Kleiza: "I just feel like I’m a different player.”

[Doc]

Man I'm excited to see how this guy does this season.

Would he be eligible for the "Most Improved" award or does leaving the NBA for a season disqualify him?

Things changed for him last season, as he led the Euroleague in scoring.

“I became a more complete player than when I was here (in the NBA),” Kleiza said. “I really calmed down, learned to take my time. I used to be rushing for a lot of things. You get in and you try to score all of the time. That’s the style we had in Denver. Now, I just feel like I’m a different player.”

Specifically, he got back to being the type of player he was in high school in Maryland and at the University of Missouri. He operated more in the post, an area where Raptors small forwards have been loath to go in the past.

“I didn’t play there in the NBA at all,” Kleiza said. “Going back there, and remembering and doing it all over again, yeah, I feel very comfortable. I have a lot of advantages against (small forwards). Not a lot of (small forwards) can guard me in the post.

“I definitely didn’t want to go back to the NBA and have that set role on one of those teams. I was not going to go there. Definitely not.”

Source - Click here

[Mack North]

I'm really loving his attitude, but everybody talks like this at the beginning of the season. I still wanna see game situations, 'cause last years SF was supposed to be pretty good too and we know how that turned out...

[rdiaz101]

He's a scrappy dude i hope he rubs off on the younger players this year, brings in some toughness to this team and i hope he can improve at the NBA level like he has everywhere else. He reminds me Delfino in way can drive and shoot the three and rebounds well for his size .

[SirChillyMost]

I don't see Kleiza being as effective as he was in FIBA for TO. I remember what Team USA did to him with their athletes and the NBA is full of athletes at the SF position. His post game and dribble drives won't be as easy to manifest as is Europe and/or FIBA.

He does have decent basketball talent, heart & can score a bit but can he do it on a consistent basis over an 82 game NBA season while solidly defending opposing NBA SFs? I'll take a wait and see approach with Kleiza to see how he plays against real NBA teams not FIBA teams. I predict that BC will have Jay start Kleiza at SF but that Sonny will eventually win the starting SF job by season's end.

His game is nothing like Delfino's to me. Delfino is more of a true swingman(SG/SF) player while Kleiza is more of a stretch 4 (SF/PF).

[Edgar]

I just hope no one is expecting anything too extreme out of him - aka 15+ PPG or carrying the team night-to-night... He should be part of the equation though.

[jlongs]

Lets just not go "Reggie, Reggie!" on him and think he's the 2nd coming of Jesus before he actually gets to play a few games. I too would like to see what he can bring to the table. I just don't put so much into those words because they're just that- words. Everyone during pre-season gives these kinds of statements, but it's only the performances on the court that count.

[SirChillyMost]

So far it looks like Kleiza may be the Raptor's best player- don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Kleiza is a very good player the only question is can he score on a consistent basis over 82 a game season while playing solid D?