Emoni Bates - The Prince That was Promised?

[toooskies]

There just aren't enough minutes and talent there to do anything other than go play by play if you want to make the case that Emoni needs to go work on some more things before getting another shot.

As for his history, it was a great predictor for what he did in his very first game at the VSL, but when game two hit and his approach started to change; I've thrown that all out.

All I'm saying is I think we need to challenge the kid with a real opportunity and see how he responds. If he plays well, that's great. If he keeps making the same mistakes, then we can tell him exactly what we want to see him working on. When he shows progress, give him another run.

Developing players is so beneficial and finding ways to play to a player's strengths and hide his weaknesses should be at the root of what any decent head coach does.

I just want to see Emoni do it at the G-League level for a month before I invest NBA minutes in him, particularly while the Cavs are already having trouble finding their footing this year.

I suspect you're going to get your wish, but what if he's still lighting up the g-league in a month and the Cavs still can't find anything but garbage minutes for him?

Depends on if "lighting up the g-league" involves simply shooting the ball well or if it includes being a well-rounded player otherwise.

[JonFromVA]

I just want to see Emoni do it at the G-League level for a month before I invest NBA minutes in him, particularly while the Cavs are already having trouble finding their footing this year.

I suspect you're going to get your wish, but what if he's still lighting up the g-league in a month and the Cavs still can't find anything but garbage minutes for him?

Maybe someone values him more than us and wants to trade for him.

You would hope if he started tearing up the g-league, the Cavs would be smart enough to see his potential current value and give him at least a little bit of meaningful minutes

I don't share those hopes. I already brought up the case of Isaiah Mobley and if they won't reward him given his NCAA experience, his 23 & 9 with 38% 3pt shooting with the Charge, his VSL MVP, and not to mention who his brother is ... there simply is no predictable path to playtime under JBB other than a bunch of injuries or garbage time.

But we can track and hope, which is what this thread is about.

[ijspeelman]

I suspect you're going to get your wish, but what if he's still lighting up the g-league in a month and the Cavs still can't find anything but garbage minutes for him?

Maybe someone values him more than us and wants to trade for him.

You would hope if he started tearing up the g-league, the Cavs would be smart enough to see his potential current value and give him at least a little bit of meaningful minutes

I don't share those hopes. I already brought up the case of Isaiah Mobley and if they won't reward him given his NCAA experience, his 23 & 9 with 38% 3pt shooting with the Charge, his VSL MVP, and not to mention who his brother is ... there simply is no predictable path to playtime under JBB other than a bunch of injuries or garbage time.

But we can track and hope, which is what this thread is about.

I think JB is incredibly stringent with his big men. If you cannot defend consistently, you are rarely playing.

See Drummond being pulled for JA early. See Moses Brown not getting extended or Damian Jones losing his spot to Tristan (so far this year). Even look at Wade, who's been more inconsistent on that end since his return from injury last year and him being up and down with minutes.

I fear IMo has not shown to the staff that he will translate defensively to the NBA. He lacks center size and without above average athleticism, may be a negative on that end. I don't know if this is what they think, but if they do, I do not share their sentiments as I think he's shown BBIQ at the center position. The worrying thing is his foot speed is not like his brothers so he's probably stuck at the 5 role.

Bates may a little different, but I assume he at least needs to be better than Niang defensively to get playing time (not a high bar, but from where Bates was in college, I am unsure if he currently clears). Niang has played more minutes at the 4, but has gotten 20% of his minutes at the 3. Wade has been mostly a 4, but has had match-ups with 3s. Okoro has been a majority 3. I think these are the guys he's contending with for minutes and I see Bates more as a 3 than a 4 (currently and it seems Cavs agree as he started the g-league as a 3 and in the NBA as a 3). With his (apparent) lack of foot speed, it could be nice to see him play as a small ball 4 off the bench.

[JonFromVA]

Maybe someone values him more than us and wants to trade for him.

