If Zydrunas Ilgauskas is waived by Washington and eventually returns to Cleveland, the Cavs would have given up only a late first-round pick and some financial flexibility to get Jamison.
More important, Jamison is a better fit in Cleveland than Stoudemire would have been, giving the Cavs a power forward who can shoot from the perimeter.
The way the Cavs have been playing, though, it's not clear that they needed to make a move. They've won 13 straight games (11 of them without Mo Williams), and through Wednesday, Cleveland has the second-best offense in the league, the fifth-best defense, the best record and the best point differential.
They were in a similar position last season, didn't make a move at the deadline and were upset in the conference finals by Orlando. But as we wrote two weeks ago, the Cavs, with their ability to dominate the paint, are better suited to beat both the Magic and the Lakers this season.
Still, they couldn't pass up the opportunity to upgrade at power forward. If there's one weak link in their rotation, it's Hickson. The 21-year-old has been the starter since November, but doesn't play as much as super-sub Anderson Varejao and, to date, the Cavs are better with Hickson on the bench than on the floor.
Hickson factor |
A quick look at the Cavs' offensive and defensive efficency with J.J. Hickson on (and off) the court. |
Off. Rat. = Points scored per 100 possessions Def. Rat. = Points allowed per 100 possessions |
One issue with Jamison, as it would have been with Stoudemire, is defense. In seven of his previous 11 seasons, Jamison has been on a team that ranked in the bottom five in defensive efficiency. And only once has he been on a team that ranked in the top 18. That was as a rookie in Golden State, when the Warriors ranked 12th in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.
Team Defensive Efficiency, Antawn Jamison's Career |
Also, before he came to Orlando, Rashard Lewis was on nothing but bad defensive teams in Seattle. But playing alongside Dwight Howard and being coached by Stan Van Gundy, Lewis has been a part of one of the best defensive teams in the league over the last three seasons.
The key difference between those additions and Jamison's might one of timing. Williams and Lewis joined their new teams in the offseason and had a full training camp to learn the system.
Speaking of Lewis, he would be Jamison's matchup when the Cavs face their biggest threat in the Eastern Conference. While Dwight Howard was Cleveland's biggest matchup issue in last year's conference finals, Lewis averaged 18.3 points on 49 percent shooting and hit several big shots in that series.
Curiously, though, in his last nine games against Jamison, Lewis has averaged just 12.8 points on 38 percent shooting.
Don't read too much into those stats. Jamison is long and athletic and can probably keep up with Lewis better than a lot of power forwards in this league, but his defensive effort was lacking with the Wizards. Lewis missed a lot of open looks in those games against Jamison.
If Jamison was simply replacing Hickson in the rotation, we might predict that the Cavs' defense wouldn't fall off much. But Ilgauskas' departure (at least for the next month) means Hickson will still play often and Varejao will log major minutes at center. So expect the Cleveland D to suffer somewhat.
Of course, that the Cavs have been able to play top-five defense with Shaquille O'Neal on the floor for 23 minutes a game is proof that coach Mike Brown knows what he's doing. Plus, Jamison should help balance any defensive dropoff with his play on offense.
There's no reason to think that the Cavs -- the best offensive team in the league from Christmas to the All-Star break -- can't get even more efficient.
All stats are through Wednesday, February 17 and were compiled with the help of the NBA and StatsCube.
0 comments:
Post a Comment