| The Fro Bros Authored by Patrick Daher - March 17, 2008 - 6:39 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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When GM Danny Ferry pulled the trigger on a 3-team blockbuster on February 21st, he envisioned Ben Wallace as a key cog in the Cavaliers push towards championship contention. Ben Wallace would shift back to his natural position at PF and would have the ability to roam free on defense and offense because of the size and attention that 7’3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas brings. The switch would revive what looked like a lackluster Wallace in Chicago back to the Big Ben who was so effective in Detroit. However, this strategy was to be put on hold when Ilgauskas was forced to sit out 7 games with back problems and 1 game with a respiratory infection.
Insert Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace in the frontcourt and the duo has struggled. The offensive flow is often stagnant with the defensive minded “Fro Bro’s” on the court and at times it appears the Cavaliers are playing 3 on 5 on offense. Combine Wallace’s 5.2ppg with Varejao’s 7.4 ppg and the Cavaliers are losing nearly 6.1 ppg with Ilgauskaus not in the lineup. To make matters worse, with Big Ben and Andy on the court together, The Cavaliers are throwing out a tandem who shoots 48% and 65% respectively from the free throw line.
According to 82games.com and their player pairing rankings, when Wallace and Ilgauskas are paired on the court, Wallace’s +/- is +10.3 as opposed to a Varejao and Wallace score of -17.
In addition, the team performance skyrockets when Wallace is on the floor with Z with evidence of a +13 efficiency rating. When Ben is on the court with Andy, that rating plummets to -6.1.
What is most astonishing is that Ben is shooting 83% from the field when Z is on the court and 27% with Varejao. If we were to extrapolate Ben’s production for 40 minutes when paired with Z, he would average 13.2 ppg and 10.6rpg. With Andy, Wallace’s 40 per would read 6.3ppg and 10.8 rpg. More importantly, in the games that Andy and Ben have started together, the Cavaliers are a mediocre 4-4.
The Cavaliers definitely need both Varejao and Wallace to be successful against teams like Boston, Detroit, and Orlando. However, having them both on the floor at the same time does not result in what is most effective for the team. They are too much alike in that their strengths on the hustle and defensive side, while their weakness is their lack of offense.
Pairing Wallace or Varejao with Ilgauskas or Joe Smith would give Head Coach Mike Brown a player who rebounds and defends and a player who can hit the 15 foot jump shot and score from the post on the court at all times.
“The Fro Bros” may appear inseparable on the many t-shirts that now are colorfully worn by many Cavaliers fans, but Big Ben and Andy may have to be separated on the court in order for the Cavaliers to make a returning appearance to the NBA Finals. |
