Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller Making Most of Opportunities

[jonathanlambert33]

There is this idea that Mike Brown doesn't like to play young players. I don't think this is fair. After all, Tristan Thompson is, in all likelihood, going to lead the Cavaliers in minutes this season. Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters will be in the top four of minutes played this season.

And it isn't that Brown doesn't see the benefits of getting Zeller or even Matthew Dellavedova minutes. I asked him if he thought it was good for Dion in particular to see big minutes in the absence of C.J. Miles and Irving:

"Any time our young guys can play minutes its a positive thing. Its good for [Dion], its good for [Dellavedova], its good for Tyler [Zeller], its good for all these guys to get minutes right now. Hopefully they can learn and grow and be productive at the end of the day.

Mike Brown expounded a bit on what he's seeing from Dion on Saturday. If you look closely, you can probably find a few reasons why Waiters hasn't been in the starting lineup for most of the year; it has nothing to do with what Brown thinks Waiters can be:

"Dions done a tremendous job scoring the basketball. Hes scored from all three levels. Hes scored in a lot of different ways. Hes done a nice job of moving the basketball also, and not keeping it at one spot. Theres still some areas that I talk to Dion about, that hes got to continue to work on. Defensively, at times he gets a little lost, like some of our other young guys do. Hes big, hes strong and athletic. Hes got to rebound for us. Hes got to finish, hes got to get to the free throw line. Hes got to run. If he can rebound and run at a high level as well as defend consistently, hes going to be an amazing player. But those are areas the general public cant see. Its more than just going 11-20 from the floor. Dions learning and hes growing and hes getting better, but he still has a high ceiling, which is a good thing because he can be a lot better than he is now."

The following night, in New York, Waiters played the type of game that had me jumping out of my seat in the University of Toledo law library where I should have been studying. He ended up with five rebounds, something Brown has repeatedly stressed. He ended up scoring 20+ points, despite deferring to Jarrett Jack at times. In fact, perhaps the biggest shot of the game came when he made a spot-up short corner three. It was really awesome.

http://www.fearthesword.com/2014/3/25/5545778/dion-waiters-and-tyler-zeller-proving-cavaliers-can-go-for-wins-still

 

[elcheato]

Dion seemingly is progressing. Since January 22nd he's cut down his mid range shots by a few percentage points, and probably related, his percentage on the mid range shots have gone up. In that span he ranks in the upper tear for mid range FG%. His FG% around the basket in that time has also gone up significantly, I think it's mid 50s, ranking him around league average for guard, compared to worst in the league that we have previously seen from him. Better three point shooter this year. Next step in his development is getting to the free throw line, which means he needs to stop screaming for calls and respect officials, so in return they respect him. If you think Blake Griffin and co are complainers, watch a Cavs game (painful experience in its own right) and listen to how many times Dion yells AYEEEEE AND 1 on a drive. It's every drive. It's a running gag among Cavs fans

I'm genuinely pleased with what I've seen from him lately. Was ready to move on at the deadline, but I'm glad they didn't.