Wine and Gold Scrimmage

[KG-MVP21]

By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - Like a baseball team without a closer, the Cavaliers' lack of depth at true point guard has them doing it by committee.

Which is a fancy and politically correct way of saying they're searching a little bit.

Not only are there 12 players who could be considered guards on the training camp roster, but coach Mike Brown also says all can run the point in his offense.

``For me, our (point guard, shooting guard and small forward) are interchangeable,'' Brown said.

During Saturday night's Wine and Gold Scrimmage at Rhodes Arena, nearly a dozen players brought the ball up the floor for the Cavs. The most interesting ``interchangeable'' guard might have been first-round draft pick Shannon Brown. His first public performance with the Cavs left the crowd of more than 5,000 wanting more.

Running the point for large chunks of the workout, Brown had 12 points, two assists, two turnovers and a steal in 25 minutes. His most memorable moment was a driving dunk in traffic, but he knocked down four jumpers, including two 3-pointers, in going 5-of-11 from the field.

He played with confidence and considerable aplomb, especially since not even his teammates consider him a point guard.

``His natural position isn't point guard, so we had him in a bad position out there because he's a `two' guard,'' said LeBron James, who started slowly but finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals. ``We've got enough point guards where he won't have to play point guard.''

Since Larry Hughes and James are expected to gobble up large minutes, Brown might find himself in a so-called point guard role. That depends on how he fits in the rotation with Eric Snow, Damon Jones and David Wesley.

``Whichever one they need me to play, you just have to go out and execute,'' Brown said. ``Every time I go out on the court, I feel like I have something to prove. Anybody could bring the ball up. We want to go in transition.''

In the Las Vegas summer league in July, some injuries forced Brown to be the point guard in several games. Just as he did Saturday, he performed well enough to perhaps deserve a longer look.

``He still has to get reps to get out on the floor to get a better feel of what we're trying to do offensively,'' Mike Brown said. ``He showed he has some talent and knows how to get some things done on his own.''

Most of the work during the first week of training camp has been on defense, so understandably it was ahead of the offense Saturday. There was some sloppy play at times, but several players besides Brown started off well. That included Donyell Marshall, who played around the basket much more than he did last season in scoring 20 points with nine rebounds.

Freshly signed Drew Gooden was his usual active self, putting up 14 points with 10 rebounds. Larry Hughes' jumpers were a little off, but he scored seven points and had five assists. Free agent Brandon Hunter performed well, making 5-of-6 shots for 11 points.

For record-keeping purposes, the Wine team (which had James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Marshall and Brown) won 71-64.

The Cavs have their first preseason game Tuesday against the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena.

Link - http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/basket...rs/15709169.htm