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By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 08:36 p.m. EDT, Apr 09, 2009
INDEPENDENCE: Ben Wallace's return Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena bodes well for the Cavaliers and their championship status.
That's not just because Wallace is a ferocious defender but because his return gives the Cavs four healthy big men. With Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Joe Smith joining Wallace, the Cavs have flexibility.
''It's good to be able to have four bigs who are veterans who have been there before,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''Obviously Darnell [Jackson] did a nice job when he played and J.J. [Hickson] did a nice job when he played, but to have four guys who have been through the fire out there at all times was exciting to see.''
It's exciting because it offers the Cavs a couple of things heading into the playoffs, depth and a physical presence.
''We have four veteran bigs that have been there before that can play,'' center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. ''If one is struggling in one series or a game, it gives us another option, especially defensively.''
That physical presence is where Wallace comes in. LeBron James probably summed up Wallace's impact perfectly after the Cavs pummeled the Washington Wizards 98-86 Wednesday. It's not about stats with Wallace. It's about defensive impact. Wallace knows that.
''I'm not going to go out there and try to score 30 or 40 points a night,'' he said, ''but I am going to go out there, play hard, hit the boards and put pressure on the offense. That's what I bring to the game.''
If the Cavs play the Orlando Magic and superstar center Dwight Howard, their presence will be key.
The same can be said if the Cavs meet the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Lakers won both games against the Cavs this season, and the Lakers' big men were a big reason.
That, however, was before Joe Smith returned to the Cavs.
''Any time you have the type of bigs that we have it's a positive. I'm excited about our positioning with the guys that we do have,'' Brown said.
Williams returns
As expected, forward Jawad Williams, a Cleveland native and graduate of the University of North Carolina, rejoined the Cavs on Thursday.
Since being waived earlier in the season, Williams played with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, where he averaged 25.7 points. It was an experience he found a world apart from the NBA, primarily because he took what he learned with the Cavs and tried to apply it to that situation.
''It's a big difference,'' he said. ''Guys really didn't understand where I was coming from when I was yelling at my teammates every now and then coming from a situation like this where everybody is working hard to go to a situation where some guys might be feeling sorry for themselves.''
He called the experience fun, but wanted to return to where he thought he belonged.
Brown didn't disagree that Williams could be an effective NBA player.
''We didn't keep him because he was a local guy,'' Brown said. ''We kept him because we thought he was the best player to fill that position on our team.''
Ilgauskas agreed.
''It's good to have him for the push because he deserves it. He's been here from the beginning, so we'd rather have him than anybody else,'' Ilgauskas said.
Although Williams won't get any playing time, it will give him a head start on next season. He will participate on the Cavs' summer-league team and return with the Cavs to training camp.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas. Follow Cavs coverage on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cavsabj
INDEPENDENCE: Ben Wallace's return Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena bodes well for the Cavaliers and their championship status.
That's not just because Wallace is a ferocious defender but because his return gives the Cavs four healthy big men. With Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Joe Smith joining Wallace, the Cavs have flexibility.
''It's good to be able to have four bigs who are veterans who have been there before,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ''Obviously Darnell [Jackson] did a nice job when he played and J.J. [Hickson] did a nice job when he played, but to have four guys who have been through the fire out there at all times was exciting to see.''
It's exciting because it offers the Cavs a couple of things heading into the playoffs, depth and a physical presence.
''We have four veteran bigs that have been there before that can play,'' center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. ''If one is struggling in one series or a game, it gives us another option, especially defensively.''
That physical presence is where Wallace comes in. LeBron James probably summed up Wallace's impact perfectly after the Cavs pummeled the Washington Wizards 98-86 Wednesday. It's not about stats with Wallace. It's about defensive impact. Wallace knows that.
''I'm not going to go out there and try to score 30 or 40 points a night,'' he said, ''but I am going to go out there, play hard, hit the boards and put pressure on the offense. That's what I bring to the game.''
If the Cavs play the Orlando Magic and superstar center Dwight Howard, their presence will be key.
The same can be said if the Cavs meet the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Lakers won both games against the Cavs this season, and the Lakers' big men were a big reason.
That, however, was before Joe Smith returned to the Cavs.
''Any time you have the type of bigs that we have it's a positive. I'm excited about our positioning with the guys that we do have,'' Brown said.
Williams returns
As expected, forward Jawad Williams, a Cleveland native and graduate of the University of North Carolina, rejoined the Cavs on Thursday.
Since being waived earlier in the season, Williams played with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, where he averaged 25.7 points. It was an experience he found a world apart from the NBA, primarily because he took what he learned with the Cavs and tried to apply it to that situation.
''It's a big difference,'' he said. ''Guys really didn't understand where I was coming from when I was yelling at my teammates every now and then coming from a situation like this where everybody is working hard to go to a situation where some guys might be feeling sorry for themselves.''
He called the experience fun, but wanted to return to where he thought he belonged.
Brown didn't disagree that Williams could be an effective NBA player.
''We didn't keep him because he was a local guy,'' Brown said. ''We kept him because we thought he was the best player to fill that position on our team.''
Ilgauskas agreed.
''It's good to have him for the push because he deserves it. He's been here from the beginning, so we'd rather have him than anybody else,'' Ilgauskas said.
Although Williams won't get any playing time, it will give him a head start on next season. He will participate on the Cavs' summer-league team and return with the Cavs to training camp.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the Cavs blog at http://www.ohio.com/thomas. Follow Cavs coverage on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cavsabj
Comments
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Posted 08:50 PM, 04/09/2009
This is a REALLY good team.
It showed last nite when Big Ben power dunked on a classic Cav's play.
Go Cavs !!
Walnut Creek, Oh
Posted 09:36 PM, 04/09/2009
Sure is good to have Big Ben back. It is also good to see the comments by Wallace and the Cavs organization to see the importance of Bens role on this team. It's almost like a defensive lineman in the NFL. They don't score many touchdowns, but they do stop the other team from scoring.... AWESOME
independence, MO
Posted 08:09 AM, 04/10/2009
Memo to Cavs: Keep your eyes on Cole Aldrich at Kansas, a Big for the Future. Snag him and the Cavs dynasty is at hand:
"On March 22, 2009 Aldrich recorded the first official triple-double in the history of Kansas basketball against Dayton in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Aldrich accumulated 13 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a 60-43 victory."
akron, oh
Posted 08:15 AM, 04/10/2009
I dont understand why bring jawad williams back if your not going to give him any burn.Lebron could use the rest because sasha's not doing it.
Akron, OH
Posted 09:30 AM, 04/10/2009
In an extreme situation, he would get time. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, because that would me we are having SERIOUS problems. (Or the converse, and that we are blowing out our opponents by a substantial margin. Not likely in the NBA playoffs.)
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:34 AM, 04/10/2009
Ben is the only Cav willing to hit someone in the mouth. If the Cavs are to win the championship his defensive presence in the paint will be the reason why the Cavs got over the hump.
Barberton, OH
Posted 12:38 PM, 04/10/2009
Cole Aldrich is a nice player, but he's going to be picked in the lottery, not at the 30th pick in the Draft.
Posted 01:12 PM, 04/10/2009
Michael,
Yeah, I don't even know much about this Cole Aldrich guy, but if he is that good he won't be there when the Cavs pick near the bottom of the first round.
Besides, I think they have some good young guys with Darnell Jackson and JJ Hickson, plus Verajao who is still pretty young. With LeBron the Cavs don't need (and often couldn't properly use) a premier big man (like Dwight Howard).
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:55 AM, 04/11/2009
Big Ben means business!
