“The Cavs have lost four in a row and five of six without Jamison. Of course, they were only 11-48 with him, but they seemed to be giving better effort and looking like a different team since ending that horrendous 26-game losing streak.” [Jason Lloyd]
“I think the last two games, yeah, think so. We discussed that this morning as coaches. That’s one of the most frustrating things for us is that we’ve regressed instead of progressed — especially when you see progression coming and all of a sudden the last two games you take a couple of steps back.” [Byron Scott via Mary Schmitt Boyer]
“I hope they are not looking at the schedule and thinking, ‘April (13), the season is over, and we can take a deep breath and enjoy our summer.’ We have so many young guys. I wouldn’t put that past them.” [Byron Scott via Bob Finnan]
On The Twitters
“NBA Players Association says that 60% of players go broke 5 years after retiring.” [realcavsfans]
“For #Cavs fans that need a refresher on PG Kyrie Irving read this… http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Kyrie-Irving-5735/” [Michael A. Young]
Better team with Jamison?
Could it be his departure is making the biggest impact on 1) Razor, who now has to deal with a clogged lane without a stretch 4 and 2) Hickson, who’s not _totally_ wrongheaded in trying to stretch the defense a little (but _is_ wrongheaded in that he can’t shoot jumpers)
Perhaps the triple offensive impact (his own scoring, even with his miss rate, plus Sessions, plus Hickson) outweighs the defensive shortcomings that have been chronicled on this site
Well, what would the economy do without dumb athletes blowing all of there money. We really should thank them for the stimulation.
I think Jamison is easily the best offensive player on the team and his skills on that end of the court complement the young players well. Defensively, he is below average and his lack of quickness (probably due to age) can be exploited.
Right now we have only 2 good offensive players (Davis, Jamison) on the roster and 1 great defensive player (Varejao). What makes it worse is that none of them have played due to various reasons.
Side note: It looks like Kyrie Irving might play in the NCAA tournament.
@ Alex
I was just about to say same thing about Irving..guess we’ll see how good he is after that long layoff and if he’s worth the top pick if we land it…
Jamison has always seemed like a class guy. Hopefully he can take somewhat of a player/coach role and help motivate the other players on a level in which coaches can’t. It’s hard to be a team leader when not on the floor, but if the younger players respond to him then that’s great. IMO, his defensive liability was largely due to his quickness/ability, not his effort or understanding of the defensive system. Although I am and was in the camp to trade him, I do believe he’s our best overall player – just not one that would help the future of the team (because of age).
The Irving talk is somewhat exciting when you read some of the early stuff said about him. It will be nice to see how his injury heals. Kemba Walker has been coming into his own quite a bit lately. Not saying he’s going to overcome Irving as the potential first PG picked, but he’s certainly increased his value as of late. He COULD end up better than Irving and make a good consulation prize for the team that want’s Irving but can’t get him (sort of like Kevin Durant was a cosulation for OKC not being able to get Oden). Sometimes the second guy works out better – not the rule, but possible.
I just wonder if somebody (Minn?) drafts Irving before we can (which none of the potential teams need a PG), would we then pick up Kemba? Or would we go for our wing of choice (e.g. barnes or jones or ___) and then hope that Kemba is available with our Clippers pick (likely 8-10 overall)?
Either way, with or without Irving, in this ‘weak’ draft seems like we will get some upgraded, low-risk talent.