Wild Wild West
- Delonte West was a key part of last season’s success.
Delonte West poses a difficult problem these days for our Cavaliers. And it has little to do with his off court issues.
It seems as if Coach Mike Brown is having a difficult time finding a way to integrate Delonte into his lineup rotation this season. The Wine and Gold have been without their young guard for many games this season as he deals with bipolar disorder but, when he is there, he isn’t seeing the floor too much.
After accounting for 11.7 points per game and more than 3 assists and rebounds per contest last season, Delonte West has been unproductive thus far this season. He’s shooting a mere 35% from the field this season while averaging 4.7 points and 2.7 assists per game.
Brown has tried altering his lineup as of late to work Delonte West into the rotation but as Brian Windhorst pointed out in the Plain Dealer two days ago, the win against Philadelphia was a complete disaster on this front. In order to make room for West on the floor, Brown benched Mo Williams to start the second half. The result: West tried too hard to earn his spot back on the floor and his poor play resulted in a -11 efficiency rating after just four minutes. He never returned to the floor in that contest.
When West first appeared in a regular season game this season he took minutes from Jamario Moon, who is playing much too well to reduce his minutes right now. As well, Daniel Gibson has regained his smooth stroke and has picked it up on the defensive end to earn his minutes.
