Last month, Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed a few games with an injured ankle. Cleveland dropped one of its three games without Z (at Atlanta), but Ilgauskas came back so quickly that any long-term worries about the Cavs' front court stayed out of central consciousness.
Now, Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports Z will be out roughly a month with a bone chip in the ankle. As before, the immediate concerns are muted thanks to a stellar team performance (this one a 25-point win over Chicago in which LeBron James only takes eight shots). But over the course of 17 or so games, Z will be missed. No question Anderson Varejao is better than your average third big man, and he should compete well nightly (as he did Friday).
J.J. Hickson, a completely untested rookie, will get into the rotation. Lorenzen Wright might earn some minutes, too; that's a worrisome proposition because Wright hasn't been a legit NBA rotation player in at least two years; the Hawks, who desperately needed big help, wouldn't let Wright off the bench last season. Behind Ben Wallace (a defense role player in the strictest sense of the world) and Varejao, Cleveland's got nothing but question marks.
Ilgauskas has been Cleveland's second best player this season (and, well, for the last few seasons). Certainly, his offensive output (15 points on 52% shooting, extremely low turnover numbers given his high usage) will be missed. Windhorst reports that Anderson Varejao will assume the starting role, and youngsters Darnell Jackson and J.J. Hickson find themselves in a bigger potential role.
College basketball is back, ladies and gentlemen! That means it is time for the first ACC Power Poll of the season. Most of this is based on projections, theories and guess-work.
There is always one team that surprises us each year (Miami was that team last year) and one that disappoints us (NC State). Let's begin!
1-North Carolina: There hasn't been a favorite this heavy in a long, long time.
2-Duke: Remember that the Blue Devils were a game from winning the ACC last year. Gerald Henderson is my darkhorse for ACC Player of the Year.
3-Miami-FL: The Canes have a great shot at the ACC Championship and a deep run in the NCAAs.
With the fall beginning and college basketball just around the corner, it's time to look back at what our favorite teams did during their summer vacations. Some did some good things; some had a bad time. So let's look back at who did what in our How I Spent My Summer Vacation series.
Today's look is the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Roy Williams Hits Jackpot When All His Guys Return
The Tar Heels were at quite the crossroads. After a great season ended with a disappointing loss to Kansas, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all decided to take a look at the NBA Draft. Hansbrough decided to come back, but the other three entered the draft with the opportunity to come back to school if they didn't like their draft status.
If any or all left, the Heels were facing some uncertainty heading into the season. Yes, they'd still be a good team but they'd have a few holes.
In a somewhat surprising move, all three Heels decided to come back for one last hurrah. That means Ol' Roy gets everyone back from that Final Four team (sans a transferred Alex Stepheson and a graduating Quentin Thomas -- both role players). They also bring in three McDonald's All Americans.
Robert "Tractor" Traylor hasn't appeared in the NBA since 2005, but after several stops in Spain, Puerto Rico, and, well, the courthouse, he's hoping to return to the Big Show by earning a roster spot in Summer League. I caught up with Tractor after the Cavs' game yesterday and talked about where he's been and what his future might hold.
Matt Watson: Your career has taken a little bit of a detour. Do you feel like you're on the right path again?
Robert Traylor: Yeah, I think so. I think with this point in time, this opportunity to come out and play in the summer league has given me a great opportunity to get myself back to where I want to be and hopefully be in the NBA when the season starts.
MW: Playing in Spain and Puerto Rico, how does that compare to the competition you face out here?
RT: It's a lot different, but I think in Puerto Rico the competition is actually great. You've got a lot of great players over there. We played a lot of games, like 32 games in 61 days.
Congratulations to NC State's J.J. Hickson, who was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 19th overall draft pick in last night's NBA Draft. Hickson was the lone wolf of sorts -- the only ACC player to be drafted in the first round.
As I said a couple weeks ago, the league is in a bit of a crisis mode about why they've been in a down period and creating only one first rounder was a sign of that. However, ACC Now points out this is the third time this decade that only one ACC player was taken in the first round ... and it may be a great sign.
For the third time this decade, the ACC had only one player taken in the first round. It also happened in 2000 (Georgia Tech's Jason Collier) and 2004 (Duke's Luol Deng).
Those seasons were also the smallest overall draft classes for the ACC. Only two players were drafted in 2000 (Duke's Chris Carrawell was the other) and four total in 2004.
