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CLEVELAND — Mario Hezonja’s first preseason outing with the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t go as seamlessly as he likely would’ve preferred. Going from being the star player in Europe to trying to slot into a supporting role in a vastly different league will be an adjustment — both in terms of what he’ll be asked to do on the court and in adjusting to a completely different style of play.
“Last game (against the Boston Celtics), I didn’t do too much out of the scheme,” Hezonja said. “The lenghth. I just got to finish it maybe higher on the rim because…there’s so much space, but the length is substantial compared to Europe.”
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Hezonja has NBA experience, but the game looks much different than it did six years ago when he returned to Europe.
“We’re much more quick,” Atkinson said before Sunday’s preseason game when asked about the differences between the NBA and European basketball. “We’re a quick hitter league. We play in transition. You watch a FIBA game or European game, and they’re running the whole 24 seconds.”
There’s no easy way to adjust to a style of play that is vastly different than what you’ve been used to. The way Atkinson believes the Cavs can help Hezonja in this process is by narrowing down what he needs to do on the court.
“He’s just a good all-around basketball player, so I think it’s just defining how [he’s] going to fit with this team,” Atkinson said.
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Hezonja’s second outing showed how he is a good all-around player as he put up 13 points on 5-0f-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Going against a bigger and more physical team in the Orlando Magic likely helped as well.
Atkinson wants to leverage Hezonja’s well-rounded in two key ways, both of which were areas we saw on Sunday.
First, he wants to see him get in transition more since he’s “like a diesel train getting downhill.” They also think they can use size to create mismatches and deep post seals…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mario-hezonja-embracing-challenge-returning-130000815.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-12 13:00:00
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