Zydrunas Ilgauskas Fits Cleveland Cavaliers Like a Glove

In his 11th season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Zydrunas Ilgauskas has finally found his niche.

All Cavs fans can remember the possessions that consisted of walking the ball up the floor, dumping the ball to Big Z, and time grinding to a halt. These possessions inevitably ended with Ilgauskas shooting an ugly hook or an awkward baseline turnaround set shot.

Not only was this a borefest, but these possessions reduced LeBron to a spectator. Clearly, something had to change.

Fast forward to the arrival of Mo Williams, the resurgence of Delonte West, and the offensive evolution of the Cavs.

These days the offense is up-tempo and motion oriented. It was easy to assume that the highly-paid, slow-moving Ilgauskas would become the albatross around the neck of the new look Cavs, dragging down the hopes of Cleveland.

However, like Confucius said, “Way I remember it, albatross was a ship's good luck, 'til some idiot killed it.”

Instead of dragging down the tempo and the team, Big Z has redistributed his energy to a pair of his other strengths: the offensive boards, and more specifically the pick and roll. In doing so, Ilgauskas has become more efficient and the Cavs offense is among the best in the league.

In fact, when the Cavs are in their half court offense and space the floor correctly they are nearly unstoppable. Allow me to give a brief example (visualize the Czar of the Telestrator if you will):

Mo Williams brings the ball up the floor to the left wing. LeBron is set at the right wing near the three-point line, Delonte West is spotted up in one of the corners, Ben Wallace is under the basket, and Ilgauskas is in the high post.

As soon as Big Z sets a pick for Williams, the defense has to make some choices and none are good. Does the defense rush out on Mo, leaving Ilgauskas open for an 18-foot jump shot that he makes at a high percentage?

Does the defense rotate and switch, leaving either West open for a three-pointer (he is currently shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc), LeBron with an open path to the basket, or Wallace wide open underneath?

Maybe the defense plays straight up, and allows Mo Williams to penetrate the lane?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize there aren’t many good options here.

Most of the Cavaliers’ parts are interchangeable in that Daniel (may lightning strike me down if I ever call him Boobie) Gibson can come off the bench and play the role of Williams or West, Wally can step in for a few minutes and hit a three, and Anderson Varejao easily fills in for Ben Wallace.

LeBron is obviously impossible to replace, but how many 7’3” guys are out there with a range out to 20 feet and the ability to swipe rebounds right off the glass without leaving their feet?

The way the Cavs are running this year, they do not rely on Big Z every time down the floor. As a result, he averages fewer minutes per game than any other time in his career (assuming health), yet his stats show no decline. As a result, Ilgauskas should be stronger at the end of the year and in the playoffs where pick-and-roll, slow-down basketball is a necessity.

Last night, Big Z suffered what appeared to be an ugly ankle injury, and it is safe to assume he will miss games. The Cavs will continue to win a lot of games in his absence, but they will not be okay in the long term.

They certainly need Z healthy come playoff time. Along with LeBron, he is the one piece of the Cavs that is truly irreplaceable.