Cleveland Excited for Defensive Duties

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

After winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award last season, the abilities that Antonius Cleveland provides on the defensive end of the floor are a known quantity.

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

After winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award last season, the abilities that Antonius Cleveland provides on the defensive end of the floor are a known quantity.

Formerly of Illawarra, Cleveland has traded the Hawks for the 36ers and is set to link up with Adelaide in the upcoming season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?DEFENSIVE FOCUS?<br>Antonius Cleveland has one goal in mind for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <br>Watch the full press conference: <a href="https://t.co/bIfiSEYg8t">https://t.co/bIfiSEYg8t</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreSixers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreSixers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SwoopTheHoop?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SwoopTheHoop</a> <a href="https://t.co/iYaUzyhDE9">pic.twitter.com/iYaUzyhDE9</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1556898402205503493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He says the project offered by CJ Bruton was too good for him to pass up.

“The roster, I was intrigued by it and felt I could help and be a part of something special here, and under coach I think they went pretty well,” Cleveland said, arriving in Adelaide on Tuesday.

“His vision of the season coming up is he wants to play fast, defend and have fun.

“I feel like I fall right into what he wants to do, and I felt like it’s the perfect match.”

Cleveland will join an already defensively sound guard combination in Mitch McCarron and Sunday Dech.

The 28-year-old said he’s excited to link up with Adelaide’s existing guard rotation on the defensive end.

“Hopefully like Sunday and Mitch I can just step right in, help those guys on the perimeter and we can be a great defensive team,” Cleveland said.

“It’s a mentality of where I’m from growing up. You don’t want to get scored on. I take that with me everywhere I go and I take pride in it.

“I’m willing to accept the challenge and have fun doing it.”