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Gooden and Marshall co-exist to provide scoring, rebounding
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
CLEVELAND - When the Cavaliers signed Donyell Marshall last summer, thoughts couldn't help but to turn to what impact it might have on Drew Gooden.
The move, especially for the reasonable price of $21 million for four years, was pretty much universally heralded. But Gooden was headed into a contract year and the memories of his deterioration in 2003 when his minutes were challenged when the Orlando Magic signed Juwan Howard to compete with him were still fresh.
Cavaliers' general manager Danny Ferry's experiment and coach Mike Brown's handling of it have so far been masterful. Things are always changing in the NBA, but since the beginning of training camp and into the first five games of the regular season Marshall and Gooden have done everything but hold hands and warble Happy Together.
Their statistics say enough. Marshall is averaging 12.0 points and 9.8 rebounds, Gooden 11.6 points and nine rebounds. Gooden's minutes have remained the same as last season, 30 a night, and he's continued to be a bruiser around the hoop. Marshall has come in and shown he can be a good rebounder and a solid long-range shooter.
With Gooden and Marshall leading the way, the Cavaliers are currently averaging 10 more rebounds per game than their opponents. That stat has been skewed in the past two games when the Cavaliers have hammered the Toronto Raptors and Seattle SuperSonics by a combined 103-51 margin. Gooden and Marshall have 39 rebounds in those two games.
``When I got here I said there wasn't going to be a conflict because we're two different types of players,'' Marshall said. ``People thought we were going to compete, but we can play together.''
Playing them together has been one of Brown's most prudent decisions thus far. When Marshall and Damon Jones come into the game in the first quarter, Marshall replaces center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and plays alongside Gooden. Brown often uses the rotation in the second half too.
``I feel really comfortable on the court with him and I think it puts pressure on the other team because they don't know who to guard,'' Gooden said. ``I like it because sometimes I get the slower guy on me.''
Gooden and Marshall's relationship has been developing for years, even though Marshall is eight years older. The two would often ended up chatting when they faced each other during the past three seasons. Marshall, an oft-traded player during his 12-year career, sympathized with Gooden, who has already been traded twice. Their relationship grew from there.
``For some reason we've always had a bond,'' Marshall said. ``He was similar to me because his name is always the subject of trade rumors. `I always tried to keep his head up.''
Marshall and Gooden's strong play has had another benefit, giving extra rest to Ilgauskas. Big Z had an All-Star season last year but played the most minutes of his career and broke down during the stretch run. Thus far, Ilgauskas has gotten more rest and the Cavs haven't lost any production. Because Marshall can play either forward position or center, it just increases the Cavs' versatility.
``The good thing is we can also play well with Z,'' Marshall said. ``That's the good thing about the way our team is built.''
Dribbles
Jones sat out practice Thursday to rest his bruised right elbow. He's listed as probable for tonight's game with the Grizzlies... Luke Jackson's two steals in Wednesday's 112-85 win were the first of his career... The Cavs are in a stretch where they play eight of 10 games at home.
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
CLEVELAND - When the Cavaliers signed Donyell Marshall last summer, thoughts couldn't help but to turn to what impact it might have on Drew Gooden.
The move, especially for the reasonable price of $21 million for four years, was pretty much universally heralded. But Gooden was headed into a contract year and the memories of his deterioration in 2003 when his minutes were challenged when the Orlando Magic signed Juwan Howard to compete with him were still fresh.
Cavaliers' general manager Danny Ferry's experiment and coach Mike Brown's handling of it have so far been masterful. Things are always changing in the NBA, but since the beginning of training camp and into the first five games of the regular season Marshall and Gooden have done everything but hold hands and warble Happy Together.
Their statistics say enough. Marshall is averaging 12.0 points and 9.8 rebounds, Gooden 11.6 points and nine rebounds. Gooden's minutes have remained the same as last season, 30 a night, and he's continued to be a bruiser around the hoop. Marshall has come in and shown he can be a good rebounder and a solid long-range shooter.
With Gooden and Marshall leading the way, the Cavaliers are currently averaging 10 more rebounds per game than their opponents. That stat has been skewed in the past two games when the Cavaliers have hammered the Toronto Raptors and Seattle SuperSonics by a combined 103-51 margin. Gooden and Marshall have 39 rebounds in those two games.
``When I got here I said there wasn't going to be a conflict because we're two different types of players,'' Marshall said. ``People thought we were going to compete, but we can play together.''
Playing them together has been one of Brown's most prudent decisions thus far. When Marshall and Damon Jones come into the game in the first quarter, Marshall replaces center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and plays alongside Gooden. Brown often uses the rotation in the second half too.
``I feel really comfortable on the court with him and I think it puts pressure on the other team because they don't know who to guard,'' Gooden said. ``I like it because sometimes I get the slower guy on me.''
Gooden and Marshall's relationship has been developing for years, even though Marshall is eight years older. The two would often ended up chatting when they faced each other during the past three seasons. Marshall, an oft-traded player during his 12-year career, sympathized with Gooden, who has already been traded twice. Their relationship grew from there.
``For some reason we've always had a bond,'' Marshall said. ``He was similar to me because his name is always the subject of trade rumors. `I always tried to keep his head up.''
Marshall and Gooden's strong play has had another benefit, giving extra rest to Ilgauskas. Big Z had an All-Star season last year but played the most minutes of his career and broke down during the stretch run. Thus far, Ilgauskas has gotten more rest and the Cavs haven't lost any production. Because Marshall can play either forward position or center, it just increases the Cavs' versatility.
``The good thing is we can also play well with Z,'' Marshall said. ``That's the good thing about the way our team is built.''
Dribbles
Jones sat out practice Thursday to rest his bruised right elbow. He's listed as probable for tonight's game with the Grizzlies... Luke Jackson's two steals in Wednesday's 112-85 win were the first of his career... The Cavs are in a stretch where they play eight of 10 games at home.
