The Cavs got outrebounded 43-35 and they let the Kings shot 51.9% from the floor and that doomed them. Ramon Sessions led the way for the Cavaliers last night with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal on 9 of 13 shooting from the floor. Daniel Gibson also had a solid game with 20 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in 31 minutes off the bench. J.J. Hickson finished up with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists last night. Jawad Williams (13 points) and Anthony Parker (12 points) also pitched in for the Cavs offensively last night. The Cavaliers are now 1-2 on the year.

The Cavaliers were without starting center Anderson Varejao (his father had heart surgery today in Cleveland) and starting point guard Mo Williams (groin) and it was too much to overcome on the road tonight. Antawn Jamison led the way for the Cavaliers in this game with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 24 minutes off the bench as he hit 3 of 5 shots from three point range. Anthony Parker only shot 4 of 11 from the floor but he still finished up with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Daniel Gibson pitched in with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal off the bench tonight. The Cavaliers only shot 38.1% from the floor in this game and they were also outrebounded 46-33 so they were lucky the final score was as close as it was. The Cavaliers are now 1-1 on the year.

No Queen James? No problem. The Cavaliers beat the same Celtics team that beat the Heat last night…..fitting isn’t it. New head coach Byron Scott looks like he’s going to be a nice improvement on Mike Brown as I didn’t see the Celtics shooting many uncontested three pointers tonight. The Cavaliers were without Mo Williams tonight as he is recovering from a groin injury and they still busted up the Celtics. The Cavs wanted this game more and it showed as they outscored the Celtics 27-14 in the 4th quarter to pull away with a very impressive win. J.J. Hickson led the way for the Cavs tonight with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist on 8 of 11 shooting from the floor. Daniel “Boobie” Gibson only shot 4 of 14 from the floor but he still finished up with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists tonight as he was very impressive hitting a lot of key free throws at the end of this game. Ramon Sessions drew the start at the point in the place of Mo Williams and he was decent as he finished up with 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Ryan Hollins, Jamario Moon & Anthony Parker each pitched in with 10 points apiece in this game. Anderson Varejao put up a impressive line of 8 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot in his first game as the Cavs’ starting center. All in all this was a great start to the 2010-11 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers who are now 1-0 on the year.

The Cavaliers were 61-21 last season but the team lost some pretty good players in the off-season. Gone are Queen James, Shaq, Z and Delonte West. Incoming talent comes in the way of Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins and Christian Eyenga. That is not a fair tradeoff but I still think the Cavaliers are going to battle for a playoff spot because the players that are left are used to winning. I look for J.J. Hickson & Anderson Varejao to step up now that they are both in the starting lineup. I would make a bet on the over for Cavaliers wins but I wouldn’t make a bet on the Cavs to win the NBA Title as they are 190-1.

49-year old head coach Byron Scott signed on to run things for the Cavs before he even knew where Queen James was going to play. Scott is replacing Mike Brown who led the Cavs to a 61-21 record last season. Brown routinely got outcoached despite usually having better talent on the basketball court. That won’t be the case with Scott in charge. Scott was fired early last season by the New Orleans Hornets after a 3-6 start. Scott has a career record of 352-355 (49.8%) during the regular season in the NBA as a head coach and he is also 33-24 (57.9%) in the playoffs. Scott has a 33-24 (57.9%) record in his post season career and he led the Nets to back to back Eastern Conference Championships before losing in the NBA Finals. Unlike Coach Brown, Scott was a NBA player and he won some rings with the Lakers which gives him instant respect in the locker room.

The Cavaliers have released 23-year old SG/SF Danny Green. Green played in 20 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 5.8 minutes, 2.0 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He didn’t shoot very well from anywhere on the basketball court last season as he hit 38.5% from the floor, 27.3% from three point range and 66.7% from the free throw line last season. Green is a D-League type player so some team might pick him up and give him a chance to try to earn a spot on the bench.

