Amin Vafa from fellow True Hoop Network site Hardwood Paroxysm provides an interesting look at Dion Waiters Summer League Performance. I agree with not worrying; it is hard to discount his high quality NCAA performance, on offense and defense, as a sophomore, frequently in front of thousands of screaming college kids, based on the results of 90 minutes of loosely organized basketball on a tender knee.
Let’s get to training camp, have Coach Scott put the team through the ringer, give Waiters a season to learn NBA defense…then rejoice at the young and talented squad in front of us.
And I don’t know if I mentioned it before but the summerleague refs were (are) AWFUL! I totally understand Dion’s frustration there…again, he got to the bucket at will. Elite skill. Not worried…
I’m already sold on talent but the attitude has to go. I don’t care how bad summer league refs are. Does he think he will get every call in the real games? And so you didn’t try out for anyone, at least get in shape before summer league. I hope Scott gets into this guy and he starts to come around.
Yeah, even before hearing about the attitude issues at Cuse, you could tell from his interviews that the kid needs a tweak in his attitude. Dion shows a lot of potential, but drop a few lbs, get your act right, and earn your spot on the team instead of thinking you are entitled to it. Just something that seriously gets me about the guy’s attitude and persona that needs a B.Scott reality check. I’m sure he will be a bit more ready to go at the season’s start after Scott lays into him a few times.
The flip-side to his attitude issues at Syracuse is that he turned those around and put them behind him. He’s shown the ability before to respond to strong coaching, reign in his attitude, and give the effort to be great.
You’ve probably all seen similar stories, but here’s an article from six months ago from his hometown (Philly) newspaper:
http://articles.philly.com/2012-01-10/sports/30612016_1_syracuse-guard-carrier-dome-syracuse-coach-jim-boeheim
I swear, people bitch if a guy doesn’t have enough “edge” and then they bitch if he has an “edge!” Atheletes cannot win with most fans. Period.
And since it’s a slow period, can I ask this: what has Jonas done in the Olympics so far that makes ANYONE think he will be ROY, like the dopes at hoopsworld think he will? Where is the EVIDENCE that Jonas is good against high levels of competition?? I mean, seriously…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/raptors-prospect-jonas-valanciunas-gains-valuable-experience-at-london-2012/article4451106/
Sounds like he’s not getting much burn.
Can’t wait for Val to bust so people will stop talking trash on the TT pick. I have read in numerous sources (don’t feel like looking for them now), that Jonas wouldn’t have ever come to the Cavs if he were picked by them. Which is why they didn’t pick him. I mean, what is better? Picking TT or wasting the 4th pick on nothing? Must be too good for the Cavs. “F” Jonas. Has a girl’s sounding name anyways.
Why does Joe Kotoch hate the Cavs? Anyone know? He clings to the belief that Jonas will be much better than TT despite, again, EVIDENCE of any sort. He claims it was a total mistake for the Cavs to pass on Jonas. I wonder how a guy who has not even remotely dominated against great competition is gonna be ROY and a future “All-Star,” as Kotoch claimed today? Baffling…
Well, Valanciunas is an incredibly efficient player in limited touches. But his Olympic problem is his Euro problem, and will be his NBA problem: his foul rate is really high. Valanciunas’ and Zeller’s numbers are actually remarkably similar, except for two places: Zeller is much better at avoiding fouls, and Valanciunas has a gaudy 63% field goal percentage.
The field goal percentage I doubt will transfer, the foul rate is going to be a problem. Zeller is much more defensively sound and moves his feet really well. He’s not a shotblocker like Valanciunas (doesn’t have his wingspan), but he has better defensive positioning, and has the hands to get some steals.
Valanciunas will probably be a very good player if he can stay on the floor, and I still think he would’ve been a much better pick than TT. As for not playing on the Cavs, I don’t know if I buy that. I think that’s a dumb of a rumor as the Cavs not getting Amare because they refused to give up JJ Hickson…
I almost wonder if there’s some bad blood between he and Z. If not, couldn’t Z have persuaded him? Argh. It’s late.
