The Cleveland Cavaliers need 23-year old small forward Omri Casspi to toughen up a little bit.  He has played in 17 games (all starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 21.4 minutes, 8.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Casspi was supposed to add some long range firepower but he is only shooting 31% (13 for 42) from behind the three-point line so far this year.  If he doesn’t toughen up soon, he’s going to continue losing P.T. to 24-year old Alonzo Gee.  Gee has played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 25.5 minutes, 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He is also shooting better than Casspi from long range as he has hit 11 of 31 (35.5%) three point shots so far this year.  Gee is pressing for more P.T. as he has played pretty well so far this year for the Cavs.

The three guys the Cavaliers acquired (Baron Davis, Luke Harangody and Semih Erden) have been so-so since coming over in trade deadline deals a couple of weeks ago.  31-year old point guard Baron Davis has been very solid when he’s been on the court for the Cavs so far.  He has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Cavaliers and he is averaging 28.3 minutes, 18.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  He is shooting 47.5% from the floor overall but he is 10 of 18 (55.6%) from three point range.  He is missing time right now to attend his grandmother’s funeral but he should be back later this week.  23-year old forward Luke Harangody has been up and down for the Cavs so far.  He has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Cavaliers and he is averaging 15.8 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game but he is only shooting 34.6% from the floor so far.  24-year old center Semih Erden has been banged up since becoming a Cavalier.  He has only played in 1 game in which he was on the court for 11 scoreless minutes in which he had 5 rebounds and 1 blocked shot.  The Cavaliers are going to be depending on all three of these guys the rest of this season and in the near future.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without 34-year old power forward Antawn Jamison for the next 5-7 weeks as he will need surgery to repair a broken pinkie finger on his left hand.  Jamison has played in 56 games (38 starts) for the Cavaliers so far this year and he was averaging 32.9 minutes, 18.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  Jamison was the Cavs’ leading scorer so they are going to really miss him.  22-year old Samardo Samuels and 23-year old Luke Harangody are going to get their big chances to show what they can or can’t do in the NBA.  Samuels will initially replace Jamison in the starting lineup.  He has played in 23 games (0 starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 14.4 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  Luke Harangody just came over in a deal at the trade deadline with the Celtics.  He has played in 28 games (0 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 8.6 minutes, 2.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  This is just another blow for the Cavs during this brutal season.

28-year old starting point guard Mo Williams has been out a little over a month due to a hip problem but he’s getting ready to return to action.  Williams has played in 33 games (32 starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 30.4 minutes, 13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game.  Williams’ shooting has been way off so far this year as he is only hitting 38.7% from three point range and 26.6% from behind the three point line.  The Cavaliers are glad to get Williams back as they want to showcase him for a deal before the trade deadline.  Part of the reason the Cavs don’t mind moving Williams is due to the recent play of 24-year old Ramon Sessions.  In his last three games, Sessions is averaging 38.3 minutes, 20.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game on 61.8% shooting from the floor.  Sessions has played in 50 games (18 starts) for the Cavaliers so far this year and he is averaging 25.0 minutes, 11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need 22-year old power forward/center J.J. Hickson to step up.  With Anderson Varejao down for the season the Cavs have no choice but to play Hickson big minutes even if Byron Scott gets angry with him.  In his last three games, Hickson is averaging 28.0 minutes, 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  But, Hickson is 14 of 44 (31.8%) in his last three games and that just won’t cut it.  Hickson has now played in 36 games (22 starts) for the Cavaliers so far this year and he is averaging 23.2 minutes, 10.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  The Cavaliers need Hickson to step up!

30-year old small forward Jamario Moon was in the starting lineup when the season started but now he rarely gets off the bench.  He has only played in 2 games in January so far and he is averaging 12.0 minutes, 2.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Moon has played in 28 games (13 starts) overall for the Cavaliers so far this year and he is averaging 18.4 minutes, 4.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Moon is only shooting 38.4% from the floor so far this year and he is also shooting 21.3% from three point range.  The Cavaliers should play Moon a little more going forward so they can try to deal him for a 2nd round pick.

28-year old starting center Anderson Varejao is going to miss this weekend’s games against the Bulls in Chicago on Saturday and the Mavericks at home on Sunday.  Varejao has played in 30 games (all starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 32.0 minutes, 9.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  He is the one player the Cavaliers just can’t replace because of the toughness, defense and rebounding that he brings to the court every single night.  26-year old Ryan Hollins will likely replace Varejao in the starting lineup.  He has played in 27 games (2 starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 12.9 minutes, 4.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  It would be nice if 22-year old J.J. Hickson would step up with Varejao out of action.  Hickson has played in 31 games (20 starts) for the Cavaliers so far this year and he is averaging 22.5 minutes, 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  He’s a better player than he has shown so far this year.  The Cavaliers have also recalled 21-year old PF/C Samardo Samuels from the D-League.  Samuels played in 2 games in the D-League and he averaged 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.  Samuels has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 4.5 minutes, 3.3 points and 1.0 rebound per game.  With Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson also hurting the Cavaliers could have a truly brutal weekend.

27-year old small forward Jawad Williams has had his chance to get a lot of P.T. for the Cavaliers this season but he has dropped the ball so far.  Williams has played in 23 games (1 start) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 15.2 minutes, 4.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  Williams is only shooting 32.7% from the floor and 26.3% from three point range so far this year.  A word of advice for Williams, quit shooting the basketball until you get your stroke back.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been on tilt lately.  The Cavaliers have lost 5 games in a row and they are now 7-14 which has them 5 games behind the Bulls in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference.  But the Miami Heat appears to have put the Cavs on tilt as they have lost their last four games by a combined score of 466-374!  If the Cavaliers don’t turn things around soon I see them having a mini-firesale with Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon being the first guys to go.  The Cavs have moved Antawn Jamison and Daniel Gibson into the starting lineup to try to spur the offense.

LeBron James looked almost like he was uninterested during the Cleveland Cavaliers embarrassing 120-88 loss to the Boston Celtics in game five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.  He only hit 3 of 14 shots, with all but only three shots coming outside of the paint.  Now that is not the LeBron we have grown accustomed to seeing over the years, who usually is an aggressive force taking it to the hole almost at will.  He settled for contested jumpers, including four missed three-point attempts.  During the second quarter, with the game still close, LeBron was aggressive and drawing fouls, taking 10 of his 12 free throw attempts in that quarter.  When the Celtics started to take over in the third quarter, that LeBron disappeared.  He took six jumpers in the third quarter and only connected on one.  It was the type of game where LeBron had to at least try and take matters into his own hands and keep attacking, but he kept settling for jumpers.  His half-hearted comeback attempt makes this LeBron’s worst game of his career in my opinion.  It wasn’t just because of his poor numbers, but it was the seemingly lack of effort that LeBron portrayed out there on the court, making it more than just an “off” game.  LeBron did not bring the same kind of intensity and aggressiveness he usually brings and it allowed the Celtics to jump all over the Cavs and not let up all game.  If LeBron doesn’t wake up and bring it like he can in game six, the Cavaliers are done and we could be seeing LeBron in a Cavs jersey for the last time.