NBA Finals: Comparing These Cavs to the ’07 Version

Mar 8, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers former center Zydrunas Ilgauskas speaks during his jersey retirement ceremony at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Starting Center

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Big Z, was LeBron’s #2 player. A player with historical significance for the Cavs organization and fans. Big Z had his number retired and was reportedly a part of the Cavs recruitment of LeBron James this summer. In ’07 he averaged 11.9 PPG with 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. His scoring and rebound went up to 12.6 and 9.7 while his blocks went down to 0.8 in the Playoffs. Ilgauskas spaced the floor for LeBron with his great baseline shot. He was a deterrent as a rim protector based on his size but didn’t have the athleticism to get to many shots from the weakside.

Timofey Mozgov was a big, literally, addition for the Cavaliers. Timo had an inconsistent role with the Denver Nuggets and improved when finding a role with the Cavs during the regular season. Timo averaged 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game with the Cavs. He alters even more shots with his length and ability to jump. During the post season, Timo’s time on the floor has gone down as the Cavs have gone small more often. He is still putting up 9.1 points, 7.2 boards and almost 2 blocks a game. His addition changed the Cavs defense.

Advantage: As much as we like what Timo has done for the team, Big Z was the Cavs #2 guy and a constant for LeBron. His shooting was on point from the baseline which was the only spacing the Cavs really had.

Next: Bench Bunch