Emoni Bates - The Prince That was Promised?

[JujitsuFlip]

So, for those suspecting he was going to need a couple of season in the G-League just to get stronger and get a clue how to play organized basketball, Emoni puts up 9 & 6 with a block and buried three 3's in just the 4th game of the season. The Knicks are a physical team, but he did not look over matched and his length was a positive in multiple instances. He even showed some potential as a shot creator, albeit just 1 assist to show for it.

His -9 in the game was definitely not a bright spot, but everybody who got more than 20 minutes in the game was as bad or worse.

He looks ready to at least get the sort of development minutes a first round pick who isn't embarrassing himself would get.

He only hit two 3s. That first miss was ugly and the last miss seemed a bit ill advised.

Idk man, I'd be fine if he spent some time with the Charge, if the Cavs get healthy because JB won't play him then anyway.

[JonFromVA]

So, for those suspecting he was going to need a couple of season in the G-League just to get stronger and get a clue how to play organized basketball, Emoni puts up 9 & 6 with a block and buried three 3's in just the 4th game of the season. The Knicks are a physical team, but he did not look over matched and his length was a positive in multiple instances. He even showed some potential as a shot creator, albeit just 1 assist to show for it.

His -9 in the game was definitely not a bright spot, but everybody who got more than 20 minutes in the game was as bad or worse.

He looks ready to at least get the sort of development minutes a first round pick who isn't embarrassing himself would get.

He only hit two 3s. That first miss was ugly and the last miss seemed a bit ill advised.

Idk man, I'd be fine if he spent some time with the Charge, if the Cavs get healthy because JB won't play him then anyway.

Just to be clear, at no point have I claimed Emoni was good to go, just that if we can find him meaningful minutes, he's the kind of player who could literally win us a playoff game (if we do something about that 2-way).

One thing you can count on is if Emoni keeps getting play time and opponents keep giving him space, he's going to go off and it won't take long. After he burns a couple of teams, they will start adding his name to their scouting report and they will scheme him. That's when we'll get to see what else he's got in his bag.

Of course we have other guys who can get hot from 3pt and they all have a lot more experience knowing what to do when doubled and/or blanketed by the defense; but sometimes those guys have bad shooting nights. I mean last night our "shooters" were a combined 4 for 23, so getting 2-5 out of Isaac, 2-4 out of Merrill and 2-5 out of Emoni was nice. The difference is Sam and Emoni can easily rocket up their shot volume if given the chance. The trick is paying attention to what the defense is or isn't doing about those guys and knowing when to feed them.

I'm also feeling positive about CPJ being able to contribute as a rook, but this isn't his thread.

Either way, the Charge's season doesn't begin until next month.

[JujitsuFlip]

So, for those suspecting he was going to need a couple of season in the G-League just to get stronger and get a clue how to play organized basketball, Emoni puts up 9 & 6 with a block and buried three 3's in just the 4th game of the season. The Knicks are a physical team, but he did not look over matched and his length was a positive in multiple instances. He even showed some potential as a shot creator, albeit just 1 assist to show for it.

His -9 in the game was definitely not a bright spot, but everybody who got more than 20 minutes in the game was as bad or worse.

He looks ready to at least get the sort of development minutes a first round pick who isn't embarrassing himself would get.

He only hit two 3s. That first miss was ugly and the last miss seemed a bit ill advised.

Idk man, I'd be fine if he spent some time with the Charge, if the Cavs get healthy because JB won't play him then anyway.

Just to be clear, at no point have I claimed Emoni was good to go, just that if we can find him meaningful minutes, he's the kind of player who could literally win us a playoff game (if we do something about that 2-way).

One thing you can count on is if Emoni keeps getting play time and opponents keep giving him space, he's going to go off and it won't take long. After he burns a couple of teams, they will start adding his name to their scouting report and they will scheme him. That's when we'll get to see what else he's got in his bag.

Of course we have other guys who can get hot from 3pt and they all have a lot more experience knowing what to do when doubled and/or blanketed by the defense; but sometimes those guys have bad shooting nights. I mean last night our "shooters" were a combined 4 for 23, so getting 2-5 out of Isaac, 2-4 out of Merrill and 2-5 out of Emoni was nice. The difference is Sam and Emoni can easily rocket up their shot volume if given the chance. The trick is paying attention to what the defense is or isn't doing about those guys and knowing when to feed them.

