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.

(Almost) Opening Day Power Rankings

Photo courtesy of Waitingfornextyear.com

The preseason is now over, roster has been trimmed to 15 and here is Cleveland's power rankings for the start of the season.

#1 - Kyrie Irving (No change)
Not a surprise. He's the man.

#2 - CJ Miles ( Up three spots)
Miles was the Cavs best player in the preseason not named Kyrie. At 11.9 ppg he was the second highest scorer on the team and at this point it looks like he'll be a fairly serviceable player this year.

#3 - Tyler Zeller (Up three spots)
Zeller was very productive in the preseason despite starting only one game. He was at 8.4 ppg, and he did that on an efficient 55% shooting. He's not a bad passing big man either, getting a little over two assists a game. Rebounding will be an area of improvement going forward, but I liked what I saw from Zeller to this point.

#4 - Tristan Thompson (No change)
In just about 20 minutes per game, Thompson put up eight points and six rebounds. He shot 50% from the field and if this carries over to the regular season with his increase in minutes, I'll be very content.

#5 - Alonzo Gee (Down three spots)
It'll be interesting to see what Byron Scott does at small forward. Miles obviously played better in the preseason, but I feel like his scoring off the bench would be more valuable. Gee shot decent from the field and played good, hard defense in the preseason, but that was expected. No doubt am I glad we got him re-signed. He'll be productive in whatever role he gets.

#6 - Boobie Gibson (Up one spot)
Gibson looked alright in the preseason all things considered. Shot well, moved the ball well and even snagged a few rebounds per game. He's back from the torn ankle tendon he suffered last year, but this season will be interesting for a few Cavs, Boobie being one of them. He could be moved by the deadline.

#7 - Anderson Varejao (Down four spots)
Like Boobie, it's nice to see Varejao back playing after his season-ending injury from last year. His productivity should increase when his minutes do, but otherwise it was the same ole' Varejao. The scrappy big man playing to every whistle, and doing the little things that help Cleveland win games. Here's to hoping he stays healthy this year.

#8 - Dion Waiters (No change)
I'm pretty glad the preseason is over, if for nothing else, because everything is so over analyzed. And in Waiters' case, that was magnified. Yes, he was the number four pick and I think he'll be fine, but through the preseason, he showed no reason that he should have been taken that high. He's a wait-and-see kind of player at this point. In the next power rankings, I won't be surprised if either he moves up in the top five, or drops off this list. My hunch, however, is that Dion will figure it out sooner rather than later.

#9 - Omri Casspi (Up two spots)
When I first did these rankings, I kept Casspi off the list because of how bad he was last year and how little playing time he will probably get with Miles and Gee both ahead of him on the depth chart. But Casspi shot the ball very well not only overall, but from deep which was something he struggled with last year. If he can shoot like that in the regular season, minutes will be there for him, possibly at shooting guard.

#10 - Samardo Samuels (Up one spot)
Samuels slimmed down, looks more athletic and played decent enough in his limited time. He'll be in the mix in the Cavs frontcourt and his expectations, for whatever reason are moderately high. I like Samuels for the record, I think he plays with a lot of energy and passion and hopefully cutting weight can make him a more efficient player.


Biggest Winner: CJ Miles and Tyler Zeller; Up three spots.
Biggest Faller: Anderson Varejao; Down four spots.
Cracking the top ten: Omri Casspi and Samardo Samuels.
Falling out of the top ten: Donald Sloan and Kelenna Azubuike