time, Andy.
Would we take him back?
The Lebron-to-Cleveland tumors rumors have started back up again. Here’s a link. I don’t have much to say about this, and I don’t feel like arguing with anyone. The idea of Lebron coming back leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’m sure many people feel that a chance at getting the best basketball player in the world is something you don’t pass up. But I sincerely hope that the Cavs don’t handicap our next two years of basketball for a shot at the hometown hero who stabbed us in the back, then twisted the knife.
Hot off the twitter press is the news that Anderson Varejao will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair a “split” in his quad muscle. Some are referring to it as a “knee-surgery”. There has already been an attempt to clarify that this surgery will repair a “split” and not a “tear”. Apparently a “tear” is more serious. Varejao played 38 minutes in the Cavaliers’ loss to the Toronto Raptors on December 18th – this, despite suffering numerous hard falls and receiving a flagrant foul from Amir Johnson in the 1st half. In the second half he was visibly hobbled and had trouble moving laterally. This was most evident as the Raptors exploited the Cavs lack of interior defense to the tune of 64 2nd-half points – blowing out the Cavs in possibly the worst loss of the season. Varejao was a DNP the next night against Boston with a “bruised right knee” and has been out ever since. It seems that the bruise was not healing properly and a second look revealed the need for surgery.
Here is the NBA Press Release on the Injury:
Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao was injured during the Cavaliers game against the Toronto Raptors on December 18th at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Diagnosis was a right knee contusion, specifically to the vastus medialis which connects to the medial (inner) border of the patella. As Varejao’s treatment and recovery process continued, an MRI revealed the contused area included a small longitudinal split in the vastus medialis. Despite continued, gradual recovery of the contusion, symptoms also continued in the specific area of the split. Another MRI revealed an increase in the split and symptoms persisted. Dynamic ultrasound imaging also revealed tissue from underneath the split was herniating and pinching with knee flexion.
A second opinion was recently obtained with Dr. J. Richard Steadman of The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado, which confirmed Cavaliers Head Team Physician Dr. Richard Parker of the Cleveland Clinic’s recommendation for surgical intervention. Varejao will undergo surgery this Thursday (January 10th) at the Cleveland Clinic and is expected to be out for six to eight weeks.
“Varejao’s surgery will be Thursday. He received 2nd opinion at The Steadman Clinic in Vali, Colo. that confirmed need for surgery [Jason Lloyd - Akron Beacon Journal]
“Re: Varejao – surgery will be on leg, near knee. Quad muscle near right knee is split & “herniating and pinching with knee flexion,” per CLE” [Jeff Zillgitt - USAToday Sports]
“Cavs emphasized quad has lengthwise split, not horizontal tear. Scott called Varejao’s problems last 2 years “freaky injuries.”" [Marla Ridenour - Akron Beacon Journal]
“Byron Scott calls Varejao “heart and soul” of#Cavs, says no setbacks in his recovery, severity just discovered when he wasn’t healing well.” [Mary Schmitt Boyer/Jodie Valade - Plain Dealer]
“Byron Scott on Varejao: “He’s our heart and soul. … Just disappointed for him and for our team.”" [Sam Amico - FSO]
“Smh man, worst news I’ve heard all day,#getwellandy” [Kyrie Irving]
“Scott on what he will say to Varejao: “I’ll go up, give him a big hug & tell him it’s going to be OK.”" [Marla Ridenour - Akron Beacon Journal]
“It has to be said- by not trading Andy the last 2 years, the Cavs rebuild is set back.” [Rick - WFNY]
“Cavs should have dealt Varejao 2-3 weeks ago at peak of value. They needed to sell high when he was healthy – he gets injured too often.” [Bill Simmons - ESPN]
“And nobody makes major trades in December anyway!” [Conrad Kaczmarek - Fear the Sword]
“Not saying the Cavs were 100% trading Varejao. Cleveland felt they could hold out for their asking price. Obviously it all went to hell.” [Probballdraft]
“Though Cavs were on the fence about trading Varejao, this almost certainly removes him from market. Was having a career year.” [Brian Windhorst - ESPN]
Samardo to the hoop!
