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James thinks Williams makes St. Joesph's grad better
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 09:58 p.m. EST, Jan 09, 2009
CLEVELAND: How much confidence does Cavaliers coach Mike Brown have in Delonte West? Enough to trust him to take a game-winning shot and provide a little guidance to Brown's son, Elijah, an eighth-grade basketball player. Brown believes his son will be a ''nice little high school player.''
It shows how far West has come since joining the Cavs in a midseason trade last year.
West and Elijah share a common trait; they're both lefties. Brown liked West's medium- range game so much that he had the team videographers compile a tape of his techniques. ''I just gave it to my son to watch two nights ago and I said: 'Hey, watch how Delonte creates separation. Watch his flow in the game. Watch him defend.' He's kind of shocked me in the way he's played this year.''
West is averaging 12.2 points, 3.6 assists, three steals, three rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, but ''he has proved invaluable on the defensive side of the ball, often taking on guards much bigger than him.
''He's rebounded,'' Brown said. ''He has a sense of pace in his game that I'm just shocked by.''
Cavaliers forward LeBron James has a simple explanation for West's success this season: Mo Williams.
The offseason addition of Williams allowed West to return to shooting guard, the position he played most at St. Joesph's.
''Mo has helped him a lot and then himself just being focused after coming into this season after his contract was done,'' James said.
James said he waited with bated breath while West, a restricted free agent this past summer, went through protracted contract negotiations.
''I was hoping that his contract would get done way before the season started so he could focus himself on being a very good player for our team,'' he said.
Given West's performance thus far, things have worked out.
''Delonte's been special. For a guy his size and not being a point guard, he can impact the game tremendously at any given point in time,'' Brown said.
Varejao gets respect
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers knows what James can do, but when asked which Cavalier gave him reasons to worry, he quickly named Anderson Varejao.
In his past six games, Varejao is averaging 12.8 points, 9.5 shots and shooting better than 60 percent from the floor.
The improvement in Varejao's offensive game was evident Friday night against the Celtics when he went up for a slam, but was forced to change the shot in the middle of his move. He made a reverse layup.
''Varejao to me is a very important player to their team and I don't think people give him enough due,'' Rivers said. ''It's not just his defensive stuff, it's his offense. LeBron gets everybody shots, but I think Varejao's energy gets them shots as well. We can't lose sight of him.''
Olympics talk
The Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday that Jerry Colangelo, keeper of Team USA men's basketball team, would like to talk to members of the gold medal team during the All-Star break about committing for the World Championships in 2010 and London Olympics in 2012.
James had a succinct answer when asked about both.
''I won't be able to answer that,'' he said of the Olympics.
As for the World Championships?
''I won't be able to answer that either,'' he said. ''That's like next month.''
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas.
CLEVELAND: How much confidence does Cavaliers coach Mike Brown have in Delonte West? Enough to trust him to take a game-winning shot and provide a little guidance to Brown's son, Elijah, an eighth-grade basketball player. Brown believes his son will be a ''nice little high school player.''
It shows how far West has come since joining the Cavs in a midseason trade last year.
West and Elijah share a common trait; they're both lefties. Brown liked West's medium- range game so much that he had the team videographers compile a tape of his techniques. ''I just gave it to my son to watch two nights ago and I said: 'Hey, watch how Delonte creates separation. Watch his flow in the game. Watch him defend.' He's kind of shocked me in the way he's played this year.''
West is averaging 12.2 points, 3.6 assists, three steals, three rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, but ''he has proved invaluable on the defensive side of the ball, often taking on guards much bigger than him.
''He's rebounded,'' Brown said. ''He has a sense of pace in his game that I'm just shocked by.''
Cavaliers forward LeBron James has a simple explanation for West's success this season: Mo Williams.
The offseason addition of Williams allowed West to return to shooting guard, the position he played most at St. Joesph's.
''Mo has helped him a lot and then himself just being focused after coming into this season after his contract was done,'' James said.
James said he waited with bated breath while West, a restricted free agent this past summer, went through protracted contract negotiations.
''I was hoping that his contract would get done way before the season started so he could focus himself on being a very good player for our team,'' he said.
Given West's performance thus far, things have worked out.
''Delonte's been special. For a guy his size and not being a point guard, he can impact the game tremendously at any given point in time,'' Brown said.
Varejao gets respect
Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers knows what James can do, but when asked which Cavalier gave him reasons to worry, he quickly named Anderson Varejao.
In his past six games, Varejao is averaging 12.8 points, 9.5 shots and shooting better than 60 percent from the floor.
The improvement in Varejao's offensive game was evident Friday night against the Celtics when he went up for a slam, but was forced to change the shot in the middle of his move. He made a reverse layup.
''Varejao to me is a very important player to their team and I don't think people give him enough due,'' Rivers said. ''It's not just his defensive stuff, it's his offense. LeBron gets everybody shots, but I think Varejao's energy gets them shots as well. We can't lose sight of him.''
Olympics talk
The Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday that Jerry Colangelo, keeper of Team USA men's basketball team, would like to talk to members of the gold medal team during the All-Star break about committing for the World Championships in 2010 and London Olympics in 2012.
James had a succinct answer when asked about both.
''I won't be able to answer that,'' he said of the Olympics.
As for the World Championships?
''I won't be able to answer that either,'' he said. ''That's like next month.''
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas.
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