Mihm's the word

In midst of Cleveland circus, Cavs forward dialing it up

By John Hollinger, SI.com

Chris Mihm came off the bench to score a career-high 21 against the Knicks last week. AP 0 Points scored by Seattle's bench on Sunday night. Despite the lack of production from the pine, Seattle hung on to beat Washington, 88-85     "I don't care. I'm different from everybody else," -- Seattle big man/resident flake Jerome James, on losing his spot in the playing rotation.   Separated at birth: 1. Detroit's Bob Sura and Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers. 2. Indiana's Reggie Miller and Star Trek's Rom Ferengi. 3. Portland rap-sheeter Bonzi Wells and sweet rapper Jay Z. 4. L.A. Lakers rookie Luke Walton and Bob Guiney of The Bachelor. 5. Sacramento's Mike Bibby and actor Vin Diesel.

Who's the biggest surprise in the NBA this season? Some might say Ronald Murray, the Sonics guard who emerged from nowhere to pump in 20 points a night.

But the surprise with Murray is merely that nobody had seen him play. What about a guy who everyone had watched for three years, and had convinced everyone that he was destined for mediocrity?

That's the case with Cleveland's Chris Mihm, who after three forgettable seasons suddenly has broken loose with what is far and away the best year of his career. While the circus of the the Cavaliers' season wears on (not one, not two, but three players were invited to stay home for Wednesday's game in New Orleans), Mihm quietly has blossomed under head coach Paul Silas.

Silas had no idea Mihm was capable of this, either. "I didn't at all," he said. "I had seen him play, but never to this level." That's why Mihm's minutes have been limited thus far -- he's been Cleveland's second big man off the bench for most of the season before an injury to Carlos Boozer gave him his first start Sunday.

Mihm attributes a few factors to his improvement, starting with health. "One of the main things is me being healthy," he said. "Last year, I was out almost five months with a hamstring tear and by the time I got back the season was over, basically."

But even more than that, Silas has had a positive impact in a couple of respects. First, there's no more jerking Mihm around between power forward and center -- although he's a 7-footer, he's a power forward, and is much more comfortable staying there. "It's somewhere I can use my face-up game as well as my back-to-the-basket game," Mihm said.

Silas noted that staying out of the middle allows Mihm to take advantage of his quickness and shooting. "The first thing I noticed [when Silas came to Cleveland] is that he's a good shooter. Before everyone had him playing with his back to the basket, and I saw him as a guy who could hit some shots and also post up. But not posting where's he's wrassling some one, but on-the-move posting up."

Mihm isn't strong, so having him establish a spot on the post and plant there like his teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas won't work. But he has seen some of his best success flashing into the post and catching a high-low entry from Ilgauskas, because he's taller than opposing power forwards and can shoot right over them.

His numbers don't look that amazing -- he's averaging 8.4 points and 5.7 rebounds -- because he's been playing fewer than 20 minutes a night. But per 48 minutes, Mihm is averaging more blocks and more rebounds than a certain behemoth on the west coast, and shockingly, isn't that far behind him in points, either. Overall, Mihm is 12th in the NBA in rebounds per 48 minutes and 17th in blocks. But the glare of LeBronMania in Cleveland has largely blinded observers to his progress.

This isn't Silas' first big-man reclamation project, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. In New Orleans, he turned Jerome Moiso and Robert Traylor into productive players after they'd been written off as busts, and Elden Campbell, Jamaal Magloire and P.J. Brown all enjoyed career years under his tutelage.

Silas attributes his success to building his players' confidence. "They all lacked confidence when they came to me," he said. "I just told them that I had high expectations for them, that I knew they could play the game and they just had to believe in themselves. And once they knew I truly believed in them, then they had that belief in themselves."

But Mihm notes that Silas' system is also big-man friendly. "His system makes it easy for bigs to know where to be and where to go to get shots, and get themselves involved in the offense," Mihm said. "I know exactly where I can be and go on the floor and get free for shots, and when you feel comfortable in a system, there's a lot less thinking and a lot more playing."

Mihm still has his weaknesses, particulary defending against quicker forwards, but with better health and vastly better coaching (the Cavs have had the inmates running the asylum the past couple of years), he's finally achieving the potential that scouts saw saw when Mihm was picked seventh overall in the 2000 draft out of Texas.

In addition to Mihm and the aforementioned Murray, here are a few other guys who have emerged so far this season:

Carlos Arroyo, Utah -- Everyone was worried about an unknown replacing John Stockton. This may be sacrilege in Utah, but so far the unknown has been just as good. Arroyo is challenging for the team lead at 15.5 points a game and shooting over 50 percent. If he ever gets a jump shot, he'll be murder.

