Ben Taylor
Well, there’s no getting around it. Pay close attention because you won’t hear me admit to this very often.
I was … I was wrong. Eight games into the Cavaliers’ season, they are nowhere close to being undefeated. Granted, they’re sporting a 3-5 record and are only a half game back from seventh/a full game back from fourth in the East as of press time, but they haven’t been fantastic to this point. Unless they pick things up a little bit, it looks like we might just be in for another season of mediocrity, which actually wouldn’t be too bad considering some of our recent seasons.
Not all the players on the Cavs have been mediocre, though. Some have struggled even to reach the high bar set by that descriptor.
Take, for instance, Anthony Bennett.
Now, anyone who follows the Cavs even remotely knows that Anthony Bennett has not been a joy to watch this season. Here are some fun facts about his performance through the first seven games in which he has played.
1. The most points he has scored in a game is three.
2. His season total for points is five.
3. His points per game average is 0.7.
4. He is averaging 2.6 rebounds per game, with his high so far totaling six, which actually isn’t that bad since it came in only 13 minutes against Indiana. But still, 2.6?
5. He has more steals (0.9) and personal fouls (1.3) per game than he has points.
6. Bennett is doing all his work in only 10.9 minutes per game. If his stats are extrapolated for 36 minutes, he is averaging an underwhelming 2.3 points, a decent 8.6 rebounds, 2.9 steals, and 4.2 personal fouls, along with six asthma attacks, three moments in each game where an opposing point guard gets lost in his fat rolls, and at least seven moments when Mike Brown can no longer stand to watch him play. Per-36 minutes stats for tears cried by Dan Gilbert are hard to calculate for what ought to be obvious reasons.
7. Over half of Bennett’s attempts have been three pointers (1.6 of every 3.0 field goal attempts). He is currently 1-11 from deep, the make being his sole field goal on the season.
Here’s my point (in case you missed it): Bennett has pretty much been terrible on offense, and he has played so poorly that he has yet to play for more than 15 minutes in a game, and that was on opening night.
This was our number one overall draft pick? What were we thinking?
After Bennett, nine players were taken in the top 10 on draft night. Three of those (Otto Porter, Nerlens Noel and Trey Burke) have yet to play a minute for their teams due to injury. Of those who have played, none has a lower PER (player efficiency rating) than Alex Len, center for the Phoenix Suns, at 5.95. Bennett is currently at 0.12. Meanwhile, the second pick in the draft, Victor Oladipo, has a PER of 11.74, averaging 12.1 points per game. Matthew Delladova, who joined the Cavs as an undrafted free agent, is averaging as many points as and has a higher PER than Anthony Bennett.
I could go on and on citing stats that serve to demonstrate just how utterly deplorable Anthony Bennett has been this season, but what’s the use? The point has been made: Bennett is a disappointment. Michael Olowokandi and Kwame Brown, historically terrible busts at the number one spot, were both better through their first seven games than Bennett has been to this point. Olowokandi had even recorded a double-double in his sixth game. Then again, I doubt either of them were waddling down the court before throwing up shots from deep. But hey, if you have the chance to draft a 6’ 8” power forward who loves to shoot threes and is coming off of shoulder surgery and you can get him at the No. 1 spot, you have to do it every time, especially if you’re already pretty stacked at that position. There’s not even a question. What’s not to love?
Anyway, enough ranting. Bennett is terrible, and that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. We Cavs fans can only hope that the Kyrie-Tristan-Dion-Varejão combo can get us some wins. Otherwise, it may be time to start riggin’ for Wiggins. Maybe the commish will have mercy on us yet again.
If not, we may be stuck in mediocrity indefinitely.