Oct 8, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Mario Hezonja (33) drives to the basket during the second half of a preseason game against the Boston Celtics at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Jackson Flickinger Mon, October 12, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CLEVELAND — Mario Hezonja's first preseason outing with the Cleveland Cavaliers didn't go as seamlessly as he likely would've preferred. Going from being the star player in Europe to trying to slot into a supporting role in a vastly different league will be an adjustment — both in terms of what he'll be asked to do on the court and in adjusting to a completely different style of play.
"Last game ( against the Boston Celtics ), I didn't do too much out of the scheme," Hezonja said . "The lenghth. I just got to finish it maybe higher on the rim because…there's so much space, but the length is substantial compared to Europe."
Hezonja has NBA experience, but the game looks much different than it did six years ago when he returned to Europe.
"We're much more quick," Atkinson said before Sunday's preseason game when asked about the differences between the NBA and European basketball. "We're a quick hitter league. We play in transition. You watch a FIBA game or European game, and they're running the whole 24 seconds."
There's no easy way to adjust to a style of play that is vastly different than what you've been used to. The way Atkinson believes the Cavs can help Hezonja in this process is by narrowing down what he needs to do on the court.
"He's just a good all-around basketball player, so I think it's just defining how [he's] going to fit with this team," Atkinson said.
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Hezonja's second outing showed how he is a good all-around player as he put up 13 points on 5-0f-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Going against a bigger and more physical team in the Orlando Magic likely helped as well.
Atkinson wants to leverage Hezonja's well-rounded in two key ways, both of which were areas we saw on Sunday.
First, he wants to see him get in transition more since he's "like a diesel train getting downhill." They also think they can use size to create mismatches and deep post seals when he gets mismatches in transition. He did this on Sunday, as he got two easy baskets in transition. Someone of his size is difficult to stop when he gets a head of steam.
Additionally, Atkinson wants to see Hezonja as an impactful rebounder, especially on the offensive end. "We'd love to get him into the habit of that with that size and aggressiveness."
Hezonja demonstrated that he could be impactful there as he cleaned up an offensive rebound and turned it into an and-one basket.
It takes an incredible amount of courage to leave somewhere that is familiar where you've had success. It would've been much easier for Hezonja to stay in Europe where he could dominate and be a superstar. Instead, he decided to come over here, adapt to a much different game, and play against competition you can't physically overpower.
He's accepting and embracing a challenge that he chose to undertake.
"As a challenge, literally, because it's a lot different," Hezonja said after Sunday's game. "Different basketball, different I can go on and go on. There's so many different things.
"But as I said since the first day that I arrived here, I know how to play, I know basketball, I know the sport. I might be away from the NBA, but I was never away from the game. So, I know what to do, what not to do, especially what type of team we are, what type of help they need. So just trying to fit the role. Thank God I'm super versatile, so I can fit many, many roles on a team and literally whatever they need. I just want to be an impactful winning player for them and help them as much as I can."
Source: Sport
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