During her weekly mailbag, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer theorizes that the vitriol about Andrew Bynum in Philadelphia was stronger than Ohio's reaction to the repeatedly injured Greg Oden because Oden led the Buckeyes to the 2007 NCAA National Championship game, and Philadelphia lost their gamble on Bynum last season.
Boyer also predicts the Cavs' starting lineup if the whole roster–specifically Anderson Varejao and Bynum–are healthy. The hypothesis: Bynum, Tristan Thompson, Earl Clark, Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving. Noticeably absent is Varejao, who could attract interest from other teams if Bynum appears healthy and productive before the the February trade deadline.
Here's what else is happening with the Cavs, on a lazy NBA Saturday in August:
- The underlying reason the Cavs brought back head coach Mike Brown was for his defensive acumen. The Plain-Dealer's Terry Pluto writes that Brown is assigning players specific positions in an effort to avoid confusion with a player's role in his new defensive schemes.
- One example of strictly following positional assignments is Waiters. He can play either guard position, but Brown says he'll primarily assign him the defensive responsibilities of a shooting guard, with Kyrie Irving defending the helmsman at point.
- Pluto also adds that Tristan Thompson's switch from shooting with his left to right hand wasn't a big surprise for the Cavs. He'd been shooting free throws with his right hand last season at practice, and even attempted some right-handed jump shots towards the end of the year because the rotation looked better.
- Thompson shoots the ball with either hand near the basket, but throws a ball right-handed and eats with his left hand. The Cavs just want him to improve on his career 58.6 percent mark from the charity stripe.