http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls/luol-deng-winner-debut-cavaliers Luol Deng was a winner in his first game as a Cleveland Cavaliers. The individual numbers weren't as superb as they had been before the All-Star forward was traded by the Bulls, but it was a winning night nonetheless, as the Cavs knocked off the Jazz, 113-102, in Salt Lake City. Deng's night was a stark contrast in one category: minutes. Tom Thibodeau at times drew criticism for playing Deng as much as he did. Well, Deng got to take it relatively easy under new coach Mike Brown, playing just 21 minutes in the win. Deng finished with 10 points and just one rebound, plus a steal and a game-high four turnovers.
The Jazz are tanking hard. It will be interesting to see if he gets huge minutes. One rebound and 4 turnovers. Not like him.
I wouldn't be surprised if it takes some time for the Cavs to put Deng in the spots he needs to be to succeed like he did in Chicago. He seemed to work best during his time with the Bulls out of schemes and not freelancing. In most of the highlights from yesterday, it looked to me like he was going one-on-one. And no, he's still one of my favorite players.
What hasn't been talked about much is the risk from Deng's POV about going to the Cavs. The Thibs Bulls might have maximized his value. He played like 35-40 minutes a game it seemed. Thibs loved him. The Bulls seemingly put him in the best spots to succeed. The Bulls play an unselfish brand of basketball where Deng could let the game come to him and still get good numbers. The Cavs are a guard dominated group that have selfishness issues and do not play a winning, team oriented brand of ball at this point. If Deng puts up a stinker during his time with the Cavs, due to not playing in an environment compatible with his style, it may hurt him in the pocketbook. Its a Kyrie team and Waiters isn't going to pass him the ball. One on one ball isn't Deng's style.
it would probably end up looking like and Iguodala or Bosh situation, though, where he's proven he can put up big scoring numbers and been an All-Star/Olympian, and if he's doing other things in CLE (rebounding more, more efficient scoring, solid-to-great D) then the scoring drop will not be held against him
Great points. Deng is best in a well defined system, and Cleveland might be one of the worst teams in the league in that regard. I've also thought Thibs is very underrated as an offensive coach, because he's very good at designing sets that cater to a players strengths and get the ball moving.....all things Deng needs to thrive. Mike Brown might be one of the worst coaches in the NBA at doing this. And yes, I'll continue to root for Deng. He'll be one of my favorite players as long as he's in the league.
I don't know much about Cleveland other than what I've seen in games against the Bulls. Is Irving a smart player? Do they have many smart players? IMO, Deng's not so much a "system" player as a very, very smart player. He's almost always where he's supposed to be on the court. That's part of the reason coaches love him WAY more than fans do. The thing is, if you surround a player like Deng with a bunch of selfish basketball idiots, little good will come from it.
I didn't mean "system" player as a pejorative term. I agree with what you said, in that he does not need to dominate the ball to be effective and plays well in a team concept of basketball. He can let the game come to him to "get his." In order for this to happen though, the ball needs to be shared and he has to be on a team that plays smart team basketball. My understanding of the Cavs.... Kyrie is almost as usage prolific as Derrick and they also have Jarret Jack, although they share the ball or at least generate assists. They have a couple of "black hole" type shooters in Dion Waiters and CJ Miles. The head coach isn't known for installing fluid offensive sets. A Cavs fan could likely correct me on a thing or two from the above though I imagine. They are also young and immature for the most part. Lots of young players trying to find their way in the league(Waiters, Irving, Thompson, Bennett). One of the plusses of Deng is supposed to be his veteran leadership. It will be interesting to see if he can be productive and generate the same or similar numbers he did in Chicago in a different environment. Its interesting to look at the usage rates of the individual players on the two squads by position.
