Dion Waiters Traded

[DJTJ]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

Didn't watch. Dion went 4-14. Bad shot selection?

 

[EdMonix11]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

Didn't watch. Dion went 4-14. Bad shot selection?

Not really. Just seemed like he wanted to get everyone involved and turned it up a notch or two with the game on the line and made some buckets. I'm fine with it; it's summer league, you're not gonna gain much regardless, and he's been playing SF, SG, and PG so he's had different roles and whatnot.

 

[ajz20]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

Interested to see If Waiters can work on his body, develop a floater and lose about 10 pounds before October!

 

[KB]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2012/07/16/waiters-on-the-shoulders-of-giants/

Waiters on the Shoulders of Giants
July 16, 2012 in by Amin Vafa

Dion Waiters’s summer league debut is full of the ghosts of other players.

Sure Waiters was a highly-anticipated part of the day, but the game was supposed to feature Kyrie Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. These two guys were poised to be the real stories today. MKG played really well in his debut, and with improvements to the Bobcats roster, his fate wasn’t nearly as gloomy. Reigning ROY Kyrie Irving was fresh off a phenomenal performance against Team USA as a member of the USA select team—as well as phenomenal post-game trash-talking session against Kobe Bryant that resulted in the formation of a one-on-one game with $50,000 for charity on the line.

But neither played: both were injured. MKG stayed out for precautionary reasons to protect his knee. Irving broke his hand in a freak accident after slapping a padded wall. That left Waiters to be the star of the show—a role that he seemed to relish.

So with Irving out for Sunday’s Cavs-Bobcats matchup, it was clear that the game plan for the Cavs was to get the ball to Waiters and see what he could do. Sound familiar? It should, since Waiters’s first introduction to NBA basketball was watching Allen Iverson work his magic. “He was my favorite player,” Waiters remembers. “I really started watching when AI came in the league. That’s when I really started watching basketball. Once I saw him, I just wanted to take my game to the next level… When I watched him, I wanted to be better. It takes hard work to get there. And I’m going to continue to keep working.”

There was another moment during the game that rang familiar with observers. Kemba Walker and Waiters exchanged closing field goals with under 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. When the Cavs regained possession—down one point—Waiters got trapped in a corner and reflexively called a timeout. Unfortunately for Waiters and the Cavs, they had no timeouts left. Cleveland was assessed a technical foul. Charlotte was awarded with a technical free throw—Walker nailed it—and the ball; the Bobcats bench also erupted in laughter, adding insult to injury. Walker also added another two made free throws to end the game with a four point Bobcats victory.

Though the stakes were infinitely lower (Waiters lumped everything that went against the Cavs at the end of the game into the catch-all “little mistakes), one couldn’t help but think of Chris Webber’s infamous NCAA finals timeout-that-wasn’t. In Webber’s case, time (and the Fab Five ESPN 30-for-30 documentary) has revealed that he was told to take that timeout by someone on the bench. The same can’t be said for Waiters; he puts the blame on himself—and slightly on the coaching staff and teammate Donald Sloan:

I had Kemba on my back, and I told DD [Sloan] to just throw it up to me, and he didn’t throw it up, so I had to run to the ball. So then when I ran to the ball, there was a double team. I put myself in a tough situation and he also put me in a tough situation, but that’s the thing we got to learn from. We’ll come back tomorrow and get it better.
…

Nobody never told me [the timeouts were gone]. There’s communication, also. But everybody—I got to go to the coach—“How many timeouts we got?”—in a situation like that.

Despite the specter of others—even the smattering of comparisons to Dwyane Wade don’t bother him (“I just go out there and just play my game. That’s the only thing I can do.”)—hovering over his night, Waiters took the loss in stride and wants to continue to getting in a rhythm during summer league.

[I want to] just come out here and learn a lot. Continue to work hard and be a competitor and just try to get better every day.” He said he felt nervous at the start of the game, but pretty soon, it felt like a “fun” learning experience. “The first game was great. Just so great to be out there. I learned a lot.

So what, exactly, did Dion Waiters learn in his first game?

Not every team plays defense like Mike Dunlap’s Bobcats did: “They pressed the whole time, and we’re not going to see that every day. Something we had to get used to today… And we’re not going to come across zones all the time. I played zone, and I see why they hate it. It’s difficult.”

Shooting form is important. Don’t slack on it. “Because I wasn’t following through. I was leaning back. I wasn’t on balance. I hurt myself tonight with my jump shots. You know, I’m going to come back tomorrow better than ever. This is one game. I got it out of the way. That’s all it’s about.”

It’s OK to be both nervous and confident in the same game. “I [was nervous for] the first minute or so. But… I stopped attacking. I should have just kept attacking, but I wasn’t getting no calls going to the hole. I just gotta keep attacking and being aggressive. Because in the league, rookies don’t get a lot of calls anyway… I’ve definitely got the confidence. Gotta have that. Like tonight, I was like 1 for 8 before my last two shots. But you see, I took the last shot. So it’s like, as long as I have that confidence and continue to keep that, I’m going to be fine.”

Tonight’s game will be an indication of how much of that he’s absorbed, but the real test will come this October. Let’s hope he studies up before then.

 

[RedBlackAttack]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

????- NBA.com has him at 10 pts, 8 rebs in 30 minutes.......

Interesting. When I saw his personal fouls hit 6, I assumed his night was over... But, clearly you can't foul out of a Summer League game, because he finished the night with 7 fouls.

