Cavs more up-tempo under new coach Scott

By Brian Windhorst

The Cleveland Plain Dealer

LAS VEGAS

Byron Scott isn’t wasting any time putting his stamp on the Cavaliers, even if it’s just the summer version.

In their Vegas Summer League debut, the team immediately began showing some of the up-tempo traits Scott has promised to bring next season.

Though the outcomes of the games rarely have meaning, the Cavs’ 88-82 victory over the D-League Select team at UNLV Tuesday had the fingerprints of the future.

For the last week, as the team has been practicing together in both Cleveland and Las Vegas, Scott and assistant coach Paul Pressey have been putting the group through some marathon practices with heavy running. When the rest of the roster shows up for training camp in the fall, they can expect more of the same.

During the game the mandate was obvious as the players were pushing the ball at every chance. Sometimes even when there wasn’t a natural fast-break situation, they pushed it anyway. The 88 points is a lot for a summer-league game, which is just 40 minutes instead of the usual 48, and the Cavs racked up numerous easy transition baskets on the way to shooting 54 percent.

“Rebounds, turnovers and even made baskets, we’re going to try to run off all of them,” Scott said. “We have to try to get a little more organized offensively. The main thing is guys are making a conscious effort to get up and down the floor.”

The organization part was an issue. The Cavs committed 20 turnovers and eight charged to Danny Green. But in general, the players seemed to be making an honest effort to adapt to their coach’s demanding new style.

Part of the reason Scott thinks it can work is because of J.J. Hickson, who was putting his agility and quickness to use. Hickson scored 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting, knocking down several of the mid-range jump shots he’s been working on since the end of the season. But he did miss all six free-throw attempts.

More important to Scott, though, was how Hickson responded when Scott challenged him at halftime. After getting just one rebound in the first 20 minutes, Hickson got eight in the second half. He was pushed, playing 38 minutes perhaps in an effort to test how he’d handle all the running.

“He’s just trying to get in the flow and getting his timing down,” Scott said of Hickson, “and understand the system we’ve given him over the past five days.”

Green had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in a choppy performance. Cavs 2009 first-round pick Christian Eyenga played well, scoring 13 points with two athletic blocked shots. The Cavs are hoping to see some consistency out of him this week.

Pooh Jeter, a free agent with the team for summer league, had an impressive 17 points with seven assists.

FREE AGENT UPDATE

The Cavaliers’ attempt to sign free agent Kyle Lowry was rebuffed Wednesday when the Houston Rockets matched Cleveland’s offer sheet to the veteran point guard.

Cleveland’s package was a three-year, $24 million deal with a fourth option year, but Rockets general manager Daryl Morey wasted no time in making a counteroffer.

The 6-foot Lowry averaged 9.1 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game last season backing up Aaron Brooks.

“He’s a big part of our team,” Morey said. “He did a great job off the bench and we also like he and Aaron playing together. That’s very big for us to get him back.”

Lowry’s agent, Andy Miller, did not return multiple messages seeking comment. The Rockets had seven days to match Cleveland’s offer, but Morey saw no reason to wait.

“We like to let the player know as soon as possible, just so he doesn’t start thinking about playing for another team,” Morey said.

Scrambling to bolster their roster since MVP LeBron James announced he was leaving last week, the Cavs have come up short so far this summer. On Tuesday, 14-year veteran Zydrunas Ilgauskas said he will follow James and sign with the Miami Heat.

James’ decision last week not to re-sign with Cleveland and bolt after seven seasons has put the Cavs in a bind. Most of the other top free agents have signed elsewhere, leaving the team with little on the market to choose from. Cleveland still has a $14 million trade exception to use and the club has had talks with several teams about deals, but nothing is imminent.

Lowry and starting forward Luis Scola were Houston’s restricted free agents, and Morey said re-signing Scola is the next priority.

“Hopefully, that’s not too far off,” Morey said. “We’re going to bring him back, that’s been the plan all along.”

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.