Martynas NBDL Checker

[Maximus]

DENVER - Cleveland forward Drew Gooden sat out the Cavaliers' game at Denver on Wednesday night, missing his second straight game with a strained right thigh.
Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas started despite a balky left knee. Had he not been able to play, the Cavs would have been without three starters. Guard Larry Hughes is out until March with a broken finger.
Ilgauskas, who skipped the Cavaliers' practice Tuesday in Denver, and Gooden were both game-time decisions.
"Z's fine," Cavs coach Mike Brown said about an hour before tip-off as he held out hope Gooden, too, would be able to play.
Gooden, averaging 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds, hurt his leg in the third quarter of the Cavaliers' 115-106 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night and sat out Sunday night's game at Portland.
He's day-to-day and might suit up Friday night at Golden State in his hometown of Oakland, Calif.
Forward Donyell Marshall said the Cavs weren't going to change anything with their rash of injuries.
"We still will do what we always want to do," he said. "We have injuries, but we brought in guys in the summer so that we would be able to continue to do those things. That is part of the game. We can still be aggressive and play the way we want to."
Still, they realized it would be more difficult to shake their slump without their top players. They brought a four-game skid into Denver, having dropped their first three games on their six-game Western road swing.
"I don't want to make an excuse," forward LeBron James said. "But the core guys that we had with us at the beginning of the year are not with us right now. We have to fight through it and get better and just keep working hard."
The Cavs also are planning to send 7-foot-2 Lithuanian rookie Martynas Andriuskevicius to the NBDL in the next few days.
"We're talking about sending him down so he can get some game-time experience," Brown said.
Why now and not earlier in the season?
"We wanted him to have a foundation of what we do and what it's like to be in the NBA and the whole nine yards," Brown said. "His body's gotten stronger, he's gotten used to being in the states. Now we feel like he's at a point where he needs some game-time experience just to keep his focus and keep enjoying the process."

 

[Mac]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

Finally.

 

[cavincali]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

they should send sorry ass lebron james with him then maybe he will learn how to go to the hoop instead of shooting 3's all the time and he can learn to shoot a free throw.

 

[PIP]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

Can Newble, Marshall, Jones, Snow, Sasha, Luke, Wilks, Henderson, all go with him...

 

[Karma]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

I'll definately keep my eyes peeled for his performances. Lets hope he goes ok and doesn't damage his confidense by playing poorly against 2nd rate opposition.

 

[Wine and Gold]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

I'm told we've got a real 'FIND' in this guy. Whispers throughout the Cavs insider network is that this guy will be a grade A player in this league, and that his development is being seen as a key aspect to our long range plan at SMALL FORWARD. They view him as a small forward .... They are absolutely exhilerated at his potential to develop into the most unique small forward in the game ...he has length that would be a horrid nightmare to try and defend from that spot, and he has, what I've been told, quicker feet than Anderson Varejao amongst our 'bigs'. He can defend, with his foot speed, much much smaller players. The Cavs have him working on his footwork mechanics with Kenny Natt and Mike Malone daily, and gets his workout reps guarding smaller players like Pavs and Newble throughout this season, and gives them fits with his quickness combined with length.

He got a very soft shot that they are working out a number of mechanical issues. They are trying to get him more consistent and eliminate lots of unnecassary movement in his shot. They are trying to emulate Z's simple set shot so that he gains more consistency. But, he's got a soft shot and natural touch from the outside. Even out to 3pt land he has some effectiveness, and they see him as an eventual mid to high 30% shooter from the arc. Even now, in his reps from the arc he is high 20's and this is at a point where he's only been shooting with his new mechanics for about six weeks.

The bottom line is, this organization ...behind the scenes, sees this kid as a future gold nugget ...and they are trying to be very very quietly optimistic at this point. But they are having a hard time holding in their enthusiasm for what they think they have in this kid. Campy told me the timeline is three years though ...they want another 25lbs on him from the 237 he was at, in mid December. But, he's already gained 10 lbs sincwe training camp, and gotten much much stronger. Max Keller has him as his special project right noow, and has him sucking down about six oif his special milkshakes a day ...thus the acne.

I'll keep you guys posted with what I hear as we go .... I here that he's gotten serious with a local Cleveland girl already as well ...although not mentioned in the press, I think he got engaged over the holidays.

 

[Mac]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

Three years and they think he is a gold nugget?

Hes nothing but a nugget right now. In three years we will discuss him, til then, I have a lot of doubts. But playing in the DLeagues is a great first step.

 

[Kypus]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

I'm glad they're sending him down to get some playing time. But playing him at the 3?! He's not going to remain as kiddy-flexible as he is now in 5 years. I see him ending up as a finesse 4.

