now the Cavs have JJ Hickson & Ced Simmons.

good for JJ though, he will absolutely benefit from playing with Lebron.

[Edited on June 26, 2008 at 9:24 PM. Reason : jk]

6/26/2008 9:21:54 PM

does Ced even ever play? I had forgotten about him

6/26/2008 9:22:22 PM

Quote :

"now the Cavs have JJ Hickson & Ced Simmons."

Ced already got traded away

^no

6/26/2008 9:24:21 PM

Ced plays for the Bulls, FYI

under Del Negroooooooo

6/26/2008 9:25:51 PM

Watching Ced's minutes when he was with the Cavs was unbearable

because I really wanted to see him do well, but he looked totally lost out there

6/26/2008 9:26:22 PM

whoops, I thought for sure DeAndre Jordan and Kosta Koufos would go before JJ, but congrats to the big man

6/26/2008 9:32:05 PM

yay jj is gone. can we have some chemistry again please?

6/26/2008 9:40:17 PM

good for JJ
im glad he didnt go to a really shitty team
at least he gets to play for a competitor...thats great

he might be able to come in and give them a little front line help ... if nothing else, he can come in for clean up minutes or fouls

hope banging around with wallace helps him out

6/27/2008 9:09:18 AM

http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/06/cavaliers_take_forward_jj_hick.html

make sure to read over the comment section. the campers are not too happy in CLEAVEEEEland

Quote :

"Finally, the moment we've been waiting for. The Cavs take J.J. Hickson, a swift-footed, 6-9, 242-pound freshman from North Carolina State at No. 19. Most of the media members here at the Cavs' practice facility seemed surprised with the choice. Hickson, who played just one season at N.C. State and turns 20 in September, averaged almost 15 points and nine boards a game with the Wolfpack. Asked to analyze the pick, ESPN commentator Jay Bilas said Hickson needed to improve his work ethic. Cleveland, who had five minutes to make a selection just like every other team, became the first organization to use more than its allotted time to choose a player. With the Cavs' pick, the league has tied a record for the number of freshmen chosen in an NBA Draft (eight). Darrell Arthur and Ohio State's Kosta Koufos, both players that some outlets projected Cleveland would take, are still waiting to hear their names called."

Quote :

"TTENTION DANNY FERRY: Maybe you missed the memo... or the fire burning above LBJ's locker... He's gone in two years unless you bring in some players to help now... We need to have some contribute now... We already have player's trying to mature/grow/learn the game... like Varejao... Not that Koufus was going to be an allstar, but he is more ready now to contribute. Maybe there is a trade in the works. Or maybe this guy is the next David West. Browns. Browns. Browns."

wtf is Jay Bilas smoking...work ethic?!?!?!?!
JJ was the hardest working member of last years team...

http://northcarolina.scout.com/a.z?s=78&p=2&c=765346
What is your reaction after being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers?
My reaction, I didn't really have one. I was lost for words when they announced my name to play in Cleveland. I just want to thank the Cleveland Cavaliers and their organization for accepting me with open arms.

What are your thoughts on playing with LeBron James?
It's going to be a good experience this year for me. It's going to be a good learning experience, and I'm going to be a sponge soaking up everything he tells me and the team in general. He's the best athlete in the league right now.

How much of an impact can you have in your rookie year?
It's up to me. I think I can make a major impact. It can be in practice or off the court... just motivating my teammates and being a positive influence.

What player in the league would you say you model your game after or play like?
I'd probably say K.G. or an Al Harrington-type player.

In watching your tape you seem to love to work on the low block. Has that always been a major part of your game?
I think that's been a major part of my game throughout my basketball career... knowing and developing how to score on the block. I'm going to continue to develop it and other parts of my game.

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 12:23 PM. Reason : sadf]

6/27/2008 12:19:45 PM

Quote :

"actually cleveland told JJ that they will guarantee him the #19 pick if he stopped working out with other teams... 6/11/2008 7:06:50 PM"

bow before me!!!

6/27/2008 12:25:53 PM

yeah that bilas statement was fucking ridiculous. i wanted to reach through the screen and punch him in the face lol. jj was the hardest working player on the team last year, and i think you'd be hard-pressed to find a harder working player in the ACC. dude is all work ethic.

