Power Rankings Third Edition

Photo from SI.com

One month down, and these Cavs have been about as bipolar as a team could be. There have been two bright spots on the team. I bet you could easily guess who they are, anyways, let's get on with it.

#1 - Anderson Varejao (Up six spots) 
Andy has been a monster to open up the season. He's playing like a top three NBA center right now and come deadline time, teams will be blowing up Cleveland's phones, attempting to obtain the wild thing. The question is, who has the right package to give? Seriously, does anybody? He's peaking at 30, which is rare in it's own right, but the amount of minutes he's played in his career rival that of 5th year players who aren't ever injured. He has productivity still left and it would be a shame to ship him away for next to nothing. He's averaging 14.5 points per game and 14.9 rebounds per game, which by the way is 1.7 more rebounds a game than the next best rebounder at this point. But he's so much more than that, his passing is far underrated, we all know of his hustle and determination, his defense is good and he's even been hitting jumpers with some consistency. Had Kyrie not gotten hurt, this may still be his spot, but Andy has just been playing out of his mind.

#2 - Kyrie Irving (Down one spot)
Kyrie has played in ten games thus far, but will be out about another three weeks. He's still this high on my list because even without playing the five games he's missed, he's still the best this team has, and was arguably the most productive player on the roster when he was healthy. Kyrie is the closer, no doubt about that, he steps his game up to crazy levels when the fourth quarter hits and you have to wonder with all the close games the Cavs have lost in his absence, if the outcome would have been any different. He's averaging 22.9 points a game along with 5.6 assists per game. Kyrie is the most valuable piece this team has and he will probably step back into his number one spot, once he's fully back from his injury.

#3 - Alonzo Gee (Up two spots)
Gee has been solid this year, averaging 11.8 points per game and leads the Cavs in steals at 1.7 per game. Gee has the motor to compete in the NBA, as well as highlight finishes at the rim. But he's a great defender and that's why he's number three in this edition. Add in his decent jumper to go along with his range and he can make you pay. I had said before that I felt like C.J. Miles could take his job at some point this year, the only way that happens is with a Gee injury.

#4 - Boobie Gibson (Up two spots)
Gibson has been the bright spot off the bench, averaging just over 9 points in about 23 minutes a game. He's shooting 43 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep. Byron Scott even goes so far as to call him the teams best perimeter defender. I don't agree with that, but he's a decent one. The most important thing about Gibson is he is the lone productive member of a bench that has struggled mightily overall in the first month. He's missed a few games too thus far, but he should be good to go from here on, ready to knock down those threes when the Cavs need him to.

#5 - Jeremy Pargo (Up five spots)
Donald Sloan beat out Pargo for the role of back-up point guard when the season started. That clearly didn't work out and Byron Scott made the switch that was necessary. Then Irving went down with a broken finger and Pargo stepped up in a big way. Not only has he been productive with Irving out, but it finally looks as though there is a decent option to back up Kyrie once he gets back. In eight games, five of which he started, Pargo has averaged 10.5 points per game with 3 assists a game. On top of that, his turnover rate is pretty low (2.13) and Pargo plays pretty good defense. It's going to be interesting to see what this team does with Irving back, especially with the second team that will now be run by Pargo.

#6 - Dion Waiters (Up two spots)
Waiters has pretty good stats, but there are things he needs to work on. He's averaging 15 points per game on 37 percent shooting. Dion takes far too many bad shots, possibly just too many shots on top of that. In the four losses without Irving, you can make the argument that Waiters has shot the Cavs out of the games. With the exception of the Suns game, the other three were close losses, where Waiters missed quite a few more shots than he made. Then there is the matter of Waiters complaining about not getting calls. I tend to agree with him on that, however you need to make a name for yourself in the NBA before you start getting those calls. It's just how it is. Is it fair? No, but it's the way t works. Refine your game a little Dion, stop driving so much and throwing up prayers, stop taking contested jumpers and unnecessary step-back jumpers with time remaining. Take your time, move the ball, if you're open, then take the shot. It'll get better for this kid in time.

