midgetstilts
Warrick Ninja
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2005
- Messages
- 886
- Reaction score
- 374
- Points
- 63
I believe we have some really undervalued pieces that we as fans take for granted now, in hopes of acquiring one "complete solution" player.
For example:
Snow - everyone preaches on the need for a point guard who can put on pressure both offensively and defensively, but how about we commend his shooting from last year to this year. He's actually knocked down a lot of open looks this year from the top of the key and 18-20 feet...many of them nearing the shot clock expiration. In addition to his great quickness on D, he is a player that is taken for granted in a league where fans value O more then D almost 9 times out of 10. He's not worth his lofty salary, but he would see significant minutes on several teams in this league. He's a smart player who brings leadership and consistency.
Gooden - I constantly read knocks about his lack of D and his "inconsistency". Drew is not inconsistent this year. If his points vary, its in relation to what Z is contributing and Z's foul situation. If anything when he has a point "surge", its because our other guys are struggling and he has had to assert himself. He has been a rock this year in terms of doing what we need him to do. Score when he gets the ball and get rebounds. I fail to see the awful D that is constantly being brought up as his negative as well. Is he blocking shots like Z or taking charges like Varejao? No. But he's playing 28 minutes a night. When he gets taken out, most of the time its because he's picked up a few fouls and we need to preserve some low post scoring for late in the game. I see far less sub outs for Gooden that are a result of defensive "lapses" then really just a strategic foul preservation decision by MIke Brown (these "lapses" are frequently being cited in other posts lately). Occasionally he rotates late, and has to foul, but lets be realistic. We don't have a center who is capable of rotating so many times Drew is the one who has to try to close down the lane when guys come into it off of curl offs. If we trade Gooden, which is more and more troubling to me as we see the offers out there, its a definite downgrade. Lets not sugar coat it. Teams realize he's in a contract year and know that part of our interest hinges on our fear of exceeding the luxury tax. I love Varejao. He's one of my favorites. But his offensive game is basically putbacks at this point. And we can preach about him only being a second-year player, but he's not even anywhere close to being on par with a Joe Smith. Thats probablycloser to his offensive ceiling that what some people have used as the pessimistic aspirations for his offensive ability. When AV is playing nearly 30 minutes a night he'll be getting into foul trouble a lot more. Where do we turn then? Drew will be another team. Sweetney isn't an upgrade defensively. He's a wide body, shorter forward, who has offensive skills. But Gooden's jumpshot is even beginning to fall at a much better percentage. He's a young player with a developed low post game, a vastly improved jumper and the speed to run the transition game. I hope we hold onto Gooden. Thats not factoring in the money (which unfortunately is a factor). I realize its likely a pipe dream, but if we do trade for Duhon and Sweetney, I'm not going to convince myself it was an upgrade. It was settling for what we can get now while we still have Gooden. And considering that, its not an awful trade scenario, but I'm sure in a few months we would be on here citing Duhon's shortcomings, or wishing we had more low post scoring in the post-Gooden era.
I'm mainly just venting, and certainly don't mean this in a way that is discounting some of the valid points made in the trade Gooden threads, but I wish there was more representation by those of us Cavs fans who believe Gooden is doing exactly what was expected of him this season, believe he deserves his props, and recognize his upside and his youth rather placing all our hopes and enthusiasm with a much younger, raw AV. Gooden is not even in his prime yet, he's very solid offensively, and a great rebounder. He has a place on an elite team and I hope it is ours.
For example:
Snow - everyone preaches on the need for a point guard who can put on pressure both offensively and defensively, but how about we commend his shooting from last year to this year. He's actually knocked down a lot of open looks this year from the top of the key and 18-20 feet...many of them nearing the shot clock expiration. In addition to his great quickness on D, he is a player that is taken for granted in a league where fans value O more then D almost 9 times out of 10. He's not worth his lofty salary, but he would see significant minutes on several teams in this league. He's a smart player who brings leadership and consistency.
Gooden - I constantly read knocks about his lack of D and his "inconsistency". Drew is not inconsistent this year. If his points vary, its in relation to what Z is contributing and Z's foul situation. If anything when he has a point "surge", its because our other guys are struggling and he has had to assert himself. He has been a rock this year in terms of doing what we need him to do. Score when he gets the ball and get rebounds. I fail to see the awful D that is constantly being brought up as his negative as well. Is he blocking shots like Z or taking charges like Varejao? No. But he's playing 28 minutes a night. When he gets taken out, most of the time its because he's picked up a few fouls and we need to preserve some low post scoring for late in the game. I see far less sub outs for Gooden that are a result of defensive "lapses" then really just a strategic foul preservation decision by MIke Brown (these "lapses" are frequently being cited in other posts lately). Occasionally he rotates late, and has to foul, but lets be realistic. We don't have a center who is capable of rotating so many times Drew is the one who has to try to close down the lane when guys come into it off of curl offs. If we trade Gooden, which is more and more troubling to me as we see the offers out there, its a definite downgrade. Lets not sugar coat it. Teams realize he's in a contract year and know that part of our interest hinges on our fear of exceeding the luxury tax. I love Varejao. He's one of my favorites. But his offensive game is basically putbacks at this point. And we can preach about him only being a second-year player, but he's not even anywhere close to being on par with a Joe Smith. Thats probablycloser to his offensive ceiling that what some people have used as the pessimistic aspirations for his offensive ability. When AV is playing nearly 30 minutes a night he'll be getting into foul trouble a lot more. Where do we turn then? Drew will be another team. Sweetney isn't an upgrade defensively. He's a wide body, shorter forward, who has offensive skills. But Gooden's jumpshot is even beginning to fall at a much better percentage. He's a young player with a developed low post game, a vastly improved jumper and the speed to run the transition game. I hope we hold onto Gooden. Thats not factoring in the money (which unfortunately is a factor). I realize its likely a pipe dream, but if we do trade for Duhon and Sweetney, I'm not going to convince myself it was an upgrade. It was settling for what we can get now while we still have Gooden. And considering that, its not an awful trade scenario, but I'm sure in a few months we would be on here citing Duhon's shortcomings, or wishing we had more low post scoring in the post-Gooden era.
I'm mainly just venting, and certainly don't mean this in a way that is discounting some of the valid points made in the trade Gooden threads, but I wish there was more representation by those of us Cavs fans who believe Gooden is doing exactly what was expected of him this season, believe he deserves his props, and recognize his upside and his youth rather placing all our hopes and enthusiasm with a much younger, raw AV. Gooden is not even in his prime yet, he's very solid offensively, and a great rebounder. He has a place on an elite team and I hope it is ours.