last years frontcourt = trouble

[WildThing]

last year's front court (LeBron/Gooden/Z with AV and Tractor off the bench) was one of the best in the league - it was our backcourt that killed us (McInnis/Newble). Front court in tact (if we bring back tractor) with Jasikevicius/Hughes in the back court should get us to 55+ wins.

1. Our front court wasn't the best in the league.
2. It wasn't JUST the backcourt that made our defense bad. It was Gooden, and Z's slow feet that helped.
3. Hughes and Sarunas won't get us THAT many wins.

 

[KI4MVP]

Best in the league in terms of offense, I believe. AV was good, Tractor was decent. Z + Gooden were terrible protecting the middle though. Gooden wasn't ever there, Z would be slow and not able to stop penetration. No blame for him, but still, it attributed to the poorest defensive frontcourt in the NBA. Clearest example? Last time we played Philly, when Dalembert erupted for 23 points (10/15) in 28 minutes and Marc Jackson for 24 (11/19) in 29 minutes. 60 total points in the paint. 60. For the season, Dalembert averaged 8 ppg. Jackson averaged 12 off the bench. It was made way too easy for them.

Bad example, Z was out injured that game.

Amung centers Z was 4th in scoring, 6th in rebounds, and 6th in blocks. The only center ahead of him in all 3 categories was Shaq.

Points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals - I bet our front line was top 3 in the league in all categories and probably led the league in a couple.

 

[aaronr]

I'm with you E-Light. Vitaly would be the ideal man to round out the bigs. He's one tough mother in the middle, can defend his man one-on-one without needing a double team, can shoot mid-range jumpers and free throws with the best of them, and is still a strong offensive rebounder. He used to turn the ball over a lot, but he's gotten over that. Plus he's a great team player. The only weakness he has is shot-blocking. Finally, he'll come cheap.

 

[KI4MVP]

1. Our front court wasn't the best in the league.
2. It wasn't JUST the backcourt that made our defense bad. It was Gooden, and Z's slow feet that helped.
3. Hughes and Sarunas won't get us THAT many wins.

1. I didn't say the very best, I said one of the best.
2. Z get almost as many blocks as Ben Wallace. I'm not saying he's as good defensively, but his defense is better than he is given credit for. The team as a whole just had lousey defensive principals - something that should change next year.
3. Not having the wheels fall off gets us to 50 wins - the upgrade in talent gets the last 5.

 

[CleveRocks]

Our front court led the East in rebounding for the first half of the season, and we were plus in rebounding offensive and defensive on most teams all year. When we sucked the big one was when a) Z got in foul trouble early, b) Goober got outmuscled by elton Brand or equivalents, or C) J-Mac went on a selfish streak and forgot how to pass. Outside of those events Cleveland was dangerous to anybody (Detroit, Miami .. anybody) The team fell apart at the end of the year when Silas gave it up after the Gilbert buy, and JMac stopped playing team ball. Mayhem ensued.

Better to think about Hughes as a JMac with defense and a long term contract, and Goober with the same team for two seasons for the first time in his career. Not to mention Luke is looking active in summer league and AV will be a year more experienced.

I still thing we could use another wide body, to counter Shaq and the Real power forwards in the league.

 

[CavsTalk]

Our big guys well aren't very big in terms of bulk... ( I know I know I really didn't need to spell that out for ya guys) We've thrown a few names around, but maybe Ferry doesn't see it as a problem. Which brings me to my next question are we going to fill this backup position with someone on the [Summer League] or through [Free-Agency] or we could always bring back Diop

jk

Just some questions that might need to be answered sooner than later..

 

[KI4MVP]

Diop for league minimum would be just fine with me as long as we bring in someone else that is ahead of him. He's a fine defender/rebounder - he just has no offense whatsoever.

 

[Troy Wingate]

Sorry, just don't like em, but anyway Gooden is being shopped big time, word is after Kwame is off the market then you will most likely see teams bidding for Gooden. People showing interest of course the Knicks who isn't Isiah after, and I think the Wolves and the Sonics.

Bingo! Sign and trade Reggie Evans for Drew Gooden. We want defense here in Clevland at the PF spot, not offense, we've got LeBron, Larry and Zydrunas to do the bulk of that.