KsJoey wrote: ↑March 24th, 2021, 10:09 pmI'm happy for him. Even though he was very successful at Kstate, it also shows he really should have been utilized better. For him to average 12.9ppg as a senior... he really should have been close to, or over 20. I know injuries had some to do with that. He became a star at KSU, but he's blossoming to his potential now at the Cavs.
I'm not sure, I think there are a lot of factors to the idea of how he was used as KSU and Puff would obviously be the guy to answer as he is watching the games much closer now, but my thought from what I see is his role with the Cavs is as a pure floor spacer. He is such a great shooter and the Cavs have Sexton and Garland who I think they love to try and get those guys into the paint, so Dean is very much a catch and shoot guy off of kickouts from those guys. Puff, please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
At KSU, I think the coaches wanted him to do a lot more than just be a floor spacer, and quite honestly, we didn't really have guys that were great at penetrating and kicking. Barry obviously got better over the years as a driver, but he generally wanted to finish at the rim when he drove. Kam was more of a spot up shooter, as was X, and Carti for the most part, although Carti did drive it now and again. I think the coaches at KSU wanted to use Dean as a passer in a lot of ways because he was such a great passer and they also wanted to use him on the glass if possible.
Again, Puff can correct me, but I think Dean has more of a very specific role with the Cavs whereas at KSU the coaches wanted him to do a lot of different things. It was also pretty clear that Barry was an alpha and dictated a lot of what was going to happen for the other players, including Dean.