Written by Brian McPeek

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To all those fine folks who were convinced that JJ Hickson was finally freed from the shackles of playing in LeBron James’s shadow and was ready to burst into his own All-Star form? Well, Salud!! Things are going great in that regard. 

 

In fact, the only thing going worse than Hickson’s breakout season is this current Cavalier road trip. It seems Byron Scott and his assistant coaches forgot to pack the Cavaliers shot-discipline and defense. At least that’s the way it looked again Saturday night as the Spurs scored pretty much whenever the hell they felt like it and beat the Cavaliers 116-92. 

 

Unfortunately they did remember to bring Hickson because right about now that young man could use a week off to check himself and settle down before getting back out on the floor again. 

 

Hickson was 3-10 from the floor for 6 points Saturday against San Antonio. Combine that with the 2-8 from Friday night and it’s plain to see JJ is struggling offensively. That’ll happen to young players occasionally but what’s more disheartening is that Hickson’s struggles from the field appear to be affecting his defensive intensity and his overall mental state. Hickson has seen his minutes reduced rather consistently in the past couple weeks as Scott seems to be looking for ways to reach Hickson before he loses him altogether. 

 

Struggling against the Spurs is no sin but the Cavaliers scored enough points to at least be in the game. The fact they weren’t ever really in the game after the 2^nd quarter speaks more to the pathetic effort on the defensive end than anything else.

  

Mo Williams had a solid overall night for the Cavaliers with 21 points and 6 assists. Daniel Gibson (17) and Antawn Jamison (12) were the only other Cavaliers in double figures but the Cavs were balanced on the offensive end and actually led 29-28 after one quarter.  That’s pretty much when the Spurs decided to actually dedicate some effort to the defensive side of the game and in doing so took full control. 

 

In stark contrast to the Cavs three players in double figures the Spurs saw six guys reach that mark Saturday night. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 19 points and some cat named Tiago Splitter dropped in 18 to pace San Antonio. Richard Jefferson (14), Manu Ginobli (13), Matt Bonner (12) and Gary Neal (10) were the other Spurs leading the scoring effort. Tim Duncan didn’t need to exert much energy at all Saturday. Duncan scored 8 points in just 17 minutes. 

For the Cavs the biggest shot of the night probably came from Ryan Hollins who landed a very solid (and very flagrant) right cross to the head of Splitter in the fourth quarter which earned Hollins a Flagrant 2 foul and an ejection. 

 

Takeaways 

• Not much I can give you that hasn’t already been addressed. The Cavs are a mediocre basketball team that’s run up against two better than mediocre basketball teams on back to back nights and also on the road.

  

• I’m certainly a fan of physical play and of making fouls count, but the Hollins foul on Splitter deserves a serious look by the NBA. Hollins may not have intended the result of his right hook but the bottom line is he never made a play on the ball and he went hard to the head of Splitter. It could have been a far more severe situation than it ultimately was but I’d expect an unpaid vacation if I was Ryan Hollins.

 

• Matt Bonner may be a fine shooter and he certainly has a place in the NBA because of it, but any guy that makes Antawn Jamison look like a physical player is a liability defensively. 

They Got Next 

It’s a quick trip to Indianapolis on Tuesday (7pm FSNOhio) and then a Wednesday game at home against the Milwaukee Bucks (7pm FSNOhio) before the Cavs enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday.