Jamario Moon's up-and-down existence earned a boost Sunday when he found himself in the starting lineup as Daniel Gibson sat out with flu-like symptoms.
Minnesota Timberwolves' Michael Beasley scores on Cleveland Cavaliers' Jamario Moon (15) in the first quarter of Sunday's game at The Q.This time the motivation for Moon's movement had little to do with his play on the court. Instead, it was coach Byron Scott's reaction to Daniel Gibson sitting out the game against Minnesota with flu-like symptoms. It is the first game Gibson, who ranks third on the team with 13.7 points per game, has missed this season.
Moon, meanwhile, has played a total of 34 minutes in the eight games before Sunday's start, and hasn't started a contest since the Nov. 20 game against San Antonio. He was the starting small forward for the season-opener against Boston.
But because of Moon's length at 6-feet-8, Scott liked the matchup of his lanky and athletic small forward defending the Wolves' leading scorer, 6-10 Michael Beasley. And it might be an opportunity for Moon to early more time.
"We know Michael's a prolific scorer, and he's a guy that when he gets it, he's got one thing on his mind -- which is put the ball in the basket," Scott said. "It gives Jamario another chance to get some more minutes not only with this lineup (Sunday), but in the next few games, as well."
Moon's existence with the Cavaliers has been up and down of late. In the Cavaliers' streak-stopping win over New York on Dec. 18, he played 21 solid minutes, grabbed five rebounds and had two blocks.
But in two losses to Utah and Atlanta after that, Moon played 12 minutes, total. He notched one lonely rebound in those minutes, and missed his only two shot attempts against the Jazz.
Moon still is unsure of the Princeton offense, and often needs to be told where to go by teammates during games. Scott acknowledged that by changing the starting lineup to insert Antawn Jamison and Gibson, players who better understood the offense were starting.
"I think the starters have a real good idea of what we're doing," Scott said.
CONTRACT THE WOLVES?
The Player Who Left the Cavaliers over the summer caused some head scratching Thursday when he said that contraction might be a good thing for the NBA. The possibility of eliminating teams has been mentioned in early posturing between the league and the player's union as the collective bargaining agreement expires after this season.
"Imagine if you could take Kevin Love off Minnesota and add him to another team and you shrink the [league]," LeBron James told reporters. "Looking at some of the teams that aren't that great, you take Brook Lopez or you take Devin Harris off these teams that aren't that good right now and you add him to a team that could be really good. Not saying let's take New Jersey and let's take Minnesota out of the league. But hey, you guys are not stupid, I'm not stupid, it would be great for the league."
The coach of one of the teams James mentioned, Kurt Rambis of Minnesota, remarked only "no comment" when jokingly asked if his team might soon disappear.
And one of the players who might be better served on another team, Love, was indifferent.
"That was just something he said," Love told reporters. "I didn't really pay too much attention to it. I just figure that when the time comes with the CBA [collective bargaining agreement], the owners and players and everybody involved will make their decision. I didn't really think much of it."
DRIBBLES ...
Rookie guard Christian Eyenga, who was assigned to the NBADL's Erie BayHawks on Nov. 18, made the short drive to Cleveland on Sunday to watch the game from the bench. ... Ohio State product Kosta Koufos broke his nose in a recent practice and played Sunday's game wearing a protective mask.