I'm also feeling positive about CPJ being able to contribute as a rook, but this isn't his thread.

Either way, the Charge's season doesn't begin until next month.

Nah, Charge season starts in 9 days, very soon.

[JonFromVA]

He only hit two 3s. That first miss was ugly and the last miss seemed a bit ill advised.

Idk man, I'd be fine if he spent some time with the Charge, if the Cavs get healthy because JB won't play him then anyway.

Just to be clear, at no point have I claimed Emoni was good to go, just that if we can find him meaningful minutes, he's the kind of player who could literally win us a playoff game (if we do something about that 2-way).

One thing you can count on is if Emoni keeps getting play time and opponents keep giving him space, he's going to go off and it won't take long. After he burns a couple of teams, they will start adding his name to their scouting report and they will scheme him. That's when we'll get to see what else he's got in his bag.

Of course we have other guys who can get hot from 3pt and they all have a lot more experience knowing what to do when doubled and/or blanketed by the defense; but sometimes those guys have bad shooting nights. I mean last night our "shooters" were a combined 4 for 23, so getting 2-5 out of Isaac, 2-4 out of Merrill and 2-5 out of Emoni was nice. The difference is Sam and Emoni can easily rocket up their shot volume if given the chance. The trick is paying attention to what the defense is or isn't doing about those guys and knowing when to feed them.

I'm also feeling positive about CPJ being able to contribute as a rook, but this isn't his thread.

Either way, the Charge's season doesn't begin until next month.

Nah, Charge season starts in 9 days, very soon.

Well, feel free to correct me further as I never paid much attention to the g-league, but take a look at this:

https://gleague.nba.com/key-dates

And it says, "December 27: NBA G League Regular Season Tip Off "

Everything before that is either the "Showcase Cup" or the "Winter Showcase" and I'm not sure if we'd send Emoni to one, both, or neither of those tournaments. For instance, might we choose to only send him to Charge home games? Or is that something we can only do for say Merrill who's has a big league contract?

[JujitsuFlip]

Just to be clear, at no point have I claimed Emoni was good to go, just that if we can find him meaningful minutes, he's the kind of player who could literally win us a playoff game (if we do something about that 2-way).

One thing you can count on is if Emoni keeps getting play time and opponents keep giving him space, he's going to go off and it won't take long. After he burns a couple of teams, they will start adding his name to their scouting report and they will scheme him. That's when we'll get to see what else he's got in his bag.

Of course we have other guys who can get hot from 3pt and they all have a lot more experience knowing what to do when doubled and/or blanketed by the defense; but sometimes those guys have bad shooting nights. I mean last night our "shooters" were a combined 4 for 23, so getting 2-5 out of Isaac, 2-4 out of Merrill and 2-5 out of Emoni was nice. The difference is Sam and Emoni can easily rocket up their shot volume if given the chance. The trick is paying attention to what the defense is or isn't doing about those guys and knowing when to feed them.

I'm also feeling positive about CPJ being able to contribute as a rook, but this isn't his thread.

Either way, the Charge's season doesn't begin until next month.

Nah, Charge season starts in 9 days, very soon.

Well, feel free to correct me further as I never paid much attention to the g-league, but take a look at this:

https://gleague.nba.com/key-dates

And it says, "December 27: NBA G League Regular Season Tip Off "

Everything before that is either the "Showcase Cup" or the "Winter Showcase" and I'm not sure if we'd send Emoni to one, both, or neither of those tournaments. For instance, might we choose to only send him to Charge home games? Or is that something we can only do for say Merrill who's has a big league contract?

To me, it looks like the season starts next week, regardless of the different labels for different parts of the year.

[JonFromVA]

Nah, Charge season starts in 9 days, very soon.

Well, feel free to correct me further as I never paid much attention to the g-league, but take a look at this:

https://gleague.nba.com/key-dates

And it says, "December 27: NBA G League Regular Season Tip Off "

Everything before that is either the "Showcase Cup" or the "Winter Showcase" and I'm not sure if we'd send Emoni to one, both, or neither of those tournaments. For instance, might we choose to only send him to Charge home games? Or is that something we can only do for say Merrill who's has a big league contract?

To me, it looks like the season starts next week, regardless of the different labels for different parts of the year.

It may be telling he was with the team in NYC on Weds rather than back in Cleveland practicing with the Charge for whatever it is they're going to play on Friday, or maybe practice time is something they don't mind giving up? Let's see which team he's with on Friday night.

[JujitsuFlip]

Well, feel free to correct me further as I never paid much attention to the g-league, but take a look at this:

https://gleague.nba.com/key-dates

And it says, "December 27: NBA G League Regular Season Tip Off "

Everything before that is either the "Showcase Cup" or the "Winter Showcase" and I'm not sure if we'd send Emoni to one, both, or neither of those tournaments. For instance, might we choose to only send him to Charge home games? Or is that something we can only do for say Merrill who's has a big league contract?

To me, it looks like the season starts next week, regardless of the different labels for different parts of the year.

It may be telling he was with the team in NYC on Weds rather than back in Cleveland practicing with the Charge for whatever it is they're going to play on Friday, or maybe practice time is something they don't mind giving up? Let's see which team he's with on Friday night.

He didn't play last night so that should be the largest indicator. Whichever club is going to give him the most floor minutes is where he should spend his time.

[JonFromVA]

To me, it looks like the season starts next week, regardless of the different labels for different parts of the year.

It may be telling he was with the team in NYC on Weds rather than back in Cleveland practicing with the Charge for whatever it is they're going to play on Friday, or maybe practice time is something they don't mind giving up? Let's see which team he's with on Friday night.

He didn't play last night so that should be the largest indicator. Whichever club is going to give him the most floor minutes is where he should spend his time.

Could be, we'll get our first clue soon enough.

[jbk1234]

Not really sure why we're getting this animated about Bates, particularly when he's been rushed in at every stage of his career with less than ideal outcomes. I would hope that the Cavs just let this play out organically. If you need him due to injuries, call him up. If not, we're not rebuilding and LeVert isn't getting buried on the bench after re-signing him this summer.

The reality is we're no longer in a position to gift him minutes ahead of a player who's currently better than him, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for him. Let him take it as comes. He'll get more PT on the Charge than sitting on the bench. Practice is great and all, but the Cavs have played two back-to-back games in a matter of 8 days? I'm not sure there's a ton to learn in practice given the context.

[JonFromVA]

Not really sure why we're getting this animated about Bates, particularly when he's been rushed in at every stage of his career with less than ideal outcomes. I would hope that the Cavs just let this play out organically. If you need him due to injuries, call him up. If not, we're not rebuilding and LeVert isn't getting buried on the bench after re-signing him this summer.

The reality is we're no longer in a position to gift him minutes ahead of a player who's currently better than him, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for him. Let him take it as comes. He'll get more PT on the Charge than sitting on the bench. Practice is great and all, but the Cavs have played two back-to-back games in a matter of 8 days? I'm not sure there's a ton to learn in practice given the context.

It's kind of the point of a player thread to track a player's progress and ponder what might or should be. I never got why people who don't know Emoni and never worked with Emoni want to close doors on Emoni as-if they know what's best for him.

The only question we should be asking is does he look like he's ready for his next step, and if the Cavs seem to be road-blocking him rather than helping him take it - that's a problem for our team in numerous ways.

Frankly I do not see Emoni struggling with most of the things everyone expected him to struggle with and I don't even take it for granted that playing a lot of minutes in the g-league where an NBA scrub can average All-Star numbers is the best thing for him. My guess is he needs a positive-feedback loop where he's constantly tested and directly awarded when he's trending in the right direction. Not just shooting 3's, but running plays the right way, being in the right spots, making the right decisions. The more he plays solid, the more playtime we should carve out for him.

I really feel the potential upside is the kid comes in to one of these moribund games where we can't sink a shot and wins it for us, and as far as I'm concerned the sooner that happens the better.

[JujitsuFlip]

Not really sure why we're getting this animated about Bates, particularly when he's been rushed in at every stage of his career with less than ideal outcomes. I would hope that the Cavs just let this play out organically. If you need him due to injuries, call him up. If not, we're not rebuilding and LeVert isn't getting buried on the bench after re-signing him this summer.

The reality is we're no longer in a position to gift him minutes ahead of a player who's currently better than him, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for him. Let him take it as comes. He'll get more PT on the Charge than sitting on the bench. Practice is great and all, but the Cavs have played two back-to-back games in a matter of 8 days? I'm not sure there's a ton to learn in practice given the context.

It's kind of the point of a player thread to track a player's progress and ponder what might or should be. I never got why people who don't know Emoni and never worked with Emoni want to close doors on Emoni as-if they know what's best for him.

The only question we should be asking is does he look like he's ready for his next step, and if the Cavs seem to be road-blocking him rather than helping him take it - that's a problem for our team in numerous ways.

Frankly I do not see Emoni struggling with most of the things everyone expected him to struggle with and I don't even take it for granted that playing a lot of minutes in the g-league where an NBA scrub can average All-Star numbers is the best thing for him. My guess is he needs a positive-feedback loop where he's constantly tested and directly awarded when he's trending in the right direction. Not just shooting 3's, but running plays the right way, being in the right spots, making the right decisions. The more he plays solid, the more playtime we should carve out for him.

I really feel the potential upside is the kid comes in to one of these moribund games where we can't sink a shot and wins it for us, and as far as I'm concerned the sooner that happens the better.

Under JB, that vision is never gonna be a reality.

When healthy, JB is going 8 or 9 deep in the regular season and maybe 7 deep in the playoffs.

He's not Kerr or Pop who play 12 guys per night and use them situationally.

[jbk1234]

Not really sure why we're getting this animated about Bates, particularly when he's been rushed in at every stage of his career with less than ideal outcomes. I would hope that the Cavs just let this play out organically. If you need him due to injuries, call him up. If not, we're not rebuilding and LeVert isn't getting buried on the bench after re-signing him this summer.

The reality is we're no longer in a position to gift him minutes ahead of a player who's currently better than him, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for him. Let him take it as comes. He'll get more PT on the Charge than sitting on the bench. Practice is great and all, but the Cavs have played two back-to-back games in a matter of 8 days? I'm not sure there's a ton to learn in practice given the context.

It's kind of the point of a player thread to track a player's progress and ponder what might or should be. I never got why people who don't know Emoni and never worked with Emoni want to close doors on Emoni as-if they know what's best for him.

The only question we should be asking is does he look like he's ready for his next step, and if the Cavs seem to be road-blocking him rather than helping him take it - that's a problem for our team in numerous ways.

Frankly I do not see Emoni struggling with most of the things everyone expected him to struggle with and I don't even take it for granted that playing a lot of minutes in the g-league where an NBA scrub can average All-Star numbers is the best thing for him. My guess is he needs a positive-feedback loop where he's constantly tested and directly awarded when he's trending in the right direction. Not just shooting 3's, but running plays the right way, being in the right spots, making the right decisions. The more he plays solid, the more playtime we should carve out for him.

I really feel the potential upside is the kid comes in to one of these moribund games where we can't sink a shot and wins it for us, and as far as I'm concerned the sooner that happens the better.

Bates is not the first, and he certainly won't be the last, player who's opportunities are more limited because he was drafted by a good team. My point is that the Cavs should do what's best for the team first and it's hard to make a case for Bates getting minutes over any of our current alternatives. It's not like we're debating whether he or Cedi should get the minutes.

[JonFromVA]

Not really sure why we're getting this animated about Bates, particularly when he's been rushed in at every stage of his career with less than ideal outcomes. I would hope that the Cavs just let this play out organically. If you need him due to injuries, call him up. If not, we're not rebuilding and LeVert isn't getting buried on the bench after re-signing him this summer.

The reality is we're no longer in a position to gift him minutes ahead of a player who's currently better than him, and that's not necessarily a bad thing for him. Let him take it as comes. He'll get more PT on the Charge than sitting on the bench. Practice is great and all, but the Cavs have played two back-to-back games in a matter of 8 days? I'm not sure there's a ton to learn in practice given the context.

It's kind of the point of a player thread to track a player's progress and ponder what might or should be. I never got why people who don't know Emoni and never worked with Emoni want to close doors on Emoni as-if they know what's best for him.

The only question we should be asking is does he look like he's ready for his next step, and if the Cavs seem to be road-blocking him rather than helping him take it - that's a problem for our team in numerous ways.

Frankly I do not see Emoni struggling with most of the things everyone expected him to struggle with and I don't even take it for granted that playing a lot of minutes in the g-league where an NBA scrub can average All-Star numbers is the best thing for him. My guess is he needs a positive-feedback loop where he's constantly tested and directly awarded when he's trending in the right direction. Not just shooting 3's, but running plays the right way, being in the right spots, making the right decisions. The more he plays solid, the more playtime we should carve out for him.

I really feel the potential upside is the kid comes in to one of these moribund games where we can't sink a shot and wins it for us, and as far as I'm concerned the sooner that happens the better.

