As Mary Schmitt-Boyer of The Plain Dealer notes, Cavs coach Mike Brown has been very impressed with rookie first-round pick Sergey Karasev:
“There’s a certain level of confidence that he has about himself and in his game. It rubs off on me the right way as a coach and it makes me have confidence in him and putting him out there. I like Sergey’s demeanor…You like that quiet confidence, quiet toughness that he has. He just plays the game. He can pass. He can shoot. He can dribble. He thinks the game. If you take this away, he’ll go the opposite direction. If you take that away, he’ll go the other way with it. He’s a basketball player. We like that.”
We have a few more notable links to share out of the Central Division tonight, and you can find them below:
- Making cuts and determining the final roster won’t be an easy task for Cavaliers’ coach. After strong performances by many of the team’s camp invites, Brown tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio: “It’s gonna be a tough decision. Everybody’s showing their worth” (Twitter link).
- Though Carlos Boozer isn’t a stranger to neither being under-appreciated nor drawing the ire of Chicago fans when things haven’t gone well for the Bulls, he tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’s comfortable regardless knowing that his teammates, coaches, and the team’s ownership are fully supportive of him.
- Following his ubiquitous performance last night against the Pistons that included 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting, four assists, and three steals in 25 minutes, Bulls rookie Tony Snell could potentially be primed as significant reserve contributor this year on what is already a deep bench, opines Sam Smith of Bulls.com. The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson discusses the focus that Snell has been placing on defense (Subcribers only).
- In another piece, Johnson takes a look at some of Joakim Noah‘s offseason workouts in preparation for the upcoming season (Subscribers only).