Calling Coach Brown...

Well, DJ didn't play again in Game 5, and not coincidentally, the Cavaliers lost a chance at home to close out the Wizards. Obviously I've had a beef with Coach Brown over DJ's lost playing time for a while now. And while it's fun to jokingly (well, half-jokingly) blame it on the karma of the lost Hawk, I'm honestly getting tired of DJ not getting a chance. I understand the Szczerbiak experiment. And I understand trying Devin Brown for a while. But it's not working.

Look, I appreciate Devin Brown's hustle and hard work. He's one of only two Cavaliers that's not afraid to drive strong to the hoop (and I think you know who the other more famous one is). And I know we had to give Wally a shot. But Caron Butler ate him alive last night. If you want someone out there who isn't a strong defender, can't it at least be a guy who you know can drain shots under the pressure of the postseason? I'm begging you Mike Brown, give Damon another chance before this season goes up in smoke. Let him help beat the Wizards again.

DJ is dying to follow up this shot with another dagger in '08

Now I'm really confused

The bad news: DJ notched his 6th straight DNP-CD. I hope you're growing that hair out now DJ. I just bought some new clippers and I can resurrect the Hawk myself if you need me to. Nothing short of a miracle will get you off that bench now. And the Hawk is (or should I say was?) a miracle.

The confusing news: Sasha Pavlovic was in the starting lineup in place of Devin Brown. So Devin came off the bench, and Wally Szczerbiak played bench-buddy to DJ tonight, collecting his first DNP-CD of the year. And Dwayne Jones played one minute. It all makes sense, right? (my head is spinning)

The good news: We FINALLY wrapped up home court with the bizarre win over the Sixers after Devin Brown drained two free throws with .2 seconds left. Even better news - the win means that Wednesday's game vs. the Pistons means absolutely nothing. This has to ensure that DJ gets some major PT for this one, right Coach Brown??? We're keeping our fingers crossed...

LeBron wants to see DJ play on Wednesday!

A distubing trend

Honestly, when I started this blog I never imagined that DJ would be the odd man out of the Cavs rotation. Wednesday night marked the 4th straight DNP-CD for Damon. You know he has to be getting frustrated (as evidenced by the PD article in my previous post and this one from the Brian Windhorst). I understand that Boobie needs to be integrated back into the lineup. He is an important piece of the puzzle. And I understand going with Sczcerbiak and West for long stretches. We need all these guys on the same page in the playoffs. But to me, that includes DJ as well. He was enjoying his best season as a Cavalier and was really stretching the defense and making them pay for sagging on LeBron. I don't understand cutting him out of the rotation completely.

Damon - my best advice to you is to bring back the Hawk. The fans love it. I love to write about it. And you were in the rotation and playing well with it. Then you went and messed up a good thing and karma is punishing you. But karma can give as well as take. Bring back the Hawk and restore order in Cavalier Land. I'm asking you for your own good now.

Remember how happy you were back then? There's a way to bring that back...

In the dog house...

Well, judging from DJ's playing time over the last two games (or lack thereof) it looks like he's back in Mike Brown's dog house... or just relegated to the bench again. I had a feeling this was coming with the return of Boobie. And I have to agree with Brian Windhorst, I'm not so sure this is a great idea. There are enough minutes for Gibson and Damon to both drain open shots for this team. DJ is a great shooter no matter what you think of him personally, and he should be getting consistent minutes. Mr. Szczerbiak on the other hand... let's just hope he comes around some day. At least his $13M expiring contract will be coming in handy soon.

For the love of Moondog Wally, please start hitting these open shots