No long shots amid Cavaliers' additions

[LyXo]

No long shots amid Cavaliers' additions
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
In "Hoosiers," everybody's fa vorite basketball movie, coach Norman Dale, played by Gene Hackman, calms the nerves of his jittery team of farm boys by measuring the dimensions of the court at cavernous Butler Fieldhouse for the state final. The basket is still 10 feet high. A free throw is still 15 feet.

It's a fine lesson, as far as it goes. Unfortunately, in the Cavaliers' interest in Sarunas Jasikevicius, a Lithuanian sharpshooter, the international 3-point line doesn't go far enough and the trapezoid-shaped foul lane goes too far.

Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry likes the 6-4 guard with the satiny stroke, especially since his predecessor, Jim Paxson, did not recognize a shooter when he had one (Jason Kapono) or when he tried to acquire two (the dreadful Jiri Welsch and J.R. Bremer.)

Things are different, however, in the NBA. The 3-pointer is 3 feet, 3 inches longer than the almost mid-range 20½ feet of international basketball.

This makes a big difference in defending the pick-and-roll play. In international ball, you almost have to take away the outside shot first.

Jasikevicius, a solid, but not spectacular player at Maryland in the 1990s, beat the USA in the qualifying round of the 2004 Olympics, making many of his seven 3-pointers on the same side pick-and-roll with center Eurelijus Zukauskas. Coach Larry Brown's no-help, no-switch defense made a star of Jasikevicius, who airballed the game-ending 3-pointer that would have beaten the USA in Sydney in 2000.

"The shape of the lane is a factor," USA assistant coach Gregg Popovich said at the Athens Games. "It's so wide that it makes the sides of the court too narrow to run some of the two-man stuff we use in the NBA."

Added Brown: "So much of the NBA game is isolation - one-on-one and two-on-two. So unless you have great quickness and athletic ability, it's a struggle."

The Cavs are still looking for a shooter because, while Larry Hughes adds defense and a third option after LeBron James and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, he is no threat from the outside. But Hughes should give James more room for the 3-point shot that can distort defenses. The Cavs could not sign the class of the free-agent market, Ray Allen and Michael Redd. Both got more money from their original teams.

Redd is a scary streak shooter, but James last season made more 3s than Redd (108-104) while shooting 35.1 percent to Redd's 35.5 percent. The deficiencies of James' outside shooting have been, as Mark Twain said of reports of his death, greatly exaggerated.

Luke Jackson, who lost his rookie year to a back injury, might be a reliable weapon, too.

In Jasikevicius' favor, it's easier to hide a weak defender in the NBA now than when zone defenses were, theoretically, illegal. Jasikevicius can play point guard, but it's his own use of the ammo, not passing it, that makes him most attractive. It's a heretical notion in the dunk-and-3-centric basketball universe of the NBA, but Jasikevicius could be effective as a mid-range shooter. Detroit's Rip Hamilton has done pretty well.

Ferry cannot fix everything in one off-season. He landed a quality player in Hughes and didn't overpay for one-trick ponies. Jasikevicius is worth a gamble for the right price.

There are many ways to win a basketball game. Shooting is always going to be one of them.

Source | PD

Interesting article. Both critical and supportive.

 

[Deadlock]

Redd is a scary streak shooter, but James last season made more 3s than Redd (108-104) while shooting 35.1 percent to Redd's 35.5 percent. The deficiencies of James' outside shooting have been, as Mark Twain said of reports of his death, greatly exaggerated.

Wow that just totally surprises me there.. Didn't know James made soo many 3's even more then Redd.. And pretty much shot the same % as Redd... Hopefully James can continue hitting the 3.

 

[d3]

Wow that just totally surprises me there.. Didn't know James made soo many 3's even more then Redd.. And pretty much shot the same % as Redd... Hopefully James can continue hitting the 3.

holy shit... im speechless

 

[Slim Sheedy]

yea, i didnt know he made that many either.. all this time Redd was suppose to be the big 3 point shooter but LeBron is at a better pace...

 

[The Oi]

Redd was never the best option on the floor. Its just that he was a hometown hero and it all seemed so perfect on paper. JJ and Ray were probably the best options in the end. Hughes is the most entertaining tho and he plays excellent d...

But anyways...

I am also very surprised by the close comparison between LeBron and Redd's 3pt shooting. If LeBron starts getting closer to 40% from three (which sounds insane) then he will be the most unfair athlete in basketball. Hes just too complete. If the Donyell Marshall rumor is true then we got our shooter. I also trust that Sarunas shooting will translate to the NBA level after little more than one season, whether its with the Cavs or not.

And lets not forget that we have no idea what kind of 3pt shooting Luke can offer in his real rookie season. Sasha is till an option too as he can shoot off the pick and roll.

 

[PIP]

he's LeBRON "FREAKIN JAMES" for god sakes...

he can do whatever he wats.. 3pt% ft% ppg... the guy is a beast..

 

[Hurl Bruce]

I would imagine that Lebron is working like a madman on his outside shot. Just seeing the improvement from year 1 to year 2 was pretty impressive.

I also hope that he is getting some quality back-to-the-basket moves too. I should be able to post up very well with his size and strength.

 

[LyXo]

I don't think LeBron needs to work on his shooting much more. I think Mike Brown is trying to work him up in the post more so he can use his sculpted body to abuse any defender.

Look at this work schedule:

Year 1: Slashing
Year 2: Shooting
Year 3: Post scoring

I think the next step is defense. With all the offensive options out there, LeBron will increase his versatility and turn into the premier lockdown defender in the NBA, after he gets the MVP award this year for averaging a triple double.

 

[cdt]

I still want Sarunas, but what LeBron needs to do is get to the rim. He scores 12 ppg in the paint 3rd only to Shaq and Duncan. He needs to get to the line more to make it harder for other teams with their players in foul trouble and for easy points. LeBron needs to work on getting to the rim more. Shooting from mid range 3 pt and foul shots. And also playing man to man defense, instead of gambling into the passing lanes. I'd also like to see him crash the boards a little bit more but he played very well last season, as everyone else is saying his chizled frame could do serious work down low and if a bigger body a center or someone came to help he can dish to Z uncovered or a Sarunas or Donyell or Sasha at the arc.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

Until you make 100% of your shots, you can always work on shooting.

 

[Karma]

If we do sign Sarunas, i never ever want to see LeBron take a technical free throw. James had to be shooting under 50% of those last season, when we had Snow. Jeff, Z, Ira and Drew all shooting at a better clip. I didn't like that one bit.

 

[d3]

lmao yeah watching lebron shoot Technical fouls made me pretty mad, dosent matter, next year it will be hughes taking the FTs