6/27/2008 12:28:52 PM

Jay Bilas aka Flip Flop

he picked both Memphis and Kansas to win the title last year

6/27/2008 12:29:16 PM

This just in: draft commentary and prognostication is 99% bullshit

6/27/2008 12:32:45 PM

http://bp0.blogger.com/_PodPhFOb47g/SGR0P34v0sI/AAAAAAAAAPs/LYPnTSm3Zeg/s1600-h/JJ+Hickson+draft.jpg
here is a picture of JJ's draft party

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 12:35 PM. Reason : damn you red x]

6/27/2008 12:35:28 PM

awesome

6/27/2008 12:37:05 PM

nice $200 burberry shirt

6/27/2008 2:14:21 PM

tracy smith and gavin are in that pic as well

6/27/2008 3:04:25 PM

please to point them out

6/27/2008 3:32:33 PM

that looks a lot like yancys downtown. where was it?

6/27/2008 3:36:02 PM

I dont know about tracy smith, but gavin MIGHT be the guy on the far right

6/27/2008 3:43:47 PM

x

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 3:49 PM. Reason : x]

6/27/2008 3:48:45 PM

looks like duce staley with the fart face on the far right

and that white lady looks out of place lol

6/27/2008 3:50:26 PM

I saw something about a JJ Hickson Draft Party in Atlanta on Facebook

6/27/2008 3:51:44 PM

look at their wrist people

its clear

and it KIND of favors tracy on the far left in the black hat, but not entirely

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 3:55 PM. Reason : g]

6/27/2008 3:54:03 PM

JJ played hard yes, but hard-worker, how do we know so much?

What I look at is how much a player improves.....mentally and physically. He did not get better over the course of the season and he was never in shape start, middle, end of the season. He was loafing a lot due to poor conditioning. Did you guys watch him play defense? He might as well have run to the other end.

6/27/2008 11:55:26 PM

^Dude, stop hating everything state basketball. I'm sorry your boyfriend lives in Arizona. You can still jerk to his photos. You want state bball to fail just so you can say we made a mistake in firing your boyfriend. Just post in the ASU bball thread if you want to comment on bball.

6/28/2008 12:41:37 AM

WTF nothing in my comment has ANYTHING to do with Sendek once so ever.....can you read?

[Edited on June 28, 2008 at 12:48 AM. Reason : Nevermind you guys obviously know more than Jay Bilas, probably the most respected name on ESPN]

6/28/2008 12:47:21 AM

Quote :

"^Dude, stop hating everything state basketball. I'm sorry your boyfriend lives in Arizona. You can still jerk to his photos. You want state bball to fail just so you can say we made a mistake in firing your boyfriend. Just post in the ASU bball thread if you want to comment on bball."

Terrible post.

6/28/2008 12:48:50 AM

sigh...J.J. already got a tatoo

6/28/2008 12:56:29 AM

Quote :

"WTF nothing in my comment has ANYTHING to do with Sendek once so ever.....can you read? "

Yes, I read between the lines. I read your posts in the state bball recruiting thread. And Kodiak, go eat a dick, douchebag.

6/28/2008 1:12:09 AM

Ok I'll answer your dumbass statements.....even though I have not brought up Sendek in over 2 years.

Quote :

"You want state bball to fail just so you can say we made a mistake in firing your boyfriend."

1) Herb was not fired and was not going to get fired. Period. Sidney may or may not get fired but right now you can't like his chances. If the team goes 15-16 or something in that area (Which if you be honest we are going to be) there is a chance he gets the axe this year. After the following year if he does not make the tournament, then he will surely be gone. Why is this not feasible in your mind?

2) Yes. Exactly. I hope we lose every single game. Every year. I have attended more NCSU events than you will in your lifetime....I have been to games since I was a baby. Do not question my fanhood because I am honest.

[Edited on June 28, 2008 at 1:25 AM. Reason : Can this thread go back to JJ now???]

6/28/2008 1:18:16 AM

Quote :

"ONCE SO EVER"

6/28/2008 1:43:07 AM

Quote :

"^Dude, stop hating everything state basketball. I'm sorry your boyfriend lives in Arizona. You can still jerk to his photos. You want state bball to fail just so you can say we made a mistake in firing your boyfriend. Just post in the ASU bball thread if you want to comment on bball."

terrible post

6/29/2008 10:17:39 AM

Nice pay day for JJ $2.7-2.8M two year contract.

linky

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/

7/11/2008 10:56:12 AM

His summer league debut is Monday at 4pm vs. my knicks. Shall we see another 12 for 12 game? Probably... it's the knicks.

7/11/2008 12:32:04 PM

Hickson played damn well:
11-15, 26 pts, 9 rebs in just under 30 minutes

7/14/2008 5:54:04 PM

He looked really good on the offensive end, but looked lost at times defensively

7/14/2008 6:06:17 PM

i watched the whole game, he was pretty dominant on offense, but the knicks had wilson chandler and renaldo balkman guarding him the whole game. he had some sweet putback dunks.