#7 - Tristan Thompson (Down three spots)
TT is a weird one. Advanced stats suggest that he is a good player, but things like box scores and watching him play suggest otherwise. Overall defense is better with him on the floor and I feel like he's partly responsible for Andy playing like he is. He's averaging 8.9 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game. Those are decent numbers, but you want a little more from a number four overall pick. His work on the offensive boards is commendable. Watching TT play offense is one of the hardest things in the world to do, it's like a car crash, you can't look away. He hasn't shown that he has a jumper (even though he spent a lot of offseason time working on one), His pump fakes are predictable and he gets blocked way too much and his free throw numbers still aren't at a productive level. He's got a ways to go and I hope he figures it all out, because at this point he really doesn't look much like a starter.

#8 - Omri Casspi (Up one spot)
Casspi has had a limited role thus far in the season, playing just 12.5 minutes per game. I am already seeing more production out of him than I saw all of last year. He averages 5.4 ppg on 45 percent shooting and 50 percent from deep. If you adjust those stats to starter minutes, that isn't bad. If he can be that catch-and-shoot small forward off the bench -- which is the reason the Cavs traded for him -- bench production has the potential to increase, as it has recently. Casspi has been a part of that.

#9 - Tyler Zeller (Down six spots)
Zeller is a rookie who is trying to figure out the NBA game and it doesn't help that he has to do so with a protective mask. Still Zeller hasn't been bad, but he's got a bit to go still. I don't think I've seen enough of Zeller to make a definitive statement on him yet, although I mostly like what I have seen.

#10 - Samardo Samuels (No change)
Samuels beats out C.J. Miles, Jon Leuer, Donald Sloan and Luke Walton for the last spot. Unlike Miles, Samuels doesn't shoot the Cavs out of games. Although, I hate that elbow jumper he keeps trying. Unlike Leuer, Samuels doesn't get thrown around in the post too badly. And unlike Sloan and Walton, Samuels isn't completely worthless. That's all I can say about it.

Biggest Winner: Anderson Varejao: Up six spots
Biggest Faller: C.J. Miles: Down nine spots
Cracking the top ten: Jeremy Pargo
Falling out of the top ten: C.J. Miles  

Cavs bench struggles

After watching almost all Cavs games so far this season, I've seen how terrible the bench is. I wanted to brainstorm some ideas on how to make it better, here is that list.

First, here is the second team that keeps giving away Cavaliers victories:

PG: Donald Sloan
SG: Gibson
SF: C.J. Miles/Omri Casspi
PF: Jon Leuer/Luke Walton
C: Samardo Samuels

1) The obvious thing is to have either Kyrie or Varejao on the floor with Daniel Gibson and the scrubs. Maybe rest Kyrie with about four or five minutes left in the first, put him back in, in the second quarter, while you give AV a five minute rest or vice versa. You could do this with quarters three and four also. Especially when Tyler Zeller comes back, this second team may not be half bad.
With this lineup, there is no doubt points can be scored:

PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Gibson
SF: Miles
PF: Leuer
C: Zeller

Alternatively, if you let Varejao rest in the first:

PG: Sloan
SG: Gibson
SF: Miles
PF: Varejao
C: Zeller

Not as ideal as the first, but it could work if Miles ever comes around.

2) This is along the same lines as the first, but with different players. With this option, you would play Kyrie the entire first quarter as Dion Waiters would get pulled with about three or four minutes remaining in quarter one. Gibson would come in for him, and stay in during Kyrie's rest time.

PG: Gibson
SG: Waiters
SF: Miles
PF: Leuer
C: Zeller

Here I would play Gibson at point guard, specifically for defensive purposes. Watching him try to defend Joe Johnson the other night wasn't pretty. So we'll let Waiters handle the bigger guys. The offense however would go through Waiters. He's a better ball handler/playmaker than Gibson.

3) Run the offense through the bigs. Here I would sit Tristan Thompson and Varejao for a bit in the first. This way, you have a respectable amount of defense on the court, plus TT and AV can go up and get the rebound on the inevitable misses. I'd like to see a lot of pick-and-rolls with Varejao with this team.

PG: Sloan
SG: Gibson
SF: Miles
PF: Thompson
C: Varejao

4) Sign free-agents! There are plenty out there that frankly it's a surprise they don't have teams. The Cavs are so far below the salary cap that they could probably sign four or five players. It won't hurt the rebuilding effort to give some of these guys one or two-year deals. Admittedly, this one is more for fun, but here's what the bench could look like.

