How will Big Z’s return change things?
2010-03-23Forgive me in advance for this being somewhat of a bare-bones rundown. According to the most recent rumors, Z is expected to re-sign with the Cavaliers at some point on Tuesday. Assuming that happens, although nothing is certain until Z’s signed the agreement, let’s take a look at some of the effects:
– First off, Z should absolutely not start his first game at the Q. Man needs a standing O to call his own when he comes off the bench. I am very excited about this. For all you YouTube geniuses out there, if you get that standing O, please send it to me so I can put it on the site.
-Past that, the question is whether or not Z should start at center until Shaq comes back. Z has been a starter his whole career, and has struggled to find his shot coming off the bench. On the other hand, the Cavs have done pretty darn well with Z coming off the bench thus far, and Z’s unit has dominated the 2nd half of 1st quarters this season. Here are the pros and cons of some starting frontcourt combos:
Z/Jamison:
Perhaps the most likely frontcourt combo, as both Z and Jamison are veterans. Having Z space the floor and work from the high post would allow Jamison to use his greatest strength offensively, which is his ability to make smart cuts, tough catches, and finish from odd angles. (As much as his outside shooting and floaters get played up, Jamison is more effective around the rim.) The issue with this lineup is that it puts the Cavs’ two best front-court shooters together, and MB may be hesitant to plunge Z back into the starting lineup.
Z/Hickson:
Hickson excels at cutting to the rim and finishing. In fact, that’s pretty much all he does. He also is much better early in the game, when the ball moves more and he’s not forced to make one-on-one moves. Brown has shown a lot of faith in Hickson all season, and Jamison did win 6th Man of the Year in Dallas. Don’t count out this possibility.
Hickson/Jamison:
It hasn’t been so bad thus far, and Z and Andy have proven to be effective coming off the bench. This would be the lineup least likely to tweak the chemistry, but it could leave the Cavs with a hole in the middle to start games.
Other notes:
– Whatever happens, it appears that Brown is committed to bringing Andy off the bench. Judging by Andy’s +/- scores this year, that’s a tough strategy to argue with.
-It appears obvious that Z should get Jawad’s minutes when he returns, but Brown has surprised us before. As of now, it looks like Leon Powe deserves 10-15 minutes a game, and Jawad has not been playing at a high level.
Alright, those are my cursory thoughts. Sound off in the comments and let me know what I left out.
Justin, What the heck are you emailing line-ups for? Andy-Lebron-West-Mo-Boobie. Hate to be mean, but that is that stupidest line-up I’ve seen. Are you a moron? That is the smallest line-up in the NBA. Why the heck would you start or have on the floor at the same time West , Mo and Boobie? All guys 6′ 4″ or less? Yeah that would work great against Orlando? NOT! We had problems with Orlando with that small line-up last year and Z was in too. You cannot possibly have three potential point guards on the floor at the same time. Study… Read more »
“There will be too many great frontcourt players in Cleveland in the year 2010”
– Nostradamus
We’ve seen Lebron playing (point) center before, so Justin’s lineup isn’t the most ridiculous. If you give Andy his 28-30 minutes, and Jamison about 27 (a slight reduction), Powe can still take about 10-12 and leave enough for Z to get maybe 20 and Hickson to still see the floor with about 10. Based on my gut feeling alone, Hickson seemed to play very well when Lebron was at the point, so perhaps during the playoffs when Shaq is around to get big minutes against Orlando and LA, Hickson could be brought in as part of a change-of-pace lineup with… Read more »
That’s a super tiny lineup Justin. I dunno about that one playing against the better teams. I mean, how would you guard the Lakers, Nuggets, or Magic with that lineup? Situational at best.
I HUGE question remains…. What will happen to West when he goes to court in April?
and is it wrong of me to want to see this lineup again?
Andy-Lebron-West-Boobie-Mo
we can update it to go Andy-Lebron-AP/Moon-West/Gibson-Mo/West
Z will probably end up starting sooner than later.
I just really want Gibson to start playing more minutes. 10 minutes and 6 points a game is plenty in my opinion. Get him on the court at the end of quarters and throw up a couple threes to give us more comfortable leads going into the next quarter. Plus his D has been better than mo’s so that should give him a few minutes by itself
@jweev: loved that jawad 3 followed by a brutal charge on defense the other day. made me smile.
Not at all suggesting MB should do this, but just for fun, both these squads could definately start competitively in the NBA I think:
Squad 1:
Mo Williams
A Parker
Lebron
Hickson
Ilqauskas
Squad 2:
Gibson
West
Jamison
Varejao/powe
Shaq
Thats depth for you.
