By Zac Jackson
FOX Sports Ohio
October 21, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After a summer of change, the Cavaliers spent the preseason trying to get to full strength.
They never did quite get there as they played their preseason finale Thursday without their starting point guard and with their new head coach believing another of their most important players isn't up to the speed with the offense.
Makes six wins in those eight preseason games seem pretty irrelevant, right?
The story after Thursday night's 83-77 win over the Bucks at Value City Arena on Ohio State's campus wasn't Ramon Sessions, who closed a strong preseason with a game-high 26 points. It was Byron Scott's displeasure with J.J. Hickson, his talented but inconsistent power forward who, Scott acknowledged after the game, too often plays like he's 22.
Scott blamed it on a lack of focus and said "there's no excuse."
"(Hickson) is not the only one, we have a few other guys as well," Scott said. "But he's a guy who we're counting on to play a major role in what we're doing. And right now from an offensive standpoint he's not understanding or getting what we're trying to do. Especially as much as we go through it every day, that's disappointing."
He later said each player has a playbook, a video playbook and coaches always available to clarify and teach. He expressed disappointment that if Hickson hasn't "gotten it" by now he probably won't in time for Wednesday's season opener vs. Boston.
Scott feels like his team made progress over the past four weeks, but he says there are things he still plans to address and install when the Cavaliers return to the practice floor this weekend. He'd like to have all of his pieces in place, too.
Antawn Jamison returned Thursday night after missing two games with a knee issue, but Mo Williams was excused following the death of his father-in-law and Daniel Gibson sat out with a neck strain. Williams' absence put Sessions in the starting lineup and Gibson's absence put the ball in his hands for much of the game. It was a formula that worked as the Cavaliers eventually got out and ran the way Scott wants them to, with Sessions and Anthony Parker (18 points) leading the way.
Scott said he's hopeful to have Williams, who played just one preseason game due to a groin injury, back early next week and said he would start at the point when he does return. The power forward's job remains up for grabs as Scott has considered bringing the 35-year-old Jamison, a former Sixth Man of the Year, off the bench and starting Hickson but now has a decision on his hands.
"I'm thinking," Scott said.
Hickson had 10 points Thursday but turned the ball over five times. Jamison struggled, going 3-of-12 from the field and 1-of-7 from beyond the arc. He finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds in 28 minutes.
Scott was playing to win Thursday night's game as he re-inserted Parker and starting center Anderson Varejao in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers grabbed the lead and pulled away in the final minutes. He still doesn't seem settled on a rotation as the team moves forward and obviously doesn't want his players to feel like they've earned anything yet.
"All the guys that missed time gave me a chance to look at different guys and lineups," he said. "I'm ready to get started but there's a lot we still need to do. We have guys we're expecting to be key components...that are going to have learn quickly."