PG: Delonte West/Gilbert Arenas
SG: Gibson
SF:  Miles/Mickael Pietrus
PF: Eddy Curry
C: Zeller

An overhaul that big wouldn't be welcome I don't think. But an acquisition like West may pay dividends. We all know he has talent, offer him a contract where if he screws up, he's done. It would be Chris Grant's terms, make it low risk and high reward. West would instantly make the bench better.

Cleveland 91 - Oklahoma City 106

Cleveland again started out strong only to let it slip away over the course of the game. There is absolutely no way that any team will beat the Thunder when Russell Westbrook is making multiple three-points shots from literally everywhere on the court and Kevin Durant is hitting jumpers while being tripled teamed and fouled. I'm also not ok with Jon Leuer getting more minutes than Dion Waiters.

Here are some things that need to be fixed going forward:

- Anderson Varejao needs to quit taking elbow jumpers. You've hit it a few times Andy, but it's just not a good attempt from you. There is a reason that shot is and always will be open for you. Stick with the post game and scoring from the pick-and-roll. Please stop taking those shots.

- The combination of Donald Sloan and Daniel Gibson is on the court together too much. Gibson is a threat, but not with someone like Sloan running the offense. Sloan barely made the team, yet he's getting big minutes in crunch time, I don't get it. More often than not, I feel like at least one of Kyrie Irving or Dion Waiters should be on the floor, they both don't need to sit at the same time to start the fourth quarters.

- Free throws need to be worked on. Cleveland is the worst free-throw shooting team in the league and that shows every game. They were 16-of-23 tonight, which is just under 70 percent. They need to get better, as missing these free throws is leaving a lot of points on the table so far over the course of the first seven games.

2012-13 Cleveland Cavaliers Power Rankings. Pre-season.

Photo from Bleacherreport.com

This is an idea that I just came up with that I thought would be a neat little series. The concept is power rankings, but with players on the Cavs instead of teams in the league. Once a month over the course of the NBA season, I will give you the Cavs top ten players. So in the first installment, I give you my Cavaliers pre-season power rankings.

#1 - Kyrie Irving.
 No surprises here, Kyrie is the best player on the Cavs, the leader, the franchise, etc. He is by far the most important player on the Cavaliers roster and I frankly can't wait to see what he does in his sophomore season with the Cavs.

#2 - Alonzo Gee.
Gee gets the nod here over Anderson Varejao because of the injury that sidelined Andy for much of the 2011-12 season. Gee worked hard, and was possibly the NBAs most improved player last year. He plays fantastic defense and has a quick step that allows him to finish at the rim with good success. Gee just inked a three-year deal with Cleveland, so look for him to earn that money this year.

#3 - Anderson Varejao.
Nobody brings more effort and hustle to a team than Andy, when he is healthy. He will fight for rebounds and loose balls, play hard defense and execute the pick-and-roll game masterfully. The keyword here is healthy.

#4 - Tristan Thompson.
Thompson improved in nearly every facet of his game over the course of the 2011-12 season. If he can keep that going into this year, he could become something special.

#5 - C.J. Miles
Miles is a guy that wants to be in Cleveland, he feels it's the perfect situation for him. He's got talent, there's no question about that, hopefully this proves to be the situation that he needs to break out.

#6 - Tyler Zeller.
The rookie looked impressive in the summer league and he has all the tools to be productive in the association. If he plays like he did in the summer league, he'll be climbing up this list in no time.

#7 - Boobie Gibson.
Boobie is the teams best three-point shooter and a valuable asset off the bench, seeing as he can play either guard position. It'll be interesting to see if he can bounce back from last years injury.

#8 - Dion Waiters.
A few months ago, I was shocked when Chris Grant and Co. selected Waiters over Harrison Barnes. I learned to like this pick real quick, the kid can flat out play basketball. He however struggled in the summer league and showed up out of shape. There's no telling how he'll do, but he could shoot way up this list with no problem once the season gets underway.

#9 - Donald Sloan.
Kyrie's back-up looked pretty decent last year when he stepped on the court. The Cavs thought highly enough of him not to pursue a back-up point guard in free agency. As long as he comes off the bench for Kyrie when he needs a rest, Sloan will be just fine.

#10 - Kelenna Azubuike
One of the newest additions to the Cavs, Azubuike is an under the radar type player. He averaged 14.4 ppg in his last full season. Over the last two seasons though, he's played a grand total of nine games. If he stays healthy, he'll be an asset off the bench.