So this was a tough game to watch but I watched it anyways cause I watch every game.
A few side notes, ATL announcers arethe worst, they make me depressed but what was funny is that they kept praising Dwight and that they have yet to have a bruising center with such defensive presence just because he was feasting on a 6'6 Center.
I'll go through every player and point out the positive and negatives, you really get to see the flaws of each player in this kind of game.
Let's start with the fan darling Kay Felder-
On offense,I don't care about his physical limitations concerning his height but his quickness, explosiveness and burst is going to translate no matter what, it might no translate at first to points but it definately opens up the game for others, he breaks down the defense when he wants and from what i've seen makes the correct pass almost all the time, he has great vision and even when he is trapped on the baseline he has this no look pass that always finds the target.
He can be deceiving with his passing, you never know who is going to pass to which is impressive.
Defensively, he can stay with his man, he has great lateral quickness and he stays with his man, even against one of the quickest in the league in schroeder.
I still don't like how he handles the PnR but when he goes under the screen he one of the quickest to recover, he is going to be extremely valuable during the regular season against quick PGs without a 3pt shot.
On the negative side offensively, his height is still a problem finishing over centers, he is not crafty enough like Isaiah Thomas ( one of the better finishers for his position despite his height), he tries to finish over guys inside of finding the small gaps when shot blockers go for a block, he has ways to go there and I hope he can improve his craftiness there.
Obviously he has no confidence in his shot YET but he did take more shots from mid range this game and I have way more confidence that he develops a reliable shot eventually when his confidence improves.
On a less important note, he is not as fast going to his right and that might show on the scouting report, I hope he can fix that somehow.
On the negative side defensively he isn't good going over the screen and if he gets switched onto a bigger man he is dead, his mass isn't helping him at all there.
Other than that, he is a good rebounder for his size.
Jordan McRae- was abysmal just when I started to develop hype for the guy byut I already knew he was a blackhole when he played with players he thought were scrubs.
Offensively, he will have trouble generating good looks for himself and others if he doesn't have a big body that screens for him, he is not fast enough to create good looks for others and when he doesn't get what he wants he forces shots.
He is a frequent visitor at the FT line, he has an Hardenque way of generating fouls because he is skinny so everything looks like a foul so that's a plus.
There are big negatives in his game that I think can work with good players surrounding him but I can't stress enough how bad his basketball IQ is.
He is not a good passer and he is usually too late to pass when the opportunity presents itself and he sometimes misses a wide open man with a better look to score the basket.
Defensively, he looses focus and is too late to rotate sometimes, he has a low bb IQ and it shows on defense aswell.
All in all I still like him and I believe he can provide good options only if he plays with decent players and this team has plenty of them.
Last words for him, he doesn't like to differ to no one but it looks like Kay and McCrae don't really like playing with each other.
As for the camp invitees
Liggins provides great versatility on the wings, he isn't anything special defensively but he can guard 1-3 with pretty good results.
It seems like he should make the roster to provide an alternative if Felder gets abused on defense and you put Liggins with great offensive players causehe can not create shots or offense.
Cory Jefferson-
Surprised me, obviously he can't guard Centers like Dwight but he showed poise, competiteness and a good touch around the basket.
He nailed a few good looking mid range shots when left open and he is a pretty good rebounder for his size.
I think at the next level he can only guard one position and that's the 4.
Jonathan Holmes-
He has a good shot albeit a slow release.
This can prove problematic at the next level cause the shots he does make are wide wide open shots and i'm not sure he will have to confidence or the ability to knock them when it counts.
Having another floor spacer could provide useful though
He is nothing to talk about defensively and he isn't a good rebounder aswell.
Toney Douglas-
Douglas is a pest, he can provide what Delly provided on defense, he stays with his man and is decent going over screens.
His offense is nothing to talk about right now, and i'm not sure what to do about him given the circumstances and the limited roster spots.
Markel Brown-
I like him, I think he can provide useful and have some upside for a team, I'm not sure it's the Cavs.
He is 6'2 wing and is a great athlete but i'm not sure that his size is what the cavs are looking for the wing spot and I also think the Cavs are fine at the 2 spot.
The bench unit with him and Liggins proved to be great against the Hawks, he was great with rotations and covered his man well.
Last words, I really think the Cavs next move is to look at rim protectors in the draft or via a trade.
