J.J. Hickson doesn’t like Byron Scott blaming him for loss
J.J. Hickson (photo. Keith Allison)
Byron Scott didn’t sign up for this. And if the Cleveland Cavaliers’ collapse gets much worse, future franchise building block J.J. Hickson won’t re-sign up for it, either.
The Cavs’ losing streak stretched to eight games last night when they were routed in Oklahoma City. Seven of the losses have been by double-digits, and four have been by at least 20 points. Last week, first-year coach Scott — who accepted the Cleveland job when the franchise still appeared to have a good chance of re-signing LeBron James — overhauled the starting lineup and said the new group had about one week to show him something. Last night, he said the bench hasn’t been doing its part.
After a 22-point Thunder first-half lead had been cut to 10 by starters Mo Williams, Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker, Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao in the third quarter, the Cavs’ second unit allowed it to swell back to 28 in a span of about four minutes.
”I have to find a combination of that second unit that’s going to come in and play the right way and do the right things,” Scott was quoted in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer after the game. “As soon as all five guys are off the floor, we’re getting slaughtered.”
Hickson, a former starter who had nine points in 24 minutes off the bench (and got crowned by James Harden) last night, couldn’t resist a snappy response when asked about it by reporters.
“Oh, so he’s blaming it on the bench?” Hickson asked. “If (Scott) feels that way, then that’s the way he feels. That’s his opinion.”
Hickson is viewed as one of the Cavs’ few valuable assets in the post-LeBron era, but he and Scott aren’t exactly enjoying a Duncan/Poppovich relationship. The 22-year-old power forward (10.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg) can become a restricted free agent in 2012 unless Cleveland inks him to a contract extension. The Cavs are always going to have a hard time getting elite free agents to sign with them — and owner Dan Gilbert‘s public ripping of LeBron didn’t help their cause — so keeping as many talented draftees in-house is crucial. Whatever needs to happen for Hickson and Scott to avoid a toxic situation and get on the same page, somebody in the organization needs to make it happen.
What do you think? What is wrong with the Cavs?
-->
December 13th, 2010 at 10:55 am
hakasan says:
jj hickson doesn’t get it eh…. he was on the starting lineup when they started this losing streak and got demoted to the bench and is still not producing against the opposing 2nd string players… that’s why he’s getting blamed…
December 13th, 2010 at 11:11 am
K says:
“the Cavs’ second unit allowed it to swell back to 28 in a span of about four minutes.”
if that happens when you were floor for it and your coach calls you out you cant really say shit.
December 13th, 2010 at 11:16 am
flavur says:
What’s wrong with the cavs is that lebron is wearing a number 6 jersey kickin it in miami and they just don’t have a good enough team to win and byron scott seems to think they do for some strange reason.
December 13th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Mike "Yahoo! Exclusive" Mihalow says:
The Cavs have a roster set to support a great player, but they no longer have a great player. That’s the problem.
December 13th, 2010 at 11:47 am
ctkennedy says:
the main problem is jj hickson aint that good …he has a small forward mindset with NO small forward skills…he has to be your 4th best player at best
December 13th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
James says:
no more alley-oop dunks from lebron anymore. he’s now exposed for the no offense no defense poor attitude loser that he is. even the old man jamison with knee problems plays harder. and to think that the cavs didn’t want to give him up in a possible amare stoudemire trade.
December 13th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
ctkennedy says:
he thought he was better than he really was at N.C. State hes ALWAYS been overrated
December 13th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
bookkwormmaster says:
James said it best. The Cavs DIDN’T do everything in their power to LeBron the help he needed. LeBron didn’t need support he needed a sidekick. I’m sure him getting Amare would have given them a greater chance to keep him in the fold and continue to add to the core. The were already on the verge of being a championship team with Lebron alone having already made it to the NBA Finals with a very weak supporting cast. Imagine wha they coulda done with a legit 2nd all-star in his prime as offensively dominate as Amare
December 13th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
hakasan says:
especially when he’s being benched for jamison… as much as people knock his game, he’s still got a 12 year career averaging 19pt 8 rb and a steal… same cannot be said for hickson… and for all who wants to say well jamison only did it for a bad team… well, the cavs aren’t exactly contending for a playoff spot right now… they need to be playing for dignity at this point…
December 13th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Robwho? says:
booooooo booooo boooooo this is some new song tittle fo the cavs fans, lame team unappreciative fans comeone guys is like lebron touched down the franchise bt wat did u do booo at him showin love to other pple. Yeah he left so what? the owner was taking in money nstead of making the team. Sorry guys think the cavs has no more paly offs and even no room fo improvement. Can i get some booooos fo dan gilbert
December 13th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Cleveland… once a loser, always a loser… ain’t no denying it. Cursed, man, cursed…
December 13th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Balla says:
Thats bad coaching if you are outscored by 18 in 4 minutes. The NBA isn’t college where you sub out all 5 starters to bring in new guys.
December 13th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
E$ says:
8 straight? That .38 special Lebron put on them was worse than we thought
December 13th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
JBaller says:
Seems like a pretty obvious case…JJ thought he was a lot better than he actually is because he was getting buckets last year. The only problem with that mindset is that he had LBJ drawing double and triple coverage last year, leaving his should-be-lucky-to-be-second-string ass wide open. It’s not even the passing he’s missing, it’s just the attention that NBA players give you all of a sudden when there’s no one to double.
December 13th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
jzsmoove says:
let fool Hickson leave, he is not that good.
December 13th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
rob says:
Stoudimare was never going to come to Cleveland. That was just smoke and mirrors. The Cavs did the best with what they could. Isn’t their fault the NBA is lopsided with several stacked teams and instead of just sticking it out Lebron decided to run off and form is own stacked team
December 14th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
dagwaller says:
I understand that the Cavaliers don’t have much talent anymore, but Hickson is hardly someone they NEED to hold onto.
Also, Dime, you keep claiming that players are going to stay away from the Cavs because of Gilbert’s letter. Sooo, him going to bat for his players, city, and organization makes him a BAD owner? Hm.
Just because he said something mean about LeBron doesn’t make him bad, Dime.
PS I don’t think you guys jock LeBron too much or anything but seriously…I hope that anyone that I work for goes to bat for me like that.