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Team needs shooting and character

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Glen Infante

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Team needs players who can shoot and have character

By Terry Pluto


TORONTO - He had both feet in a bucket of ice. He had a right ring finger swollen to twice its normal size as if someone had slammed it with a sledge hammer.

As he spoke slowly, quietly, carefully, he sounded liked a man at the funeral for his best friend.

That was Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the Cavaliers' dressing room after his team defeated Toronto, 104-95, in the final game of the season.

And it may have been the final game of his eight-year Cavaliers career as the 7-foot-3 center will be a free agent at the end of the season.

``We have no one but ourselves to blame,'' he whispered.

Ilgauskas repeated it several times as he thought about how the Cavaliers finished with a 42-40 record, but didn't make the playoffs. New Jersey beat Boston, 103-92, also finish at 42-40, but the Nets beat the Cavaliers in three-of-four games.

``They earned it, they deserved it, they had a heck of a run and never gave up,'' Ilgauskas said, referring to the Nets winning 15-of-19 to finish the season.

The Cavaliers were 8-of-19 in that same span.

``Know what happened?'' whispered Ilgauskas. ``We were in first place for half the season, then other teams put pressure on us. We didn't handle it.''

Consider Jeff McInnis, the starting point guard who disappeared for the final two games. He was out with a mysterious ``viral syndrome.'' He wasn't around for the end of Tuesday's victory over Boston at the Gund, then skipped the trip to Toronto.

``They told me he was sick,'' said interim coach Brendan Malone. ``I really don't know what happened.''

Many of the players think he quit on them when they needed him most. He was unhappy all year because he's a free agent and the team traded for veteran point guard Eric Snow. He thought the team didn't love him, and he often pouted.

Former coach Paul Silas wanted to cut McInnis because he thought McInnis had become a drag on team morale. Instead, Silas was fired, although the main reason was losing nine-of-12 games.

Silas was 34-30 when fired. Malone took over, and finished at 8-10.

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Whoever the new GM is, he is going to have to bring in some quality charactered guys into our organization. We need players with that winning mentallity. More players like Eric Snow. I believe Eric tried his damnedest to try to help the team in many ways than one. He rarly complains and he follows instructions.

Take a look at Boston, they have a player like Gary Payton who dies for wins. Brought back Antoine Walker who loves and adores Boston and their squad became an instant playoff team.

New Jersey, they have Jason Kidd who is sick of losing and basically carries his junk team with the help of the erratic Vince Carter to make the playoffs.

Philidelphia, they have AI. Iverson, perhaps the toughest little man in the league has a very STRONG winner's mentality and their GM gave him the benifit of some inside help with Chris Webber.

Phoenix. Steve Nash-nuff said

This off season is just way too important. Im sick of our low profile roster with players like Jeff McInnis whimpering on his starting role. I sick of players like Lucious Harris who is a total has-been. Sick of players like Drew Gooden who has a half working brain.

Players that we have with a winning mentality?

LeBron
Eric
Z

That is not enough.
 
People whine about Snow's contract, and it will only get worse, but we need him on this team. Not because he went 47 minutes last night without committing a turnover, but because he is a calming influence on the team, and a leader.

All too many people get caught up in pure talent and don't look at the package it comes in. We've had those players (Darius Miles, Ricky Davis, etc.). It is time to get some character guys in here who can play, but can also be a mentor on this team. If his contract wasn't so bad, I would love for the Cavs to get Eric Williams back, players like that. Yes, we need a shooter and probably a low-post player, but I hope whoever the new GM is doesn't overlook the leadership issue on this team, and removes some of the pressure from a 20 y/o.
 
See, the thing is, LeBron doesn't really have a definitive "winning" mentality. Yes, he hates losing and loves winning. But the thing is, you can't really love winning if you don't taste defeat. He hasn't tasted much defeat until now. He was a winner since the beginning. After this season and the one before, I think LeBron has matured a lot. Despite his efforts as one of the best to grace the courts, he now realizes that it's not enough. Next season will be ridiculous.

Z doesn't have a winning mentality. He has no qualities of a leader. He can't carry the team to a championship. He's a great player to have, but he's still a follower.
 

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