Written by Brian McPeek

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Anyone who knows me knows I am not a stats-based analysis guy. I hate numbers because numbers are for those not astute enough to watch and understand what they’ve seen. Actually, it’s probably more because of my putrid math scores throughout school, but it’s easier to blame other people than bring that horror back into my mind.

I'm not a moron with numbers. Unlike the generations following my own I can make change without a calculator or cash register, I can determine pot odds and implied odds for poker purposes and I'm able to determine if I have enough cash in my pocket to fill a twenty gallon gas tank at $2.69/gallon or whether the debit card is necessary.

Honestly, I’m fine with people who can watch, observe and then use stats to support a point. But the people who can do that and not make me fall asleep are limited to Steve Buffum here at the Cleveland Fan and occasionally John Hollinger at ESPN. Suck on your VORP, +/-, CHONE, OPS and WHIP if you that's all you got.

But in watching Mo Williams play this season with the Cavaliers, both before and after the Antawn Jamison acquisition, I got the feeling that Mo was well off his game this season.

Last year the man was LeBron’s true #2 throughout the season. He was an All-Star, he averaged a career high 17.8ppg, he knocked down a career high 183 three-pointers and he was everything the Cavs needed him to be until his fine regular season ended and the playoffs started.

Then he pretty much shat himself and the Cavs chances given they were woefully undermanned against Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But up to that point Mo was on his game. He was fearless and he was effective and he had a swagger and a confidence about him nearly all season long.

This year it’s been different.

Williams is down 2.5ppg in scoring, his FG% is off by 30 points, and his 3-point% has dipped 17 percentage points and even his free throw percentage, albeit a bright spot in the Cavaliers lineup of masons and bricklayers, is down a couple notches.

More importantly to me, he doesn’t look like Mo.

It could very well be that Mo has ceded some of the shots and some of the attitude to guys like Shaquille O’Neal and Jamison. And even if that’s not the entire reason for Williams’ dip in production it is a legitimate part of it. The offense has evolved (to some extent) with O’Neal getting more frequent touches and initiating offense through the post. Jamison moves deftly without the ball and is the frequent target of LBJ’s finds and assists. Even Mo has upped his assists per game from last season’s 4.1 to this year’s 5.2, which is above his career average.

It could also be that Williams got left behind a bit when he hurt his shoulder and missed critical weeks of the season. Just recently have I noticed Mo getting back into the lane and going hard to the basket. He’s not a big man and even though the injury was to his non-shooting arm there’s still an effect on the rest of the body that tries to favor the injured area. Go ahead and roll an ankle that doesn’t heal right. That’s going to ultimately affect your gait and you’ll feel that ache in the knees, hips, back then neck if you don’t let it heal.

Williams appears to getting back into a rhythm and appears to be okay physically.

It’s mentally that I worry about Mo.

He enjoyed the limelight last season. He deserved the All-Star bid and he received the respect and the kudos from around the league that he thought he deserved. Running as Robin to James’s Batman fulfilled Williams on a personal level and stroked the ego. That fueled the confidence and gave Mo the swagger to step up and knock down big shots when they were there and sometimes even when they weren’t.

The Cavs need to find a way to get Williams back to or close to that level mentally before they head into the post season. If Mo is firing on all cylinders this Cavalier team is going to be living hell for whomever their opponent is in whatever round they play.

To his credit Williams has increased those assists as well as his steals this season. His assist-to-turnover ratio is better as a result. But Mo’s real value to this club is as a shooter. LBJ takes care of the facilitation. Mo needs to make shots.

With Daniel Gibson apparently the odd man out when the playoffs roll around and with Anthony Parker never seeing an off balance jump shot he wouldn’t take the outside scoring and spot up opportunities are going to come down to Mo and Jamison for the most part. James and O’Neal will demand attention down low and free up the shooters for good looks. It’s critical for the Cavaliers (or will be at some point in the post season) that those shots go down.

If Mo Gotti can get his head right and truly accept the fact that he’s not the Bacall to LBJ’s Bogie any longer the Cavaliers become a better team at that second than they currently are today.

I get the feeling that Mo almost sees Shaq and Jamison as the new kids in town who brought the nice shiny cars with them while Mo is without wheels. But if he figures out that Shaq and Jamison are going to draw chicks and good times with those cars all he has to do is accept the fact, hang out with the dudes with wheels and pull all the same type of talent they’re getting without having to pay for gas and oil changes.

He may not realize it now, but he’s actually in a better situation today than he was last season when all eyes were on him expecting him to be the missing link that guys like Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes never were. Knock down open shots Mo and people will love you. People will talk about you. You’ll never pay for a drink in this town again. There’s already much love for the man here. It didn’t wane when the other guys got here any more than you love your second child any less when you have a few more.

We need to see Williams’ confidence. We have to see #2 with that swagger and a few words for opposing benches.

And, for the good of us all, we have to see it a little more often than we’ve seen it thus far this season.