What Would It Take? Good Question.
May 6, 2010SABR-Toothed Triber: The Whys and Wherefores of an Awful Offense
May 6, 2010
In a recent interview with CSNWashington’s Mike Jones, former Wizard forward Antawn Jamison discussed his transition from behing a long-time member of a Cavalier “rival” to playing for the team that he had attempted to beat for several years. While the majority of the piece focused on his days with the Wizards (with numerous mentions of his teammates and front office), there are several pieces that Cavaliers fans will truly enjoy reading.
On LeBron James:
“I never thought we would be teammates,” Jamison said with a chuckle. “It’s still kinda weird. I mean this is a guy that I was trying to take his head off for years, and now I’m protecting him. And he makes the game easy. … And also, watching the way he controls the locker room, and makes sure everyone’s in for the common goal, and there are no egos; it’s definitely special to be teammates with him.”
On his transition to Cleveland:
“It’s been an adjustment, being in a situation where you’re in a different city, different ownership, new teammates, in general just a different feeling,” said Jamison, who in the playoffs is averaging 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. “And not only are you in a different city, but you’re in a place where you didn’t care for each other, and didn’t see eye to eye. But it came down to me being able to compete for a championship. It just so happened that it was the one team we really didn’t get along with. In some ways, it really hasn’t been that difficult, because the guys all made it as smooth a transition as possible. Everyone has the same goal, and that’s to win a championship.”
On the Cleveland fans:
“It’s like they don’t care that I’ve been the enemy, or that I’m a guy that they used to boo. With them, it’s like, if I’m a guy that can help them get a championship, then so be it,” Jamison said. “It’s tough, though. You can’t walk around the city and find someone not involved [emotionally]. They stop everything they’re doing to watch the games. It’s unbelievable. It was Game 1 [of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal], and the third quarter was starting, and the atmosphere was just unbelievable, and I’m just saying to myself, ‘This is what it’s all about: playing for something special and having a fan base clinging to everything we do.”
“There was love in D.C., but we weren’t winning like this organization,” he adds. “These fans don’t play around. This fan base, this city, they know that we’re close and we have a chance to bring that championship to this city. They really cling to everything we do and it’s definitely fun to be a part of.”
And what it means to be playing for a realistic shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy:
“Pressure? No, this is fun! I’d rather be in this situation than at home watching games in front of the TV,” Jamison said. “Realistically, I have never had those chances to be a part of a team that has a chance to win a championship, so I welcome the challenge. … This is a chance to win a championship. It’s the only reason I’m still playing this game: to be the best and be part of the best, and I didn’t accomplish that in college and didn’t accomplish it in high school, and now this is the ultimate level, and I want to accomplish it here. I have nightmares after every year that’s ended without a championship; seeing Boston holding that trophy, seeing Kobe holding that trophy. I want that. I won’t be satisfied until that happens, that I can hold that trophy up and call myself a champion.”
Though the quotes above may seem like a lot, the entire piece is well worth the read. Jamison has long been considered the missing piece, and most-recently he has been deemed the “X-Factor.” Call him whatever you want, but Cleveland has a guy that has been able to hit the ground running from the minute he stepped foot in Quicken Loans Arena.
He even has his own pre-game handshake routine!
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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
20 Comments
Gives me chills just reading those comments…until I think back about how they played and looked like they almost didn’t care on Monday.
Friday can’t come soon enough to quell this feeling.
Thanks for highlighting something positive as we await our 6th playoff victory this year.
I believe Antawn when he downplays the pressure, because he plays consistently well. Fine, we can gripe about his mismatch in defending K.G., but that is just as much a team issue that the team needs to address. Antawn remains a crucial piece to the puzzle. I really like having him in there to clean up garbage and quickly convert it into points, grab boards, and not fall into shooting droughts.
“grab boards”
non-sequitur ahead:
I was watching in amazement how the Suns cleaned the glass last night. It was as though they were grabbing the ball on its way up. Just swiping. The Cavs have looked like they were rebounding a beach ball.
