Training Camp Preview (Part 3)

Welcome to yet another edition of my four part segment on previewing the Cavaliers, while training camp gets officially underway. Part three will be focusing on the big fella’s, the men in the middle, the force down low, or as I like to call them, the centers.

After last season the Cavaliers had two future Hall-of-Famers depart town.  Shaquille O’Neal left to play in Boston, chasing another ring to add to his arsenal.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas left Cleveland after 12 seasons with the Cav,s to go play with LeBron in Miami.  Right there is two future Hall-of-Famers with over 40,000 points and 16,000 rebounds combined that just left town!

That leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers with two BIG problems if you know what I’m getting at. At the moment, the Cavaliers have only two true centers on the roster, so let’s take an in-depth look at them.

Centers:

Ryan Hollins—The young Ryan Hollins will finally look to find a home with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Entering his fifth season, Cleveland will be his fourth new home. Hollins will look to use his advantages over the past centers from a few years ago, as he explained. 

“I bring a different tempo; I’m slender, quicker, more athletic. Those guys are two of the top All-Star big men in this league and they’ve done so much in their time. But I’m going to bring that youth, that energy and hard work and try to create a name for myself.”

That he will; Hollins brings much more from an athletic standpoint than Ilgauskas and Shaq ever did.  He is faster and more athletic.  Hollins will look to use his gifts as an advantage under Coach Scott’s wing. With Scott’s up-tempo style offensive system, Hollins will look to use the running as an advantage.  Byron also expects and will demand consistent rebounding from Ryan if he wants to play significant minutes.

“Coach already has a system that he wants to play, and I’m definitely blessed to be a part of it and kind of fit that mold,” Hollins stating. “He’s not going to say, ‘Let’s walk the ball up the floor.’ He’s saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s run. Let’s get into pick-and-rolls.’ And that’s definitely the strong part of my game. When it’s time to execute (in the halfcourt), let’s execute. But definitely knowing that the first push is to run is going to be huge.”

Hollins is coming off his best season yet in Minnesota, where he averaged 6.1 points and 2.8 rebounds. He will look to continue to improve and also flourish under the “Princeton” as he will be needed to help bolster a slim frontcourt.

Anderson Varejao—Last season Andy was recognized as one of the Top 10 Defenders in the game. Just three seasons ago, Anderson Varejao was known as a "flopper” and a player who would get underneath a players skin. Varejao was a player that everyone hated and probably still does. However, Varejao was one of the best players for the Cavaliers last season. He boasted an astonishing +514 PER (Player Efficiency Rating). That +514 was third-best in the entire league. The “Wild Thing” turned into much more than just an annoying “flopper.”  But this season will be different; Players will be looking for him to be the man leading in the middle. He will no longer have Shaq and “Big Z” to look-up to. He must step-up his game and prove to everyone that he can play without LeBron.

Look for the Cavaliers to use Leon Powe, JJ Hickson and Antwan Jamison in the center position at times this season as well; The Cavaliers could decide to go with a small line-up. A team who will like to get up and down the floor fast, can sometimes effectively use smaller players. Either way you look at it, things are looking up for this team.  Very soon, we'll have a real idea of what we can expect from this year's Cavaliers.

All for One. One for All

Keep you heads up Cleveland