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Anderson Varejao

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CavsHomer said:
Great article about Andy's value on defense:

What does Anderson Varejao do for the Cleveland Cavaliers defense?

http://www.fearthesword.com/2014/8/18/5998675/how-good-is-anderson-varejaos-defense
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totally worth the read.

This is what makes Varejao such a fascinating defensive player. Conventionally, we think of the modern defensive center as one that protects the rim, defends the PNR, and covers for mistakes by letting the mistakes come to them and bailing their teammates out by blocking shots at the rim. Varejao accomplishes the same goal through a different means. Varejao doesn't let the mistakes come to him; he attacks the mistakes by flying around the floor like a crazed piranha that's smelled blood in the water. And that might be more useful to the Cavs' overall team defense than someone who can just block shots.
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Yeah some people outside of us are forgetting how good Andy is when healthy (obviously a big question mark). Career 115 ORtg, 102 DRtg with .150 WS/48 and a 15.7 PER. His ON/OFF and RAPM numbers are off the charts as well.
 
He warned us at the beginning of last year that he was out of shape. There should be extra motivation for him to get in shape and stay healthy this year. His style of play is dangerous for sure, but at least he has not had any chronic repeating injuries. TT will need to handle some of the bigger more physical guys this year. I hope he is up to it.
 
If we werent tanking and he didnt have a blood clot, he wouldnt have missed nearly as many games IMO
 
AuxiliaryPie said:
If we werent tanking and he didnt have a blood clot, he wouldnt have missed nearly as many games IMO
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I also think Byron Scott's grueling practices wore him down and led to a lot of his problems during that three year stretch. Byron gets replaced and bam, Varejao plays in 65 games when his average the previous three seasons was 27.
 
I think there will be more attention paid to Varejao's health and minutes than LeBron or any other player. Other than LeBron, AV is maybe the most important piece of this team's chances for post-season success. If he's not healthy, there's no way we have any chance of matching up with Chicago--the only way we beat Chicago without a healthy Andy will be by out-running and gunning, which thankfully is one of many weapons in our arsenal. Luckily, Pau is maybe less durable than AV at this point in his career, and Rose staying healthy is not assured for the Bulls either.

Gonna be one hell of a season. Can't wait--so glad that we didn't trade Andy this last couple years. I can't wait for the first Andy hug after a clutch moment from LBJ.
 
A similar minutes cap to Tim Duncan's is the way to go with Andy I think. He's shown the durability to play a near full season healthy, but burning him out in the regular season will accomplish nothing if he isn't able to play in the post-season.

Let TT/Kirk/center "X" play the 18 or so minutes Varejao's not on the court
 
The one thing working in Andy's favor is that his injuries are sort of flukey. Not like he is suffering chronic knee issues.

But his injuries are the product of his reckless playing style. Kind of hard to tell him to play differently.

Only thing that can really be done is to keep his minutes down and hope for the best.
 
So Andy played 29 minutes against Slovenia, while Splitter played 26 and Nene only 18. Don't wear him out! One more thing to worry about!!
 
Varejao's efficiency number that game was through the roof lol. Gotta love it. Plus Delly has been handling things really well for the Aussies.
 
I hope that this thread gets more burn because a healthy starting 5 with AV at center makes us NBA champions. I know that he is injury prone, but the dude isn't just mediocre or passable at center. He moves so well without the ball, and he is a very heady basketball player. He knows how to cut, he knows how to rebound, he knows how to be a pest. Sure a conventional rim protector would be great, but AV can hit the 12 footer and can take a charge, or get in position for an offensive rebound. He just has great basketball feel.

I can see him being revitalized this year. Let's be real: it's hard for any competitor to get revved up for a game when your team sucks and the locker room isn't unified. It just is, no matter how you dice it. Now imagine trying to give 110% with Mike Brown or a checked out Byron Scott as your coach. All this and AV still puts up a solid PER (http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/v/varejan01.html) of 17 last year (and 21.7 the year before).

AV's style is perfectly suited to reduced minutes too: we want him active and high energy. I think the 28 minutes he played per game last year sounds about right. We, as fans, are starting to see a changing of the center position anyway, so there aren't many players that he (or TT or Love) can't guard. Between blowouts, unskilled offensive opponents, and small ball, we really shouldn't need him to play more than 25 BUT it is crucial (to me) that he does play.

Finally, one thing that the Spurs do, which I LOVE, is actually develop their bench, meaning I hope that TT (and any other bench bigs) see significant time. It's one thing to try to "get through" the time when LBJ or Love isn't on the court, but it's another thing to really let your bench grow. This sounds like something Blatt is known for - if guys are hot, they stay in. That's part of it, obviously. The other part is that if we are up by 15 and the bench players let up a 7-0 run, I hope that some of them get to stay out there and learn through that adversity. It will only help us when the inevitable injury occurs or we NEED those critical minutes in a playoff game due to foul trouble.

I digress, but AV is a VERY skilled basketball player and this is me paying homage to that. I feel to often that when his name comes up, the talk immediately shifts to injury. Sure that's a legitimate, understandable concern, but when he goes for 10, 9, and 4 this year on 55% shooting, I hope that some of us return to this thread and talk about his games, not the ever-present spectre of a potential injury.

GO CABS.
 
Keep the tempo up and the in-the-paint beatings will go down. Other bigs, slower, will be too winded running up and down the floor to bang down low.
 
Varejao is a power forward who plays like a power forward; not a center. The best way to extend his career is to turn him into a stretch 4 to let him guard the Boshes and Fryes of the world and show out to the three point line on pick and rolls. We need to package TT and the Utah players to pick up a center and let Varejao back up Love. He just isn't made out to be a center as his perennial injuries show.
 
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