Conventional NBA wisdom holds that a team needs a few short guys and a few tall players to be successful. How To Watch Sports checks in with Cleveland Cavaliers analyst Roger Pimentel and Portland Trail Blazers analyst Sam Orme to explore these two teams who have been ravaged by injuries, losing their small guys and big guys, respectively.
Pimentel:
First, we’d better take a look at the lay of the land.
It was the Cavaliers’ second-worst nightmare when Mo Williams and Delonte West went out with injuries. Mo is the teams’ second-leading scorer behind LeBron James, and Delonte is widely believed to be the team’s X-factor; both were believed to be key upgrades to LeBron’s supporting cast when they were brought in. However, the Cavs have been playing some of their most impressive basketball of the season in the games since the injury tornado stormed through—they won all nine that Williams and West both sat out, and a few more with just Williams sitting.
The thinness in the backcourt has relieved the logjam up front, where the Cavs have three capable 7-footers (Ilgauskas at 7’3″, Shaq at 7’1″, and Varejao is technically 6’11″) and where J.J. Hickson has blossomed into the team’s only real PF. At one point two weeks ago against the Pacers the Cavs fielded a lineup of James, Shaq, Varejao, Hickson and Jawad Williams. The shortest guy on the floor? LeBron, at 6’8″.
It’s probably a misguided argument to make when one of the guys is LeBron, but it sure looks like the Cavs don’t need traditional guards.
Orme:
I think it’s safe to say the Cavs are more or less weathering the storm. The Blazers have held up despite their rash of injuries, too, but in the sense of seeing someone crawling out of a bunker after an atomic blast.
At one point or another this season, the Blazers have been without 11 of their 15 players. It’s probably easier to say that the ones that have remained healthy the whole season have been Andre Miller, Martell Webster, Dante Cunningham, and Juwan Howard, and two of those guys are 33 or older. They’ve scrapped through and are still in the playoff hunt, but in contrast to the Cavs, where their biggest gaps are in the backcourt, the Blazers are left with a gaping hole at center. Howard has been covering the 5 for much of this year, despite being a natural PF and all of 6’9″.
Portland has some talented wings in Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless, Martell Webster, and Nicolas Batum, but outside of Batum, none of them is really known for their outstanding defense, which means they see a lot of penetration into the paint. That was excusable with Greg Oden blocking shots into the rafters, but it’s something else entirely with Howard and rookie Jeff Pendergraph protecting the rim.
Long story short, the Blazers have looked impressive this year despite all their injuries, but when they lose, it’s painfully obvious that they don’t have a center. You know, like when Mehmet Okur dropped 28 points on them in a loss to the Jazz. That doesn’t happen if we have a real center.
Pimentel:
And Memo is a Euro, floor-spreading center… if he’s pounding 28 in the post then you really do need some help in the middle. That said, losing to the Jazz isn’t so bad lately with how they’re playing.
But yeah, you’ve got a serious point. While the Cavs are undefeated since their starting backcourt was eliminated (8-0 since 1/23), in Portland it’s been more a struggle to win enough games to stay in the playoff race (7-4 after Oden and Przybilla went out but before Roy went down).
Which brings up a huge point—the Cavs’ success is premised almost entirely on LeBron James stepping up, turning into Magic Johnson, and commanding this team from the point. It’s been epic. It’s amazing. But the Blazers have lost Roy, too, their leading scorer and second-highest in PER (behind Oden… interesting). They’re 6-8 since losing him, which is respectable but far from adequate in the Western Conference.
My point: If the Cavaliers lost their backcourt and LeBron, they’d be in terrible shape (who leads the team? Shaq?). The Blazers appear to be in nearly that exact situation: their frontcourt is gone, and they’ve lost their dynamic leader who could conceivably fill that gap.
Fair assessment?
Orme:
I think that’s a pretty good assessment, except that I’d argue that the Cavs would be much, much worse off if they lost their backcourt and LeBron. That’s mostly a testament to the lack of depth of the Cavs’ bench, though.
But then again, isn’t that what’s most important here? It’s not the backup that’s the most important thing. It’s your backup’s backup. When Greg Oden went down, the starting unit didn’t suffer much, because Joel Przybilla was there to step up. The second unit was in trouble, though, since Przybilla’s backup was PF Juwan Howard, 37 years young. And when Przybilla went down, it became Howard starting and rookie Jeff Pendergraph backing him up. Yikes.
It’s fair to say that with any position, you’re in big trouble if you lose both your first and second string players. But is it worse if those guys are bigs or smalls? It probably depends on who the players are, but it sure looks like our two examples are showing us that it’s better to have a healthy big man than a healthy point guard. I’d say that’s mostly due to the fact that centers are primarily defensive while perimeter guys are primarily offensive.
It’s easier to get along with a great defense and lackluster offense than the other way around. Case in point: Charlotte is probably a playoff team this year, while Golden State will watch from home. And wouldn’t you know it, Charlotte has a decent frontcourt (Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw, but let’s not talk too much about Nazr Mohammed) while the Warriors are loaded with perimeter guys (Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, etc.)
Pimentel:
I guess the moral of the story is that defense wins ballgames. Nothing new there, but in our context we find that it’s better to keep your frontcourt so you keep your defensive foundation. Sounds fair to me. Here’s my conclusions:
Worst-case scenario: Lose half your team to injuries, including your star—like the Blazers.
Better than that: Lose half your team, but keep your star—like the Cavs.
Best case scenario: Your star is LeBron James.
Any last thoughts?
Orme:
Nothing other than, “Man, I sure wish the Blazers had LeBron.”
Discussion
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