 

[PIP]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

When I asked for this over the summer, I was told I was NUTS !

Others said : "LePip, you are wrong... He must remain with the Cavaliers and learn from the team.... He would benefit from that much more then playing against inferior opponents."....

OKAY.

 

[West Remy]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

The Heat sent Wright and Baron to the D-League where they had nice games and were called right back. Imagine if Marty has a few good games in the D-League as well. That might just say more about the competition (or lack thereof) in that league.

 

[Maximus]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

I'm told we've got a real 'FIND' in this guy. Whispers throughout the Cavs insider network is that this guy will be a grade A player in this league, and that his development is being seen as a key aspect to our long range plan at SMALL FORWARD. They view him as a small forward .... They are absolutely exhilerated at his potential to develop into the most unique small forward in the game ...he has length that would be a horrid nightmare to try and defend from that spot, and he has, what I've been told, quicker feet than Anderson Varejao amongst our 'bigs'. He can defend, with his foot speed, much much smaller players. The Cavs have him working on his footwork mechanics with Kenny Natt and Mike Malone daily, and gets his workout reps guarding smaller players like Pavs and Newble throughout this season, and gives them fits with his quickness combined with length.

He got a very soft shot that they are working out a number of mechanical issues. They are trying to get him more consistent and eliminate lots of unnecassary movement in his shot. They are trying to emulate Z's simple set shot so that he gains more consistency. But, he's got a soft shot and natural touch from the outside. Even out to 3pt land he has some effectiveness, and they see him as an eventual mid to high 30% shooter from the arc. Even now, in his reps from the arc he is high 20's and this is at a point where he's only been shooting with his new mechanics for about six weeks.

The bottom line is, this organization ...behind the scenes, sees this kid as a future gold nugget ...and they are trying to be very very quietly optimistic at this point. But they are having a hard time holding in their enthusiasm for what they think they have in this kid. Campy told me the timeline is three years though ...they want another 25lbs on him from the 237 he was at, in mid December. But, he's already gained 10 lbs sincwe training camp, and gotten much much stronger. Max Keller has him as his special project right noow, and has him sucking down about six oif his special milkshakes a day ...thus the acne.

I'll keep you guys posted with what I hear as we go .... I here that he's gotten serious with a local Cleveland girl already as well ...although not mentioned in the press, I think he got engaged over the holidays.

W&G, I agree with a lot of what you wrote....disagree with some too. They are not grooming him to be a 3. It may be a position he can be effective at today, just because he is too immature and weak to play the 4 or the 5 right now. The plan is to play him at 4/5 and the timetable depends on how fast STAN Kellers gets his weight up. Stan shoudn't have a problem getting him to the 250's this summer.
I agree with everything you said about him physically and from a skills standpoint.....the kid is gifted.

Engaged to a local girl? Don't tell his girl in Kaunas!LOL I think someone is pulling your leg....he is not engaged in any way, shape or form.

 

[NarlCavs]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

Glad to see this. Marty needs to get some game action. He really hasn't seen enough the last couple of years.

I can't see him as a SF. I do think he could end up as a more finesse, perimeter oriented PF. He supposedly doesn't have the kind of game to take the constant pounding in the post that a C does.

Marty was worth a shot and a nice pickup considering what the Cavs only had to give up to get him. Remember, he was being talked about as a possible lottery pick in the 2004 draft before he dropped out of the draft.

 

[Karma]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

When I asked for this over the summer, I was told I was NUTS !

Others said : "LePip, you are wrong... He must remain with the Cavaliers and learn from the team.... He would benefit from that much more then playing against inferior opponents."....

OKAY.

Oh my god! Pip was right

We're not worthy

At the end of the day

This forum will have to incorporate a Marty NBDL tracker.

 

[PIP]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

Oh my god! Pip was right

It won't be the last time....

 

[Kypus]

Re: Martynas going to NBDL....

Marty would definitely get minutes, there are no Centers on the roster now that Pape Sow has been recalled to the Raptors. Tallest guy is 6'7.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/arkansas/roster/index.html

Plus he would be down there for Napoleon Dynamite night- it doesn't get any better than that :yay:

Napoleon Dynamite Night 1/20/06
Napoleon Dynamite Night with PEDRO at Alltel Arena
Friday, January 20th vs Ft. Worth Flyers - 7:30 pm tip off, doors open at 6:30 pm

The real Pedro himself will be on hand signing autographs and taking pictures with fans from 6:30-8:30 pm. Plus there will be a Napoleon Dynamite look-a-like & dance off contest with Pedro at halftime. Come to the game dressed up as your favorite character.