The Cavs are off to a dreadful start this season. In fact, Cleveland is currently holding a 1-11 record. Injuries have played a big role in that tally, to be sure. However, according to Rodney Hood, one of the more glaring issues for the Cavs has been size discrepancy.
Via Chris Fedor of cleveland.com:
“I think the fight is there,” Rodney Hood said of the Cavs after Tuesday’s practice. “A lot of times we’re undersized. Now, with Larry in the starting lineup, we’re kind of big. But for the most part, we have been undersized for most of the year. Just figuring that out. We’ve been fighting and scrapping and it’s tough most nights when you’re over-matched. But you just have to deal with it.”
As of Tuesday, the Cavs had six players listed on their injury report, including both power forwards in Kevin Love and Sam Dekker. If they were healthy, Cleveland would obviously be a lot stronger on the interior. Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr. and Ante Zizic have all seen an up-tick in usage rate as a result of the team’s injuries.
Hood, now 26 years of age, has played fairly well for Cleveland through the early stages of this season. The Mississippi native has made 12 appearances with the Cavs, averaging 12.9 points on 43.5 percent shooting from the field (38.7 percent from beyond the arc), 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and just under one steal (0.8) in 27.3 minutes per outing.
Hood is right. The fight is there. Though their record doesn’t show it, the Cavs have been close to victory in several games this season. Hopefully, they’ll get back in the win column sooner rather than later.
Hood and the Cavs will be back in action on Tuesday night, when they’ll welcome the Charlotte Hornets to Quicken Loans Arena.