Hello, Cavalier fans and CavFanatics! It’s Austin, and it’s time to lace ‘em up and get busy …
I was really impressed with Tuesday night’s game, even though it was just the first game of the preseason.
The fourth quarter was used to take a look at the younger guys, and all of them were out there together, so it was tough to get some continuity going. But in those first three quarters, the team was really solid.
The thing that kept popping into my mind was that they’re going to have to use a deep rotation if you’re going to play at that defensive pace. You’re going to have to be in shape. Guys might have to understand that it’s not about playing big minutes. Sometimes, it’s got to be quality minutes over a quantity of minutes.
The defense was really on a string. That first three quarters, the D was rock-solid. You didn’t see any wide-open shots. Even the threes were contested. And the next game you’ll be able to tell even more, because it’s a road game. But if they have that same intensity level on the defensive end, they’ll have more success. The defense was relentless. That was something that I really enjoyed watching.
So many guys were good on Tuesday. Tristan led the team in scoring and rebounded the ball well, too. It’s really amazing what he’s trying to do: switch from his left to his right hand. That tells me how talented he really is. To be able to play left-handed as long as he did and reach the level he reached to be the fourth player picked in the draft and then change to right-handed, that’s a very talented individual.
He can use both sides of his brain well and he’s very talented. But if you look at his gait right now, the way he carries himself and how he shoots – he’s at peace with himself now. He was conflicted before. Now he’s at peace with himself. He’s a different man.
Tristan’s shot is more fluent right now. He was almost “throwing” it with his left hand. It looks more like a traditional shot with the right hand. Once he gets used to pull-up jump-shooting and jump-shooting with the right hand, he’ll be fine. You can tell he’s still searching a little bit there, but the free throws are much, much better. They just look better. He’s more comfortable. Now he just needs the muscle memory to kick in.
His footwork fits right into the right-hand movement. Before Tristan was making right-handed moves and shooting with his left hand.
The starting backcourt – Kyrie and Dion – looked more comfortable out there as well.
They spent time together in the offseason and I bet they sort of ironed out some differences on how they like to do things. And they just seem more on the same page now. And both of them are really defending now, and that’s a big difference. Last season, they’d let guys come down the middle. You didn’t see anybody come down the middle on Tuesday night. And that’s one of Mike’s big defensive principles – no middle penetration.
Kyrie and Dion just look to be more in-sync now. They know where each other’s likes and where they like the ball. Dion is playing strictly the 2-spot instead of in-between the 1 and 2. He knows his role and he’s confident in it. I’ve always talked about players improving once they have a clear vision of their role. He’s coming off picks, he’s catching and shooting in his spots and he’s penetrating when he sees an opening.
The potential is there. And after just two weeks under Mike Brown, you can see what the differences are going to be.
The Cavs will play physical defense. They’ll contest ALL shots. They’ll gang rebound. And I noticed that it was very “congested” on the defensive end. You don’t get a whole lot of room to go flying in there against this defense. So you’ll have to come at them with a different style of offense. If you run a conventional offense like the Bucks did on Tuesday, you’re going to have a hard time dealing with a Mike Brown team.
And as great as it was to see Mike Brown back on the sidelines, it was also tremendous seeing Andy back on the court.
Just to see him back out there, running around, doing his thing was awesome. He changes the whole vibe of the game. The energy level goes way up when he’s out there. Bynum had told me that was the reason he was really anxious to play with Andy – because of the energy level. And you can see what he brings just by his presence on the floor.
Andy, Tristan and some of the frontline veterans will help Anthony Bennett in the early-going.
In the first half, Bennett got a little winded and he got his shot blocked a couple times. It helped him (quickly) realize that the pros are a little different than the Mountain West Conference.
In the second half, he got more physical. He got more action around the basket and he was solid. He started to rebound the ball. He struggled on the free throw line as well. But his shot’s going to come. And once he gets in better game condition, he’ll be much better doing what he does. When you get tired, everything’s affected. Your brain slows down, everything slows down. But when he gets into game-shape, I’m expecting big things out of him. In the second half he looked a lot better; more confident.
Actually, I was impressed by all the rookies on Tuesday night.
Carrick Felix was solid. He got a couple steals, a blocked shot. He played his game. The offensive end will come. He did what he does, and that’s play a total game. Nothing fancy. He’s just a solid ballplayer.
It’s obvious that Sergey’s going to have to get stronger so he can mix it up a little more. But he definitely sees the game from a good light. I like the way he plays the game. He’s got a nice stroke. He’s competitive. I’d expect him to start figuring things out around All-Star Break. Then he’ll be ready to go.
And Kenny Kadjji, I like his game. He has potential. He’s a good kid, he works hard. He’ll play physical with you, but he can step outside and hit the open shot. He’ll attack and he’ll defend you. And for his size, he has good mobility. He was one of the guys I was impressed with last night.
We head to Orlando this week and I want to see how the younger guys function on the road – with the traveling and the hotel and nutrition and how they get their rest. I just want to see how they react on the road. Because now they’re going into a hostile environment where all they can depend on is each other. And that’s what they have to get used to.
Rookies have a tendency to not understand the road right away. But I just think it’ll be a good test for them early in the preseason to have a little bit of adversity and see how they deal with it.
I remember my first road trip. I was very nervous. Jim Brewer was my roommate. I packed like I was going away for two weeks. I had suitcases totally stuffed, and I never used any of it. And I had to carry the projector as a rookie.
It was quite an experience.