Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Coach Brown's Snub of "Z" Perplexing
Last week Cavs center Zydrunas Ilguaskas became the franchise leader in games played with 724 appearances in Cavs gear surpassing the previous mark that was held by Danny Ferry. We were all prepared for Z to break the record at Quicken Loans Arena back on November 28th versus the Dallas Mavericks. There was only one problem, coach Mike Brown thought it would be appropriate to give the big man a DNP CD instead. For all that are not familiar with that basketball acronym that stands for "did not play coaches decision". Coach Brown later backed his action by saying he wanted to match up better with Dallas' smaller quicker line up. Good one coach, only problem is Shaq logged 25 minutes in the pivot that night, even with two chronically bad feet I would be tempted to put my money on Zydrunas in a speed and quickness competition against Shaq. Further more, I am sure that during Brown's tenure with the Cavs he came across many situations in which he needed to juggle his rotation to suit the same circumstances and I dare say that I am sure Z logged at least several minutes in those games. In the grand scheme of things this incident may not mean much, however,I think Ilgauskas deserved better. Note to Mike Brown- you have a good thing going here, a championship team with great chemistry that actually enjoy playing with each other, a terrific owner and a once in a generation superstar in LeBron James. The artistry of winning championships is a fragile affair, don't mess with the karma!
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Forget about Z...Shaq is 10 times better b/c of his winning experience and playing in the SEC...Speaking of the SEC, I think that you need to write an article about the lack of Big Ten (or should I say 11) football national championships recently. Speed Kills!!! And thats why the SEC is dominating!!
ReplyDelete- The Cajun
Until Z races Michael Phelps in a swimming contest - as Shaq did - then my money is on Shaq being the quicker athlete and I am OK with Brown's decision.
ReplyDeleteLast I checked basketball is played on hardwood not in water. I can not come up with a viable reason to give Brown a pass on this. He either made a large error in judgement or there is more going on behind the scenes. Neither case is very comforting to me.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with sports is there is no loyalty anymore. Not from the players, the coaches, the owners or even the fans. Z stuck with the Cavs even after numerous trade rumors about him. He has been pretty loyal to the Cavs. Coach Brown should have found a way to get him into the game. You can't tell me Z playing a few minutes in that game would have mattered. He has been one of the Cavs best player. Brown owed it to him. Not too many player are "owed" things. Z has been loyal to the Cavs through the good times and bad never complaining or wanting to re-do his contract. He has been a stand up guy and deserved better.
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