Szczerbiak resurfaces on big stage

Wally Szczerbiak has moved into the starting lineup during the Cavs' first-round series. AP Steve Aschburner's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Steve. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

The plan was, Wally Szczerbiak was going to call sometime after the Cavaliers' game at Washington ended Thursday night.

The way his and the rest of the Cavs' night went, Szczerbiak could have pulled out his cell phone midway through the third quarter, because for all practical purposes, Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Wizards was, indeed, over. Cleveland was down 66-40 less than six minutes into the second half at the Verizon Center and still got outscored by 10 the rest of the way, a reversal-plus of what the Cavs had done on their court three days earlier.

Worst playoff loss in Cleveland history, 108-72. And still, oddly, it was something to cherish for Szczerbiak, given the way things had gone for him and his teams lately. The Cavaliers' 6-foot-7 swingman is back in the playoffs, back where every possession matters, back where even blowouts mean something more than enhanced lottery odds. It wasn't that way in Minnesota toward the end for him, and it surely wasn't that way in Boston or in Seattle.

"It's very exciting to be back,'' Szczerbiak said, on the darkened bus ride back to the team's hotel in D.C. "Being on a team that has an opportunity to do some things, that's what I was hoping for all year. I was hoping a team would take notice of how I was playing. The Cavaliers did and brought me in.''

From the time Szczerbiak got dealt from Minnesota in January 2006, through his move to Cleveland two months ago at the trading deadline, the Celtics and Sonics teams on which he played went 54-120. His individual star dimmed, too, due in part to injuries (ankle surgery in March 2007, left knee cartilage in April 2006). But the move to Cleveland, in the shakeup that also delivered Delonte West, Ben Wallace and Joe Smith, brought purpose back for him to the lucrative but endless NBA schedule.

(Interestingly, Szczerbiak is one of 13 former Timberwolves players scattered throughout the first round. So even though Minnesota hasn't put together a playoff team in four years, it has sprinkled the equivalent of a full roster around this postseason.)

Cleveland went 15-13 after the Feb. 21 trade, churning that should have been expected for a team swapping out one-third of its personnel. Szczerbiak churned, too, the solid numbers off Seattle's bench (13.1 ppg, 42.8 percent three-point shooting) dipping considerably with the Cavs. For a shooter of his pedigree -- a lifetime 49.3 percent from the floor, 43.1 percent from beyond the arc through his first eight NBA seasons -- Szczerbiak's tumble down to 35.9 and 36.5, respectively, wasn't just aggravating. It was unnerving.

At least one Eastern Conference coach felt Szczerbiak, never the swiftest player even in healthy times, was struggling "Since his injuries, what's happened is he has lost a step,'' the coach said. "He knows it, and now he tries to get his shot off faster, rushing it.''

But former Wolves coach Dwane Casey, who had Szczerbiak in Minnesota for a half season, then watched him from afar this year, said: "When he got to Seattle from Boston, he was going from one rebuilding situation to another. But Wally still has some juice left. LeBron James is a great draw-and-kick guy. The other teams are going to put their second or third best defenders on him. So Wally doesn't have to 'discover America.' He doesn't have to find his own shot with LeBron there. You know he hasn't lost his confidence. He still has the shooter's mentality.''

Through three games against Washington, Szczerbiak had hit only 11-of-28 shots (39.3 percent), including 3-of-11 three-pointers. But he started each game -- after starting just once each for Seattle and Cleveland in the regular season -- and averaged nearly 29 minutes. Reaching double figures five times in nine April games, well, that has been a start.

"I'm just trying to stay confident,'' Szczerbiak said. "I'm still getting used to the way this team plays. It's 180 degrees from how we played in Seattle. The coaching, the system . . . with [Seattle's] P.J. [Carlesimo] and [Cleveland's] Mike Brown both coming from the San Anotnio system [as assistant coaches], you'd think they would be more similar. But they aren't.

"Seattle was kind of run-and-gun, and we're kind of a shrink-the-paint team. With LeBron, he controls the tempo, he controls the offense. He has point guard skills, so he doesn't need anyone to get him the ball. It's up to us to be in our spots when he gets double-teamed.''

Szczerbiak is a long way from the player he was in Minnesota, when he made it to the 2002 All-Star Game as a productive but awkward fit as Kevin Garnett's sidekick. He was supposed to be No. 2 in Boston, too, as much for his $63 million contract as for his skills. With the Sonics, he was a veteran on a young team, given more responsibilities. Now he is a role player, one of several being asked to lighten James' load, just a little.

There is a pressure inherent in that, too. Szczerbiak understands that if he isn't hitting what jump shots come his way, he might not get a chance to reload. His defense isn't likely to keep him on the court long, either.

"This is more of a secondary role, I know,'' he said. "But I just know my shot will always be there.''

Steve Aschburner covered the Minnesota Timberwolves and the NBA for 13 seasons for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has served as president or vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association since 2005. His new book, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Minnesota Twins, can be ordered here.