Byron Scott says the Cavaliers have enough talent to remain a strong team in the NBA, even without that guy who decided to head to Miami.
View full sizeNew Cavaliers coach Byron Scott isn't ready to concede next season just because LeBron James won't be here.CLEVELAND, Ohio — New Cavs coach Byron Scott has been preparing for Life Without LeBron from the moment James announced his decision to sign with the Miami Heat.
One of Scott's first moves was to talk to Mo Williams, challenging the guard to "get back to your All-Star form."
Scott already has his speech ready for the team. Some of the players have heard it already -- now that James is gone, this is your chance to show what you can do.
"When you have a great player like LeBron, it's easy to throw him the ball and wait for him to make plays," Scott said. "My system isn't built for one guy to dominate the ball. We will have a lot of passing, a lot of movement, creating a lot of open shots."
Scott believes he can play Daniel Gibson and Williams together, despite neither being taller than 6-2.
"They can flat out shoot," he said. "When we won 56 games in New Orleans [2007-08], I played Chris Paul [6-0] and Jannero Pargo [6-1] together a lot. I think A.P. [Anthony Parker] can do well in this system, too."
Gibson started 10 games last season and the Cavs went 9-1 in those games. He averaged 11.7 points, shooting 48 percent both from the field and on 3-pointers. Scott is not saying he'll start Williams and Gibson, but he's intrigued by the idea of pairing the two shooters.
Scott's approach is that Antawn Jamison was an All-Star. Williams was an All-Star. J.J. Hickson has talent and has been waiting for his chance. Anderson Varejao made the all-defensive team. The Cavs still have talent.
"This team won more [regular season] games than anyone else the last two years," Scott said. "LeBron is a great player, but it wasn't all LeBron."
He talks about "pushing" Williams to return to being a creative point guard, not just a spot-up shooter -- which had been his primary role with James. He plans to "push" Hickson, "because he has so much talent."
View full sizeThe Cavaliers are optimistic about the rapidly improving J.J. Hickson (21).Hickson is only 21. He's heading into what would be his senior season, had he remained at North Carolina State. Hickson averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, shooting 55 percent in 21 minutes a game.
"He's been working on his jumper and shooting it well," said Scott. "He can have a breakout year for us."
Scott is a confident, positive person. It has carried him through two rebuilding projects covering 10 years in New Jersey and New Orleans. He hates the words "rebuilding year."
"I play to win," he said. "But we also have a chance to develop players."
Scott admits the Cavs need a small forward, as they really don't have one at the moment. He has been impressed with Danny Green, a 6-6 guard from North Carolina who was the team's second-round draft pick in 2009.
Green is more of a guard than small forward, "but I have played three guards at times."
He also is thinking about Jamison as a sixth-man, a super-scorer who can change the tempo of the game.
"I need to talk to Antawn about that," he said. "We've been trading messages. Antawn played in my system at Washington, and really did well."
In his ideal world, the Cavs would find a center to start next to Hickson at small forward. Then the Cavs would bring Varejao and Jamison off the bench.
"I don't know if we can do that, but it would be very effective," he said.
The Cavs have been running in their summer-league team. Scott knows it has been "a shock" to some of the players.
"We don't want to play like Phoenix and average 110 points," he said. "I still am a defensive coach. But we must push the ball, we have to run."
And he has a message for the Cavs' veterans.
"All they have to do is talk to J.J. [Hickson] and Danny [Green]," said Scott. "They'd better be in shape, and ready to run. They may not like some of the things I'm going to ask them to do, but in the long run, they'll see it's worth it."
To reach Terry Pluto: terrypluto2003@yahoo.com, 216-999-4674