Get out of my head. :chuckles: I was thinking the same thing too. For my sanity I just imagined that the Cavs already knew what they had in Delladova and just gave Higgins some time to maybe show something out there. Still Delladova in sparse and limited minutes showed good defensive instincts and energy (he fights) - not much in the playmaking department because as mentioned, he played in short bursts and at one point he played a bit of SG with Higgins on point.
As to my early observations with Zeller, he started well but faded in the 2nd half. I hope he keeps working, he'd be a nice backup big.
Waiters, I believe still didn't show what he can do consistently. I'm not bashing him but he kinda played out of control specially in the early going. He was very aggressive in getting involved which is good but also caused him to pick up those early fouls. He was finally getting the foul calls (he didn't get last season) from the refs and I hope it translates when the season goes underway.
I think once Dion gets comfortable (which I know he will) we'd see him flourish.
HAHA! Watching the games I love picking up on things like that which cant be picked up entirely on a scorecard. My pops and I dissect baseball and football games the same way.
Anyone who doesnt really watch will have a different take, usually reliant on stat sheets and group think. But Delladova looked pretty solid out there and one would have to assume the coaching staff was playing with his minutes/roles because of that. Both last game and this game Steve Kerr, Reggie and Steve Smith all said that they could see Delladova as a backup guard in this league right now. I bet the Cavs would rather not lose him right now.
Back to Waiters though, I just dont want him to get frustrated and abandon ship on playing off the ball and getting better at catch and shoot on offense and more engaged when the ball is across the floor on defense. He showed more effort on D, though he still relied on some bad habits like reaching.
I wish he was resolved enough to know that he and the organization have a plan for his development and he should just stick with the points of emphasis regardless of the returns on a summerleague stat sheet. Habits can be broken with a change of mentality and repetition.
With him, I can tell you when a streak will start the minute he makes a play that boosts his confidence. Tonight, it was the step back hesitation pull up here on the left quarter court at about 18 feet, where he made the Grizzlies defender look silly before knocking down the shot all net. He trotted back looking a little more springy and he was on the attack from there :chuckles:
Fun to watch when he gets a groove, but would rather he didnt need one in order to be fully engaged and attacking. He came right back down the next time and launched a catch and shoot 3 that missed, was hoping his next catch and shoot would go down and he would keep at moving off the ball instead of coming to the top and demanding the ball like he did for a good part of the rest of the game.
Want to see him start off with Delladova as his PG and see if he can get him some better looks in the half court early that might get Dion going off the ball tomorrow night.
