i wanted to start a new thread, because after watching every minute of tonight's cavs-bucks rookie league game, i believe this is a seminal night for will cherry and griz hoops. it seems to me that after the bar fight, after the broken foot that hampered his senior year, followed by that ugly game against syracuse, the stars are finally beginning to align for will. more on the stars aligning later. as for the game.
the main thing was, his playing time. he played a bit in the first half then came in roughly midway through the third quarter and did not see the bench again--reason being, he was once again being will, playing hounding, pesky defense all over the floor. the cavs were behind when he entered, and won the game with him on the floor. at one point, the cavs went on an 8-0 run. he bricked one three, but scored seven points, and had one beautiful assist, drawing two defenders to him on a drive to the basket, and dishing to a big for an easy layup. one other memorable moment. he split two defenders near the top of the key (to ahhhs from the crowd) then dished to the wing for a wide open three. might of been wiggins to miss it or the crowd would have roared.
as for the stars aligning. at first, watching the game and how good dellavedova is, i thought, poor will, another bad choice for summer rookie league ball. he's got kyrie irving and matthew dellavedova ahead of him. no way he makes this team. but as the game progressed, it dawned on me that the new cleveland coach, dave blatt, who established quite a reputation for himself in the european league, is a sticker for defense, a la popovich in san antonio. that will played down the stretch made me think blatt was seeing what i was seeing, that there's always room for a great backcourt defender.
of course, if that is true, and will could make the cavs, the stars would really have aligned for him, with the biggest star in the galaxy coming back to cleveland. i think (no matter what the las vegas oddsmakers think) an nba championship this year is out of the question for cleveland. after that? watch out! and if will can play himself onto this team, he could play the same role that norris cole played for the miami heat.
so, okay, he doesn't make the cavs. at the very least, he played well enough tonight to attract a lot of attention from europe. and he definitely played more than well enough to redeem all the faith we've had in him since he signed with the griz.
the main thing was, his playing time. he played a bit in the first half then came in roughly midway through the third quarter and did not see the bench again--reason being, he was once again being will, playing hounding, pesky defense all over the floor. the cavs were behind when he entered, and won the game with him on the floor. at one point, the cavs went on an 8-0 run. he bricked one three, but scored seven points, and had one beautiful assist, drawing two defenders to him on a drive to the basket, and dishing to a big for an easy layup. one other memorable moment. he split two defenders near the top of the key (to ahhhs from the crowd) then dished to the wing for a wide open three. might of been wiggins to miss it or the crowd would have roared.
as for the stars aligning. at first, watching the game and how good dellavedova is, i thought, poor will, another bad choice for summer rookie league ball. he's got kyrie irving and matthew dellavedova ahead of him. no way he makes this team. but as the game progressed, it dawned on me that the new cleveland coach, dave blatt, who established quite a reputation for himself in the european league, is a sticker for defense, a la popovich in san antonio. that will played down the stretch made me think blatt was seeing what i was seeing, that there's always room for a great backcourt defender.
of course, if that is true, and will could make the cavs, the stars would really have aligned for him, with the biggest star in the galaxy coming back to cleveland. i think (no matter what the las vegas oddsmakers think) an nba championship this year is out of the question for cleveland. after that? watch out! and if will can play himself onto this team, he could play the same role that norris cole played for the miami heat.
so, okay, he doesn't make the cavs. at the very least, he played well enough tonight to attract a lot of attention from europe. and he definitely played more than well enough to redeem all the faith we've had in him since he signed with the griz.
