Why Cleveland Cavaliers Defense Can Be Better Than You Think
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be defined by the offense of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, but that doesn't mean we should discount this title contender's potential on the other end.
To be fair, it's easy to see why the consensus says the Cavs will be elite on offense: Irving is a ball-handling maestro, Love is the game's most prolific floor-spacing big and James is the most complete offensive force in basketball.
Blindfold those three, and they'll still figure out how to get the Cavaliers offense into the top five by the end of the 2014-15 season.
The Cavs have an embarrassment of secondary offensive riches as well. Mike Miller is still nails from deep, Shawn Marion can still cut and swoop like a man 10 years his junior and Tristan Thompson, limited as he is, can clean up the mess on the offensive glass.
Don't forget Dion Waiters, who could use a lesson in restraint but is a tough cover nonetheless.
We get it; Cleveland is going to score.
It might be pretty darn good on D, too.
Obvious Obstacles
It's hard enough to build the chemistry and systemic familiarity necessary to play great defense with a batch of newly thrown-together players, which is what head coach David Blatt must do with the Cavs. Harder still is the task of doing so with key pieces whose defensive reputations are, to put it kindly, suspect.
Love has never been a good defender, particularly in space. He doesn't move well laterally and has a tendency to get lost away from the ball. Call it sour grapes if you like, but there was truth in Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor's parting shot this past summer, per ESPN1500.com's Derek Wetmore:
"I think he's around a couple guys are awful good. Now I'm not saying that Kevin's not good, but I think where maybe he got away with some stuff, not playing defense on our team, I'm not sure how that's going to work in Cleveland. So I would guess they're going to ask him to play more defense.
"
We've all seen the anecdotal evidence: Love swiping at drivers in the lane instead of moving in front of them, giving up defensive position in anticipation of rebounding opportunities and routinely losing contact with his man on the perimeter.
Take it, Tyson Chandler:
Irving's rep is just as bad, and it might even be worse considering the fact that he doesn't suffer from any of Love's innate defensive limitations. Irving is a blindingly quick and instinctive athlete who can get to any spot he wants. His failings on defense are more about won't than can't.
And while Love was actually a break-even defender for the Wolves last year (they posted a defensive rating of 104.1 with him and 104.2 without him, per NBA.com), Irving's impact was demonstrably more negative. Cleveland gave up 106.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor and just 101.4 with him on the bench, per NBA.com.
With those two eating up huge minutes, it's tempting to say Cleveland's defense will be a lost cause.
Reasons to Hope
Here's the thing, though: The Cavaliers ranked 17th in the league in defensive efficiency last year—not good, but not altogether horrible either. Their defensive rating of 104.8 was a 10th of a point worse than that of the Portland Trail Blazers, and it was better than both the Dallas Mavericks and the Brooklyn Nets.
Those three teams made the playoffs.
Plus, Cleveland's personnel overhaul has to be viewed in total. It's not like that No. 17 defense automatically gets worse because Love is on the roster.
You also have to consider the addition of Marion, the improved health of Anderson Varejao and, oh yeah, LeBron.
Though LBJ coasted on D more than ever last year, he's still fully capable of guarding four positions, and he's one of a select few players whose length, range and speed completely erase conventional passing lanes—when he's engaged.
The Cavs defense is markedly improved—on paper.
And for what it's worth, the early on-court returns we saw in Cleveland's first preseason game against Maccabi Tel Aviv bore that out:
Lighting a Fire
Getting better on defense isn't just about numbers; it's also about motivation. And some of the best motivation comes from pressure—like the kind brought on by the instant championship expectations James hauled with him from Miami.
It's a lot harder to lazily stall out in rotations or lag behind in transition when James is yelling at you. Just ask Mario Chalmers.
Guys like Irving and Love will want to prove they belong with James, and they'll be driven to by the stakes of his presence. Suddenly, mistakes or waning effort on defense will matter more than they used to. Where a blown assignment doesn't hurt when your team's 15 games out of the playoffs in February, it'll sting more when it affects a tight race for the No. 1 seed in the East.
Welcome to life with consequences, Cavs.
If it's true that defense is all about effort, Cleveland has more reason to try than ever. And Blatt has been direct throughout training camp that excuses won't fly, per Matthew Florjancic of WKYC-TV. "The message was and is simply that, 'There's no reason why you can't go out there and lay it out there on defense,'" Blatt said.
Between Blatt and James, the Cavs have two key figures who'll make sure effort isn't a problem on defense.
Offense Is Defense Is Offense
If the Cavaliers had to square off against opponents on equal terms, perhaps their defense would hold them back. But these Cavs are always going to dictate the rules of engagement because they have offensive options that will force the competition to adjust in uncomfortable ways.
Basically, the Cavaliers can play big and small at once.
"God help the NBA when Blatt goes ultra-spacey with small-ball lineups like Irving-Waiters–Mike Miller–LeBron-Love. That will be a rare, defensively challenged look, but it is completely unguardable. Defensive limitations don’t matter when you go on a 15-2 run in 90 seconds.
"
Love is big enough to guard centers, and the truth is he's probably best utilized defending bigs who don't move around much. LeBron is strong enough to check conventional power forwards. The problem is opponents won't be able to use typical big men when the Cavs have lineups like the one Lowe suggests on the floor.
The Washington Wizards can't play Nene and Marcin Gortat against LeBron and Love. The Chicago Bulls, stout and disciplined as they are, can't survive with Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol chasing guys 30 feet from the bucket.
Basically, the Cavaliers' ability to throw out five three-point shooters, including Love at center, forces other teams to play lineups designed to stop that particular personnel group. And if other teams are focused so narrowly on getting stops, there's a good chance they'll be easier to slow down on the other end.
For example, if the Bulls have to resort to Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler at center and power forward, respectively, they're playing into Cleveland's hands. Yes, Love would struggle to cover the mobile Gibson, but as a whole the Cavs could handle a defense-first unit like that.
Last Resorts
Oh, and even if none of the aforementioned possibilities pan out, the Cavs can just go get another defender to bolster the ranks. They've got a $5.3 million trade exception that could bring back a wing stopper sometime before the deadline.
There's also the possibility of shipping out Waiters for a piece whose skills are less duplicative of Irving's.
Cleveland has options, and if it plays them right, we should see a defense that puts up far more resistance than most expect. Remember, this group doesn't have to be elite on D; it just has to be adequate.
That offense will do the rest.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