You would hope if he started tearing up the g-league, the Cavs would be smart enough to see his potential current value and give him at least a little bit of meaningful minutes

I don't share those hopes. I already brought up the case of Isaiah Mobley and if they won't reward him given his NCAA experience, his 23 & 9 with 38% 3pt shooting with the Charge, his VSL MVP, and not to mention who his brother is ... there simply is no predictable path to playtime under JBB other than a bunch of injuries or garbage time.

But we can track and hope, which is what this thread is about.

I think JB is incredibly stringent with his big men. If you cannot defend consistently, you are rarely playing.

See Drummond being pulled for JA early. See Moses Brown not getting extended or Damian Jones losing his spot to Tristan (so far this year). Even look at Wade, who's been more inconsistent on that end since his return from injury last year and him being up and down with minutes.

I fear IMo has not shown to the staff that he will translate defensively to the NBA. He lacks center size and without above average athleticism, may be a negative on that end. I don't know if this is what they think, but if they do, I do not share their sentiments as I think he's shown BBIQ at the center position. The worrying thing is his foot speed is not like his brothers so he's probably stuck at the 5 role.

Bates may a little different, but I assume he at least needs to be better than Niang defensively to get playing time (not a high bar, but from where Bates was in college, I am unsure if he currently clears). Niang has played more minutes at the 4, but has gotten 20% of his minutes at the 3. Wade has been mostly a 4, but has had match-ups with 3s. Okoro has been a majority 3. I think these are the guys he's contending with for minutes and I see Bates more as a 3 than a 4 (currently and it seems Cavs agree as he started the g-league as a 3 and in the NBA as a 3). With his (apparent) lack of foot speed, it could be nice to see him play as a small ball 4 off the bench.

JBB was happy to play Kevin Love as long as his shots were going down, but I don't see Bates competing for backup PF minutes. It's perfectly ok to put him in a strong defensive unit in order to see if his shooting can be weaponized. I'd try to match him up so he could use his height advantage and not be too disadvantaged due to his strength. So, traditionally that would be backup SG but with teams running small units so often it's more a matter of picking spots. When quicker guys get past him they should run in to our front court wall giving Emoni time to catch up and use his length to contest/block/disrupt.

It's a given we are not seeing these guys play in practice like the coaches are, and for all we know he may be getting abused in practice. The thing is, that might be due to an unfavorable matchup, or someone who cares more about practice than he does.

Does JBB care about finding matchups that will let a young player compete against players closer to his current level?

Probably not.

[JonFromVA]

Emoni with 29 pts, 4 blocks, and 2 steals in a loss to the Motor City Cruise. The blocks and the 5-10 from 3pt were notable, but he was 3 for 12 from 2pt and had 0 assists. Pete Nance did contribute 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks but only scored 6 pts. Presumably the offense wasn't clicking without the likes of Mobley, Porter Jr, and Merrill.

Hard to say what's best for Emoni. In the short term, if he could do just a bit more than stand in the corner and knock down 3's while learning more of the defense I think he could contribute to the Cavs. If we'd like to give him the chance to develop in to a whole lot more than that, it's a long road and he really needs to work on either creating shots for himself, shots for others, or both.

[JonFromVA]

After another 30pt performance for the Charge, Bates now leads the g-league in scoring.

if they want to develop him, they're going to have to think of ways to challenge him.

[JujitsuFlip]

After another 30pt performance for the Charge, Bates now leads the g-league in scoring.

if they want to develop him, they're going to have to think of ways to challenge him.

Didn't realize he was already up to 6 games with the Charge. That 0.8 APG is troubling.

It's wild, regardless of what level of ball he played at, he just doesn't get assists. Even though he's nearly 6'10" he probably truly is a SG, in today's NBA he might pass as a SF but everything about his game says SG, outside of I'm sure people will say his lack of athletic ability/measurables.

[JonFromVA]

After another 30pt performance for the Charge, Bates now leads the g-league in scoring.

if they want to develop him, they're going to have to think of ways to challenge him.

Didn't realize he was already up to 6 games with the Charge. That 0.8 APG is troubling.

It's wild, regardless of what level of ball he played at, he just doesn't get assists. Even though he's nearly 6'10" he probably truly is a SG, in today's NBA he might pass as a SF but everything about his game says SG, outside of I'm sure people will say his lack of athletic ability/measurables.

