<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>He has the same springy hair, the same reckless abandon. The same instinct for rebounding, the same physical defensive play.</p> Anderson Varejao is, however, glowing with a golden tan. In December. In Cleveland.</p> So, the most recent player to join the Cavaliers isn't precisely the same as the one who left Cleveland in June. He didn't spend all of his ex tended summer vacation in Brazil working out in the gym.</p> "Yeah, I went to the beach," a grinning Vare jao admitted Wednesday. "I had to have some fun, too."</p> <a name="more"></a></p> But he spent enough time shooting jumpers, lifting weights and generally keeping in shape -- coach Mike Brown said Varejao weighed just three pounds more than he did at the end of last season -- that he claimed he didn't feel tired after his debut Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers.</p> He is almost entirely the same. He is still the same kind of bench spark that boosts the Cavaliers, as he did in helping them halt a six-game losing streak in his return after a 21-game absence in a contract holdout. With a bench now bolstered by Varejao and newly anointed sixth man Larry Hughes -- not to mention the return of LeBron James after a five-game absence -- the Cavaliers are finally becoming the team they envisioned. Only about one-quarter of the season late.</p> For Varejao's part, in his first appearance he did what he does best: He was a pest. He clogged lanes defensively, hounded anyone with the ball near the basket, and chased after loose rebounds.</p> He collected nine rebounds and six points in 23 minutes.</p> More importantly, he was another big man added to the thin front-court rotation.</p> "He takes the pressure off me and Drew [Gooden]," center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. "Before, we felt like for us to get a win, one of us had to get a double double each game."</p> Against the Pacers, Ilgauskas and Gooden combined for a double double, instead, with the 7-3 center contributing 17 points while Gooden snagged 11 rebounds.</p> And, Ilgauskas pointed out, after averaging 32.3 minutes this season, he played just 27 in the decisive 118-105 victory over Indiana. Gooden, averaging 34.3 minutes, played just 23 against the Pacers.</p> "I've played enough 40-minute games this season," Ilgauskas said, chuckling.</p> Varejao did exhibit one small difference in his play Tuesday: He didn't draw a single charge with his knack for falling over backward with flair. Instead, he was called for fouls twice when he tried to draw offensive fouls.</p> Still, Varejao said a supposed referee crackdown on his trademark flopping - embellishing the offensive contact received - won't impact his approach to playing.</p> "I was just late [to get in position] both times," Varejao said of his two fouls. "I'm going to play the same way. All I've ever done is try to be in good position to take the charge."</p> Varejao said he felt the same as he did the last time he was on the court, in the NBA Finals. And he wants to be the same Cleveland fan favorite, the grinning, happy-go-lucky "Wild Thing" whose emotional play ignites the crowd.</p> But as he entered Tuesday's game in the first quarter, a rumbling of boos was drowned out by the exultant cheers approving James' simultaneous return. Varejao has only one plan to win back the hearts of Cavaliers fans.</p> "I just feel like I have to play basketball," Varejao said. "Let's move on. Forget the summer."</p> And maybe with time, the bad feelings, like the tan, will fade.</p> Briefly:</p> Hughes said he's willing to try a permanent move to the bench - as long as it comes with continued play at shooting guard rather than the point position he was moved to last season. "I guess it's just another sacrifice," Hughes said. "I really just have to see how it goes. I'm moreso happy that I relayed the message that I didn't want to play solely the point guard." . . . Daniel Gibson participated in only limited practice drills Wednesday, just two days after having a wisdom tooth removed. His status for Friday's game at New Jersey will be determined today. . . . Cedric Simmons missed Wednesday's practice after the birth of his first child, a son, at 12:07 a.m.</div></p> Source: Plains Dealer</p>