The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived Samardo Samuels. Samardo never did much production-wise for the Cavs, and he’s always had a strange reliance on step-back jumpers for a man of his size. Regardless, he did lose a tremendous amount of weight in his drive to become a Cavalier, and has always seemed like a nice guy.
Here’s some early draft speculation, if that’s your fetish. I’m personally hoping for Nerlen Noels. Sure, he would be the only center in the NBA under 100 pounds, but he’s a defensive game-changer.
Slamardo!
The Cavs have recalled Samardo Samuels from the Canton Charge, the Canton Rep reports. Samardo hasn’t done much for us so far, but here’s to hoping this particular NBA fringe player can get his 2009-vintage Glen Davis on.
Anderson Varejao has returned to practice. Finally. Let’s win some games, Andy! I feel a playoff run coming.
Couple nuggets, mostly requiring insider.
I'm not working out with Thorpe, I swear!
Finally in David Thorpe’s top 10 rookies is…NOT Dion Waiters. Rather, Tyler Zeller makes a cameo. Thorpe does his usual breakdown of skills/weaknesses. One thing he points out that I’ve also noticed is that Zeller really isn’t a great mid-range shooter and seems way too comfortable firing away. From Thorpe: “Zeller would be better off receiving pick-and-pop passes (which is where he’s getting most of those shots) and immediately swinging the ball or throwing it back to Kyrie Irving, then running to set another screen. In time he can be a solid pick-and-pop player, but for that to happen he needs to shoot with more flexibility in his legs and keep his weight on the front of his feet and not the heels.” Thorpe’s got a good point here. Zeller’s mid-range set shot is flat and seems flat-footed. Zeller is best suited around the basket when the shot goes up anyway. He’s an effective offensive rebounder and is very creative around the hoop with both hands from a variety of angles, especially from the right block. Zeller has had some success from the baseline from 10-20 feet out, but has been extremely poor from the elbows, which is where a lot of those two-man pick n pops leave him. You can see his shot chart here: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/z/zellety01/shooting/2013/
| FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3PT% | eFG% | BLKA | FGM (%AST) | FGM (%UAST) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less Than 5 ft. | 53 | 97 | 54.6% | 0 | 0 | 54.6% | 16 | 62.3% | 37.7% | |
| 5-9 ft. | 9 | 21 | 42.9% | 0 | 0 | 42.9% | 5 | 88.9% | 11.1% | |
| 10-14 ft. | 6 | 21 | 28.6% | 0 | 0 | 28.6% | 1 | 83.3% | 16.7% | |
| 15-19 ft. | 18 | 42 | 42.9% | 0 | 0 | 42.9% | 0 | 100.0% | .0% | |
| 20-24 ft. | 8 | 32 | 25.0% | 0 | 0 | 25.0% | 0 | 100.0% | .0% | |
| 25-29 ft. | 0 | 1 | .0% | 0 | 1 | .0% | .0% | 0 |
Next up is an expose on Kyrie Irving from Amin Elhassan. Elhassan predicts UncleDrew will be the league’s best PG by 2015. This article really does a nice job highlighting the special combination of elite skills that separates Magnum KI from the rest of the pack. Outside of Chris Paul, most of the league’s elite PGs have 1 or 2 identifiable elite talents that they leverage to the tune of perennial all-star status. Offensively, Kyrie seems to have almost ALL of these skills. The piece fluffs over his defense but offers this line of truth: “The longer Irving has to play savior on offense, the longer it will be acceptable for him to give subpar effort on the defensive end, which slows his overall development toward being the best PG in the league.” One contention I have with this piece is that Elhassan labels Irving a “pass first point guard” that is reluctantly firing away. I wouldn’t label him that way. The masked man GETS BUCKETS and he looks to GET BUCKETS. Jeremy Pargo has a higher assist rate with the same “lack of other viable offensive options”. Of course, Irving has the highest assist percentage on the team. That basically means Irving is a more effective yet less willing passer than Jeremy Pargo. Sounds about right. As much as we’ve been blowing smoke at Byron Scott for the Cavs complete lack of offensive creativity, it might be time to demand more of Irving. For one so adept at destroying his man off the dribble, there should be more openings for other players. That being said, there are times when Iso-Irving is the best play the Cavs have to offer.