This 2008 draft also was small, overall (UVa's Sean Singletary, Maryland's James Gist and Va Tech's Deron Washington also were drafted last night). Now, what happened in the college basketball seasons after the 2000 and 2004 drafts? Oh yeah. An ACC team went on to win the National Championship.
Crystal Ballin'takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
The Toronto Raptors, the only team where sniveling prospects can blame their lack of desire to attend another low-first workout on passport issues!
Picks: #17. Needs: Bryan Colangelo and/or Sam Mitchell never seem(s) to be satisfied with the swing positions, though the qualifying offer extended to Carlos Delfino last week was a bit of a surprise. Center Centre should get a strong look, too. Rasho Nesterovic's contract with Satan is just about up for renegotiation, and I hear Mr. Nesterovic had the ol' snip-snip. (Mrs. Nesterovic couldn't take his chronic urination all over the house. Bad Rasho!)*
Best case scenario: At #17, there's a sincere possibility a great little prospect could remain on the board. Darrell Arthur's bangerball or Kosta Koufos' pick-and-pop machismo could fit in Smitch's offense just fine. Brandon Rush would also be a victory.
Crystal Ballin'takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
The locals thirst for a roster explosion. At least 26 other fan bases would trade for this roster in a second. The NBA: Where 'The Grass is Greener' Happens!
Picks: #29, #59. Needs: Depending on the depth of Joe Dumars' detonation, depth requirements could pop up all over. In particular, the land behind Tayshaun Prince is a bit dry.
Best case scenario: Assuming Amir Johnson plays power forwards in days ahead, a smaller forward like Ryan Anderson (who has a touch of 'Sheed, at least on offense), J.J. Hickson, or Jason Thompson would look good in Pistons blue. At the end of the draft, a defensive-minded combo like DeMarcus Nelson could potentially pay dividends.
Crystal Ballin'takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.
Larry Bird's got sole possession of the reins. Larry Bird does not have the best record of personnel decisions. Larry Bird seeks to completely rebuild in the Indiana roster, and that starts with the #11 pick in Thursday's draft. What could possibly go wrong?!
Picks: #11, #41. Needs: The point guard position is currently manned by Jamaal Tinsley and Travis Diener. That tells you almost everything you need to know ... but we'll add that assuming Jermaine O'Neal gets traded this century, another big to augment the terrifying Jeff Foster-Troy Murphy gauntlet could be in order.
Best case scenario: Everyone thinks D.J. Augustin would be beautiful in Pacers yellow (?), and the conventional wisdom appears to be correct: Augustin would be the best replacement possibly available. A second-rounder who could contribute immediately (J.J. Hickson, Richard Hendrix) would be great as well.
That would be NC State's J.J. Hickson, who some feel brought down the program last year. Oh, he was a heck of a player ... but the team's chemistry (which was so high at the end of 2006-2007) was just missing.
"It's going to be my way and that's it," Lowe said. "It's real simple. They're the players and I'm the coach and they're going to do it my way. And if they don't. They're not going to want to be here."
"In my dictionary, chemistry only means one thing and I'm going to stay away from that," Lowe said, then later offered his definition. "It's just players not accepting and players being selfish."
There were some cryptic signs that Lowe doesn't mind Hickson leaving ... though he tried to duck answering any direct questions. But he did find time to blame media attention, parents, girlfriends and AAU guys as clutter around the players' psyches.
I like Sidney Lowe and I think he's a good coach. But Raleigh is a very fickle place when it comes to their coaches and Lowe just struck out with his first NBA-talented player and his ability to incorporate him into his team. His upcoming season will see a lot of juniors and seniors in his rotation ... and hopefully he can recapture the magic of February/March 2007.
Last month, Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed a few games with an injured ankle. Cleveland dropped one of its three games without Z (at Atlanta), but Ilgauskas came back so quickly that any long-term worries about the Cavs' front court stayed out of central consciousness.
Earlier this week, Cleveland 
College basketball is back, ladies and gentlemen! That means it is time for the first ACC Power Poll of the season. Most of this is based on projections, theories and guess-work. 
With the fall beginning and college basketball just around the corner, it's time to look back at what our favorite teams did during their summer vacations. Some did some good things; some had a bad time. So let's look back at who did what in our 
Notes from a trip to the 
Congratulations to NC State's 
This is how screwed up the ACC has been: 
