The Cavs (Part 2)

Part 2....

(11) 1998 Cleveland Cavaliers (47-35) vs. (32) 1986 Cleveland Cavaliers (29-53)

Just a note: Trying to minimize some of the random stats that aren’t very important…just to save time between posts (wow does this take a long time…)

These teams aren’t anything special….mostly just bland. The Cavs have had some really successful years…but after that it’s not so good. Tell that to the Reign Man Shawn Kemp, who had 18-9-3-1-1. Wesley Person gave in to 15-4 nightly, while they were manned by point guard Brevin Knight (9-3-8, and 2.5 steals). Rookie Zydrunas Ilgauskas (with hair!) had 14-9 in a great debut season. After him, came Cedric Henderson rounding out the starting 5 with 10-4-2, even with Derek Anderson preforming 12-3-3 off the bench. After that….not much else (Vitaly Potapenko for 7-4 anyone?).

World B Free was still going strong with 23-3-4 (though this is his last remotely successful year…he barely played at all next year in Philly…) and Roy Hinson packed the one-two scoring punch (20-8). Manning the point was John Bagley; going for 12-4-9 nightly. After him, Mel Turpin (14-7) was their only other threat….Don’t worry, next year will bring Daugherty, Price, Harper, and Hot Rod Williams….



(12) 2008 Cleveland Cavaliers (45-37) vs. (31) 1974 Cleveland Cavaliers (29-53)

Looks like a team trying to change up its roster…James stayed for 30-8-7-2-1 (steals/blocks), but Hughes, and Gooden were traded to Chicago for the incredible salary of Ben Wallace, with him amounting to 4-7. Daniel Gibson had 10 points for them, as did Delonte West (10-4-5), coming in the same trade (but from Seattle, it was a 3 team deal). Lots of deals, but not really for the better. (Unless you count Chicago…they managed to rid themselves of a massively stupid deal for Wallace….)

In one of the earlier years of the Cavs, this vintage had Austin Carr scoring 22-4-4 nightly (and that’s not all he was scoring…), while Lenny Wilkens kept bouncing around while nearing the end, even if he had 16-4-7 this year (which makes sense when you factor in a more diluted league….). He was the only really good passer, but they had some pretty good rebounders in Dwight Davis (13-9), and Steve Patterson (8-8). Bingo Smith had 15-5-2.

(13) 1977 Cleveland Cavaliers (43-39) vs. (30) 2001 Cleveland Cavaliers (30-52)

This Cavs team had two good scorers in Austin Carr (16-3-3) and 2nd year player Campy Russell (17-6-3), in addition to 15-4 from Bingo Smith. Jim Chones contributed 13-8 to Cleveland, who lost to Washington in the first round, even with 10-5-5 from Jim Cleamons. Dick Snyder, Elmore Smith, and Jim Brewer all gave 9 points, while Brewer also put in 9 boards.

This was Andre Miller’s team (16-4-8), with Ilgauskas playing only 24 games. Lamond Murray had 13-4-2, while the only other real contributions were 11-5 from Chris Gatling, and 11-10 from Clarence Weatherspoon. Not much to say….

(14) 1978 Cleveland Cavaliers (43-39) vs. (29) 1979 Cleveland Cavaliers (30-52)

A this-year-next-year matchup. 1978 saw Campy Russell take over (19-6-4) for the falling Austin Carr (12-2-3). Walt Frazier made his first Cavs appearance (he had 16-4-4, sent over as compensation for the signing of Jim Cleamons), not bad, but weird how fast he fell. Jim Chones added an underrated 15-10.

Campy Russell soars to 22-7-5, even with Austin Carr’s resurgence of 17-4-3. Jim Chones had a pretty decent year (13-10, just a little slip…). Clyde Frazier played only 12 games, and had 11-2-3 in them. Also big, 11-3-2 from Bingo Smith.

(15) 1995 Cleveland Cavaliers (43-39) vs. (28) 1987 Cleveland Cavaliers (31-51)

1995 featured the slow decline of Mark Price, playing only 48 games, in his final year in Cleveland. He still managed 16-2-7, still high level basketball. Another holdover from happier times, Hot Rod Williams, averaged 13-7-3. Tyrone Hill looked (ugly...what is up with his head….) pretty good, good for 14-11, with Terrell Brandon averaging 13-3-5. Michael Cage makes a small cameo.

What a bright young team! Ron Harper (23) had 23-5-5, rookie Brad Daugherty had 16-8-4, and 24 year old Hot Rod Williams had 15-8, with Mark Price making a minor 7-2-3 nightly.

