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Mirjam Swanson: Ty Lue says Clippers assistant Dahntay Jones has compared Terance Mann's skill set to Jimmy Butler. Says that's someone Mann should study.
The LA Clippers announced today that Associate Head Coach Dan Craig and Assistant Coaches Kenny Atkinson, Chauncey Billups, Larry Drew and Roy Rogers have joined Head Coach Tyronn Lue to complete the team’s coaching staff for the 2020-21 NBA season. Cam Hodges, Shaun Fein, Dahntay Jones and Beau Levesque will also be joining the organization in coaching and player development roles. The Clippers have retained Assistant Coaches Jeremy Castleberry and Brendan O’Connor.
“We have assembled a strong and experienced group of coaches with diverse backgrounds and perspectives,” said Lue. “They will provide our players with every opportunity to improve individually and excel as a team. As coaches, their skillsets are different, but they are all great teachers with a passion for player development, who understand how to impart their knowledge. I couldn’t be more excited to get on the court with this group.”
Lue needed to manage this, but as he sat down in the middle of the Cavs’ huddle, he was looking at his bench and at his assistants, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He remembers thinking, “S---, who do we go with?” Finally, Kyrie spoke up, though it was more of a shout — the only way to get the message to his coach as the walls shook and the crowd screamed and the music poured into The Q. “Put Dahntay in,” he said. Another second or two passed, and then LeBron added: “Yeah, D. Jones. Put him in.”
On the first career-defining play of Jones’ big night, he darted into a gaping hole in the Warriors’ defense, caught a pass from LeBron as he turned into the paint and jumped into Green, drawing contact and converting the layup. He banged in his free throw for the and-1. On the Cavs’ next possession, he drew another foul on Green and connected on both foul shots. “I was like, that m-----------,” Lue said, remembering what he thought as he watched Jones score. “Those were five great points. Some big moments. I was just happy for him. I remember when he first came in the league, and, I mean, he was a personal friend of mine.” “I think we all came to an agreement that Dahntay was the right person to put in,” Irving said. “He had been waiting to play that whole entire playoffs. I wouldn’t take all the credit for the idea, but Dahntay was the right person to put in at that time and he came in, gave us a big spark.”
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On Tuesday morning, James boarded his private jet in Miami and flew north, where he met Durant, Anthony and a handful of other NBA players: Kanter, JR Smith, Lance Thomas, Marshall Plumlee and Dahntay Jones. Smith's younger brother, Chris (a former NBA player), Real Madrid's Dontaye Draper and University of Kentucky basketball players Hamidou Diallo and Nick Richards were brought in to help fill out the squads. "It was like an All-Star Game," Kanter says. And in terms of personnel, this was one of the greatest pick-up games of all time.
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The Cavaliers have signed Dahntay Jones late the last couple seasons to serve as agitator. He’s working off the clock. Jones on Stephen Curry, via Mickstape: People get mad at me, because I don’t declare him a top-10 player in the NBA, which is fine. I’ve got him on the outside – like 11, 12.
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