Cleveland Cavaliers forward J.J. Hickson thinks outside the box, turns in stellar performance
By Mary Schmitt Boyer, The Plain Dealer
January 22, 2010, 12:04AM
During Thursday morning's shootaround, J.J. Hickson's teammates reminded him none too subtly about his poor performance the last time the Los Angeles Lakers visited The Q.
In that game, a 101-91 loss on Feb. 8, 2009, the rookie Hickson looked clueless and finished scoreless in a totally ineffective 10 minutes.
"I think it was lack of effort on my part," Hickson said. "I really tuned in and told myself I was going to box out if I didn't do anything else. I think that's what hurt me last year and hurt us as a team when they came in and beat us."
Hickson did a lot more than box out. The Cavs' young forward finished with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to record his first double double as the Cavs beat the Lakers, 93-87, on Thursday night at The Q to sweep the season series.
Though Cavs coach Mike Brown likes to keep his young players humble, even he grudgingly praised Hickson Thursday night.
"I don't say this much, but I thought J.J. Hickson was big for us," Brown said with a smile. "It was great to see the young fella come up with the double double tonight, with the 14 rebounds. I thought he was aggressive trying to finish around the basket."
Hickson's teammates were even more effusive.
"J.J. was great," LeBron James said. "One thing he did was use his energy and athleticism. He countered their height with his speed and length. We're a very talented team, and we are very good in the frontcourt when he plays at a high level.
"He's young, so we don't expect that out of him every night, but one thing we can expect is for him to play hard. He was great."
Added Shaquille O'Neal: "J.J. played fabulous. He played his role to a 'T,' They doubled a couple times and when they doubled, he slipped to the basket, went up strong and went up aggressive. He played well."
Hickson took all the compliments in stride. They certainly were a lot easier to hear than the razzing he got at shootaround.
"I think I played a lot of good minutes tonight," he said, "and I'm looking forward to playing a lot more."
