Summer League Game 1: Charlotte vs. Cleveland , Sunday, July 15 2012, 8:30pm EST

[caf]

Just some food for thought:

You're on the coaching staff of the Cleveland Cavaliers. You have a young group of guys playing an exhibition game. The first time all off season they have played against 'competition' per se. Now you know that these players (TT and Dion) are going to make the team. So it's not like you're taking an unknown UDFA and trying to see what he can do. You've already scouted the hell out of some of these players and know what they can do.

So with that said, how would you rather them play?

1) Play to their strengths which you already know they excel at and win a meaningless exhibition game.
2) Play to their weaknesses in an attempt to identify and isolate what they are doing wrong in an attempt to correct their mistakes.


For instance, I know Dion can get to the rack. So would I rather see him carve up a defense in an exhibition game, or would I rather see his jump shooting mechanics which obviously need some work?

I know Tristan can rebound and dunk. So would I work on getting him the ball next to the rim, or would I advise him to get the ball a little further out and see how his post game has developed and how he operates off the dribble?


The reason you are seeing a lot of these guys sinking a bit is because they are being put in a situation they are not fully comfortable with.

 

[MRMsix6]

Dion was unimpressive, but equally unimpressive was Tristan Thompson.

Biyombo showed some promise on a few post moves 1on1 that he didnt have last year. Even with that little spin and throw the ball at the rim thing that Tristan scored on, he still didnt show any "feel" for the game. Thats what concerns me with him.

I think Biyombo is already ahead of Tristan in development. That frustrates me.

You'll never pass on a chance to express disappointment in TT, will you? :chuckles:

I thought TT was clearly the better player last night, especially defensively.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

You'll never pass on a chance to express disappointment in TT, will you? :chuckles:

I thought TT was clearly the better player last night, especially defensively.

meh... I guess we define better in a different way

 

[GreatGoo]

Watched the game yesterday and my only real take away is that I don't see much improvement, if any, with TT. I don't expect much from the rookies, but TT has a year under his belt and I heard that he was a hard worker. I know, one game and it summer league. I would have liked to have seen improvement in his offensive moves or a short range jumper.The shots don't necessarily need to go in, just want to see something new in his limited offensive arsenal. Although he did have a couple of nice drives to the center and hook shot that went in.

Zeller looks like a solid smart BB player. Great asset to come off the bench.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

Watched the game yesterday and my only real take away is that I don't see much improvement, if any, with TT. I don't expect much from the rookies, but TT has a year under his belt and I heard that he was a hard worker. I know, one game and it summer league. I would have liked to have seen improvement in his offensive moves or a short range jumper.The shots don't necessarily need to go in, just want to see something new in his limited offensive arsenal. Although he did have a couple of nice drives to the center and hook shot that went in.

Zeller looks like a solid smart BB player. Great asset to come off the bench.

The whole time he was on teh court, he was matched up with Biyombo. Who, believe it or not, showed signs of great defense by the end of last season. Cant remember what article it was, but someone (maybe Simmons) had a writeup on a string of games where Biyombo shut down a list of good big men, while remaining on the court most nights.

So Ill be interested to see if he looks more settled tonight and is able to exert himself offensively with less of a defender shadowing him.

 

[Soda]

I'm not an expert or a coach, but after the 1st half of the game yesterday, Tristan Thompson looks fine. He's everywhere and helps out whenever he can and also has been very active on the defensive end. I'm sorry, Rch, but I'm not understanding your persistent critiquing of TT. As I watch this game, it seems like you're forcing the criticism.

Edit: I do see some softness with TT in the 2nd half. Still, though, you were more impressed with Byombo? I thought he was playing pretty poorly until the last 5 minutes of the game.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

The whole time he was on teh court, he was matched up with Biyombo. Who, believe it or not, showed signs of great defense by the end of last season. Cant remember what article it was, but someone (maybe Simmons) had a writeup on a string of games where Biyombo shut down a list of good big men, while remaining on the court most nights.

So Ill be interested to see if he looks more settled tonight and is able to exert himself offensively with less of a defender shadowing him.

Biyombo has been good thus far in the Summer League. He really took Thomas Robinson to school a few times on both ends when they played Sacramento. He's built like a Center though, more power and position, which helps him in that regard.

Tristan showed me a little something. He scored one time, in isolation, from about 6-7 feet. He did his normal move into the paint and then he raised up and scored. What stood out to me on this play was that it seemed like he was FINALLY starting to show glimpses of using his crazy length and leaping ability to make offense easier. When he went up for this shot, he got up HIGH in the air and he went straight up and it made the shot a bunny. It was like one of those Kevin Garnett floaters where he gets ridiculously high in the air from close range and just kind of tosses it in. Completely un-guardable. I had never seen Tristan execute a move like that before, so there is at least some progress being made.

 

[kj1]

Biyombo has been good thus far in the Summer League. He really took Thomas Robinson to school a few times on both ends when they played Sacramento. He's built like a Center though, more power and position, which helps him in that regard.

Tristan showed me a little something. He scored one time, in isolation, from about 6-7 feet. He did his normal move into the paint and then he raised up and scored. What stood out to me on this play was that it seemed like he was FINALLY starting to show glimpses of using his crazy length and leaping ability to make offense easier. When he went up for this shot, he got up HIGH in the air and he went straight up and it made the shot a bunny. It was like one of those Kevin Garnett floaters where he gets ridiculously high in the air from close range and just kind of tosses it in. Completely un-guardable. I had never seen Tristan execute a move like that before, so there is at least some progress being made.

He also had at least 2 blocked shots including a block on the guy he was guarding which is pure ability...

 

[kj1]

Dion was unimpressive, but equally unimpressive was Tristan Thompson.

Biyombo showed some promise on a few post moves 1on1 that he didnt have last year. Even with that little spin and throw the ball at the rim thing that Tristan scored on, he still didnt show any "feel" for the game. Thats what concerns me with him.

I think Biyombo is already ahead of Tristan in development. That frustrates me.

You clearly did not watch the game. TT almost dominated Biyambo in the 1st half...

 

[czvo]

meh... I guess we define better in a different way

You're not the only one RCR. I was very underwhelmed by Tristan's performance.

Zeller will be a solid player in the league, we all knew that (I still hate his face).

I have lower expectations than just about everyone for Waiters, so I didn't really have an opinion on him last night one way or the other.

Its really not fair to make blanket statements regarding Zeller and Waiters, since they've yet to play an actual NBA game, but I was really hoping Tristan would show more than he did.