I Bleed Blue and White

For most 22 year-olds, a guaranteed large sum of money would most likely turn into a spending spree.  Dante Cunningham is not a part of most 22 year-olds though.  With his contract officially signed with the Portland Trailblazers, Dante remains humbled, as all he continues to think about is the upcoming season and helping the team win.  Center Court, the official Trailblazers blog written by Casey Holdahl, caught up with Cunningham, and he discussed his thoughts on certain topics now that the contract is signed.

Dante, on what he plans to do with his big salary:

I really don’t want much.  I just really, really want to play ball.  I’m going to bring out my old truck from college out here.  I live in a townhouse so I really don’t need much here.  It’s kind of a laid back kind of place.  You really don’t need to be flashy or anything like that out here.

On what he’s been up to lately, Cunningham states:

I got here Wednesday, signed on Friday, found a house Saturday, so I’m moving in today.  It’s rolling along right now.  Guys are coming in.  It’s clicking.  I’m liking Portland a whole lot.

Regarding rookie hazing:

Jerryd Bayless talked to me a little bit about it at summer league.  He informed on a couple of tricks, who to stay away from.  Everyone goes through it.  It’s a rite of passage.  Hey, I’m ready for it.  Hopefully no one gets too crazy, too overboard on me.

It’s great to see that Dante hasn’t changed one bit since moving on to the NBA.  Humbled, poised, hard-working.  No glamour.

Before we talk about Dwayne Anderson, I wanted to wrap-up talking about Dante Cunningham’s first game in the NBA Summer League.  Obviously, Dante had a very good game in terms of statistics, but the most important thing is what the Portland Trailblazers coaching staff thinks.  The Portland Trailblazers game recap relayed some important quotes about their game last night.   Head coach of the Trailblazers summer team, Joe Prunty, discussed Dante’s play:

He looked very comfortable.  I thought he did a really nice job setting screens, slipping screens, separating after he set screens.  I thought he did a really nice job of going after boards.  He got a few of what I like to refer to as ‘dirty rebounds,’ where they’re out of your area, you hustle after them.  They’re not the ones that sort of fall into your lap.  So I really appreciated the effort he gave. 

Additionally, the Portland Trailblazers official blog, called Center Court, written by Casey Holdahl, provided some discussion about the game and postgame audio from the players, including Cunningham. 

One more thing before we get to Dwyane.  Just a quick update on former Villanova coach Patrick Chambers.  It seems like he is doing well at Boston University.  Little did I know that he named former Villanova walk-on, Ross Condon, as one of his assistant coaches awhile back.  I found this out in his blog, seeing a picture from one of his older posts. 

Chambers also has a Twitter account, which he regularly updates, keeping fans in the loop regarding the BU basketball team.  

Finally, on to Dwayne Anderson.  Undoubtedly, many wondered how Anderson would perform in live NBA game action, as he was supposed to take the court tonight for the Washington Wizards summer team.  After checking the box score, Dwayne’s name was not to be found, which left some questions to be answered.   I checked around a little bit, and it looks like Dwayne was cut from the Washington Wizards yesterday, along with a slew of other players.  I did not see any reasoning behind the decision, but my guess is only a certain number of players can attend the Summer League, meaning the Wizards had to cut down their roster, and unfortunately, Dwayne was one of many to lose a spot.