Etan Thomas, Washington -- Thomas would be starting if the Wizards weren't so concerned about taking a sledgehammer to Kwame Brown's fragile confidence. As it is, Thomas is finishing every game. He's pulling down eight boards a night and providing Washington with its lone source of interior toughness.

Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia -- After two injury-plagued seasons, Dalembert is finally healthy and able to showcase his shot-blocking skills for a 76ers team that was in desperate need of a big man. He's averaging nearly two blocks a game in limited minutes and shooting 58.8 percent for the Atlantic-Division leading 76ers.

Chris Wilcox, L.A. Clippers -- An injury to Elton Brand gave him an opportunity, and he's running with it. Wilcox is finishing with abandon around the rim for the high-scoring Clippers, averaging 11 points a night on 55 percent shooting thanks to his explosive hops.

Brian Cardinal, Golden State -- A salary-equalizing throw-in to the Clifford Robinson trade, the Warriors weren't even going to have Cardinal on their active roster until they were hit by a spate of injuries to start the year. All he's done since is score 10 points a night on 53 percent shooting while leading the league in floorburns going for loose balls.

• Given the Raptors' scoring difficulties, it's amazing that Toronto coach Kevin O'Neill keeps Michael Curry in the starting lineup. Curry is a good defender, but virtually defines the term "wallflower" on offense. His presence on the court keeps better scorers like Morris Peterson and Lamond Murray on the pine.

• One more notch in the belt for the "Tim Floyd can coach" crowd: Twice in a row this week, the Hornets needed a shot in the final seconds, and both times he came up with a play that got them an open layup at the buzzer.

• The East-West gap is getting truly laughable. Get this: The 76ers are in first in the Atlantic; in the Midwest Division, they'd be in last.

In the other major sports, great team chemistry seems to be a difference maker where teams that are good (not great) on paper are raised to a championship level. Recent examples include the Angels and Patriots. In basketball it seems that, while poor team chemistry can doom a team (e.g. Blazers), positive team chemistry on teams like the recent versions of the Kings doesn't seem to override the star power mixed with neutral chemistry of teams like the Lakers. Can you think of recent NBA champion that rose above their level with great chemistry to win it all? I know it may be too early to tell, but is there a team this year that could pull it off? -- Toby LaFrance, Portland, Ore.

Toby,

For a good example in the NBA, you'd have to go back to Rudy's Rockets, who won back-to-back titles with a gang that was unquestionably greater than the sum of its parts. While they had the requisite superstar in Hakeem Olajuwon, it was the ability of assorted Chucky Browns and Pete Chilcutts to meld seamlessly into the whole that put them over the top. If there's any team capable of pulling off that kind of feat this year, I'd have to go with Sacramento, who came within a whisker two years ago. The Kings have a good thing going in their clubhouse, and if they can get through a postseason healthy there's enough talent to beat anybody.

It looks like Utah is making most of the media eat their words. Do you think they can snatch the eighth seed in the West? -- Marvin S. Valido, Laguna, Philippines

Marvin,

Utah has been much better than advertised, thanks in part to the brilliant play of Arroyo that I mentioned above. I had a lot of questions about Utah's abillity to score coming into this season, but Arroyo, Matt Harpring and Andrei Kirilenko have combined to make them one of the league's more effective offenses thus far. I'm still not convinced they can keep it up all year, and at any rate the West is such a minefield that they might need 47 wins just to get No. 8, but the Jazz are one of this year's surprise stories.

It's still a long way from the next draft, but what's the word around the league on 6-foot-11 Australian prospect Andrew Bogut, a freshman at Utah? He dominated the U-20 World Championships this year. -- James, Tasmania, Australia

James,

Your countryman is firmly on the radar after his MVP performance in Greece, and may surpass Luc Longley as the highest-drafted player from Down Under. His first three games at Utah have been monstrous -- 13 boards, 74 percent shooting. The one thing that may concern NBA types is his weight of 220 pounds. He'll need to add more muscle to hang with pro power forwards.

I have watched Steve Blake play on TV several times. He seems to be holding his own, although his shooting could be improved. I also know that he has only a one-year contract. Do you see him being picked up by someone next year? If he continues to play like now (minimal amount of minutes but contributing), what do you think of his future outlook?  -- Scott Tufts

Scott,

Blake is averaging an assist every five minutes, so his ability to set up others isn't an issue. What is, however, is his ability to create shots and score himself, and that will be the key to his career development. Blake is averaging a measly 1.1 points a game. He's only shooting 20 percent and hasn't made a 3-pointer. The Wizards don't need him to turn into Vince Carter, but if his inability to score is forcing the team to play 4-on-5, then he'll probably lose his backup point guard job to Chris Whitney.

John Hollinger covers basketball for SI.com and is the author of Pro Basketball Prospectus. Click here to send him a question or comment.