If the Cavs are going to rebound -- on the court or in the standings -- it seems as if Varejao is the guy to do it.
View full size"We know we all want to win," Anderson Varejao said about the Cavaliers' recent struggles. "At the same time, we know there are a lot of new things going on with this team. A new coaching staff, new players, players who were here last season but didn't really play and are getting to play more now. It just takes some time."CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Byron Scott doesn't want to think where his team would be right now without Anderson Varejao.
"You almost feel sorry for Andy," the Cavaliers coach said after his team lost its eighth straight game on Sunday in Oklahoma City. "He's been fantastic. The starting unit has done really well the last three games. We've just got to get them some help."
Over the weekend, Varejao was basically a one-man rebounding machine. If the Cavs (7-17) are going to rebound at all, it seems as if he's the guy to do it. He had 24 rebounds in the losses at Houston and Oklahoma City, nearly one-third of the team's total of 78. He had nine offensive rebounds against the Thunder and 11 in the two games, almost half of the team's weekend total of 24.
While the Cavs actually outrebounded the Thunder, 45-44, they got hammered on the boards by the Rockets, 48-33.
Varejao is averaging 9.4 rebounds per game, the ninth-best average in the league, and almost twice as many as his nearest teammates -- Antawn Jamison (5.5) and J.J. Hickson (5.1). But Varejao said he wasn't doing anything differently to make up for the lack of help on the boards -- in fact, he didn't even mention it.
"I feel like I've got to do what I've been doing since I got in the league -- play with a lot of energy, go after every offensive rebound and play hard," he said. "That's the bottom line."
Varejao was on his way out of a mostly silent locker room on Sunday. His teammates had dressed quickly and hurried to their bus, trying to get back to Cleveland before the snow got too bad.
But there does seem to be a storm brewing in the locker room. When asked about Scott's comments criticizing the bench, Hickson said, "Oh, so he's blaming it on the bench?" But he caught himself before he went too much further.
Asked about the mood of the team, Scott said, "They're down, and they should be. We're not playing real good solid basketball for 48 minutes. We're playing in spurts. We're having our moments. But we're not able at this particular time to sustain that over the course of the game. Right now I'm sure they're searching as well, just like I am."
Added Varejao, "We know we all want to win. At the same time, we know there are a lot of new things going on with this team. A new coaching staff, new players, players who were here last season but didn't really play and are getting to play more now. It just takes some time. It's not like you're going to put a team together and win every day. We need to try to get better every day."
While it sometimes looks as if Varejao is trying to bring more energy to make up for the lack of same by his teammates, he rejected that notion with a smile.
"I just have to play 100 percent every night," he said.
Success story: Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks knows what Scott is going through. The Thunder started out 3-29 when he was named to replace P.J. Carlesimo 13 games into the 2008-09 season. Last season, the Thunder was 50-32, took the Lakers to seven games in a first-round playoff series and Brooks was named coach of the year.
Brooks remembers the struggles of his first season.
"You have to find improvement," he said. "Some days the search is long and hard and when you think there's nothing there you have to continue to search for it. It's not easy. It's not easy losing in this league. You go into the game to win that test, and when you don't win you have to figure out ways to continue to stay focused and stay strong for the next day in practice.
"I did see the light at the end of the tunnel through our work at practice. We've always been an excellent practice team and shootaround team. I knew with that effort and that focus on the practice floor, we were going to win some games."
Of course, he also had Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. But there may be a lesson -- and some hope -- in there somewhere for Cavs fans.