Finally for the non-insider folks, an unrestricted article by Kevin Arnovitz classifying each NBA team by their commitment to playing with “real” big men. I was a little surprised the Cavs were firmly in the BIG circle, but then again it’s not really about being large in size as it is playing with prototypical “big” men. Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, and Tyler Zeller certainly can’t be confused with stretch 4s, so I suppose the classification is correct. For now…
Raise your hand if you're glad we didn't pick Derrick Williams.
ESPN The Magazine has selected Kyrie Irving to be on the cover of this year’s upcoming NEXT issue. The issue seeks to pick out players who are on the cusp of becoming the faces of their sport. Past winners of the honor include Cam Newton, Kevin Durant, Buster Posey, and Matt Ryan, among others.
A few glowing articles accompanied the selection. Pablo S. Torre wrote about Kyrie’s life and rookie season, and general demeanor. He also has a few lines about the Lebron comparisons inherent in being a young star on the Cavs. Quoting a former Cavs employee: ”But confidence is the biggest difference. LeBron always seemed worried about what would be said when he failed. Kyrie’s more like, I’m just going to score on those motherf–.”
For those with ESPN Insider, an accompanying article explained why Kyrie Irving will be the best point guard in the NBA by 2015. Beware: it’s very sabermetric-y.
At least one of these three guys will play tonight (hint: it's the guy in the suit).
With Dion returning tonight, now is an apt time for this link. A Mr. Ed Manly occassionally emails me, whenever he publishes a new article at his blog, laughingcavs.com. The post this weekend focused on Dion Waiters early season performance relative to several other NBA rookies-past.
Interestingly, the first 1035 possessions of Waiters’ career are vaguely reminiscent of Dwyane Wade, however the Heat rookie did shoot many less threes, with an associated higher frequency of shots at the rim. Regardless of anything that Jim Boeheim or Byron Scott have said though, Mr. Manly (or me) do not condone tying All-NBA / Finals MVP expectations on Dion. A few all-star games would be cool.
Also, the bottom of the article features a table that compiles information on 26 perimeter-playing rookies over their first 1035 possessions, from the last ten years. Dion’s PER languishes, but he is similar to Eric Gordon, Jason Richardson and Russ Westbrook. Going to another set of advanced stats, the Cavs-rook ranks 6th in usage, while staying above fifteen players for offensive rating, largely thanks to a miniscule turnover rate. Areas that hurt him include the third-lowest free throw rate and the worst offensive-rebounding percentage.
Give it a read. The article is thoroughly researched and offers a fairly comprehensive glimpse of how previous stars performed early in their careers.
(Spoiler alert: Kyrie possesses the highest PER, and the best offensive rating combined with second-highest usage. He was also 19, younger than at least three-quarters of the list. That’s a baaaad man.)
Andy is being held back from a spot on the All-Star squad!
Every single Cavs fan needs to cast as many All-Star ballots for Anderson Varejao as possible. He’s averaging 13.8 points, 14.6 rebounds, and currently sports a 21.96 PER. There’s some basic stats for you. If you think he hasn’t had a few monster games that could put him over the top, what about 35 points and 18 rebounds against the Nets? Or two 20 and 18 games in a row? Anderson Varejao should be an all-star, and let’s not leave this up to the coaches. I mean, Cleveland fans got Peyton freaking Hillis on the cover of Madden. I think a little thing like an All-Star Spot is doable. VOTE NOW.
P.S. VOTE AGAIN.
Zorro!
Brian Windhorst wrote a short piece on Kyrie Irving’s fantastic night at the Garden. He’s definitely right on a few accounts- Kyrie’s the best guard to enter the league since Derrick Rose, and he almost certainly will be a top-10 player in the NBA very soon. But he paints an overall grim picture of Kyrie’s career arc with his skepticism towards his injury history. His main point is that you can only have so many freak injuries before a pattern emerges. While I see the logic behind such a statement, it really doesn’t seem fair, especially in reaction to the fractured jaw suffered against the Bucks. It came off a hard foul from Luc Mbah a Moute, and these types of injuries are called “freak” for a reason. I don’t think we have any real reason to be worried about Kyrie Irving’s injury history. It’s not like he has Stephen Curry ankles, or Greg Oden knees. But please, Uncle Drew: never slap a wall again.
