Good Times Worry Thread

[wiley]

The Celtics are rolling and things are looking way up!!

Okay, now to the worries:

I'm not worried about Shaq being on the Cavs, but I am worried about Hickson.  I've hardly seen him play but I've been seeing his numbers.  Seems the Cavs have their own version of Powe, not to mention Powe.  Can someone tell me why Hickson will not cause the Celtics any problems in the playoffs, ala Dejuan Blair??

[Who]

Can someone tell me why Hickson will not cause the Celtics any problems in the playoffs, ala Dejuan Blair??

JJ Hickson is still not rebounding the ball well enough. He's averaging only 3.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes which is one rebound every 5 minutes and half or so minutes. That is simply awful rebounding production.

More importantly, Hickson is still playing below average defense both in terms of one-on-one D + in particular his team defense which is poor. He's a liability who can be exploited in both areas.

Those two flaws (defense + rebounding) are detracting nearly all of his value out there. Those negatives should make him a net negative out there ... but there's some odd chemistry thing going on which has the Cavs playing better overall (more cohesive in these roles) with him in that starting position playing 20 minutes a night.

Also, Hickson is hitting 40.6% of his jump shots which is good for a big man but not devastating. He can hurt you and provide some spacing but he's not prolific/efficient enough at that clip to kill you. It's an improvement for the Cavs offense but not a piece that solves their problems (still flaws there to exploit).

Plus, considering his defensive + rebounding problems ... as an opposition you're hoping he hits a few early jump shots and his coach ends up playing him for 30+ minutes because that's more likely to help you than hurt you.

-------------------------------------------------------

That's all the good news, and, there is a fair bit of it ...

The bad news is that Hickson has a lot of potential and could improve hugely before the season is out.

He's also a much better rebounder than he's currently showing so you'd expect that issue to vanish by playoff time. His rebounding is currently so poor because he's overly focused on his scoring like many young players are but I think that changes the more he gets used to being a main cog in the Cavs machine.

In terms of actual improvement, instead of proper effort/focus which is currently lacking on the glass, the main development should come defensively + as a scorer.

[Jon]

Can someone tell me why Hickson will not cause the Celtics any problems in the playoffs, ala Dejuan Blair??

JJ Hickson is still not rebounding the ball well enough. He's averaging only 3.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes which is one rebound every 5 minutes and half or so minutes. That is simply awful rebounding production.

More importantly, Hickson is still playing below average defense both in terms of one-on-one D + in particular his team defense which is poor. He's a liability who can be exploited in both areas.

Those two flaws (defense + rebounding) are detracting nearly all of his value out there. Those negatives should make him a net negative out there ... but there's some odd chemistry thing going on which has the Cavs playing better overall (more cohesive in these roles) with him in that starting position playing 20 minutes a night.

Also, Hickson is hitting 40.6% of his jump shots which is good for a big man but not devastating. He can hurt you and provide some spacing but he's not prolific/efficient enough at that clip to kill you. It's an improvement for the Cavs offense but not a piece that solves their problems (still flaws there to exploit).

Plus, considering his defensive + rebounding problems ... as an opposition you're hoping he hits a few early jump shots and his coach ends up playing him for 30+ minutes because that's more likely to help you than hurt you.

-------------------------------------------------------

That's all the good news, and, there is a fair bit of it ...

The bad news is that Hickson has a lot of potential and could improve hugely before the season is out.

He's also a much better rebounder than he's currently showing so you'd expect that issue to vanish by playoff time. His rebounding is currently so poor because he's overly focused on his scoring like many young players are but I think that changes the more he gets used to being a main cog in the Cavs machine.

In terms of actual improvement, instead of proper effort/focus which is currently lacking on the glass, the main development should come defensively + as a scorer.

I agree.  Plus, while LeBron's great, I think the Cavs have less depth.  Part of the reason that Blair went off was 1) we weren't taking him seriously, and 2) when Duncan came back in, we were focusing on everyone else the Spurs had on the floor but Blair.  With the Cavs, I think it'll be a little easier to watch Hickson. 

[wdleehi]

Hickson, while a nice role player, is not a threat to take the Cavs past Boston.


The tradeable contracts of Big Z and sign and trade Wally are the threats. 

[wdleehi]

What if Houston decides they don't want to spend the money needed to resign Scola and package him with T-Mac?


Scola and T-Mac to Clev for Big Z, Hickson and Wally signed for one year, just under 10 million. 

[Eja117]

If Hickson is the biggest problem I think we're in seriously good shape. I like Hickson, but I'd be more worried about Powe (and as much as I hate to say it he doesn't worry me either)

[moiso]

They can have T-Mac.  While talented, he'd just make the Cavs softer.  The Rockets play with much more passion when TMac is out of the lineup.