28-year old Anderson “Wild Thing” Varejao will be the Cavaliers’ starting center in 2010-11.  Varejao played in 76 games (7 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 28.5 minutes, 8.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  He has now played in 388 games (72 starts) in his six years with the Cavs and he has averaged 24.1 minutes, 7.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  Varejao has hit 51.8% of his shots from the floor but only 60% from the free throw line in his career so far.  Varejao will probably average a double-double for the Cavaliers this season.

26-year old Ryan Hollins will back up Varejao in the pivot this year.  He played in 73 games (27 starts) for the T-Wolves last season and he averaged 16.8 minutes, 6.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  Hollins has now played in 205 games (31 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 11.6 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CAVALIERS CENTERS IN 2010-11:  B

22-year old J.J. Hickson was a player that a lot of teams coveted at the trade deadline but the Cavaliers were smart to keep him.  Hickson will be the starting power forward for the Cavaliers this year.  He played in 81 games (73 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 20.9 minutes, 8.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Hickson has now played in 143 games (73 starts) in his first two years with the Cavs and he has averaged 16.8 minutes, 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game on 54.3% shooting from the floor.  Look for Hickson to approach a double-double this year for the Cavaliers.

34-year old Antwan Jamison will likely be the sixth man for the Cavaliers this year.  Jamison played in 66 games (64 starts) for the Wizards & Cavaliers last year and he averaged 36.5 minutes, 18.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He has now played in 864 games (755 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 36.8 minutes, 19.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Don’t be surprised if Jamison leads the Cavs in scoring this year despite coming off the bench.

26-year old Leon Powe appears to almost be 100% healthy so he will be a asset for the Cavaliers this year.  Powe played in 20 games (2 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 11.8 minutes, 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.  Powe has now played in 209 games (16 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 14.3 minutes, 6.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CAVALIERS POWER FORWARDS IN 2010-11:  B+

With Queen James off to the Miami Heat the Cavaliers are rebuilding at small forward in 2010-11.  30-year old Jamario Moon will likely be the starting small forward when the season begins.  Moon played in 61 games (2 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 17.2 minutes, 4.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  He has now played in 219 games (137 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.1 minutes, 7.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Moon is a solid defensive player and rebounder but he won’t likely come near double figures in scoring this year for the Cavs.

27-year old Jawad Williams could be a player to watch at small forward.  He played in 54 games (6 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 13.7 minutes, 4.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Williams has now played in 64 games (6 starts) in his two years with the Cavaliers and he has averaged 11.9 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He had some decent games for the Cavs last season so he could push Moon for P.T.

21-year old Christian Eyenga was the Cavaliers’ first round pick (#30 overall) in 2009.  He played last season in Spain appearing in 29 games in which he averaged 12.0 minutes, 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game on 56.1% shooting from the floor.  Eyenga was solid for the Cavs’ summer league team so he could surprise for them this year.

28-year old Stephen Graham will also get in on the action at small forward for the Cavs this year.  Graham played in 63 games (18 starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 12.0 minutes, 4.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Graham has now played in 338 games (76 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 16.4 minutes, 6.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. 

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CAVALIERS SMALL FORWARDS IN 2010-11:  D-

The Cavaliers shooting guards were usually the #5 option offensively in 2009-10 but the team will need more production out of this unit this year. 35-year old Anthony Parker will be the starter here. He played in 81 games (all starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Parker has now played in 371 games (307 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.0 minutes, 9.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The Cavaliers will ask Parker to take more shots this year and that’s not a bad thing as he has hit 41.5% of his shots from 3-point range in his NBA career.

24-year old Daniel “Boobie” Gibson will likely see increased minutes this year for the Cavs. He played in 56 games (10 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 6.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Gibson has now played in 249 games (52 starts) in his career with the Cavaliers and he has averaged 22.6 minutes, 7.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Gibson might be a liability on defense due to his size but he has shot 42.4% from three point range in his career so he won’t be shy offensively.

23-year old Danny Green didn’t play much as a rookie but look for him to get more P.T. in 2010-11. Green played in 20 games (0 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 5.8 minutes, 2.0 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CAVALIERS SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2010-11: C-