Built Ford Tough Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 No. 1 overall draft pick Kyrie Irving won’t get his first choice of jersey numbers, as the Cavaliers plan on retiring No. 11 in honor of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuania Basketball reports. During a recent trip to China, Irving said he wanted to wear No. 11, but was told by the Cavs that the number will be retired. Ilgauskas will become the seventh Cavs player to have his number retired, according to the report, joining Bingo Smith, Larry Nance, Mark Price, Austin Carr, Nate Thurmond and Brad Daugherty. The Lithuanian center, who played for Cleveland from 1997-2010, is the team’s all-time leader in games played (771), rebounds (5904) and blocked shots (1269). He played for Miami last season. http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-08-23/cavs-to-retire-ilgauskas-no-11-the-same-number-kyrie-wanted I can understand why they would do this with his loyalty and how well he represented the Cavalier organization, but his play definitely doesn't warrant a jersey retiring as he was never really that great of a player, even in the two years that he was named to the All-Star team it was more due to the lack of centers in the East than Big Z being a star or anything like that. I can understand why they are doing this, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sħãlïq™ Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Hard to believe it's true.... Not deserved, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren2ThaG Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Hard to believe it's true.... Not deserved, IMHO. It is deserved hun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleveland's Finest Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) He has so many records in Cleveland, and was a class act his whole time here. He fought through injuries, even missing a full season, and returned to be an all-star caliber center for 5-6 years. I think he's played most games as a Cav...I know for sure he holds rebounding/blocks records. Edited August 24, 2011 by Cleveland's Finest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish7718 Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 lol he is one of the greatest Cavs of all time , deserved, classy move for a classy guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newman Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 If Brad Daugherty's number was retired, Big Z's number deserve to be retired. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sħãlïq™ Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) It is deserved hun.I added 'IMHO' for a reason. It's NOT at all deserved in my opinion. I witnessed his entire career -- just look at his numbers: his best single-season average for pts is 17.2 ('02-03 season). Knee injuries or not, he barely even played... In his first four seasons, he started only 133 games, that's an average of 33 games per season. Also, look at his career-highs: Points: 16 @ Utah 12/08/10Blocks 4 vs Indiana 11/22/10 (!!!) The guy never blocked 4 shots in a game till his 11th season!! As much as I don't like it and as much ugly as it might sound, loyalty doesn't mean sh*t today. Eric Piatkowski was loyal to the Clippers too. And Corey Maggette's the franchise all-time leader in FT made and attempted. I don't see their jerseys retired in STAPLES... C'mon, son, gimme a break. Edited August 24, 2011 by Shãlïq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish7718 Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) I added 'IMHO' for a reason. It's NOT at all deserved in my opinion. I witnessed his entire career -- just look at his numbers: his best single-season average for pts is 17.2 ('02-03 season). Knee injuries or not, he barely even played... In his first four seasons, he started only 133 games, that's an average of 33 games per season. Also, look at his career-highs: Points: 16 @ Utah 12/08/10Blocks 4 vs Indiana 11/22/10 (!!!) The guy never blocked 4 shots in a game till his 11th season!! As much as I don't like it and as much ugly as it might sound, loyalty doesn't mean sh*t today. Eric Piatkowski was loyal to the Clippers too. And Corey Maggette's the franchise all-time leader in FT made and attempted. I don't see their jerseys retired in STAPLES... C'mon, son, gimme a break. Those aren't his career highs those are his season highs this year....on Nov 25th 2006 he scored 18 points and blocked 5 shots, just 1 random game I'm pointing out. BTW Z leads all Cavs in Games Played, Rebounds and Blocks, lol much more weighty records than Maggette's FT records. Edited August 24, 2011 by fish7718 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sħãlïq™ Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Those aren't his career highs those are his season highs this year....on Nov 25th 2006 he scored 18 points and blocked 5 shots, just 1 random game I'm pointing out. BTW Z leads all Cavs in Games Played, Rebounds and Blocks, lol much more weighty records than Maggette's FT records.Oh, snap! My bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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