If there was one other player for the Cleveland Cavaliers that was more instrumental to the success of the team aside of LeBron James, it would be Delonte West. The embattled guard who is facing major gun allegations in Maryland returned to the lineup on Saturday against Charlotte.

And since he has come back, the Cavaliers look like the same team that they were from a season ago. Granted a win over Charlotte and coming back from down 18 against Washington isn’t completely impressive, but for the first time all year, the Cavaliers were all back in the lineup sans the injured Leon Powe.

West did not have a great offensive game, shooting only 2-7 for 4 points, but his two steals were instrumental in helping lead a defensive resurgance that held Washington to 59 points in the final 3 quarters of the game.

Delonte is best thought of as a glue guy, a guy that is the heart and soul of the Cavaliers on the defensive side of the ball. And his quick hands and athleticism make him a terror on the defensive end.

Offensively, he is hard to defend simply because he is one of few left-handed scorers in the NBA, something most defenders aren’t used to seeing.

West is probably going to be coming off the bench for the foreseeable future as Mike Brown likes what he sees out of G Anthony Parker, who is shooting 44% from three-point range in the first five games of the season. West adds to a plethora of three-point snipers, featuring Parker, and Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson, both of whom have gotten off to blistering starts, each shooting over 50% from behind the arc.

West is a career 38% three-point shooter, yet another weapon the Cavaliers have available when swinging the ball around the arc. And with Shaquille O’Neal drawing the defense deeper in the paint, especially when he makes multiple shots and draws extra help, there could be alot of space around the arc for shots to drop.

With West’s legal status looming, it’s hard to tell how long he will stay in Cleveland. But for the time being, West is back and Cleveland has returned to their winning ways, and just in time against the Central Division rival Chicago Bulls tonight on TNT.

Cleveland has not played against Chicago since the big trade that landed them John Salmons and Brad Miller from Sacramento. But there is no Ben Gordon anymore, who has been a Cavaliers killer in past years. Tonight should be an exciting matchup quoting Mr. Cavalier Austin Carr, “deep in the Q.”

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.