(16) 1988 Cleveland Cavaliers (42-40) vs. (27) 2000 Cleveland Cavaliers (32-50)

Brad Daugherty breaks out for 19-8-4, Mark Price breaks out for 16-2-6, and they still have 15-4-5 from Ron Harper, not to mention the late addition of Larry Nance (16-8-3). Very underrated team that may do some damage.

Shawn Kemp still excels in his last year in Cleveland (read: last productive year), for 18-9. Lamond Murray managed 16-6, as the Cavs got 14-4-4 from Bob Sura. Fans got their first glance at rookie Andre Miller (11-3-6), who teamed up with the 9-3-7 of Brevin Knight.

(17) 1990 Cleveland Cavaliers (42-40) vs. (26) 1973 Cleveland Cavaliers (32-50)

How long have the Cavs been around this kind of matchup? It seems they vary from pretty good, average, and awful. And mostly awful (sorry Cavs fans…you look upon you pretty good 2000s years sourly anyway…). Ron Harper was traded (essentially for just Danny Ferry…..Danny Ferry!) after playing 7 games of 22-7-7. The trade made way for Mark Price to take over for 20-3-9, and Brad Daugherty to have 17-9. Hot Rod Williams had 17-8, and Larry Nance had 16-8, along with Craig Ehlo (14-5-5), this team seems deceiving by its record.

Not much to say…Austin Carr racked up 21-5-3, who shared the backcourt with Lenny Wilkens (21-5-8). John Johnson gave 14-7, while 7 boards came from Cornell Warner and Dwight Davis. Nothing really to say…

(18) 1997 Cleveland Cavaliers (42-40) vs. (25) 1991 Cleveland Cavaliers (33-49)

Yet another 42-40 team. Not very exciting either. Terrell Brandon was still pretty good, averaging 20-4-6, and Chris Mills had 13-6-3. Tyrone Hill (13-10) and Bobby Phills (13-4-3) were the rest of the main support (how much can Danny Ferry count for anyway…)

The remnants of happier times are shown here. Mark Price had only 16 games, averaging a superb 17-3-10. Daugherty took the reins for 22-11-3, while Nance thrived with 19-9-3. But Hot Rod only played 43 games, and had only 12-7, a dip from last year. Not as happy times, as they missed the playoffs.

(19) 2005 Cleveland Cavaliers (42-40) vs. (24) 2004 Cleveland Cavaliers (35-47)

Another this year vs. last year matchup. 05 had basically 3 guys, LeBron (27-7-7), Zydrunas (17-9), and Drew Gooden (14-9). Rounding out their starters, Jeff McInnis (13-2-5) and…….Ira Newble (6-3). Not much strength there…

Or here in 04 for that matter. Rookie LeBron averaged 21-6-6, and just had help from….Carlos Boozer (16-11), and the Big Z (15-8). I guess they did have half a season of Ricky Davis (15-6-5)….but not much else.

(20) 1975 Cleveland Cavaliers (40-42) vs. (23) 1985 Cleveland Cavaliers (36-46)

Since this team is under .500, the average Cavs team will be under .500. But they’ve been flirting with it for a while. This 1975 team had Bingo Smith out front (16-5-3), in the midst of a half season from Austin Carr (15-3-4). Jim Chones had 15-9, and Jim Cleamons had 12-4-5…..Pretty below par.

…This team is a bit more interesting. World B Free had 23-3-5, and Roy Hinson had 16-8. 16-6 came from Phil Hubbard. Johnny Davis had 12-2-6, while Mel Turpin had 11-6.

(21) 1980 Cleveland Cavaliers (37-45) vs. (22) 1999 Cleveland Cavaliers (22-28)

Our final Cavs matchup (again, sorry it took so long…). Mike Mitchell led the way on the most average Cavs team with 22-7. Campy Russell had 18-6-4. Randy Smith had 18 points a day; Dave Robicsh had 15-8, with Kenny Carr getting 12-8. It was also a season of lasts…Walt “Clyde” Frazier limped through 3 games before handing in his retirement papers. Austin Carr (12-2-2) played his last Cavs year (he played one more year).

The lockout year saw nothing significant out of Cleveland. Shawn Kemp may have had 21-9, but Ilgauskas played only 5 games and he only got 12 points from Wesley Person and Derek Anderson in a forgettable year to end off the Cavs.

That’s the Cavs. All in all, a rather unimportant team, though featuring the likes of Austin Carr and LeBron, but no one will forget those 90s years of Daugherty, Price, and Hot Rod. Those were the true golden years for Cleveland.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Cleveland Cavaliers! Next up, Mark Aguirre, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs.