Dante Cunningham's love of 'dirty work' helps him rise in eyes of Blazers coach Nate McMillan In a quiet and steady manner, second-year forward Dante Cunningham has become one of the bright spots of the Trail Blazers' preseason. While the storylines of training camp have ranged from the surprise of Wesley Matthews' offense to the depleated state of the team's centers, Cunningham has gone about his business and become one of the coach Nate McMillan's favorite topics. "I love D.C.," McMillan said. "He plays the game the right way. I've heard people talk about Wesley, and how he plays the way I want. Well, D.C. plays the way I want. He's physical, he defends first, and offensively he's pretty solid with his jump shot. But his main thing is he is normally in the right place defensively." Cunningham is firmly entrenched as the Blazers' backup power forward to LaMarcus Aldridge, a role that figures to have increased now that Aldridge will share time at center after Jeff Pendergraph suffered a season-ending right knee injury on Thursday. If the team's three preseason games are any indication, Cunningham is up to the task. He is averaging 14.0 points and 8.7 rebounds while playing aggressive defense. In the past two games he has had 18 points and 10 rebounds at Utah and 15 points and 10 rebounds at Denver. It hasn't necessarily translated to headlines and highlights, but Cunningham has definitely endeared himself to McMillan. "Doing all the dirty work is what I pride myself in; I actually love doing that," Cunningham said. "A lot of times you don't get the media attention, but at the end of the day, that's what helps a team win, that's what makes a championship team." Cunningham figures to be a central figure on a second unit that will feature Jerryd Bayless, Rudy Fernandez, Matthews and probably Aldridge at center. So far, that unit has played solid defense and played with a more uptempo pace, and Cunningham has been in the middle of it all. He makes up for his smaller size for a power forward (6-foot-8, 225 pounds) by being active and smart on defense, and he has been effective on offense by beating his man down the court and by hitting a reliable 15-footer. "What I love about him is he defends first and he plays much bigger than he is," McMillan said. "He just brings energy." A second-round pick last season out of Villanova, Cunningham says hard-nosed is the only way he knows how to play. "It's how I was brought up, and how I love to play the game: Getting dirty, getting down and making things happen," Cunningham said. When he arrived in Portland last season, there was debate whether he was a small forward or a power forward. But when Travis Outlaw went out with a broken foot, he was quickly forced into the power forward role. Knowing that McMillan likes to use a "stretch" power forward, meaning a smaller forward who can play on the perimeter to stretch the defense, Cunningham this summer said he worked on pump fakes and going to the basket to complement his outside shot. "Everyone wants to debate whether I'm a power forward or small forward, and I say I'm a full-fledged basketball player," Cunningham said. "Whatever coach needs me to do, I'm down and ready to do it. "That's the only way I can categorize it: I'm a ball player." http://tinyurl.com/23mof52 -- 最近对"LOVE"这个字很敏感 上季离队两爱将的时间会落给谁呢?? --

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