The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Good debuts for Cavs rookie guards
Not many paying customers were inside the impressively renovated, re-named Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Oct. 7 for the game between the Cavaliers and the San Lorenzo de Almagro Ravens.
There were perhaps 3,000 fans in the seats as the Cavs opened their four-game preseason slate against a team from the Liga Nacional de Básquet, the top-tier professional basketball league in Argentina.
It was hardly a shock that such a small gathering turned
out for an inconsequential game while the Browns were playing the 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”
But even if the Browns hadn’t been on the national stage, it’s doubtful many more people would have made their way downtown on the pleasant fall evening to get an early look at the Cavs breezing to a 120-89 win.
Let’s be real here.
In this second season since LeBron James bid his second farewell to Cleveland’s NBA franchise to sign as a free agent with Lakers, the Cavs are heading into the 2019-20 season unburdened by even modestly high expectations.
Most predictions have the Cavs improving on last-season’s 19-63 finish, but probably not by that much. That is to be expected from a team forced to rebuild after a heady run that produced four straight trips to the NBA Finals, the 2016 NBA title and the bodacious victory parade that celebrated Cleveland’s first professional sports championship in 52 years.
That doesn’t mean this season is devoid of promise. To the contrary.
I think the Cavs made a potentially great hire when the secured the services of John Beilein as head coach. He was one of the best coaches in big-time college basketball, the last 12 years at Michigan.
It’s my belief his talents as an innovative offensive thinker and sharp in-game tactician will translate well to the NBA with a relatively short learning curve.
As for what his players showed against the visitors from Buenos Aires in the basketball equivalent of a soccer “friendly,” there were more good signs than bad.
Prized rookie point guard Darius Garland flashed the form that made him the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft despite an injury-marred freshman season at Vanderbilt.
After the Cavs’ starting five of Collin Sexton, Brandon Knight, Cedi Osman. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson got off to a sluggish start, Garland came off the bench in the second quarter to ignite a run that turned a 24-21 deficit into a 64-53 halftime lead.
Garland finished with nine points and two assists in 14 minutes. He was 4-of-4 from the field, made a 3-pointer and looked the part of a guy who will be in Beilein’s starting five sooner rather than later.
Another rookie guard, Kevin Porter Jr., was even better against the out-manned Argentine squad. He scored 16 points in 14 minutes, going 7-of-9 from the field.
The 30th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of the University of Southern California, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Porter came to the Cavs by way of draft-day trades with the Bucks and Pistons.
Porter had some personal conduct issues in is lone season at USC and averaged just 9.5 points per game for the Trojans. Still, he has a terrific enough upside to be a first-round pick and just turned 19 in May.
As long as he practices hard, produces in games and steers clear of trouble away from the court, he looms large in Beilein’s plan, too.
“I thought the young guys represented,” Beliein said of Garland and Porter.
Allowing for the caliber of opponent, the Cavs also got solid performances from Osman (17 points, five assists), sixth man Jordan Clarkson (17 points), Larry Nance Jr. (15 points) and Thompson (14 points. 10 rebounds).
There is much work to do between now and the regular-season opener Oct. 23 in Orlando. The good news is, the 66-year-old Beilein seems energized and ready to tackle the workload.