See that could be a goal, but first they'd have to tell him to forget about the fact he can get a 3pt shot up against anybody in the g-league and specifically look to drive and dish. Maybe run some plays where he's on the move.

That'd all be cool for his long-term growth, but as-is I don't see a problem carving out a role for him on the team now.

[JujitsuFlip]

After another 30pt performance for the Charge, Bates now leads the g-league in scoring.

if they want to develop him, they're going to have to think of ways to challenge him.

Didn't realize he was already up to 6 games with the Charge. That 0.8 APG is troubling.

It's wild, regardless of what level of ball he played at, he just doesn't get assists. Even though he's nearly 6'10" he probably truly is a SG, in today's NBA he might pass as a SF but everything about his game says SG, outside of I'm sure people will say his lack of athletic ability/measurables.

See that could be a goal, but first they'd have to tell him to forget about the fact he can get a 3pt shot up against anybody in the g-league and specifically look to drive and dish. Maybe run some plays where he's on the move.

That'd all be cool for his long-term growth, but as-is I don't see a problem carving out a role for him on the team now.

We both know JB isn't gonna do that but maybe the new coach will make it a priority, if/when the Cavs get one.

[JujitsuFlip]

He's headed to All-Star weekend!

[JonFromVA]

He's headed to All-Star weekend!

lol, what game is this? Is this the one we used to call the rookie/sophmore game? I thought the g-league had their own All-Star game that was separate.

[JujitsuFlip]

He's headed to All-Star weekend!

lol, what game is this? Is this the one we used to call the rookie/sophmore game? I thought the g-league had their own All-Star game that was separate.

No idea, just saw it on IG lol

[ijspeelman]

He's headed to All-Star weekend!

lol, what game is this? Is this the one we used to call the rookie/sophmore game? I thought the g-league had their own All-Star game that was separate.

No idea, just saw it on IG lol

Looks like a different event for all-star weekend to promote the gleague: https://gleague.nba.com/up-next

[JujitsuFlip]

https://cavsnation.com/cavs-news-emoni-bates-gabe-osabuohien-suspended-2-games-g-league?fbclid=IwAR3AoEAqAjPzgQo4-JBhJRDrjwe9Z0qC_UGsrik86cL-OU1RRI5pAL6RHTg_aem_Aca-2wRuWmtna6evyQFqEDWoqNHjRlC11RK4t0ROf6gEOz_98opHjXd0UgOUu33HAzjzKDGn0_WoWYQp5L1znyAF

Not sure how i missed this, wonder why Bates went into the stands.

[ijspeelman]

https://cavsnation.com/cavs-news-emoni-bates-gabe-osabuohien-suspended-2-games-g-league?fbclid=IwAR3AoEAqAjPzgQo4-JBhJRDrjwe9Z0qC_UGsrik86cL-OU1RRI5pAL6RHTg_aem_Aca-2wRuWmtna6evyQFqEDWoqNHjRlC11RK4t0ROf6gEOz_98opHjXd0UgOUu33HAzjzKDGn0_WoWYQp5L1znyAF

Not sure how i missed this, wonder why Bates went into the stands.

Supposedly racist remarks towards his family. Clown behavior

[JujitsuFlip]

https://cavsnation.com/cavs-news-emoni-bates-gabe-osabuohien-suspended-2-games-g-league?fbclid=IwAR3AoEAqAjPzgQo4-JBhJRDrjwe9Z0qC_UGsrik86cL-OU1RRI5pAL6RHTg_aem_Aca-2wRuWmtna6evyQFqEDWoqNHjRlC11RK4t0ROf6gEOz_98opHjXd0UgOUu33HAzjzKDGn0_WoWYQp5L1znyAF

Not sure how i missed this, wonder why Bates went into the stands.

Supposedly racist remarks towards his family. Clown behavior

I couldn't find any video on it but Jb already came out publicly to support him.

[JujitsuFlip]

https://www.nba.com/news/cavaliers-emoni-bates-rising-stars-2024

Looks like he will be in the Rising Stars game after all.