Cunningham Waits His Turn

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Cunningham Waits His Turn

Written by wendell maxey

Thursday, 22 October 2009 23:47

dante

The adjustment period in this league for a rookie takes time. For some rookies, it takes a whole season.

The constant on-court regiment, enduring back-to-backs, traveling from city to city are feats which often get lost in translation when these guys make the jump from campus to the pros. As Blazers assistant coach Kaleb Canales told me last week, “Playing an 82-game schedule is a skill.” So true. And for those rookies who have yet to break a regular rotation, the NBA life can be a bit of a rude awakening along with learning that skill.

Talking with Blazers rookie forward Dante Cunningham recently for a SLAM online feature story – detailing his upbringing on Andrews Air Force Base alongside Denver Nuggets rookie point guard Ty Lawson - it was clear the past couple weeks of preseason basketball have been a bit tough for a guy not used to watching and learning.

Even Dante had to know it would be like this though.

Last year was a breakout season for Cunningham, one where he notched career numbers during his four- year stay at Villanova. But these five months after being selected in the second round by Portland, Dante’s left with little choice but to be patient and wait his turn on a deep team which appears bottomless at forward with LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw and Juwan Howard before him.

Welcome to the league rook.

It happens.

We can say this about Cunningham though. While he hasn’t logged major minutes this preseason, he certainly has made the most of his playing time in five games. He went for 10 points in 12 minutes in a loss to Utah, only to finish with 14 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes in another Portland loss to the Jazz earlier in the week.

His roughly six minute scoreless play in Portland’s 113-93 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night however was nondescript at best.

Who knows what this season will bring for Cunningham. Don’t be alarmed if you hear questions from beat writers and bloggers alike about Dante making the trip down to the Idaho Stampede of the NBDL once we’re a couple months into the regular season, especially when he fails to sniff the floor among Nate McMillan’s tighter rotation.

Until then, Dante Cunningham will simply have to patiently go about his business and be ready on the fly.

photo: trailblazerscentercourt

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Comments (6) Add Comment

I like the Cunningham pick
written by tssbro, October 23, 2009

The day of the draft, Blair being passed over by KP was the big concern. The more I see of Dante and the more I read about him, the more clear the reasons for picking him become. He fits the mold KP is looking to fill the team with. The Blazers will not be able to afford Outlaw if he even makes it through the season as a Blazer. Cunningham seems like he will be able to bring energy and defense off the bench instead of not much more than jumpers and missed defensive assignments.

...
written by LivesInNewJersey, October 23, 2009

Hello

I am Lives, the administrator for one of Bloguins new blogs: www.KnicksFanaticsblog.com. We are excited to join the Bloguin family and I just wanted to stop by and invite you to visit us from time to time, especially when the Knicks are preparing to beat your team (LOL) Anyway, like you, we are passionate about our blogging and our blog family. We are more than happy to work with you guys to make sure that we all provide the best NBA coverage and analysis in the blogoverse.

We are also planning a live blogging event in which we would like to get a bunch of folks (Bloguin writers) together to discuss the upcoming season. If you are interested in this soon to be Annual event to occur right before the season starts, leave me a note at Knicks Fanatics. And if you are not interested, feel free to stop by. We are in the midst of our open house, so the place is a bit busy now, but the more the merrier.

Look forward to e-talking with you in the near future.

He's a player
written by Douglas, October 23, 2009

It's going to be a rough year for Dante - he'll be lucky to even dress most of the year, but the kid's got skills and a definate future in this league. I know it's probably an overused comparison, but he's very Outlaw-esqe, only a stronger rebounder and a bit headier all around.

give it a year or two kid - Outlaw likely will be gone, and you'll get your shot at that backup 4 spot soon enough. Take a page from Bayless for now.

@tssbro
written by wmaxeyjr, October 26, 2009

not only that....but if travis continues to play like he did in the preseason, we may see dante climb the depth chart a bit.

thanks for reading and writing. always appreciate it.

@lives
written by wmaxeyjr, October 26, 2009

thanks lives....welcome to the network.

@douglas
written by wmaxeyjr, October 26, 2009

solid advice for sure....the outlaw comparison is certainly there, yet i believe dante will be more aggressive with his game. let's see how this one plays out. he could be over in boise in a couple months or so.

thanks for the line.

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