cam degreeing

You would advance it, IIRC. It starts opening the intake valve sooner on the intake stroke, which does a couple of things.

It will get more air/fuel in the cylinder, and effectively lower the RPM of the start of the power band, which also gives less piston to valve clearance, so you have to be careful.

Conversely, retarding the cam will raise the power band, and give more piston to valve clearance.