West Is Key In East
Delonte West is key to Cavaliers success in the East. (Credit to Keith Allison at Flickr.com)
Never did I think that I would be writing a piece on Delonte West and how important he would be to the Cavaliers success in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Little did I know that he would probably be the key piece in the deal on February 21st. And little did that scrawny 24 year old point guard, with countless tattoos and a weird birth mark, know he would be the key to a ring, a banner, a trophy and a piece in history.
If anyone has noticed, Delonte has stepped us game in attempts to bring a championship to Cleveland. In the last month of the season (8 games) he put up 12 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and shooting 51% from the field, 43% from 3 and 75% from the free throw line. This is the point guard that Danny Ferry has coveted for many years and the point guard that he imagined Delonte could be here in Cleveland, alongside LeBron James. Putting up these stats while playing solid defense and being a good fit in the locker room.
Sure Delonte is not your prototypical point guard but since when do you need one when you have LeBron James (arguably the best player int he game)? All you need is a guy to handle the ball some, shoot the ball well, defend well and be a team player. (*Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* We have Delonte West!)
The way that Delonte gets his stats or the way he plays his game may not be prototypical but he gets the job done and that is the bottom line. He has gotten the job done time after time and he has been showing what a good point guard can do beside LeBron and what a good point guard can help a team accomplish.
Can Delonte help carry the load? That will be the key question in the playoffs and it could determine how far the Cavaliers go. LeBron, Daniel Gibson and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are the only other players, beside Delonte, that are putting up 10+ points a game. The key to the Cavs success has always been that 2nd or 3rd scorer and it will always be that way. No matter who LeBron has around him and no matter what situation LeBron is in, he needs that 2nd and 3rd scorer. In no way am I suggesting that Delonte is that 2nd or 3rd scorer or that he will ever be that, but if he can give the Cavs his usual output of stats along with 12, 13 points a night, this team is much harder to stop. It makes this team that much better, LeBron that much better, Zydrunas that much better, etc. It has a chain effect on the team and the team as a whole, at times, is much better and looks better when he is playing well.
The responsibility does not fall solely on Delonte’s shoulders, but he seems to be the only one willing to step up and take on that challenge of being a guy to help carry the load. He can certainly help out and he has proven to do so. He scored in double digits in 15 of the 27 of the games with the Cavs and in 7 of the last 8 games of the regular season. Those stats prove that as he got more comfortable with this team and his surroundings, his true colors came out and he showed the player he is capable of being with the Cavs.
How has he done thus far in the playoffs? He is averaging 11 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 40% from the field, 57% from 3 and 93% from 3. He had two great games (1 and 4) with two bad games (2 and 3). In the two games he played great, coincidence or not, the Cavs won. Whether or not you want to credit Delonte West with Antonio Daniels’ and Gilbert Arenas’ poor performances offensively in the series (beside Gilbert in game 1), you can add that to his playoff resume, And do not forget he won game 4 for the Cavaliers when he hit the 3 point in the corner with 5 seconds left in the 4th quarter.
How Delonte plays the rest of the series and the rest of the playoffs is a mystery at this point in time. The only thing that is not a mystery is that Delonte West is the key to Cavs championship hopes and dreams.
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12 Responses to “West Is Key In East”
April 28th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Nice piece. I remember a bunch of us had suggested Delonte as a possible point guard way back during the 05-06 season. Well, he finally made his way over here. He’s the perfect fit at the point for us, like you said: not a true PG, but he does the things that you want from a PG on a team that has a player like LeBron.
This team still needs a good low block scorer at PF and a sidekick at the SG position to be a legit title contender. They’re still good enough to win the East again, even after a terrible regular season by their standards, but there’s no way they can beat teams like the Spurs in the final with their current roster. But it’s good to see that our PG problems may finally be solved, thanks to Mr. West.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:23 am
… and he makes a fraction of what guys like Bibby and Kidd make. Is he as good as them? Of course not. But he’s a great value at the PG position, freeing up money to fill the needs that Amar pointed out above. With all of the expiring contracts, next year will be will be the most critical time in the LBJ era.
