Phil Taylor undergoes minor surgery, expected to miss time
October 8, 2014Kyrie Irving in a walking boot per report
October 8, 2014Zach Lowe at Grantland is one of the best in the business when it comes to breaking down the NBA. On Wednesday, Lowe released his 2014-15 preview for the NBA championship contending Cleveland Cavaliers.
As always, Lowe does a fantastic job breaking down the X’s and O’s, digging into what a David Blatt team may look like on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. When Lowe asked Coach Blatt to describe how his team would play this year, the new Cavaliers’ coach wouldn’t dive into the details.
“I don’t want to talk anymore about how we’re gonna play,” says the Blatt. “That’s like giving away the store before you open it. I hope we’re gonna play good. How’s that?”
Blatt wouldn’t oblige Lowe with too many details in regards to style of play, but that didn’t stop Grantland’s lead NBA writer from trying to figure it out himself.
Here’s some of what Lowe had to say regarding the assumption that Cleveland will be attrocious defensively.
The questions will come on the other end, where Cleveland faces a double whammy: It doesn’t have a rim protector, and as things stand now, it will start three bad defensive players. There is a ceiling to how good you can be defensively when 60 percent of your starting lineup is below average.
But the Cavs aren’t panicking about their lack of rim protection, and they are not going to rush out and trade for a heavy-minutes lug who can’t do what Blatt’s system demands on offense. The Cavs, in fact, might benefit more by acquiring a defensive-minded wing with some shooting range for the starting lineup — a move that would tilt that 60 percent figure in the right direction and allow Waiters to take a leadership role on the second unit. That would reduce the pressure on Blatt to have one of Irving and LeBron on the floor at all times, freeing him to maximize the minutes his three superstars play together.
Lowe goes on later to describe some of those “defensive-minded wings” which could be potential additions for the Cavaliers.
The Cavs have a $5.3 million trade exception courtesy of the Keith Bogans Memorial Contract, and they’ll likely kick the tires on a number of workable wing defenders who fit into that salary — Corey Brewer, Iman Shumpert, Jared Dudley, Kyle Singler, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wesley Johnson, Reggie Bullock, an excess Memphis wing, and others.
Not all of those guys will be available, and they’d all come with major questions — about mind-set (Shumpert), shooting ability (Brewer), and other stuff. But Cleveland will look as hard for a 3-and-D wing as it will for a rim protector. Hell, it might even get both — one via trade, and the other when buyout candidates start trickling in around January.
Speaking of rim protection, the thought that Anderson Varejao isn’t a good rim protector may be a little misleading. No, Varejao is not a shot blocker, but is being a charge taker actually more effective?
A charge-taker can stay on his feet if the ball handler passes early, and a charge attempt often stops the play — with a turnover, foul, or loose ball that flies out of bounds. “Taking charges is a lot better when you think about it,” Varejao says. “When you block a shot, you have no idea where it’s going to go.” Varejao puts his body in harm’s way doing this, and he has missed a ton of games. An injury to Cleveland’s best big-man defender would be catastrophic to its title hopes.
The piece goes on to explain how Blatt and the Cavaliers will likely throw multiple looks at teams defensively. Instead of their big man sagging off on pick and rolls like Tom Thibedeau’s system in Chicago or blitzing the pick and rolls with a trap like Miami did, expect the Cavs’ to be a hybrid of sorts. The Cavs have three big men in Love, Varejao, and Thompson who are all more than mobile enough to extend their defense out past the three-point arc.
Lowe goes on to explain the likelihood of seeing LeBron James and Shawn Marion paired together in small ball lineups, that allows the Cavs to switch on all screens.
Switching creates mismatches, but it can also stall out an opposing offense. And Blatt has always been willing to send hard traps at those mismatches, especially as the shot clock ticks away. “Our guys are going to find themselves in switching situations and trapping situations,” Blatt says. “They will have to adjust.”
Forming the Cavs into a formidable defensive unit may take some time, but every night they take the floor with the league’s best defender in LeBron James, I like their chances.
The defense may be what determines if this team is championship worthy, but the offense is where the glitz and glamour will lie. Lowe’s jubilation at the thought of David Blatt’s mind combined Blatt’s new toys shines through the computer screen as he describes the possibilities.
And, holy crap, is this team going to be great on offense. Blatt’s sets are filled with constant motion, both on the ball and away from it, involving all kinds of screens. A LeBron-Varejao pick-and-roll might be happening on the right side while Love sets a down screen for Irving on the left side, and those dueling actions will flow into two more elements.
Every pick presents a chance to punch a hole through one section of the defense. That innocent Love pick for Irving away from the ball? If Love hits it flush, his guy might have to rush toward the baseline to account for Irving’s basket cut.
And just that little blip can be death. Maybe Love pops out for an open 3-pointer. Maybe LeBron hits Irving on the cut. Maybe the other team switches in desperation, leaving a little guy to deal with Love on the block.
Every pick is an opportunity when one of the big dudes setting them is a good high-volume 3-point shooter. Blatt has also used fake picks in the past, and those fakes are more convincing, drawing more urgent responses, when the faker is a large man with 3-point range.
Zach Lowe’s whole preview is a must read. It’s complete with YouTube clips, gifs, and screen grabs outlining the offensive and defensive philosophies he’s dissecting. Plus, he makes David Blatt seem like a freaking mad scientist ready to unveil his masterful creations to the world. Just go read it already.
4 Comments
This “bad defensive” drum beating just never gets old does it and who are the three bad defensive players anyone not named LBJ or Varejao? If you want to hold up LBJ as the defensive benchmark then of course everyone else is going to be “bad.” Listen I’m not that much of a homer to realize that the weak point of this team will be on the defensive end I just don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as the detractors want/hope it will be. Certainly work starting with getting familiar with each other will help and I think as the season progresses this team as a whole will only get better. On both ends of the floor.
And another thing this sudden love of the phrase “rim protector” is laughable. As mentioned by Ryan Jones there is more then one way to protect the rim. I’d also like to say how about protecting the rim with team defense. Rotations, weak side help, etc. etc. etc. etc. Enter Shawn Marion. I think his presence will help dramatically.
The rest of the NBA better hope that the Cavaliers don’t acquire that “rim protecting” big man (kind of lazy if you ask me to say that one player alone who just because of his size would eliminate a weakness of a team but I’m playing along with the detractors) because if it does, lights out, the party is over!
“rim protector.” Ugh. I can’t stand the journalism these days. Nobody has original ideas anymore. In fact, forget about originality – nobody has ideas that are clear, concise, and thought out anymore. I hate the term “rim protector,” because, as you have pointed out, there are many ways to protect the rim.
It’s like “walk off” i nbaseball. ugh – i can’t stand that term. so dumb! Someone actually uttered the words, “they have a chance to walk it off,” while referring to a team at bat in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game. so bad. so bad.
“rim protector” is the new “stretch four” IMO. If you look at most NBA rosters how many teams have both, either? It’s just a cop out to detract from a team. Miami suffered it the first year they were together and then after losing to Dallas. The next year when they won it all you never heard a word. The third year nothing again. It came back up last year when the Heat added Oden even though Oden barely ever played. Miami lost to SA but it had less to do with a “rim protector” then SA completely outplaying Miami.
The only reason (besides injury, of course) this team won’t win 68 games or more will be resting guys for the playoffs. They’ll win whatever they have to for best record, then shut it down. The 95 Indians were the best Cleveland team I ever had the pleasure of watching. That may well change by the end of this NBA season.