The Cleveland Cavaliers had to make a tough choice in the offseason.
They had to choose between Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill, and they eventually rolled with the latter.
Merrill earned that right after taking a big leap on the defensive end of the floor last season.
Now, he knows that’s going to be the standard and what the Cavaliers will want and demand from him from now on.
When asked about his approach and mindset for next season and beyond, Merrill talked about taking it a step further on the defensive end of the floor:
“I want to set the tone defensively with pressure,” Merrill explained. “I did some last year with picking up full court. I’m not going to take the ball from anybody but try to get teams out of rhythm and force them to take time off the shot clock, that’s what I want to continue to do. Just trying to implement that as much as I can so I can try to be better for this team.”
Merrill’s turnaround and improvement have to be celebrated.
He was often targeted and picked on defensively, which led to him ceding ground and not being on the floor during key stretches.
He’s always been a reliable floor-spacer and three-point shooter, but with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell already being major defensive liabilities, the team simply couldn’t afford to have him play big minutes.
That’s no longer the case.
While he’s not the fastest or most athletic player out there, he’s a savvy defender who knows how to play angles and stay in front of his guy.
He took big steps as a help defender as well.
Of course, he’s not going to make the Defensive Player of the Year ballot any time soon, but he’s turning himself into the prototypical 3-and-D player all championship contenders crave.
Hopefully, he will be able to take things even further next season.
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