Bates is not the first, and he certainly won't be the last, player who's opportunities are more limited because he was drafted by a good team. My point is that the Cavs should do what's best for the team first and it's hard to make a case for Bates getting minutes over any of our current alternatives. It's not like we're debating whether he or Cedi should get the minutes.

As JFlip points out JBB is going to do what he's going to do, but my posts are always about what's best for the team. So, just because we do a crappy job of it, doesn't mean I'm not going to point out when we have an opportunity to accelerate a player's development so we get more out of him sooner and potentially a bunch of ancillary benefits such as increasing his trade value to improving how we're viewed around the league by perhaps a vet who believes we have a brighter future because our prospects are showing something to other young players who see an opportunity to do something other than rot on a shelf.

Are there risks? Sure, but they're small and manageable and not so different from sending in Niang only to watch him brick shots and get punk'd on defense. Most importantly they come with meaningful lessons for the young player. You can show him what he did wrong and give him a plan to fix it. When he's done what you've told him he needs to do, you give him another shot. That's the positive feedback loop. So, yeah, second night of a back to back and nobody can make a shot? Why the heck not try either or both of the two guys who made shots for the team the night before?

All I'm asking is what any team would do for their first round pick, and JBB is even on the record for saying Emoni would be a ROY candidate if he was a first round pick. It's cool we've got him on a cheap 2-way deal and if we play our cards right we might control him for years to come on the cheap; but it's BS if we hold him back because of that.

[jbk1234]

It's kind of the point of a player thread to track a player's progress and ponder what might or should be. I never got why people who don't know Emoni and never worked with Emoni want to close doors on Emoni as-if they know what's best for him.

The only question we should be asking is does he look like he's ready for his next step, and if the Cavs seem to be road-blocking him rather than helping him take it - that's a problem for our team in numerous ways.

Frankly I do not see Emoni struggling with most of the things everyone expected him to struggle with and I don't even take it for granted that playing a lot of minutes in the g-league where an NBA scrub can average All-Star numbers is the best thing for him. My guess is he needs a positive-feedback loop where he's constantly tested and directly awarded when he's trending in the right direction. Not just shooting 3's, but running plays the right way, being in the right spots, making the right decisions. The more he plays solid, the more playtime we should carve out for him.

I really feel the potential upside is the kid comes in to one of these moribund games where we can't sink a shot and wins it for us, and as far as I'm concerned the sooner that happens the better.

Bates is not the first, and he certainly won't be the last, player who's opportunities are more limited because he was drafted by a good team. My point is that the Cavs should do what's best for the team first and it's hard to make a case for Bates getting minutes over any of our current alternatives. It's not like we're debating whether he or Cedi should get the minutes.

As JFlip points out JBB is going to do what he's going to do, but my posts are always about what's best for the team. So, just because we do a crappy job of it, doesn't mean I'm not going to point out when we have an opportunity to accelerate a player's development so we get more out of him sooner and potentially a bunch of ancillary benefits such as increasing his trade value to improving how we're viewed around the league by perhaps a vet who believes we have a brighter future because our prospects are showing something to other young players who see an opportunity to do something other than rot on a shelf.

Are there risks? Sure, but they're small and manageable and not so different from sending in Niang only to watch him brick shots and get punk'd on defense. Most importantly they come with meaningful lessons for the young player. You can show him what he did wrong and give him a plan to fix it. When he's done what you've told him he needs to do, you give him another shot. That's the positive feedback loop. So, yeah, second night of a back to back and nobody can make a shot? Why the heck not try either or both of the two guys who made shots for the team the night before?

All I'm asking is what any team would do for their first round pick, and JBB is even on the record for saying Emoni would be a ROY candidate if he was a first round pick. It's cool we've got him on a cheap 2-way deal and if we play our cards right we might control him for years to come on the cheap; but it's BS if we hold him back because of that.

Good teams routinely take it slow with late first round picks and I wouldn't put much stock in JBB talking up a young guy.

[JonFromVA]

Bates is not the first, and he certainly won't be the last, player who's opportunities are more limited because he was drafted by a good team. My point is that the Cavs should do what's best for the team first and it's hard to make a case for Bates getting minutes over any of our current alternatives. It's not like we're debating whether he or Cedi should get the minutes.

