Early reviews are positive for Cavs pick

The Browns opened training camp Wednesday, so it's a good time to catch up on the Cavs .

[Pro-Police]

Romeo Travis? Drew Joyce? They were on the cavs summer league roster? Must be nice to have a friend with a little pull on the team...

[Matt]

Very encouraging to see the reviews on Hickson. He more than held his own against the other top picks in Vegas. And I wouldn't worry too much about his turnover numbers. He will be worked into the rotation slowly and will not be the focal point of the offense like he was in the summer league. And he's still very young. His game will definitely evolve and improve. But you can't teach size, strength, and hunger, all of which he possesses.

http://clevelandchamps.blogspot.com/

[CantonJoe]

What about Romel Beck he was good the last three games.

[your name]

besides defense, let's work on him finding the open man when he's double teamed.

[alan t]

Pro-Police wrote:

Romeo Travis? Drew Joyce? They were on the cavs summer league roster? Must be nice to have a friend with a little pull on the team...

Those two stiffs must be joined at the hip. They play on the same high school team. They play on the same team in Germany. Heck, I'm starting to wonder if they also play on the same "team" and play in the same bed.

[Josh]

Please God, let Hickson be the gem he seems to be. That frontcourt needs some young legs in a bad way...

[What]

We need to get Tractor Trailer back NOW that guy is golden under the basket

[Brittle Fingers]

He looks good so far, but will Mike Brown actually PLAY him? That's the question. Brown seems allergic to giving rookies any playing time at all.

If this ridiculous pattern of coaching continues, it's on Danny Ferry to lean on Brown and make sure Hickson plays.

[Ghost of Akron Al]

Brittle Fingers wrote:

He looks good so far, but will Mike Brown actually PLAY him? That's the question. Brown seems allergic to giving rookies any playing time at all.
If this ridiculous pattern of coaching continues, it's on Danny Ferry to lean on Brown and make sure Hickson plays.

That's inaccurate. Daniel Gibson was counted on pretty heavily towards the end of his rookie season, don't you think? And Varejao saw quality minutes as a rookie, too. Mike Brown didn't play Shannnon Brown much because he never got himself under control. What other rookies is Mike Brown supposed to have played?

[Brittle Fingers]

Ghost of Akron Al wrote:

<quoted text>
That's inaccurate. Daniel Gibson was counted on pretty heavily towards the end of his rookie season, don't you think? And Varejao saw quality minutes as a rookie, too. Mike Brown didn't play Shannnon Brown much because he never got himself under control. What other rookies is Mike Brown supposed to have played?

I stand "half"-corrected. I was thinking of Luke Jackson as the other, but I looked further and saw that his rookie year was the year before Brown came here.

I believe Boobie only became a regular very late in his rookie season. In regards to Varejao, he only played 16 minutes a game in just 54 games as a rookie.

[Brittle Fingers]

Plus, Varejao wasn't really a "rookie" in the true sense anyway. He had played professionally in Europe.

[Josh]

It's time to quit bashing Mike Brown. Considering the load of garbage he's had to work with aside from James, I think we can all agree he's done a remarkable job.

At some point, Ferry will deliver the goods and get LeBron a running mate, and when he does, Brown will be the guy in the suit hoisting a trophy.

[Brittle Fingers]

Josh wrote:

It's time to quit bashing Mike Brown. Considering the load of garbage he's had to work with aside from James, I think we can all agree he's done a remarkable job.
At some point, Ferry will deliver the goods and get LeBron a running mate, and when he does, Brown will be the guy in the suit hoisting a trophy.

I give Brown credit for the defense this team plays. It took awhile for them to grasp it, but they are now good enough defensively to win a championship.

Where he rightly deserves criticism is on the other end of the floor. Why has he so stubbornly refused to bring on an offensive-minded assistant coach to handle the offense?

[hdawg]

They can bring whoever they want in, when you have Lebron James standing around dribbling and a bunch of stationary shooters there really isn't many options. They need better personnel or the offense will look the same no matter what they change.

[Brittle Fingers]

hdawg wrote:

They can bring whoever they want in, when you have Lebron James standing around dribbling and a bunch of stationary shooters there really isn't many options. They need better personnel or the offense will look the same no matter what they change.

I'm not so sure. What about posting up LeBron? Or feeding him off of screens near the elbow? That seemed to work well for awhile late last year, and then they got away from it.

Is Brown challenging LeBron at all? Is he telling him to do anything other than stand and dribble at the top of the key?

[Ghost of Akron Al]

Brittle Fingers wrote:

<quoted text>
I stand "half"-corrected. I was thinking of Luke Jackson as the other, but I looked further and saw that his rookie year was the year before Brown came here.
I believe Boobie only became a regular very late in his rookie season. In regards to Varejao, he only played 16 minutes a game in just 54 games as a rookie.

You know what, I wasn't even paying attention, either. Varejao was a rookie under Silas, too. It doesn't change the fact that Brown has a record of being willing to give rookies playing time. Gibson started 16 games as a rookie, and 16 mpg, for a second round pick, is pretty significant. Hell, Shannon Brown started 5 games, and he sucked. That's in a 50 win season where the Cavs almost made the conference finals. As fars I can tell, those are the only two rookies that Brown has ever had - so who the are you talking about?

[Ghost of Akron Al]

Brittle Fingers wrote:

Plus, Varejao wasn't really a "rookie" in the true sense anyway. He had played professionally in Europe.

actually, the problem is that he played professionally all right - with the Cavs, under Silas/Malone.

[Josh]

Bottom line. The Cavs could certainly do worse than Mike Brown, and really any coach on the planet will only be as good as the talent he has to work with. Brown has had very little and consistently gets this team to the playoffs and deep into them with LeBron James and not much else. That's awfully commendable.

The rookie argument is beyond silly. Teams that lean heavily on rookies to contribute big minutes generally lose... a lot. If Hickson had to start for this team, that would mean we're VERY thin at PF. Let's just hope he develops into a quality bench guy this year, and learns the ropes as he goes.

Time to lay off the coach. He's done a remarkable job. It's on Ferry to get guys in here who can help lighten LeBron's workload.

[Josh]

Prime example... Doc Rivers just coached an NBA team to a championship. Read that again. It's so comical, I almost laugh till I throw up...

[Jim in Kent]

Josh wrote:

Prime example... Doc Rivers just coached an NBA team to a championship. Read that again. It's so comical, I almost laugh till I throw up...

Josh, are you down playing River's ability to coach or comparing the talent difference between the Cavs and the Celtics. Rivers certainly did a credible job of coaching that team all through the play offs. He coached a team that played great defense and executed the offense well. They were even able to go to one player or another when everything was slowing down to get their scrores. But, granted, the talent level there is extreme. I still think Mike Brown is clueless about an offense. But, I'll grant you that the talent level of the Cavs is Lebron and a bunch of also-rans.