Why LeBron James & Cleveland Cavaliers Won’t Be Playing Damon Jones

April 08 08

The Akron Beacon Journal reports on Cleveland changing their playing rotation:

There’s no charm in this third time around for Damon Jones. As Cavaliers coach Mike Brown has tightened his rotation for the playoffs, he has again decided to stopped playing Jones.

The Very Quick AM Take: The self-proclaimed best dresser in the NBA will take his act to Cleveland’s bench. Jones, after returning to the first five, has not only lost his starting position, but will also find playing time scarce.

Publicly, Coach Brown said he’ll use Delonte West, Devin Brown, Wally Szczerbiak, and Daniel ‘Boobie’ Gibson because they’re better defensive players than Jones. Other issues must have factored in his decision.

Earlier this season, Jones made enemies by taking his trade demands to the media. The guard even told reporters he’d return to Miami for a reconciliation with former enemy Pat Riley.

Speaking of trades, Coach Brown has to play West and Szczerbiak because both were acquired in the deadline blockbuster with Chicago and Seattle. Benching two newly acquired players would make the organization, particularly the front office, appear incompetent.

Last year, Gibson had a memorable playoff. Against Detroit, the young pro looked like the second-coming of B.J. Armstrong, knocking down corner jumpers and three-pointers. After battling injuries all season, he deserves a chance to recapture his past form-even if it comes at Jones’ expense.

Right now, for many reasons, Jones is the odd man out. But the veteran has been in this situation before and still contributed big playoff shots against Washington and Detroit.

Why was Jones really benched? Get at us in the comment box below with your thoughts. Click here to read Oly’s NBA blog and get his daily take. Image appears courtesy of photographer renuinsd at flickr.com.

12 Comments: Why LeBron James & Cleveland Cavaliers Won’t Be Playing (...)

Posted by
WOODPECKER
on 04.22.2008

Hey Ya Boy or is that Ya hoo? Looks like Wally on Monday proved your still ignorant.Learn to write coherent sentences and just maybe we’ll take your ideas seriously. .

Posted by
YA BOY
on 04.11.2008

the only thing ur proving CHRISTAN is that ur a fan of that BUM...u can give me all the stats u want n thats y lbj is always yellin at wally n even wally knows he suks....since when do stats tell the story ne ways...the 2nd worst shootin % is the only stat u need to no....n ur def a fan of him if u think hes good on d bc he suks...research lol im done with u lil kids i see him play in person i dont no if he was good on the tims or not bc that dont matter...is what matters is that as a cav he suks so stop tryin to stik up 4 ur boi.....stfu phife nobody asked u ne thing bout what me or redneck woodpecker wrote just mine yo own .

Posted by
Christian
on 04.11.2008

It should read 15.5 minutes more per gaem then now.And the All-Star season was 2001-2002. .

Posted by
Christian
on 04.11.2008

During his All-Star year he played 15.5 for minutes a game .So what do you get for 15 minutes less a game.7 points less, a .074 fg% drop, a .042 3pt% drop, a .024 ft% rise, a drop off 1.9 in rebounds , 1.7 less assists and drops in PF’s and turn-overs.. But what causes this difference is the build off the team.Wolves had Kevin Garnett,Terrel Brandon,Chauncy Billups,Joe Smith and Rasho Nesterovic.Cavs nowadays got Lebron James,Zydrunas Ilgauskas,Delonte West,Daniel Gibson,Ben Wallace and the older Joe Smith.TB and Billups are both better guards then West and Gibson.Rasho put up better number per minute wise then Ilgauskas is doing know.Joe Smith back then was given a seocnd chance at stardom in the wings with a budding superstar,now he is coming off the bench.Wallace allways has been a good defensive player but offensively opponents don’t need to guard him,because he only scores on put-backs.Then you get your Superstar Garnett vs. James.If you are a wing player,a spot shooter do you want an intimidating inside presence who gets double-teams that leave you open to shoot or do you want a slashing wimg player who also brings the ball up-court,thus having the ball a lot.I would choose the first,because it gives you more free looks thus increasing the chances of a shot going in.And to go back to comparing those teams how many players scored double in double figures with the Wolves were there 5 players in double figures in scoring(the highest was 21.2) the Cavs now have 3(Lebron has 30.2 and then a drop-ff to 14).So bassicly what i’m saying with this is that the composition off a team and the amount off minutes you get are the most important.YABOY I don’t know if you are a racist but next time do some research. .

Posted by

on 04.10.2008

lerbon need 2 give it up! .

Posted by
Phife Dog
on 04.10.2008

who cares about spelling... its about communicationWoodpecker Verse Ya Boy.... OR ....... Ignorance verse more ignorance.... .

Posted by
Phife Dog
on 04.10.2008

so im just now reading this article, but i am curious if "Ya Boy" is banned yet...thats pretty bad.... laughably bad. Im black myself, and i am very aware of social injustices... but comments like his, are not useful .

Posted by
YA BOY
on 04.9.2008

WALLY IS TERRIBLE THAT SIMPLE...DONT CARE BOUT NO CONTRACTS OR NE THING OUTSIDE OF HOW U TAKE CARE OF BIZ ON THE COURT...N THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS RATHER UR ACTUALLY A FAN OF THAT BUM WALLY OR NOT HE SUKSSS HE MISSES ERRE OPEN SHOT....SHOOTIN 2nd WORST IN THE LG SINCE GETTIN TRADED OR AT LEAST THATS WHATS THEY SAID ON ESPN WHICH I BELIEVE N HE DOESNT PLAY NO D N U CAN TELL LBJ DOESNT LIKE HIM AT ALL HE JUS GO ALONG WITH IT....WALLY IS NO WHERE NEAR ALL STAR CALIBER IF HE IS THEN I BEEN IN THE ALL STAR GMS DATIN BACK TO THE 60s n 70s .

Posted by

on 04.9.2008

he will get sum time... they all cant play good D... and they have no good shooters then wally! .

Posted by
Christian
on 04.9.2008

I think that most GM’s have Wally World ranked higher than Damon Jones.And with both guys contracts coming off the books next year,they are willing to play an acquired player over a player who burns his own bridges most off the time.Wally is owed around 10 million next while Jones is slated for 4 million.To say it’s easier getting a superstar caliber player back for 10 then it is for 4. .

Posted by
Woodpecker
on 04.8.2008

Hey YA BOY Before you put dumb ideas in print, learn how to spell and write in complete sentences. You couldn’t carry ANY pro’s jock on your best day.Crawl back under your (crack) ROCK. .

Posted by
YA BOY
on 04.8.2008

anybody deserves to play over wally he is by far the worst player in the nba right now idc if theres players that has worst skills then him...i would rather play a player thats gonna try hard n do nothing compared to makin urself stick out LIKE COMPLETE AZZ like wally....hes terrible worst ball handler in the lg cant hit a open shot 4 ne thing n his d is terrilbe....he should be in the d league seriously .

Post your comment:

No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only.

	About Oly Sandor
Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More

Why LeBron James & Cleveland Cavaliers Won’t Be Playing Damon Jones

AboutOly Sandor

About
Oly Sandor