Posted on Wed, Jan. 18, 2006
Injuries turn players into spectators
Hughes, Gooden, Ilgauskas can only sit and watch as battered Cavaliers continue tough road trip
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
DENVER - When times were good, the Cavaliers fancied themselves as having a veritable murderers' row of front-line talent. On a quiet lonesome Rocky Mountain afternoon, it more resembled a martyrs' row.
Dressed in sweats with sullen faces and ice bags, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas slumped side-by-side in the bleachers at Cavs practice Tuesday. All three were too battered to join the workout at the University of Denver, ushering in more doom and gloom on an already chilly road trip.
Ilgauskas is the latest victim, his worrisome left knee acting up. He has loose cartilage in the knee, a result of many years of wear and tear, and the Cavs know that occasionally it will flare up.
Since missing a game with knee soreness on Dec. 13, Ilgauskas has been able to play through the knee issue. He's been masterful in the three games on the trip, averaging 27.3 points, despite getting very little rest.
Perhaps it has caught up with him at a rather inopportune time. He'll be a game-time decision against the Denver Nuggets tonight.
Gooden said his right thigh pull was feeling better, but that he probably wanted to get a practice in before playing again. That makes him more likely to play Friday in his hometown of Oakland against the Golden State Warriors than tonight in Denver, if at all on the remainder of the road trip.
Hughes, of course, isn't due back until March.
As it is, there's a real possibility the Cavs could face the Nuggets without three starters, not the remedy for a four-game losing streak.
``It's difficult. I knew there would be tough stretches but not like this,'' LeBron James said. ``We have to fight through it, there's no way we can reach our peak with the guys missing.''
How exactly do the injuries show up? Consider the following in the seven games since Hughes went down, starting the rash of losses:
The Cavs have averaged 92 points, 10 below their average in the first 28 games, and all five losses have been by nine points or less.
The starting backcourt of Eric Snow and Damon Jones has averaged just 10.3 points combined, and Jones is shooting 24 percent from the field.
Backups Ira Newble, Luke Jackson and Mike Wilks have failed to bring much relief. The foot injury Newble suffered seems to have robbed him of what he had left of his shot. Since returning, he's 1-of-20 on jump shots and just 5-of-29 overall. Jackson is shooting 35 percent for the season, 33 percent in the last seven games. Wilks is shooting 29 percent on the season, 35 percent in the last seven.
The Cavs' bench players have been outscored 131-58 during the losing streak, including 40-9 Sunday night in Portland.
Sure James hasn't been able to come through in a couple of late-game spots, but the above numbers indicate it often has been a one- or two-man show.
``We just need a couple of more plays made; that will turn this thing around,'' he said. ``Guys are going to have to prepare themselves to step up, including myself.''
Clutch James
How James performs when the pressure is on in crunch time has been an issue recently. He has never hit a game-winning shot, while a contemporary like Carmelo Anthony has already made five. Actually, James has made two buzzer-beating shots to send games into overtime, both on 3-pointers last season against the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls. Also, 22 percent of James' shots are taken with four seconds or less on the shot clock, when the pressure is on, and he makes 46 percent of those shots.
James averages 6.8 points in the fourth quarter, one of the NBA leaders. In the last five minutes with neither team leading by more than five-- aka crunch time -- James averages about four points and shoots 49 percent, both near the top of the league.