Pat Shurmur puts Greg Little on notice
September 24, 2012AP Poll: Ohio State Moves Up to No. 14
September 24, 2012With Cavaliers season expected to tip off in just four weeks, the Wine and Gold are receiving excellent returns on a pair of young post players. The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto has the scoop on Tristan Thompson and Samardo Samuels, two players who will have to see substantial improvement if this extremely young Cavaliers roster1 is to progress from back-to-back lottery seasons.
“Tristan Thompson has spent more time at the practice facility than any Cavalier this summer,” writes Pluto. “The goal for the 6-9 power forward is to average 10 rebounds and 10 to 12 points. He averaged 10.4 points and 7.5 rebounds in 28 starts last season — and they want that rebounding number to rise. He’s only 21.
“A year ago, Samardo Samuels arrived at camp close to 20 pounds overweight,” he continues. “He has been at the facility often this season and is in excellent shape, say team sources. With Jamison gone to Lakers, power forward is wide open. Thompson is expected to start. The Cavs want four big men for center/power forward. Three spots are taken by Thompson, Varejao and rookie Tyler Zeller. That leaves Samuels competing with undrafted free agents Michael Eric (Temple), Kevin Jones (West Virginia) and Jon Leuer (acquired on waivers).”
As for Samuels’ competition, the team went to decent lengths to acquire Jones immediately following the draft. Eric earned his spot due to his size as well as a fairly impressive run with the team’s Summer League squad. Leuer impressed many in his limited time last season, providing several highly efficient, double-digit scoring efforts for the Milwaukee Bucks.
- Anderson Varejao, turning 30, will be the oldest player on the 15-man roster [↩]
8 Comments
Can’t wait for this season to start. I’m not expecting them to be great, but I think they will at least be entertaining.
”The goal for the 6-9 power forward is to average 10 rebounds and 10 to 12 points.”
I would be very pleased if TT can push 14 to 16 points per game this season. I just wonder if that’s feasible considering the amount of NBA experience Tristan has right now.
This makes one of us but I hope for the latter at the least.
Can’t wait for some Cavs basketball. They should have a legit shot at an 8th seed in the playoffs if Varejao can stay healthy. That’s a big IF, but they may even have a chance without him if the young guys can step up a little earlier.
I think the 10 boards are the biggest one. If he’s between 10-12 PPG (like he was as a starter last year) and get’s that board number up to 10, I’ll be jumping for joy, and he’ll be well on his way to being a big piece on this team
I have really high hopes for this season too (entertainment wise). As long as they stay in the hunt for an 8 seed, Kyrie stays healthy and neither Dion or TT flames out, I’ll be a happy man.
Excuse my ignorance, but What “lengths” did the Cavs go through to get KJ? Just wondering how much they like him. Also, we have a ton if guys looking for time at the wing. Will Gibson and Azuibuike both be on the squad? I love CJ Miles as well.
Andy averages 10-11 ppg and 11-12 boards…if TT can do that, there goes AV for a few trade assets. I will take that.