In what could be one of the most exciting seasons in their history, the Cavaliers open training camp on Tuesday. The festivities begin today with media day. Two-a-day practices start Tuesday morning. Despite wholesale changes in the offseason - Danny Ferry was hired as general manager, Mike Brown as head coach and four major free agents were signed - there are still some questions about the 2005-06 season. Who will start at point guard? Conventional wisdom says free agent acquisition Damon Jones will be the starter over veteran Eric Snow. But Snow won't go down without a fight. Snow worked hard on his shooting in the offseason. However, there was much work to be done. He shot just 38.2 percent from the field and 28.9 percent from the 3-point line last year. He didn't make a 3-pointer in his last 36 games and lost all confidence in his outside shooting. Snow does run the offense well and is a much better defender than Jones. Jones is one of the top 3-point shooters in the league. He led the NBA in 3-point goals per 48 minutes (4.2), ranked third in 3-pointers made (225) and was fifth in 3-point percentage (43.2). He's probably more impressed that he was fourth in the NBA in assists-to-turnovers ratio (3.57). Opposing teams left Snow unguarded on the perimeter last year and double-teamed All-Stars Zydrunas Ilgauskas and LeBron James. They won't be able to do that with Jones, whose strength is his outside shooting. Can Donyell Marshall unseat Drew Gooden at power forward? Marshall was one of the other key free agents signed. His strength is his outside shooting. He was 11th in 3-point percentage last year (41.6). Gooden had his best season of his career last year when he averaged 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds (13th in the NBA) and 1.6 assists. He was also eighth in the league with 37 double-doubles. He was also the only Cavaliers player to appear in all 82 games. Some think he's a better all-around player than Marshall. That's debatable, but it's close. Marshall has averaged 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in his 11-year career. He might as good a rebounder as Gooden, and that's saying something. Can Brown improve the Cavaliers' defense? That was the selling point with owner Dan Gilbert. He loved Brown's background as an assistant coach in Indiana and San Antonio - two of the top defensive teams in the league. But the Cavaliers didn't make the playoffs last year largely because they couldn't stop anybody down the stretch. The Cavaliers vow that will change this season. Brown has got to get his star players - James, Ilgauskas and Larry Hughes - to buy into his defensive system. Is Brown ready for the rigors of being a head coach? Source - News-Herald
Just because he worked for 2 of the top defensive teams doesn't mean he can 'coach' defense. They had 2 very strong stoppers on those teams, something Cleveland lacks.
