Hey, Cavalier fans and CavFanatics. It’s Austin, checking in from the Queen City. What’s happening?
It’s getting late in the preseason and Mike Brown has some decisions to make before the regular season tips off next Wednesday.
One of those decisions will be at small forward. I think right now it’s still up in the air. Both guys are showing flashes, but neither has done anything really spectacular yet. But one of the good things is that the quality at that position– between Zo and Clark – is pretty good. It really doesn’t matter so much who starts and who comes off the bench. What IS important is that you’re going to get quality minutes with no drop-off either way.
In fact, I really think the strength of this team is going to be our bench. Whoever comes off the bench this year is really going to play a significant role in us winning or losing games.
Two guys that have starting spots locked up are Kyrie and Tristan – and they’ve definitely become the leaders of this team.
In your third year, you start to become more comfortable. You understand the league, you understand how you fit in. And they’re both acknowledging that they have to be the leaders.
Kyrie made a statement in one of his interviews: he’s one of the young guys, but he’s also one of the leaders. They both understand and are comfortable in where they’re at in their maturation. And it’s good to see that they’re taking over at a young age. It’s critical to have solid leaders.
It’s also not the worst thing in the world for young players to take their lumps early. I did the same thing. Losing like that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You don’t want to keep going through that and you’re determined to change it. And when you have guys who don’t want to conform to the winning attitude, they stick out like sore thumbs – and you know who needs to be tightened up.
I lost the same amount of games that they did, and it was ugly. My food didn’t taste good; I was evil all the time. You want to turn that feeling around as soon as possible.
Another decision Mike Brown and the front office will have to make regards some of the Camp invitees. And a few of them have been really impressive thus far.
Matthew Dellavedova, for example. He’s not flashy, but he’s consistent. He’s not going to lose you anything when he comes on the floor. Your team is going to stay settled. He’s a good leader and he knows how to run the offense. And he’s able to hit a shot every now and then.
As far as Henry Sims, I’m really impressed with him. But all Georgetown big men come into this league ready to play. And this young man is one of those Georgetown products who really knows how to play the game. He’s been one of the most impressive young guys that we’ve had in Camp.
Finally, Jermaine Taylor. He and Alonzo are the best pure athletes on the team. He understands the game, his energy level is high. His problem right now is shooting, but you can always teach a good athlete to shoot the ball. Look at Alonzo’s improvement. But Jermaine’s close; he’s real close to being a pretty good NBA player. He needs to work on his ball-handling a little bit, but those things can be fixed. But, overall, I like him.
Watching the team in games and practices, you can see that Mike Brown’s philosophy and system is really sinking in. In other words, the energy that he wants, his attention to detail and his demand that the opponents “feel you” – the guys are starting to understand what that means. When they close out now, they close out under control. The way they keep the ball on one side of the floor, the way they’ve prevented guards from middle penetration, the way they shrink the court.
Their team defense is better; their individual defense is better. They’re physical, they’re up on you. And you can see that it’s starting to come along. Even offensively – they swing the ball, they don’t stick it on one side, nobody pounds the ball.
You can even see it starting to sink in with the rookies, who’ve all been impressive in spurts. Of course, Carrick has been out for most of the preseason (although he was very good when I watched him in Summer League).
Anthony Bennett has shown flashes. He can definitely get the job done. He’s beginning to understand that he’s playing with the big boys now. He’s got to learn how to use up-fakes and things like that. Use his power. In other words, you have to learn how to balance finesse and power. At this level, you can’t overpower people and, at the same time, you can’t be timid, physically.
Right now, as with most rookies, the game is still a little too fast for him. But other than that, Bennett’s had a good Camp as far as learning. He’s been lucky that he wasn’t thrown into the fire right away. He can take his time and develop. And I think that’s going to help his career in the long run.
As far as Sergey, he knows how to play the game. I love to watch him play. He shoots the ball well, he moves well without the ball. But he’s got to get stronger, and he knows that. Right now he has a tendency to wilt a little bit when guys get up on him. He kind of backs up. But once he gets in the weight room, I think he’s going to be fine.
Those first couple months are going to be difficult for the rookies and younger players. It’s going to hit them hard. But the way the schedule is set up, if we can sustain ourselves through the All-Star Break and stay in the race, that last part of the season, you can catch your breath and get back into a rhythm – and that’ll give us a chance to make a good push in the second half.