Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Back in Business


Hey everyone! This is A.C. -- what is happening?

The Cavaliers come to Training Camp with a couple of missing pieces. And that can be difficult to deal with.

As a player, you want to try and stay focused, but you feel like you have pieces missing. You don’t feel whole. And you make due with what you have. But in the back of your mind, you wonder what it would be like with them. You deal with what you have – sometimes that’s good. Sometimes that’s bad.

We had the same situation after our big year. The next season, free agency hit us and we lost some guys and it just seemed like we were in limbo. It was almost like, “We’ll get started after they get here.” And that’s probably what’s going on a little bit with the guys now.

They’ve been together long enough now that they’re used to the styles of Anderson and Sasha.

Now, if these new guys – Devin Brown and Cedric Simmons – can bring something positive to the table, maybe even something better that Anderson and Sasha, it’s still a tough change. But it’s a positive change.

Devin Brown is a very solid player. He’s not great at anything, but he’s good at everything. And he will defend you. He’ll hit the mid-range shot, he’ll occasionally stroke the three. He’s a physical, aggressive player and that’s what I like about him. And he can fill in at three positions.

Cedric Simmons, I don’t know as much about him. I know he’s a raw talent – very rangy. He can cover a lot of ground and likes to be very physical with the ball and will dunk on you. He’s a good shot-blocker and I think the coaching staff is very excited about that. The key for him is how quickly he can learn the pro game and grow in the system. He’s from a small town in North Carolina so he has to learn to deal with “the big city.”

The Cavaliers will also have to replace some the intangibles that Eric Snow brings to the lineup. The leadership and the calming effect he has on the offense is going to take a hit without Eric.

Somebody else is going to have to step up and be the calming effect. Larry’s going to have to be there, Damon’s going to have to be there. And they’re going to have to help Boobie along as well. Hopefully Shannon will play a bigger role this year, too.

But Larry and Damon are going to have to replace that calming effect that E-Snow brings to the team.

It’s not going to be easy this year. The Cavaliers will go into the season with a bull’s-eye on their backs now – especially when they go on the road where they’ll be the marquee matchup.

And I think it can affect them in two ways: Either you’re going to let the pressure get to you, or you’re going to walk into the arena with your chest stuck out and say, “We’re the Champs. Can you beat us?”

If they bring that attitude to the table, they’re going to have another successful year.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm not shedding any tears over Sasha, but we need Anderson in a Cavs uniform if we want to do well this year.