7/14/2008 7:51:02 PM

man i really want State to have a player in the NBA who is good...its been awhile

7/14/2008 7:52:54 PM

^What you mean Fuller wasn't dominant and exciting???

7/14/2008 7:59:17 PM

you know what sucks? i was looking at Efficiency rating of NBA players last season...there are 451 players in the league...if you look at efficiency per 48 minutes, its probably a better meter to compare starters to bench warmers...Ced was in the bottom 10...the bottom 10 of 451

7/14/2008 8:07:25 PM

Cavs find gem in Wolfpack's Hickson

http://www.charlotte.com/sports/story/713264.html

No. 18 pick in the draft after one season at N.C. State, he gets 26 points, 9 rebounds for Cleveland against Knicks.
By Rick Bonnell
rbonnell@charlotteobserver.com
Knicks Cavaliers Basketball
LAURA RAUCH – ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Cleveland rookie J.J. Hickson made 11 of 15 shots from the field and generated seven trips to the foul line during Monday's summer-league game against New York. He did most of his scoring off bank shots, baby hooks and put-backs resulting from seven offensive rebounds.

LAS VEGAS --
Cleveland Cavaliers assistant John Kuester was on a roll Monday, thinking up new ways to praise rookie J.J. Hickson.

“We're talking about an N.C. State guy, and I'm still saying nice things,” former Tar Heel Kuester joked. “He's that great a kid.”

And seemingly that good a prospect. Hickson looked spectacular during a 97-94 summer-league loss to the New York Knicks, with 26 points and nine rebounds.

He made 11 of 15 shots from the field and generated seven trips to the foul line. If that's indicative of his scoring at the next level, he'll be a steal by the Cavaliers with the 18th overall pick.

Hickson wasn't the least surprised by his quick impact.

“I wouldn't have come out if I didn't think I was ready, so nothing has really surprised me,” he said. “There are some things I need to improve, but that's all a progression.”

Those flaws, Kuester detailed, are conditioning and defense, but the Cavaliers can wait for that. Hickson is a low-post, back-to-the-basket scorer, and those are rare these days with every 6-foot-10 forward seemingly living to take 20-foot jump shots.

Hickson did most of his scoring off bank shots, baby hooks and put-backs (he had seven offensive rebounds). The Cavaliers knew he had moves, but they were surprised just how explosive he was heading to the rim.

He didn't look that way in a workout in Cleveland, but there was an explanation.

“He flew in on a red-eye (an overnight flight) after working out in Denver and the poor guy didn't have his legs,” Kuester said.

“To the credit of our scouts and (general manager) Danny Ferry, they already knew what they wanted. They targeted him right from the get-go and you saw some of the things that make him special today.”


While the moves were home-grown – Hickson had the basics of low-post scoring in high school – he found it invaluable that N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe spent a decade in the NBA.
“Everything he said was coming from the NBA perspective already,” Hickson said. “You wouldn't believe all the things I knew just from being around him that season.”

7/15/2008 1:39:11 PM

so, will prospective college ball players see lowe as a way to get into the NBA?

7/15/2008 1:44:37 PM

thats the idea

7/15/2008 2:10:44 PM

He could become a productive NBA player one day but lets be honest here.

Is he that much more skilled right now than Josh Powell was coming out of college? More focused definitely.... but undersized low post players don't tend to blossom for quite some time.

The kid is an excellent talent in a body that will at best limit his potential and at worst derail his career.

I hope he does very well but I still think one more year was needed for him to develop his ball handling and court awareness. I doubt he cracks 150 points in the regular season this year.

Wouldnt mind being wrong though, I like his game.

7/15/2008 9:25:32 PM

something else for Favors to read:

Quote :

