Some of the most pressure packed points of any sports season doesn’t come in a stretch of games, in a moment of a game, or anticipation.
Some of the biggest pressure moments in sports come at the trading deadline. Credit Cleveland Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry for not succumbing to pressure. The Cavaliers, as you might recall, were the Eastern Conference Champions last season, but were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
The Cavaliers made one addition over the off season, signing G/F Devin Brown to come off the bench. For a team that had all the problems exploited on a national level, it was a very minimal move to make.
Fast forward to December. The Cavaliers were floating along the path, losing and winning, losing and winning. There was no consistent play and the Cavaliers best asset of defense had seemed to disappear.
Fast forward to late February. The Cavaliers had just begun to go on a tear. Led by star LeBron James and the further emergence of young point guard Daniel ‘Boobie’ Gibson, the Cavaliers started to get hot. Cleveland went 11-3 in January and made their move back into the top five in the Eastern Conference.
All of the sudden it went wrong. Sasha Pavlovich, who missed all of training camp in a contract dispute, had played well below his level when he made the starting lineup for Mike Brown last season. He hit his stride and found his game once again in January but then was the first Cavalier to go down.
In a 121-85 win over Washington on January 23, Pavlovich was injured with a left mid-foot sprain. He is just now participating in full contact practice for the first time since being injured. He wasn’t the only Cavalier to get hurt.
Earlier in the season James missed a handful of games, all losses by the Cavaliers while he sat and healed. The Sunday after Pavlovich’s injury another key cog was hurt. Anderson Varejao, the “Wild Thing’ went down with an ankle sprain against the Lakers in a win.
He missed a couple of weeks, just as he started to develop a good offensive game to go with his dominant rebounding and defensive skills. Varejao has since returned but had been off his game. Saturday March 8, Varejao came back to his game that he had before the ankle injury. He had 15 points and 16 rebounds and six assists to go with it. He was starting for another injured Cavalier, Zyrdrunus Illgauskus, who is still currently out with a back strain and will be out for at least a week or so more.
Another Cavalier currently in street clothes instead of the Wine and Gold is the rookie/sophomore All Star game MVP, Gibson. After the All-Star weekend had been good to him and teammate James, Gibson suffered and ankle injury of his own. Gibson has sat the last two weeks and is expected to miss two more. Gibson had been improving his game up to past 11 ppg up from four last season and has been the most improved scorer among second year players in the NBA this season.
The day after his injury, is when everything changed for the Cavaliers. All the injuries and rumors of James being adamant about getting some help, Ferry finally found a trade for the Cavaliers to help themselves.
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