Through 51 games, the Cavs stand at 40-11, setting a franchise record for reaching the 40-win mark earliest in the season (the 1988-89 Cavs reached 40 wins in their 52nd game). In case some of you forgot (and judging by the attendance numbers back then, you never even KNEW to begin with) the Cavs went five seasons between 1999 and 2004 without winning more than 35 games.
(Six seasons in a row, if you count the strike-shortened year in 1998-99 when the team went 22-28. Personally, I’ve deleted that season from my memory bank.)
Without further ado, here are the grades…feel free to discuss and debate below:
Daniel Gibson: C
>> Has been very, very inconsistent with his jumper this year. Unfortunately, that’s his lone offensive skill. He’s shooting career lows from the field and three-point range.
I actually think he’s a bit underrated as a defender. He’s been pretty scrappy despite his size, and people seem to forget how well he battled Rip Hamilton in the 2007 playoffs. Still, he’s on this team to hit from the outside, and he hasn’t been doing that this year.
JJ Hickson: C+
>> This was a higher mark until he forgot how to box out Lamar Odom in that debacle of a second half against the Lakers.
Overall, though, you can’t help but be impressed with what he has brought to the table and how good of a player he can be in the future.
Did I mention the fact that I am older than he is, too? I can’t wait to see him develop.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas: A-
>> Z just keeps chugging along, year after year. At 33 years old, he’s averaging 13.5 points and 7.3 points in 27 minutes per night. Translation: that’s pretty good, especially for an old center who has more screws in his feet than a hardware store has on its shelves.
And now, he’s starting to hit the three-ball a little bit, too. Who said you can’t teach a bald 7-foot-3 Lithuanian new tricks?
Darnell Jackson: Inc.
>> Rookie forward from Kansas had been MIA before getting 12 minutes against Phoenix last night. Has the size to develop into a serviceable backup in time, and definitely has more court-savvy than Hickson at this point.
Still, he hasn’t been enough of a factor to warrant a grade this year.
Tarence Kinsey: Inc.
>> After running with the third team for the first 30-35 games, Kinsey was just beginning to get some legitimate minutes in the rotation as Mike Brown utilized his versatility and size.
Then, fittingly, he gets hurt and is out for a few more weeks. He’s just 24, so it’ll be interesting to see if or how he factors into the Cavs plans in the future.
Sasha Pavlovic: B-
>> You know what I’m most impressed with about Sasha this year? He’s finally starting to dribble with his head up. I swear, pop in a game from the last two seasons and watch him stare at the floor and the ball every time he tried to drive. Most 7th graders don’t even do that anymore.
He’s hitting 47 percent from the floor, 40.5 percent of his threes and scored eight or more points in seven of the nine games he started before, of course, getting hurt.
Wally Szczerbiak: B
>> “WALLY! It’s not what you think!”
Sorry, but I can’t help but think about that SportsCenter commercial every time I defend him from the onslaught of Cleveland fans who would trade him for a pregnant Candace Parker and the Los Angeles Sparks’ first round pick in the WNBA draft.
He’s been asked to play shooting guard and defend Ray Allen in last year’s playoffs. He’s been asked to play power forward and defend the likes of Chris Bosh this year. Through it all, he’s just kept playing and playing hard.
Wally’s not an All-Star and never will be again. But I’ll take a guy who hits over 40 percent of his threes and plays hard every night.
Anderson Varejao: B
>> He’s no longer the offensive black hole that he had been in his first few seasons. Andy’s got career-highs in field goal percentage and free throw percentage this year, not to mention scoring (nearly nine a night).
But something just doesn’t feel right with Andy. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but for some reason, I just don’t feel like he’s having the same impact on the game like he has the last two s
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