Missing Persons

After eight days on the open road, the Cavaliers returned to Cleveland Clinic Courts on Monday morning for a short practice, if for no other reason than to get back into some sort of a routine before their final two exhibition games – a back-to-back against Toronto and Boston to wrap up the preseason.

Not all the players were overjoyed with a return to the practice court after the extended Asian sojourn. Back in the days of John Lucas or even Paul Silas, guys could catch more of a break. Sometimes, practice would get cancelled or cut short if someone could make a half-court shot. Mike Brown doesn’t swing that way.

There was definitely a tangible relief to get back to the business of basketball. The players’ body-clocks still aren’t totally synchronized – everyone (except Drew Gooden) mentioned that they’re sleep patterns were off and several players, including Shannon Brown and Donyell Marshall, have talked about losing weight.

But with the season opener just over one week away, the Eastern Conference Champs are still lacking an identity. And most of that can be attributed to the state of flux caused by the extended holdouts of Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic.

Sasha’s absence has been mitigated by the play of Shannon Brown, who looks more comfortable with each passing preseason game. He’s averaging 12 ppg despite shooting just 37 percent from the floor. Brown’s jumper looks better and his athleticism is unquestionable. Plus he’s given a desperately needed spark to the second unit.

But he’s still not earned the complete trust of his head coach. “He’s got to take better care of the basketball,” said Mike Brown. “Right now he’s got 18 turnovers and four assists and I think our next turnover guy has a total of twelve, so as a young guy he’s made some progress, but he’s got to do a better job of not making mistakes out there that hurt the team possession-wise.”

The Cavaliers collectively didn’t look great in the two losses to Orlando in the Far East, but Brown has, at least for now, all-but usurped Pavlovic’s role.

Devin Brown has been solid but far from spectacular. (Not that “spectacular” is Devin’s forte.) Damon Jones got the spot start in Shanghai and looked decent, dishing out six dimes in limited action. Hassan Adams has had his moments.

Mike Brown said it best after Saturday afternoon’s game in Shanghai. “There are minutes available (in the backcourt). But right now, nobody has stepped up and taken them.”

The frontcourt is a little more complicated. Cedric Simmons has been battling an ankle injury and, if healthy, will hopefully make a statement later this week in Toronto and Boston. The absence of Simmons has given time to Dwayne Jones, who has been impressive as a banger. If Jones had a better set of hands, he could truly set himself apart. He’s been tough on the boards and challenging shots. He’s easily been Cleveland’s best big off the bench.

With just over a week until the regular season tips off, the Cavaliers are still a work in progress – not exactly the place they want to be while trying to defend a Conference championship.

“We have to go to war with who we have right now,” said Drew Gooden. “That’s the business side of things, more than having to go out and compete and play basketball. Once that’s resolved, whether they’re with us or without us, we have to work with what we got and have the mindset that they’re not going to come back, because we don’t know if they are.”

The always-pragmatic LeBron James knows that it will be an uphill battle without his two young running mates, but they still have that battle either way when Dallas rolls into town next Wednesday.

“We’re not as good as we are if we don’t have those guys; that’s simple – we all know that,” said James. “There’s no reason to sit here and say we’re a better team without them. They’re a big part of our team, but by the same time we have to continue to get better if they’re not here.”