Elite garbagemen. Today: Anderson Varejao
Ever since the Heat signed him for the MLE I loved Udonis Haslem’s game. For me he is the prototypical role player. Adequate salary, tough, determined, energetic, hard working, a good addition to a lockerroom – and he brings it every night. He was a big reason why the Heat won the title in 2006, doing an excellent job defending Dirk despite an injured shoulder. At 6′7 he already was undersized playing PF, but this season he even played C for about half a season, did a decent job and never complained.
This season while watching the Cavaliers dominate the league, Anderson Varejao kept reminding me of Udonis Haslem. They are both PF role players on MLE contracts, they both defend well despite not being very athletic. They both take more charges than they block shots, and usually make smart decisions. They also seem to have a special connection with their superstars. Haslem is a co-captain of the Heat, the only other Heat player except for Wade that was part of their 2006 title team. In these playoffs him and Wade were the veteran voices in a lockerroom filled with rookies and young players. In a way he’s a mini-Zo and embodies the qualities Riley looks for in his players.
Varejao also seems to have a special connection with Lebron (as illustrated by the image above). I remember when Drew Gooden used to be the starting PF for the Cavs you could often see he was a nuisance for Lebron. He had some game offensively, but he’d often make dumb mistakes that would drive the coaches and Lebron nuts. Once, after a time-out in which both Mike Brown and Lebron told him about 10 times NOT to jump when his man pump fakes, as soon as the ball goes to his man and he pump fakes, Gooden is flying through the air like a damn moron. You could hear the sound of Mike Brown and Lebron slapping their foreheads from miles away. The dynamics between Lebron and Varejao are completely different. You can see they work in perfect sync. For example they have a pet play where Lebron is on the left side of the court at the 3 point line and Varejao cuts from the right corner on the baseline. Lebron makes a bullet pass under the basket for a reverse layup by Varejao. You can sometimes see that play 3-4 times in a game if the defense keeps falling asleep on Varejao.
Oh, I love you, Lebron. I want to have your babies.
There are some differences, of course. First, Varejao is about 4 inches taller, but Haslem looks to be a little stronger. Varejao is a slightly better offensive rebounder – and in these playoffs his offensive rebounding was off the charts. He had twice as many offensive rebounds per game than he had during the regular season. Offensively, unlike Haslem who can hit the mid range J with consistency, Varejao is strictly a garbage points man. He can’t create his own shot and can’t hit a J regularly, but he moves extremely well without the ball so he gets his points on hard cuts to the basket (Lebron finds him every time he’s open), or on put-backs.
Overall their contributions are very similar, as are their stats. They are the kind of role players that you can find on a title team, those whose contributions go beyond what you see in the boxscore. They bring the intangibles, they do the little things and they help their teams win. And this season we could add another similarity between the 2, as Anderson Varejao might get a championship ring too.