It hasn't been an easy preseason for Anderson Varejao, who has lost his grandfather, dealt with a lingering sprained ankle and the absence of good friend Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Anderson Varejao is expected to be a focus of Byron Scott's motion offense -- by passing the ball from the pivot instead of worrying too much about scoring. "I think he's going to have a lot of fun in the offense," says Scott.CAVALIERS VS. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Tipoff: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh
TV/radio: No TV; WTAM AM/1100
Notable: Cleveland is 3-1 in the preseason. ... The Cavaliers lead the league in rebounding, averaging 50.5 through four preseason games. They are 26th out of 30 teams in field goal percentage, averaging .397. ... San Antonio is 2-1. ... Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao is hopeful to make his first preseason appearance, after missing time to return to Brazil after the death of his grandfather. ... Guard Daniel Gibson is averaging 13.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 24.3 minutes in the preseason.
— Jodie Valade
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Losing his best friend was difficult enough. Still, Anderson Varejao was prepared to begin his first full season in Cleveland without Zydrunas Ilgauskas, flanking him both on and off the court.
Losing full mobility of his right ankle in an August world championship warm-up game was a setback he figured he'd have overcome by now, though it's proven more troublesome than he thought.
Losing his grandfather, the 94-year-old anchor of his close-knit family in Brazil, was a blow that struck Varejao to the core two weeks ago. It's why he's still struggling to combat the first two losses as the Cavaliers ready for their fifth preseason game.
This has not been the easiest preseason for Varejao, to say the least.
But the sixth-year Cavaliers forward is finally back on the court, and endured a full practice Wednesday with his new coach's offense that prominently features his position. He hopes to play Thursday night against San Antonio in Pittsburgh.
He's still trying to move beyond the death of the grandfather, Maximo Vieria Varejao, who was "everything" to his family. He's not sure he's ready -- either mentally or physically -- but he hopes he is.
"I believe I'm OK," Varejao said Wednesday. "Sometimes you think you're OK, but you're not. But I believe I'm OK. I'm back here and have to focus on what we've got to do here and be ready for the start of the season."
What he's got to do with the Cavaliers is learn new coach Byron Scott's Princeton offense, which relies heavily on the center -- where Varejao is slated to start -- to begin the chain of screening, cutting and passing.
An active, mobile center plays the position best, and though Scott has only seen Varejao in limited doses, he's already excited about the possibilities of the energetic player.
"I think he'll be great at it," Scott said. "What [the offense] requires is a guy who has a good basketball I.Q., No. 1, and No. 2 a guy who is a very good screener, a very good pick-and-roll type guy, and a guy who can pass the ball. Andy does all those things pretty well. I think he's going to have a lot of fun in the offense."
Varejao, who returned to Cleveland a week ago and has been working on conditioning ever since, calls the offense "good for [my] game." But learning how to maneuver it without Ilgauskas, his best friend in the NBA, by his side will be tougher. It is the first time Varejao will learn how to navigate something in the league without the 7-3 Lithuanian's help.
His one-time partner in crime, the fellow foreign big man defected to Miami to join a certain former teammate. Ilgauskas might be gone, but he's certainly not forgotten. Varejao's locker stall at The Q still has two miniature photos of Ilgauskas affixed to either side of the wild-haired forward's name plate.
"He helped me to be a better person," Varejao said. "He was a guy I could count on in the bad times. I know I'm going to miss him, but I have to focus on this season."
That includes rehabilitating the right ankle sprain he suffered over the summer. Varejao concedes the ankle still is not fully healed, but hesitated to say how much the injury is hindering his play.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm 100 percent because I don't feel anything," Varejao said. "But if I get a hit or something, if I move a little bit faster, then I feel it a little bit. I'm not sure where I am."
Scott was impressed with Varejao's trademark infectious energy in Wednesday's practice.
"I was real happy to see him out here," Scott said. "I thought his energy was contagious. He was kind of flying all over the place like Andy does, getting a lot of offensive rebounds and a lot of loose balls."
Some things, at least, Varejao hasn't lost at all.
Back on the court: Mo Williams participated in his first full practice of the preseason. The guard has been sitting since the start of training camp, resting an injured right groin suffered in workouts. Scott said Williams won't play Thursday against San Antonio, as the Cavaliers hope to ease him into play -- with plenty of conditioning -- gradually.
"He looked very good," Scott said. "Surprisingly, his wind was better than what I expected, even better than what he expected, he said."
Still hospitalized: Longtime radio broadcaster Joe Tait remained in a Houston hospital Wednesday, recovering from a bout of pneumonia that sent him there during the Cavaliers' road trip through Texas over the weekend.
If all goes according to plan, the Cavaliers are expecting Tait to return to Cleveland within the week. Until Tait has regained good health, his duties will be handled by a rotating crew of local TV and radio personalities that thus far includes Mike Snyder, Fred McLeod, Austin Carr and Campy Russell.
Jackson, Mitchell cut: The Cavaliers waived guard Cedric Jackson and forward Tasmin Mitchell, reducing the current roster to 17. Jackson played six minutes over two games in the preseason while Mitchell did not appear in any games.