Summer League Blog:Dylan Windler
Rookie Swingman Checks in from Salt Lake City
by Dylan Windler (@Dylan_Windler23)
7/3/19 | Cavs.com
What’s up, Cavalier fans! It’s Dylan, checking in once again from the Salt Lake City Summer League.
After a couple months off, the Draft process and a few good practices here in Utah, it's good to be able to actually play in a real game again, five-on-five.
I've played a lot of minutes, around 30 minutes in each of these first two games. And obviously, it's at a different, higher level now; we're playing pros, so you're going hard every night and fatigue sets in a little bit. So I have to make sure I take care of my body -- doing everything tonight to be ready for the next game.
It's been good, so far. We've got things we can work on, and we're going to be better when we get to Vegas. We're trying to peak when it comes to the tournament. And I think we'll get there.
Against Utah, we didn't have very many turnovers; we just weren't hitting shots. We cleaned up things we needed to clean up as far as defending the ball in transition. We just need to hit more shots.
Opposing defenses are already starting to play me differently.
And definitely, the more games we play, it's going to be harder – because teams are starting to scout what we're doing. They're going to be ready to jump the plays and jump the gun a little bit. So, I'll need to get a little creative with it and try to keep the defense on their toes, trying to mix it up -- go backdoor, come off screens hard, attack the paint and dish it out when that's not there.
Dylan Windler has averaged 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists through his first two games in Salt Lake City.
Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images
On an individual level, I didn't shoot as well as I would have wanted to on Tuesday. I think it was a little bit of fatigue setting in. But I need to get over that hump. So, I’ll get some rest tonight and get some recovery in and be ready for Memphis on Wednesday night.
One of the things that I'm trying to get used to now is Coach Beilein's preference for me, every time I get a defensive rebound, to push it myself.
That's not really what I was doing at Belmont. Coach Byrd wanted me to get it to the guard and get out and run.
Don’t get me wrong, I like what Coach is having me do: being able to get it and go. It's just something I've got to work on and get more comfortable with – getting the ball in transition and making the right reads. But I know that's going to come as I practice it more and get more comfortable.
I think I’ve rebounded the ball well the first two games. People are sometimes surprised that I’ve been a good rebounder during my career. I’m not exactly a middle-of-the-paint banger.
"We just need to continue to play with confidence on the offensive end. I think we did well as far as stopping transition and taking care of the ball."
Dylan Windler, on what the squad has to work on ahead of tonight's game against Memphis.
For me, a lot of it is just anticipation and reading the ball off the shooter's hand and anticipating where it's going to go – and then just beating your man to the ball, whether it's getting around him or beating him to the spot.
A lot of guys, when the shot goes up, they tend to look at the ball first. I'm trying to get around my man right when the shot goes up and then find the ball. So it's a lot of positioning and anticipation.
We have one more game here and I hope we can finish it off with a win.
We haven't won here in these first two games, but on Tuesday we really just didn't hit shots. We just need to continue to play with confidence on the offensive end. I think we did well as far as stopping transition and taking care of the ball. We just have to hit shots – sometimes it’s that simple.
I think that's gonna happen – and we're hoping to finish off here in Salt Lake City with a "W."