So, with that in mind, let me readjust his numbers... 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 fouls, 5 turnovers.


Doesn't really change my initial point.

 

[RikSmits]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

Interesting. When I saw his personal fouls hit 6, I assumed his night was over... But, clearly you can't foul out of a Summer League game, because he finished the night with 7 fouls.

So, with that in mind, let me readjust his numbers... 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 fouls, 5 turnovers.


Doesn't really change my initial point.

Summer league has a 10 foul rule.

What is your point, exactly? Waiters hasn't been "tearing it up" either, but you use all perfectly legitimate excuses for his performance. Shouldn't the same apply to Robinson?

Bottom line: it's too early to tell who are the winner and losers in this draft. let's talk again in 2 to 3 years.

 

[David.]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

to me it just looks like waiters is fucking around. I dont really have a problem with that, hes gaining experience and trying different things. He's gonna be a westbrook/iverson type of dude.

 

[sammyvine]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

to me it just looks like waiters is fucking around. I dont really have a problem with that, hes gaining experience and trying different things. He's gonna be a westbrook/iverson type of dude.

Albeit he is not as good as those players

Iverson went #1 in the draft which had Kobe, Nash, Ray Allen etc...so he was a star from a young age.

Westbrook was a loose cannon but you could see the off the charts athletic potential. I don't see that with Waiters who looks out of shape tbh

 

[David.]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

not comparing skill, just style.

kobe also went 11th. Doesnt mean he deserved the 11th pick.

Waiters athletic potential has already been talked about at lengths. Just because he likes to eat doesnt mean he doesnt have athletic potential. He has done crazy things on the court and his quick initial step and relentlessness in regards to getting to the rim show a lot more than an extra 10 lbs of fat.

 

[RyanStackAttack]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

Summer league has a 10 foul rule.

What is your point, exactly? Waiters hasn't been "tearing it up" either, but you use all perfectly legitimate excuses for his performance. Shouldn't the same apply to Robinson?

Bottom line: it's too early to tell who are the winner and losers in this draft. let's talk again in 2 to 3 years.

In defense of Thomas Robinson, I watched Sacramento's first two games and their coaching staff is putting him in some awkward positions. They had him playing the three during stretches of games and also as the primary ball-handler bringing up the ball against the Bobcats' press. He's also been playing a lot around the perimeter and, while half of that is on him, the coach needs to say "enough, get down in the post." Then there's the whole "Let's use out entire Summer League to justify taking Jimmer Fredette with the 10th pick" theme the Kings have going this year. You can see their entire team get deflated everytime Jimmer chucks up a two-crossover 25-foot three-point jumper with 19 seconds on the clock.

Brent Barry made a nice point about the Cavs players all playing within their game and not going outside their comfort level right now and I think that's true. The Cavs' guys don't look like they're pressing. It all looks sort of effortless. The same can't be said for Robinson and, IMO, it seems a lot of that is on the staff and his surrounding players.

 

[dark2332]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

In defense of Thomas Robinson, I watched Sacramento's first two games and their coaching staff is putting him in some awkward positions. They had him playing the three during stretches of games and also as the primary ball-handler bringing up the ball against the Bobcats' press. He's also been playing a lot around the perimeter and, while half of that is on him, the coach needs to say "enough, get down in the post." Then there's the whole "Let's use out entire Summer League to justify taking Jimmer Fredette with the 10th pick" theme the Kings have going this year. You can see their entire team get deflated everytime Jimmer chucks up a two-crossover 25-foot three-point jumper with 19 seconds on the clock.

Brent Barry made a nice point about the Cavs players all playing within their game and not going outside their comfort level right now and I think that's true. The Cavs' guys don't look like they're pressing. It all looks sort of effortless. The same can't be said for Robinson and, IMO, it seems a lot of that is on the staff and his surrounding players.

You see, experts feel Robinson was a steal at 5, yet the Kings' staff still manages to fuck it up. Proof of how horrible that organization is. Robinson at the 3....laughable.

 

[Boohd]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

This is weird but to me I just feel like he is trying to move the ball around on a new team. Its only his second game and I guess he doesnt want to make look like a ball hog in front of guys he may be unfamiliar with. From the looks of both games I think he really can make a shot for himself whenever he really wants. Whether he makes the shot is a different story but I think he can get open shots whenever he wants.

 

[oasis05]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

[video=youtube;RXhKpUfITV0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXhKpUfITV0[/video]

Waiters can play. Reminds me of gomer pyle. Husky compared to the rest of the summerleague team, but has an eye for assault. And that's what counts. He's a killer.

 

[TopGun]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

Waiters can play. Reminds me of gomer pyle. Husky compared to the rest of the summerleague team, but has an eye for assault. And that's what counts. He's a killer.

WTF? The only time Gomer Pyle killed someone was when he snapped, and then he shot himself. Sorry, SPOILER ALERT!

 

[STAT]

Re: Welcome Dion Waiters

to me it just looks like waiters is fucking around. I dont really have a problem with that, hes gaining experience and trying different things. He's gonna be a westbrook/iverson type of dude.

I definitely see what you're saying here, but Waiters has not been quite as aggressive as I expected he would be or near the levels of Russ or Iverson. Granted, it's just Summer League, but those two, particularly Russ, never really floated around the way Waiters has been (save a few streaks where he starts jacking J's). On the other hand, I think Waiters is a bit more conscientious than those two in that even if his shot selection is reflective of his age, he is making a more conscious effort to reign it in.