The Cavaliers are hitting their stride at the midpoint of the season, having won five straight games and 11 of their last 13 to improve to 23-18.
That’s just one victory shy of their midseason total of a year ago, when they went on to capture 50 games, the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and advance to the NBA Finals.
Professor Noland, however, must evaluate the entire season when handing out mid-term report cards:

Devin Brown: B

He’s a great garbage man in that he always hustles and make things happen, but it’s not a good sign when he starts pounding the basketball or hoisting a lot of perimeter jumpers.

Shannon Brown: D-

He’s got some talent and athleticism, but he has no idea how to play with four other guys.

Daniel Gibson: B+

He’s been great coming off the bench after opening the season as a starter, but he’ll probably go back into the starting lineup now that Sasha Pavlovic is out six to eight weeks with a foot injury.

Drew Gooden: B

Nothing’s changed here. Some nights, Gooden is very good. On others, he’s very bad. Not coincidentally, there have been more of the latter since Anderson Varejao arrived and started taking some of his minutes.

Larry Hughes: D-

Everybody take cover, the $65 Million Man is about to throw up another brick. Things have gotten so bad the Cavaliers actually credited Hughes with a pass when he shot an airball on a 3-pointer Wednesday against Washington. Anything to save the guy’s shooting percentage from going lower.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas: A-

The big fellow is probably the team’s best mid-range shooter, and he’s also an underrated defender and underappreciated player overall.

LeBron James: A+

No comment is necessary here.

Damon Jones: B-

He’s back in the rotation only because a desperate Mike Brown put him in against Toronto with the Cavaliers down 20. Instead of crediting Brown for that move, fans should wonder why Jones ever fell out of the rotation in the first place.

Dwayne Jones: D

He’s a nice young man and he’s given the Cavaliers decent minutes on a few occasions, but it’s doubtful he’ll ever be more than an end-of-the-bench guy in the NBA.

Donyell Marshall: D-

The easy thing to do would be to give Marshall an “incomplete” due to his nagging wrist injury, but the preseason and his first two games of the regular season showed his skills are going downhill fast.

Ira Newble: D

He’s a decent guy to have at the end of the bench, nothing more.

Sasha Pavlovic: D

There wasn’t a worse starting backcourt in the league than Pavlovic and Hughes, but for some reason the Cavaliers began winning with that lineup. That lineup will have to be altered, however, because Pavlovic, who had just started to show signs of busting out of a lengthy slump, could be out as long as two months with a foot injury.

Cedric Simmons: D-

Right now, he’s an NBA Development League player.

Eric Snow: C-

The veteran point guard might be the best assistant coach on Mike Brown’s bench, but he hasn’t done much to help on the court.

Anderson Varejao: A

It’s no coincidence the Cavaliers have taken off since Varejao started playing major minutes. It’s going to cost a lot of money to re-sign the Brazilian at the end of next season.

Mike Brown: B-

He still can’t coach offense and he still struggles with substitutions and player usage, but the Cavaliers have once again started buying into his defensive philosophy.

Danny Ferry: C-

Either Ferry is the most patient general manager in the league or he’s unable to pull the trigger on a deal. He’s been as inactive as Marshall and Simmons.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net. 

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