Chad Ford said on a BS Report recently that the Cavs were one of the teams that were in love with Jonas but that Jonas’ agent wouldn’t give them a clear time table on when he would be able to come over because he wanted V going to Toronto. Is it true? Who knows? Thompson was raw as a rookie but he played better than Williams or Kanter. If Thompson has the will to get better (which it appears he does) he should be a tremendous player. He also looked rawer because he was in the same lineup as Irving who was NBA ready.
He also looked rawer because he shot Scoring efficiency was just plain awful for a PF or Center. He has a lot of work to do. I hope he can get it done, but everyone who claims he was a great pick must just be glossing over how bad he was on offense outside of Offensive rebounds. Seriously, that is the only elite skill set he showed (he’s just OK at D and Defensive Boards, nothing else to speak of), and he’s shown plenty of weaknesses. I like the guy, he’s young and I think he has the work effort needed to become a solid rotational player, but I have no illusions that he was a solid rotational player last year (at least, he wouldn’t have been on a good team.) and it would certainly surprise me if he makes any all star games at this point.
Chad Ford, the man who brought you Pavel Podkolzin, and lives in the media hub of Hawaii? It must be true then.
Tyson Chandler is having a really tough time avoiding foul trouble for team USA, I’m not sure how much stock to put into JV getting a few fouls. The kid is bg, can run and score. Considering his age and how raw he is, I expect him to have a bright future in the NBA. I like his atttitude from the article, he goes 3 for 4 with 5 rebound and 3 fouls and his responses is simply he didn’t play well and the coach is playing to win, not just to give him minutes. I like that statement a lot. I doubt you would have heard those words come out of a guy like Waiters.
Besides JV’s agent not givin ANY team a timetable on when he’ll come over to the U.S., I never read or heard any official report from JV or his agent about not wanting to go to Cleveland. I do remember JV’s interview though, where he said that he’s just excited to be drafted and didn’t care where he went.
I heard that TT is and has been working out a lot and improving his game. He really needs to keep at it because he didn’t seem to do much in summer league. I likee TT a lot and was surprised that we took him so early, I really expected that we would take JV or K. Leonard. I can’t say I was ‘hoping’ for one of those guys, just that it was my expecation, like my expecation was that we would have taken Barnes this year and not Waiters.
With that said, I think it’s perfectly ‘fair’ for people to ‘complain’ about the TT pick and Grants decision making IF JV comes to the NBA and just kills it, or minimally has a much better year than TT. I same the same thing holds true if Barnes significantly outplays Waiters. It’s just simple to link players together when draft picks are questioned from the start. Much like a lot of the people who were hoping (I was not one of them) that the Cavs would have taken Williams over Kyrie, it would be fair for them to compare the two and now give Grant ‘credit’ for making the better choice.
Hindsight is always 20/20 and we’ll have to wait and see if TT/Waiters ‘validates’ Grants vision or not. +
Yet his stats are marginal against good completion. And TT had a SUCCESSFUL rookie year despite when many seem to think. A better year than the number 2 and 3 pick. Yet, few people mention that either. In 4 Olympic qualifying games Jonas avg. 8 and 4. Terrible offensive rebound numbers too, something TT is nearly elite at. Just sayin…
HoopsDogg Logic: Chad Ford was wrong once, forever irrelevant!
Chad Ford wrong once? Have you forgotten his Darko love? Or perhaps you’ve never heard of Marvin Williams? Dude has been SPECTACULARLY wrong in the last decade…
It wasn’t Ford making a judgment call on Jonas being better than Tristan or vice versa. No one knows the answer to that yet and we won’t for a few years. Simmons asked Ford why the Cavs didn’t draft Jonas at 4 last year which would have primed the Cavs to draft Robinson this year. Ford said that Valanciunas’ agent didn’t want him going to Cleveland so he was vague with them about the timetable. Damn near every player says it would be an honor to play for any team, but behind closed doors it isn’t alway so.
Of course Ford has been wrong on players. Who isn’t? Ford has to make judgements on 50+ players every year. He’s going to be wrong. Every GM has a multiple failures on their resumes. So does every sports writer. At least Ford concentrates on the NBA draft unlike Terry Pluto or Mary Schmitt Boyer. Pluto probably watches the Cavs less than we do. Valanciunas isn’t exactly tearing it up at the Olympics.