[futuristxen]

The way the Cavs have been playing, he could actually get some garbage time run. That's suprising Danny has already called him back. I wonder if Mike Brown will try and find him minutes now.

Exciting times for The Vicious one.

Is anyone else excited to see who Danny Ferry drafts this year with a first round pick?

[CHKNWANG321]

I am. Hopefully he doesnt make a bogus trade like we did last year. Iri Welsch for 1st rd. pick. Oh yah, that was a great trade. :sarcasm:

[remy23]

Windhorst on the Cavaliers
Rookie center makes strikes for future
Andriuskevicius puts up impressive numbers in four NBA Developmental League games

By Brian Windhorst

Cavaliers Rookie Martynas Andriuskevicius played well in four games in the NBA Development League last week.

He averaged 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game while shooting 54 percent.

It re-energized the Cavs' faith in his future as they hope they landed a steal in the second round of June's draft.

With Andriuskevicius still on the board, General Manager Danny Ferry and his staff scrambled to get a deal done with the Orlando Magic for the 7-foot-2 Lithuanian when it became known their pick was available.

With no draft picks, the Cavs sold the Magic on swapping the Milwaukee Bucks' 2006 second-round pick they'd acquired earlier for Jiri Welsch on draft day for Andriuskevicius, whom the Magic drafted for the Cavs while they were working out the deal.

The problem was, the Cavs weren't allowed to trade that pick under NBA rules, because the Welsch deal couldn't be finalized until he'd flown to Milwaukee from Europe and passed a physical.

The league rejected the trade, and it put things up in the air, which is why Ferry told the media after the draft had ended that they weren't able to get a deal done.

Later, the Magic agreed to take the Cavs' 2009 second-round pick, the next one they had available, and hold onto it until they could swap it for the Bucks' pick once Welsch was deemed fine.

At the time, some wondered whether the deal was made to appease Andriuskevicius' agent, Herb Rudoy, who was seeing a once-prized recruit drop like a rock after once even being projected in the top 10.

Rudoy also represents Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whom the Cavs were hoping to re-sign to a fair contract during the summer.

Perhaps it was a little bit of both. Ferry had seen Andriuskevicius several times in Europe and watched him work out at the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp while working for the San Antonio Spurs and liked his upside.

The 90 minutes he played last week represented the most court time he's had in a while.

The lanky 19-year-old played just 126 minutes with the major-league team in Europe last season and has played less than four minutes with the Cavs this year.

Andriuskevicius has worked very hard to add bulk and stays after every practice for extra work with coaches and trainers.

The only troubling thing is he appears to love shooting 3-pointers, which he works on exhaustively, and even hoisted a few while playing for the Arkansas RimRockers.

Yes, he's thin and fragile-looking now, but if he wants to have a career like Ilgauskas and become an All-Star and filthy rich, he'll add as much weight as he can and learn how how to move and play in the post like Z. If not, he's a candidate to become another Bruno Sundov, who was the only bench-warming 7-2 small forward in the NBA for a long time.

Dribbles


• Speaking of Ilgauskas, there is simply no questioning his toughness.

He's shown it throughout his career, battling through various injuries other than his famous feet.

He played through a bad finger for the last month of last season and has battled a nagging lower back and sore left knee this season.

Thursday in Miami, Cavs coach Mike Brown nearly fainted when he saw Z's dislocated right middle finger.

Despite the pain and pleas from Ferry for him not to risk it after it was popped back into place, Ilgauskas had it taped up and went out to face Shaquille O'Neal.

• Since he became a starter, Sasha Pavlovic has made a few shots and rattled a few cages. According to team insiders, some in the Cavs' camp questioned his toughness when he was passive about losing minutes to Luke Jackson early in the season and then took much longer than expected to return from an ankle injury in December.

Since getting his chance, he's been perhaps the most physical Cav, picking up lots of fouls, yes, but also getting under the skin of opponents.

The Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson and the New Jersey Nets' Vince Carter both have gotten unnerved with him lately.

• The Cavs are getting closer to finalizing plans for their new practice facility.
Locations in Independence and Brecksville are under consideration for the project, which might cost between $30-$40 million, as the team is looking to set a new standard for opulence.

• As expected, Drew Gooden's minutes have been dropping off significantly with the return to prominence of Anderson Varejao.

Since the day Donyell Marshall was signed, this situation has been assured. Gooden has been the ultimate team player throughout the season and continues to put up good numbers.

Yet, his patience in his free-agent season is no doubt being tested.

• In a surprise, Tracy McGrady's jersey is the hot seller in China ahead of teammate Yao Ming, according to the NBA. LeBron James comes in at No. 5.

• From the outset, the Cavs have taken the pessimistic view of how quickly Larry Hughes could return, noting the bones in his wounded knuckle are very fragile and need lots of rest.

But if Hughes gets a good report at his next exam on Tuesday, the chances of him returning right after the All-Star break become more realistic.

[CHKNWANG321]

Good to know that he is trying hard to improve and add strength.

We reallly dont need another player that is in love with the 3 point shot tho

[remy23]

CLEVELAND, Mar. 2nd - The Cleveland Cavaliers have reassigned forward/center Martynas Andriuskevicius to the Arkansas RimRockers of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.

Andriuskevicius was assigned to Arkansas on Jan. 22 and played in four games for the RimRockers. He averaged 12.5 points on .536 shooting from the field (15-28), 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game. Andriuskevicius was recalled by the Cavaliers on Feb. 1. He has played in six games for Cleveland this season and has grabbed four rebounds in nine total minutes.

[futuristxen]

It's just as well. He's gotten some garbage time, but he has yet to get a shot attempt. I'm glad we have the NBDL as an option, so that dude can actually go and get run.

[KingoftheCourt23]

Much better place for him. He will actually get minutes and develop some. I hope he is still trying to beef up a little. Maybe he can make some big strides in the NBDL.

[remy23]

Originally Posted by futuristxen

It's just as well. He's gotten some garbage time, but he has yet to get a shot attempt. I'm glad we have the NBDL as an option, so that dude can actually go and get run.

In garbage time, the rest of the guys Marty was on the court with were looking for their own shot. While I can't blame them for wanting to shoot, if they never look to share, there's no other possible outcome.

[remy23]

Thunderbirds 100, RimRockers 103

The RimRockers won but Martynas didn't see much action. That's understandable since he's been away for a while. In 4 minutes of action, Andriuskevicus had 2 rebounds.

[remy23]

Thunderbirds 91, RimRockers 92

Arkansas wins again, this one by a razor thin margin. In 13 minutes of action, Andriuskevicius scored 4 points, collected 3 rebounds, blocked 1 shot and got 1 steal.

[remy23]

Andriuskevicius Assigned to Arkansas Rimrockers

CLEVELAND, Mar. 16th - The Cleveland Cavaliers have reassigned forward/center Martynas Andriuskevicius to the Arkansas RimRockers of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today.

Andriuskevicius has played in a total of seven games with the RimRockers this season and is averaging 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game. He has played a total of nine minutes in six games for the Cavaliers this season. Below are Andriuskevicius’ transactions this season:

• First assigned to the RimRockers on January 22 and played in four games averaging 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game
• Recalled by the Cavaliers on February 1
• Reassigned to the RimRockers on March 2 and played in three games (one start) averaging 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game.
• Recalled by the Cavaliers on March 6

Andriuskevicius was acquired by the Cavaliers from the Orlando Magic on June 29, 2005. The Magic selected him in the second round (44th overall pick) of the 2005 NBA Draft.

The RimRockers are the D-League affiliate for the Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors.

There and back again, a hobbit's tale by Martynas Andriuskevicius.