I hope Z takes Jawad’s minutes. Jawad doesn’t have a place on this team.
Just wondering what the criteria was for claiming Jawad Williams is not playing at a high level? He is filling his limited minutes and role quite well I thought. He has been hitting his threes, playing tough d and taking some charges. He is not very athletic for a swingman, and he won’t wow the crowd with anything spectacular, but he does what he can in his limited role.
He’s back (just for this season)! – http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5020973
To me the Cavs now have five essential players to this championship run: AV – Jamison – LeBron – West – Mo. Depending on match up issues created by the opposition you add in Shaq/Z with Parker rotating the backcourt. That’s a core 8 for the playoffs. Rather than a set 9-man playoff rotation, I think Brown should just use the remaining three or four other guys during periods in the game when their abilities relate to the situation: Gibson: when we need big 3s or if AP/Mo are struggling with their shot Powe: when we need to crash the… Read more »
Shaq may not be what he once was offensively, but he still has the best eFG% of the big men on the team. Once he gets rolling, the guy is flat out unstoppable on the block.
The point being, is that he’s still more than capable of handling the offense from the low post, and he’s very efficient while he’s doing it. Unfortunately, they don’t do it enough when he’s out there with the second team.
Unlike last season, the Cavs have the personell to mathc-up with any team. It’s not a matter for MB to create new schemes as much as he has to determine line-ups. Small ball may be great against the bobcats/hawks so Shaq/Z would may get limited minutes and neither would ‘have’ to start. Shaq is certainly neede for the Magic and I think Powe may actually be more effective against Howard than JJ/Andy or Z as Shaq’s back-up. I’d like to see Shaq and Z start against the Lakers where we need to compete with thier length. JJ/Andy/Powe would play additioanl… Read more »
Z will be great to have for the end of quarters. In terms of our two biggest threats (LA, ORL) Z will match up great with Gortat, once Howard gets in foul trouble, and Pao Gasol and the other 7 footer on LA (mbenga?).
If Z’s shooting game is off… which unfortunately I’m anticipatiing.. he’s still be another around the rim to finish for LeBron on a tough layup.
I ‘m liking the Z and Andy lineup.. AND get GIBSON in there dammit!
Oh mate I know +/- is crazy. I was laughing myself at danny green appearing anywhere good at all. And yeah, I think the fact that Z is with Varejao is really important. But thats why I love the depth: our best line ups arent even the ones that get started. Its awesome. I think small ball is awesome, its won alot of games, and then last season they won 66 games with Z starting. I dont think its reading too much or extrapolating too much to say that, until hes needed, I dont think shaq has to be forced… Read more »
@Isaac: I think you’re missing the point. It isn’t that Z is in those lineups, it’s that Varejao AND Z appear in those lineups. They know exactly how to play off of each other and LeBron, and do so extremely well on both ends of the court. I think that in itself is all the more reason to leave those two together as the 6th/7th men coming off the bench. Jamison/Hickson to start, Varejao coming in to spell Hickson (unless it’s one of the Hicksomania games), then Z coming in for Jamison. The only real question is where does Hickson… Read more »
I have no idea how Brown’s going to juggle the minutes of Shaq, Z, Jamison, AV, JJ, Powe, and Moon when it’s all said and done. That’s a legendary amount of frontcourt depth … almost too much of a good thing. All I know is that I hope Jawad’s days of playing 20 minutes a game are over. Even with Shaq out, I think Z should come off the bench (and definitely for the first game back for the standing O … or is that a standing “Z”?). If we’re being honest, it’s an open question how much playing time… Read more »
Assuming Z’s back and Darnell is waived, who do you think are the 3 players who don’t make the playoff roster? Obviously Green and Telfair. Then who do you drop from Powe, Gibson, Moon and Jawad? My guess is Jawad. Maybe the reason MB’s been giving him plenty of minutes is just so that he can see what he can do. He knows what Gibson and Moon offer and Powe has been given time to get him into shape. Judging on recent performance, Jawad probably won’t make the cut. This would leave us with 4 guards, 6 forwards and 2… Read more »
Its only played 10 minutes, but +/- wise this is (comically enough) the best non lebron line up the cavs have used thus far: A. Jamison D. West A. Varejao J. Moon D. Green +16 The best two lineups with lebron (so the best two lineups) are: Z. Ilgauskas A. Parker L. James M. Williams A. Varejao Cavaliers + 51 Z. Ilgauskas A. Parker L. James A. Varejao D. Gibson Cavaliers + 48 Anyway, to me, the fact that Z appears in 8 of the top 25 lineups, compared to Shaq’s 4 implies that he should be starting with the… Read more »