"n Vegas: Cavs Strike Gold with Hickson By: Preetom Bhattacharya Last Updated: 7/15/08 12:05 AM ET The Cleveland Cavaliers got some flak for taking J.J. Hickson 19th overall in the 2008, but after his debut at the Las Vegas Summer League, that certainly may change. "I think I competed real well," Hickson said after a game in which he finished with 26 points and 9 boards, shooting 11-15 from the field; yea, "real well," indeed. When Hickson decided to leave school and threw his hat into the Draft, many wondered if he was ready to come out after just one year at North Carolina State. That's particularly why the Cavs were criticized for the pick, but in talking to J.J., he never had doubts of his abilities. "I wouldn't have come out if I hadn't felt like I was ready," Hickson said. "I'm trying to come out and play hard. I've got to work on some things defensively that I think I'll get better at as time progresses." Hickson displayed an absolute array of post moves in his debut, as he was physically imposing to his opponents. His post moves are sort of his pride, as he's been refining them for years. "That's what I worked on a lot in high school, ever since I started wearing basketball shoes," Hickson said of his ability on the block. "As I got older, I kept working on it and I think that's why I'm so polished right now." That isn't all he does offensively, as Hickson says he's developing a jumpshot so that he can play more like the guys he hopes to model his game after – Kevin Garnett, Amaré Stoudemire, and Tim Duncan. Not a bad list of idols. Imperative to Hickson's development was that one year under Sidney Lowe at NC State. Lowe has plenty of NBA coaching experience, head coaching the Minnesota Timberwolves and Vancouver Grizzlies and working under Mike Fratello with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Flip Saunders with the Detroit Pistons. Helping his young big man grow, Lowe imparted plenty of wisdom to Hickson, who is now reaping the benefits of all that advice. "It was a good learning experience, with coach being in the league and all that," Hickson said of his experiences with Lowe. "It helped out a lot, you know, everything he said was coming from an NBA perspective. Everything he told me, I would listen because I knew it would come back." It's easy for fans to look at this one game by Hickson and say something to the effect of "it's just one Summer League game." But Hickson legitimately showed that he has a shot at being a rotational player for the Cavs because of his brute strength and athleticism. His arms are huge and he's clearly a gym rat, lean and muscular. "I'm in the weight room a lot, but I think a lot of it just came from good genes," Hickson joked with a big smile on his face. "It's not something I specifically work on, I just try to be aggressive when I come out." That ability to bang around the paint will serve Hickson well on a Cavaliers squad that is looking to repeat as the best rebounding team in the league (Cleveland led the league with a +4.15 rebounding differential). In addition to strengthening the team's front line, Hickson has the opportunity to learn under Ben Wallace, who may have fallen off a bit in his production, but can still teach Hickson a thing or two about how to use that big body of his. Ultimately, Hickson is looking to do the dirty work in Cleveland, just like Big Ben. "Right now, my role is to play hard, get rebounds, and block shots," he held. "When I get the ball in good position, I'll score when I can, but I'm looking to just be a good compliment to the players that are already there." On a team with LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Wally Szczerbiak, that's exactly what Cavs fans should want to hear. "

7/15/2008 9:48:41 PM

another solid game for Hickson....18 pts (7-15 shooting), 6 reb, 1 block

playing against Donte Green and Joey Dorsey

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/games/boxscore.jsp?gameId=1520800029

7/17/2008 2:15:28 AM

The reason NBA GM's are so fucking dumb.

Hickson will spend the entire season either dominating the NBDL or riding the pine in Cleveland.

He will re-emerge as a rotation player around 2011 for a ~30 win team. The kind of guy who puts up 6ppg, 4 reb for a dismal team.


The Cavs should be looking for guys who can compete an elite level right now. Look at guys like Joey Dorsey (a ten years younger, $10 mil/annum cheaper version of the artist formerly known as Ben Wallace). Chris Douglas Roberts (the kind of guy you'd never want down the stretch but let him pour in six points in four minutes in the 2nd quarter).

Why do teams select project big men? On the off chance that one actually develops what are the chances they will still be on their roster?

Examples: Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrigton, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Kwame Brown, etc

And for every guy who doesn't reach stardom but actually becomes a productive NBA player... oh jesus I just included Eddy Curry and Kwame Brown in that last sentence... Fuck who is left?

7/18/2008 12:33:43 AM

You think Joey Dorsey is better than JJ Hickson? Maybe you should be one of those dumb fucking GMs.
Nevermind, I get your point about waiting for someone to develop.

[Edited on July 18, 2008 at 12:40 AM. Reason : f]

7/18/2008 12:38:54 AM

Clearly Hickson is a better talent than Dorsey.

But what does Hickson do that translates to a special player in the NBA within the next three seasons?

Nothing. He doesn't have the talent, skill, or size to become a serious player right now.


Joey Dorsey on the other hand? He could be a rotation player on a contender immediately.

You can't tell me he doesn't bring more to the table defensively & rebounding than Ronny Turiaf.

I'm telling you rotation bigs who don't give up easy points are huge in a playoff series. Even Karl Malone on his last legs made Tim Duncan look like a bitch.

7/18/2008 12:51:03 AM