J.J. Hickson's future is at power forward, but that will be a gradual move to replace injured Antawn Jamison.
View full sizeRegardless of his position on the Cavaliers' front line, J.J. Hickson needs to bring an intensity to his game every night, says Byron Scott.INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Technically perhaps, J.J. Hickson will be listed as the Cavaliers' starting center Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs. That's where he's played for 21 games this season, and where he's had the most success.
But with Antawn Jamison out for 5-7 weeks -- potentially the remainder of the season -- after Tuesday's surgery on his broken left pinky, Hickson's gradual transition back to his natural power forward position will begin.
It commences with rookie Samardo Samuels starting at power forward against the Spurs. While that might sound like a small impediment to Hickson's move to that same position, coach Byron Scott said the 6-9 Samuels will be interchangeable with the 6-9 Hickson at center, with both players logging time at both positions.
Scott is hopeful that slowly moving Hickson back to power forward will allow his promising 22-year-old to keep the aggressiveness and rebounding edge that he has acquired since moving to center.
"I don't want to take away his aggressiveness at [center] and the way he's been playing by saying, 'All right now, you're the [power forward], which means in our offense that you're going to be on the perimeter almost half the time, instead of the [center] where you're in that paint area 90 percent of the time.' I want to leave him there right now and just slowly work him out of it."
Hickson will have to work through the transition without newly acquired point guard Baron Davis to guide him Wednesday. Scott said Davis will not play against the Spurs as he recovers from a left knee injury.
Davis' first game could be Friday in New York against the Knicks, but his debut will come no later than Sunday's home contest against New Orleans, Scott said. Semih Erden is out 3-4 games, as well, Scott said, while he works on conditioning after a shoulder injury hampered him the last 2-3 weeks. Newcomer Luke Harangody is available to play.
While the roster is in some state of upheaval, Hickson has been the constant in the middle lately. Since Hickson replaced the injured Anderson Varejao, he has logged 13 of his 16 double doubles. In the last eight games, Hickson has notched seven double doubles, averaging 18.8 points on 52 percent shooting, and 12.9 rebounds.
"I'll continue to play the way I've been playing," Hickson promised.
Samuels, meanwhile, will be counted on to provide the physical play displayed in recent games. In his last three games, he's averaging 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 20 minutes. That is what led to Scott's decision to insert Samuels into the starting lineup, at least for now.
"He's playing pretty well, he's really slowed down and understands he has to be a little more patient at times," Scott said. "He's doing a good job defensively for us, and just been playing pretty well for us."
No one, of course, is expecting Samuels to replace Jamison, who was the team's leading scorer and a vocal veteran on and off the court. Jamison was averaging 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in his 13th season.
"It hurts us big-time," Scott said. "He's one of our leaders, our leading scorer, one of our better communicators on the floor, as well. It hurts us big-time because he was having such a good year."
While the Cavaliers ponder the loss of Jamison, they are looking forward to Davis in the lineup. The point guard has practiced twice with his new team, and Hickson is eagerly anticipating Davis' up-tempo, energetic style.
"It's Lob City," Hickson gushed of Davis' practice play. "I've been getting a lot of lobs. He's been pushing the ball a lot. He's a great point guard."
Even at power forward, he can see that.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2011/03/cleveland_cavaliers_planning_o.html
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