As JFlip points out JBB is going to do what he's going to do, but my posts are always about what's best for the team. So, just because we do a crappy job of it, doesn't mean I'm not going to point out when we have an opportunity to accelerate a player's development so we get more out of him sooner and potentially a bunch of ancillary benefits such as increasing his trade value to improving how we're viewed around the league by perhaps a vet who believes we have a brighter future because our prospects are showing something to other young players who see an opportunity to do something other than rot on a shelf.

Are there risks? Sure, but they're small and manageable and not so different from sending in Niang only to watch him brick shots and get punk'd on defense. Most importantly they come with meaningful lessons for the young player. You can show him what he did wrong and give him a plan to fix it. When he's done what you've told him he needs to do, you give him another shot. That's the positive feedback loop. So, yeah, second night of a back to back and nobody can make a shot? Why the heck not try either or both of the two guys who made shots for the team the night before?

All I'm asking is what any team would do for their first round pick, and JBB is even on the record for saying Emoni would be a ROY candidate if he was a first round pick. It's cool we've got him on a cheap 2-way deal and if we play our cards right we might control him for years to come on the cheap; but it's BS if we hold him back because of that.

Good teams routinely take it slow with late first round picks and I wouldn't put much stock in JBB talking up a young guy.

Sure, take it slow ... like what the Nuggets did with Michael Porter Jr trying to start his career recovering from injuries which might have ended it. MPJ had a much more physical build, but his back wouldn't let him move very well or bang, so it hardly mattered.

For reference he started 3 games and played in 16 others averaging nearly 24mpg IN THE PLAYOFFS while burying 3's at a 38.2% clip. His defense was notoriously bad at the time all while playing for a Mike Malone team that was winning at a 52-win pace if it had been a full season.

That's acceptable to me, you know, if Bates gets the same chance that MPJ did and makes as much of it as MPJ did.

Oh, and fwiw, MPJ didn't make two 3's in a game until he played his 11th game on December 5th.

If JBB wants to build the confidence of a young player and hype him to the media, all he has to do is prepare him to play meaningful minutes and let him improve as fast as he's capable. Lip service is worse than useless if there's no intent, support, or belief behind it.

[toooskies]

As JFlip points out JBB is going to do what he's going to do, but my posts are always about what's best for the team. So, just because we do a crappy job of it, doesn't mean I'm not going to point out when we have an opportunity to accelerate a player's development so we get more out of him sooner and potentially a bunch of ancillary benefits such as increasing his trade value to improving how we're viewed around the league by perhaps a vet who believes we have a brighter future because our prospects are showing something to other young players who see an opportunity to do something other than rot on a shelf.

Are there risks? Sure, but they're small and manageable and not so different from sending in Niang only to watch him brick shots and get punk'd on defense. Most importantly they come with meaningful lessons for the young player. You can show him what he did wrong and give him a plan to fix it. When he's done what you've told him he needs to do, you give him another shot. That's the positive feedback loop. So, yeah, second night of a back to back and nobody can make a shot? Why the heck not try either or both of the two guys who made shots for the team the night before?

All I'm asking is what any team would do for their first round pick, and JBB is even on the record for saying Emoni would be a ROY candidate if he was a first round pick. It's cool we've got him on a cheap 2-way deal and if we play our cards right we might control him for years to come on the cheap; but it's BS if we hold him back because of that.

Good teams routinely take it slow with late first round picks and I wouldn't put much stock in JBB talking up a young guy.

Sure, take it slow ... like what the Nuggets did with Michael Porter Jr trying to start his career recovering from injuries which might have ended it. MPJ had a much more physical build, but his back wouldn't let him move very well or bang, so it hardly mattered.

For reference he started 3 games and played in 16 others averaging nearly 24mpg IN THE PLAYOFFS while burying 3's at a 38.2% clip. His defense was notoriously bad at the time all while playing for a Mike Malone team that was winning at a 52-win pace if it had been a full season.

That's acceptable to me, you know, if Bates gets the same chance that MPJ did and makes as much of it as MPJ did.

Oh, and fwiw, MPJ didn't make two 3's in a game until he played his 11th game on December 5th.

If JBB wants to build the confidence of a young player and hype him to the media, all he has to do is prepare him to play meaningful minutes and let him improve as fast as he's capable. Lip service is worse than useless if there's no intent, support, or belief behind it.

Emoni's on a two-way, so he's limited to being active for 50 games at the NBA level as an upper limit. Unless he gets a full contract he will not be eligible to play in the playoffs. We can, of course, upgrade him to the playoff roster in our 15th roster spot, and may do that if he exhausts his two-way eligibility, but he's competing with CPJ for that, as well as any other team need or trade option the Cavs might want that spot for.

