{"id":512918,"date":"2026-01-03T01:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T01:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/512918\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T01:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T01:19:12","slug":"opposing-coach-says-stories-like-cavs-guard-craig-porter-jr-are-coolest-part-of-the-nba-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/512918\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposing coach says stories like Cavs\u2019 guard Craig Porter Jr. are \u2018coolest part of the NBA\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> guard Craig Porter Jr. has made the most of the opportunity he\u2019s been given this season with the team\u2019s injuries. He\u2019s continually changed the momentum of games with his rebounding and defensive energy<\/a>. It\u2019s been exactly what a team that\u2019s struggled in both of those categories has needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s another guy that used this summer to take everything he can do to another level,\u201d Donovan Mitchell said of Porter.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Much of Porter\u2019s offseason focus was on conditioning so that he could become a high-energy reserve guard who could make a noticeable impact defensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing a better job getting into the ball on the pick-and-roll,\u201d Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said when asked about Porter\u2019s defensive improvements. \u201cHe\u2019s more physical. He\u2019s got good hands, too, so he\u2019s active in the passing lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter has always had a good nose for the ball. He\u2019s averaging 0.6 blocks and a steal per game. That may not seem like a lot, but considering his minutes and position as a guard, that puts him in the 98th percentile for block percentage<\/a> and 92nd percentile for steal percentage<\/a> among combo guards.<\/p>\n

Support us and Let \u2018Em Know with Homage!<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Mark Price shirt HERE<\/a>. You can also shop all of Homage\u2019s Cavs gear HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

His development as a better overall defender has allowed the parts of the game that he\u2019s always been good at to show through more clearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does every little thing that you need,\u201d Mitchell said about Porter. \u201cPicks up full court, can initiate the offense, can get downhill to create. When we\u2019re in together, he makes my life a hell of a lot easier. So it\u2019s definitely great to have him having this impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opposing coaches are seeing Porter\u2019s impact as well.<\/p>\n

Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman may have a different respect for Porter than most. He was the lead assistant for Denver when Porter exploded for 21 points and four assists as an undrafted rookie to defeat the defending champions<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cHe killed us a couple years ago,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cSo there\u2019s some bad memories there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter was surprisingly helpful during the beginning of his rookie season, but he couldn\u2019t keep that success going once the opponent\u2019s scouting report adjusted. A shaky outside jumper held him back. That has improved significantly in the last two years.<\/p>\n

Porter\u2019s improved outside shot, combined with his development on the defensive end, has turned him being a serviceable third point guard into someone who emerged as the team\u2019s backup point guard over the last two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really good this year,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cWhen he got thrown in that game (as a rookie), and the way he played, coming away from it saying, \u2018Man, that kid can really play.\u2019 Now to see his career get going, I think it\u2019s a cool thing. It\u2019s one of the coolest parts about the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Porter Jr. has made the most of the opportunity he\u2019s been given this season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,193,14901,250,71570,301,864,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-512918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","10":"tag-craig-porter-jr","11":"tag-david-adelman","12":"tag-defensive-energy","13":"tag-denver","14":"tag-donovan-mitchell","15":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115828540592760069","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}