Hey, Cleveland. It’s A.C., checking in from the offseason. I’ve been decompressing. Playing some golf. I’ll tell you more about it later.
The Cavs will be getting back into the gym soon. I liked a lot of what I saw during Summer League.
I thought Waiters showed he can get to the basket. He has good form on his outside shot; he just needs to work on it. And I think he has to understand that if he’s going to be a starter in this league, you’ll have to be in a little bit better shape.
And I think it’s a learning process for him.
He’s a competitor and I like that. He has a chip on shoulder, which is a good thing. He just needs to learn to control it. Just like when he called the timeout when we didn’t have one in the first game. You can’t get your head out of the game. You have to keep your head in the game at all times.
Summer League was a great learning experience for him to understand what he’s actually going to be involved in. Because when you’re the fourth player picked in the Draft – just like when I was the first player in the Draft – everybody’s gunning for you. You have to be in better condition than they are. And you have to be a better player. You have to think clearly. And all those things, he’ll learn.
On defense, he’s physically strong and quick enough to defend. It’s just a matter of the “want to.” If he wants to, he’ll be OK.
I also like the other rookie: Tyler Zeller. He’s going to be a solid player. He runs the floor well. Shoots the little 15-footer. He can almost play the big forward. And he shoots a hook shot!
I love it! I like his competitive spirit. The knock on him was that he’s a little soft. But I didn’t see it. He came ready to play.
Now – for the sophomores. Kyrie Irving goes into the season as the team’s unquestioned leader. And that’s going to be something new for him. But I think the team is ready for him to lead. And that’s very important.
He was close to perfect in his rookie season. Very few guys have had a first season like that. The only things he needs to work on are his stamina. He’s going to need that. He needs to understand also the pace that we need to play and win with. He needs to keep the pace up, even if he’s not scoring.
Last year, he was either all the way or nothing as far as pushing the ball and tempo. And the team starts to sag. When the team starts playing at that pace, they need to keep playing at that pace. And as the point, you need to be in the best condition on the floor. It’s as simple as that.
He needs to keep the tempo up and resist slowing it down. Byron doesn’t want that. He wants to defend and run. Rebound and run. Advance the ball, push the ball, get the ball to the right guy at the right time and take your shots when you’re open and have the opportunity.
It’ll be interesting to see how he works with Waiters. It’s going to have to be a meeting of the minds.
We have two guys who can beat you off the dribble now. So the offense won’t get stagnant. But the one thing that he has to understand is the importance of playing without the ball. Because Kyrie is going to penetrate and draw defenders to him, and Waiters has to be the floater – a Ray Allen-type guy – to hit the open jump shot.
That’s what I had to learn. I was always barreling to the basket. I thought I could take anybody in there. But you have to learn to be the off-guard. Be ready to hit that 15-footer. Catch-and-shoot, catch-and-shoot. I was used to attacking. In his position, he’s going to have to learn his spots: when to be there for Kyrie when he attracts the defense’s attention.
I also think Tristan’s going to have to take another big step. I think starting the last part of the season will help him tremendously – helped his confidence.
I hope in the offseason, he’s learned to shoot with an extended arm as opposed to always trying to shoot a half-hook, half-jump shot. He gets the position, but he gives up his advantage. And so once you have a guy pinned, you need to learn to shoot with an extended arm in order to maximize that position.
It’ll make life a lot easier for him. Because he does everything else pretty well.
You talk about speed. You have Andy, him, Zeller, a slimmed-down Samardo. Our big guys will be on the move.
He’s seen the whole NBA now, which is vital. Because first of all, you get a mental dictionary on each player. What he can do, what he can’t do. How he likes to guard you. As soon as you hear his name – BOOM! – you should have a picture of everything he does: Can’t go left well. Always drives to his right. Will pull up if you sag on him. Likes to turn his back. All those things you learn and store away as a rookie.
Kyrie should have a huge advantage this year. You also how certain teams like to defend: They double you in the post, they trap you on the wing. So now, you go into a game and you have a mental picture on how you want to attack and how they intend to defend you.
The key to success this year will be staying healthy. If Andy had stayed healthy, we’d have been fighting for the eighth spot, maybe even the seventh spot. If we stay healthy, we’ll surprise a lot of people this year. And the way you stay healthy, you get a good back up for Andy so you don’t have to play him too many extended minutes.
I think there’s going to be a power shift in the East this year. Even though Miami is the king.
I don’t see New York being a big player. I don’t think Carmelo and Amar’e co-exist well on the same team. Atlanta’s cleaning house. We can definitely sneak into the bottom half of the playoff pictures.
But you’re going to have to stay healthy. You‘re going to need big contributions from your rookies. Waiters will have to be a 10-15-ppg game man, and as a rookie, that’s tough. But it can be done. But you have to grow up fast.
But with an improved frontline, I think we’ll be a factor. Not a big factor, but not a pushover.
But all that will come in time. I’m going to enjoy my summer while I can. I’ve been unwinding a little bit. Playing a lot of golf.
I’ve played with Coach Scott early in the summer. But I’ll catch up with him again. It’s competitive when we’re out there. He can play too! It’s a good battle and t all depends on who’s playing well that day.
I like playing with Coach, but I play all over. I belong to a traveling league in the summer. We play all over. Canton, Youngstown, Lorain, Elyria.
Summer’s great but once the schedule comes out, I start getting my mind geared on the season.
It’s funny! You have a feeling of total freedom when the season is over. But once that schedule comes out, you start feeling like you have to get into that work mode. It’s time to move! I’m starting to ease back into that feeling. Once the weather starts cooling down, too.
That’s your life. You get used to being on the move. And there’s nothing like it.