I'm sure we've been putting the two-way guys in active slots while we've had so many injuries of late, but the Charge season starts in one week. I'd like to see Emoni put together a month of consistent play at that level after he didn't at the college level for two years before impacting the pro roster too significantly.

[JonFromVA]

Good teams routinely take it slow with late first round picks and I wouldn't put much stock in JBB talking up a young guy.

Sure, take it slow ... like what the Nuggets did with Michael Porter Jr trying to start his career recovering from injuries which might have ended it. MPJ had a much more physical build, but his back wouldn't let him move very well or bang, so it hardly mattered.

For reference he started 3 games and played in 16 others averaging nearly 24mpg IN THE PLAYOFFS while burying 3's at a 38.2% clip. His defense was notoriously bad at the time all while playing for a Mike Malone team that was winning at a 52-win pace if it had been a full season.

That's acceptable to me, you know, if Bates gets the same chance that MPJ did and makes as much of it as MPJ did.

Oh, and fwiw, MPJ didn't make two 3's in a game until he played his 11th game on December 5th.

If JBB wants to build the confidence of a young player and hype him to the media, all he has to do is prepare him to play meaningful minutes and let him improve as fast as he's capable. Lip service is worse than useless if there's no intent, support, or belief behind it.

Emoni's on a two-way, so he's limited to being active for 50 games at the NBA level as an upper limit. Unless he gets a full contract he will not be eligible to play in the playoffs. We can, of course, upgrade him to the playoff roster in our 15th roster spot, and may do that if he exhausts his two-way eligibility, but he's competing with CPJ for that, as well as any other team need or trade option the Cavs might want that spot for.

I'm sure we've been putting the two-way guys in active slots while we've had so many injuries of late, but the Charge season starts in one week. I'd like to see Emoni put together a month of consistent play at that level after he didn't at the college level for two years before impacting the pro roster too significantly.

These are those good kinds of problems to have, but it all starts with giving those guys enough rope to show their worth developing at the NBA level and/or that they might be able to give us something in the playoffs.

Traditionally, there's nothing a player can do at the g-league level to prove they belong in the pros. At best, they can not stink, work on their weaknesses, and shake off some rust. Now, maybe our Charge staff would prevent this, but it can also turn negative if the player just plays selfishly and tries to stuff the stat sheet so he can get out of there.

Performance and progress at the pro level is the only thing which actually matters, and the g-league is nothing more than a tool that can be used to help get him there. We don't need to break Emoni down, humble him, or make him somehow suffer for struggling in College to build him up. We just need to put him in the best place so he can learn and improve as quickly as possible.

Basically in this day and age, it's all about positive re-enforcement.

A month in the g-league may very well be best for him, but I think it's important that he really understands why, so he knows what he needs to work on and where he needs to get to.

[JujitsuFlip]

Well, feel free to correct me further as I never paid much attention to the g-league, but take a look at this:

https://gleague.nba.com/key-dates

And it says, "December 27: NBA G League Regular Season Tip Off "

Everything before that is either the "Showcase Cup" or the "Winter Showcase" and I'm not sure if we'd send Emoni to one, both, or neither of those tournaments. For instance, might we choose to only send him to Charge home games? Or is that something we can only do for say Merrill who's has a big league contract?

To me, it looks like the season starts next week, regardless of the different labels for different parts of the year.

It may be telling he was with the team in NYC on Weds rather than back in Cleveland practicing with the Charge for whatever it is they're going to play on Friday, or maybe practice time is something they don't mind giving up? Let's see which team he's with on Friday night.

Well, Charge start next week but i was thinking about it, who he practices with, shouldn't matter.

The whole theory behind each parent club having a dedicated feeder, is so that they're running the same system. So whatever JB is preaching with the Cavs from a scheme, ideology, and "goal" perspective should be verbatim what Mike Gerrity is parroting with the Charge.

[JujitsuFlip]

https://clutchpoints.com/cavs-news-cleveland-down-six-players-to-start-road-trip-vs-thunder

If anyone were wondering.

"A source told ClutchPoints that the plan is for Bates and [Br]obley to stay back to play for the Cleveland Charge, the NBA G League affiliate of the Cavs, during opening weekend to get them more on-court reps than they typically do".

[jasonxxx102]

Great news. Excited to see him get some run in the g league