(maybe the Spurs just stunk at boxing out)
Sounds like he’s buttering up the fans a bit. He knows that if LeBron leaves, he becomes the main man (pending any inevitable free agency moves).
Now if he could only avoid abuse at the hands of KG…
KG’s only shooting 40% or so in the series, it’s really not as bad as it looks.
I’m just concerned about Jamison’s ability to hit the clutch shot. I was listening to Bill Simmons’ podcast with his friend House, who is a Wizards fan and lives in D.C. He said “Cleveland enjoy Tawn not hitting the clutch shot when you need it. We watched that for years against you guys in the playoffs. He’s great when you’re ahead by a few or down by a lot, but when the crunch time kicks in, he can’t hit it.”
I got to thinking about anytime we’ve ever seen Jamison hit a meaningful shot, and I couldn’t think of 1. Especially after all the time he’s played us in the playoffs. After all, he is the same guy who gave LBJ the baseline drive with 3seconds left. That’s just a lapse in his mental game. I hope he can pick up his play.
As Windy says, Why don’t they run that screen and roll with LBJ and Jamison? It’d kill the Celtics if we did. I need Friday to be here now.
S-dub – But how much stock can you put into something like that? We have guy(s) that can hit a clutch shot if needed. You can’t remember a clutch one from him cause the Cavs were usually out of reach. He’s a role player, not the star on this team. What he was in Washington and what he is here are two different things.
This whole team needs to pick up their play.
We’ve only got 1 star player here, and that’s LBJ. BUT, it’s been shown time and time again that we need those “Role Players” to step up and hit clutch shots. Whether it was Donyell Marshall, Mo or Delonte last year in Orlando, or Damon Jones knocking down a 3 to clinch a series. We saw in ’08 that LBJ couldn’t do it himself. I wouldn’t call Jamison a role player. I would call him our #2 guy on this team. Jamison, Mo, and LBJ all need to get going before we ever start going inside to Shaq. Our team is so much better when he’s a 4th option.
JJ in that picture makes my day. great face
Didn’t even notice JJ the first time. Too funny.
Yeah yeah. Make a 3. Play some defense.
I love Jamison. I know he hasn’t been horribly clutch in the past, but there was at least one game in the Bulls series where I remember Jamison hitting a bunch of clutch shots to give the Cavs the lead. We don’t need him to be the go-to guy in crunch time… that’s LeBron. We need him to hit an occasional shot in crunch time when it’s not the last shot of the game. I think he can do that.
Shaq is going to continue to have a hard time getting the scoring started if the Cavs keep trying to force the ball down to him early in the game. Kendrick Perkins is an excellent post defender and rebounder, and Shaq can’t abuse him like he did to Joakim Noah. I predict that we’ll continue to see these slow starts by the Cavs if there isn’t a change in game plan.
Jamison is the one guy who really shouldn’t be taking any flak. So it’s a bad match-up on D with him and KG, that’s nothing we didn’t expect. Tawn’s never been a great defender anyway. He’s showed up for the most part and is averaging 17/little over 7 boards. Can’t argue with that.
17 and 7 averages is solid, can’t knock the guy for these playoffs. If anyone needs to be knocked it’s Mo absolutely getting killed on both ends.
This article almost made me forget about Monday
I like Jamison. He seems like a classy guy, and those awkward shots he takes (that go in) are great.
I love Jamison and think it was a great trade and would do it time and time again. Mo has been toasted quite a few times. But, if you wanna talk about averages he’s averaging 15 points and about 6 assists. BUT, he’s doing it on 41% shooting, hasn’t taken a 3 in the Boston series and is only 75% at the line. Numbers tell a story for a guy, but they don’t tell the whole story.
About that photo, it would help if Mo Williams would stop smoking during games. Sheesh.
And the majoriy here didn’t want AJ – go figure. Class
act on and off the court it’s just to bad LeBron
didn’t have him as a teammate sooner. Instead
we get to watch the Boobie bunch and the rest.
When the season is done and the Cavs come up
short you can talk about the head coach who can’t
really coach and the GM who is reactionary and
slow on the draw!