Hey, Boston and Detroit are tied 2-2 in their respective series … who’d a thunk it? Obviously not the same pundits who made the trendy “Wiz in 6″ pick.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:19 am
A couple more things to keep in mind: He’s only in his 4th year, and has only been getting real minutes for 3 years (1st year in Boston he played 13 MPG in only 39 games) ; the point guard learning curve is longer than other positions (think Steve Nash, Tony Parker); Next year will be West’s first full year with a team that’s not in the cellar from day 1; most successful point guards are taller for their position, and West comes in at 6-4; West seems to completely understand his role and doesn’t have any ego to speak of, and successful teams always have players that embrace their roles.
That said, I’d sit him down in the film room and show him clips of Tony Parker, Steve Nash and Chris Paul on a loop. He doesn’t need to score like they do, but if he could develop the ability to get into the lane like those guys, he could be a deadly sidekick to LBJ. He was the player that I thought made the trade justifiable, and he’s the only one of the 4 players that I really want the Cavs to keep. Although I wouldn’t mind keeping Joe Smith for some veteran leadership on the 2nd unit.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:33 am
In hindsight, that trade got rid of deadweights like Marshall, Simmons, and Brown, so getting rid of those guys doesn’t count. Gooden and Hughes were the only major players we lost, but we brought in West. I think he solves the PG problem, not only temporarily but long-term as well, and I also wouldn’t mind keeping Joe Smith around. However, his ability to contribute along with his expiring contract is going to make him a valuable trade asset next year, so all bets are off there.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:14 am
When is Wally going to become “Wally’s Expiring Contract”? For me it’s going to be as soon as the finals are over, probably somewhere around the draft…..
April 29th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Thanks guys, I appreciate.
I love what Delonte has done for our team and love the character he has (go YouTube him and you’ll see what I mean). He fits in real nicely with what we have and with him being only 24, he could develop into a nice piece.
He definitely has the skills, it just about learning to harness them and use them correctly. I’d love for him to push the ball more (watch the last Detroit game of the season) and penetrate a lot more. Penetration from the guards is something that the Cavs have lacked for awhile and we see what it can do to a defense and how effective great PG’s like CP3, Chauncey, Parker, Nash, Deron, etc., are. It is a key element to the game that gets lost a lot of the time. Delonte has shown to be able to do it, but he seems reluctant too.
I think a lot of Delonte’s reluctance on offense is that a lot of the stuff we do is give the ball to LeBron type stuff. If he was allowed some more freedom (like the last Detroit game of the season) I think we could see a different team and a more effective Delonte.
Like I said in the post, he has a great skillset and one that compliments to his game perfectly. If he can add to it and develop it, watch out.
Good point Charlie, but don’t forget he’ll be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of the season. Devin Brown will be unrestricted, as well Dwayne Jones, while Daniel Gibson will be a restricted free agent. So the Cavs will have some thinking to do and I bet that both Cavalier point guards will cost some money to keep. Whether or not we keep both is a big question. I bet we keep one and hope we keep both.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:15 am
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April 30th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I am c’s fan and I was sorry to see delonte go.
I said this from the day of the trade and I thought I posted it here (or maybe it was right on a cavs fan site). He is the perfect pg fo lebron, tough, can shoot and handle, play d, and can play off the ball (which lebron is usually holding). Delonte West is probably going to be playing beside lebron for a long time.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
[…] My Utah Jazz - Nobody wants to be the team that breaks McGrady’s first-round cherry. Cavalier Attitude - ETB favorite Delonte West is stepping up his game in the postseason. And One - For the Cleveland […]
April 30th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’m not convinced by Delonte as the starting point guard but he certainly played well the other day. If he can continue that it’ll be a huge bonus for the Cavs.
Delonte against Rondo in the next round will have some added personal significance to both. Should be fun.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
nice piece man.. kudos..
April 30th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
[…] Cavalier Attitude: West is Key in the East. […]
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