Cleveland Cavaliers Should Already Be Making These Adjustments
Although the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2014-15 NBA season is still in its infancy, there's nothing wrong with already making a few tweaks.
Beginning the season just 2-3, the Cavs have struggled with moving the ball, pace, chemistry and overall defense, among other areas.
Coach David Blatt has already made his first lineup change, sending shooting guard Dion Waiters to the bench in favor of veteran Shawn Marion.
After taking to the road for four of their first five games, the Cavaliers now get to play at the friendly confines of Quicken Loans Arena nine times over their next 11 contests.
While the home crowd should give them a boost, the Cavs have some on-court work to do as well to get them back on track.
Interior Defense
Heading into the year, many assumed the Cavaliers' interior defense would struggle without a true shot-blocker.
They appear to be right.
We knew rim protection would be an issue. After five games, Cleveland is 28th with just 3.2 rejections per game. Shawn Marion, he of 6'7", leads the team with one swat a night.
Going beyond just raw shot-blocking numbers is the success teams are having against the Cavaliers' big men inside.
Opponents are shooting 63.4 percent within five feet of the basket, the second-worst mark in the league, per NBA.com/Stats. The Cavs' only saving grace when it comes to paint protection is actually limiting the amount of times the opposing team makes their way inside.
The Cavaliers allow 26.8 shots per game from within five feet, the eighth-fewest total in the NBA. Quality wing defenders like LeBron James and Marion have played a nice part in this.
Cleveland's best post defender by a landslide has been Anderson Varejao. Although he's averaging a pedestrian 0.8 blocks per game, opponents are making just 46.7 percent of their shots at the rim when guarded by Varejao.
Compare this success rate to those of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, and Varejao might as well be Bill Russell inside.
Thompson is allowing 59.1 percent of inside shots to connect, and Love is even worse at 66.7 percent.
We knew Love wasn't a strong defender following his trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, and many in Cleveland had made peace with that.
Actually, when Love sticks to his natural position of power forward, he hasn't been too bad. The times Blatt prefers to play small ball with Love at center is typically when the defense goes to pot.
Unfortunately for the Cavs, this has been quite often.
Love has spent 75 percent of his time on the court at center this season, compared to just 25 percent at power forward. When he covers opposing 4s, Love is holding them to a reasonable 15.2 player efficiency rating this season, via 82games.com. When tasked with defending 5s, this number inflates to a PER of 21.4.
The solution?
Keep Love far, far away from the center position.
Keep Varejao on the court with him. Or Thompson. Or Brendan Haywood. Grab the nearest towel boy if he's got some size to him.
Anything to keep Love at power forward would be a nice upgrade for the Cavaliers defense.
Offensive Spacing/Style of Play
The Cavaliers offense was supposed to become legendary this season thanks to the combination of James, Love and Kyrie Irving.
After five games, it's ranked just 17th in the league.
The Cavs' Big Three are all averaging between 18 and 23.4 points per game, so why just a so-so team total?
It all comes down to spacing and sharing the ball.
The Cavaliers are 30th in the NBA with just 17.8 assists per game. In back-to-back losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz, Cleveland totaled just 24 assists, including a franchise-low six against Utah.
Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group pointed out just how rare it is for a James-led team to hold the ball so much:
"According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Cavaliers finished with the lowest assist percentage (20%) by a James team in his career. It's also the third-lowest assist percentage by any team since he came into the league and the lowest since the Hornets in 2010.
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When Cleveland has actually run Blatt's shooter-friendly offense, the results have been remarkable.
During the first quarter against the Trail Blazers, the Cavs moved the ball, spaced the floor and racked up 34 points behind seven assists.
For whatever reason, Cleveland abandoned this effective style in favor of isolations and general laziness. The Cavaliers scored just 48 points over the next three quarters, aided by 11 total assists.
Here's a breakdown of a typical play that's gotten them in trouble not just during the Portland game, but also against Utah and during various other stretches.
Irving begins the play by bringing the ball up the court. Right now the spacing is good, with Love and Dion Waiters spread out in the corners. Each has to be respected as a three-point shooter.
Irving, hardly in any hurry, initiates a high give-and-go with Varejao. Eight seconds have already elapsed and the ball has barely left Irving's hands.
Next, Irving attempts a drive to the basket but is quickly cut off by Steve Blake. Blazers center Robin Lopez abandons Varejao and slides down to protect the rim.
Instead of kicking the ball back to a wide-open Varejao, Irving continues to foolishly drive, even with two defenders in front of him. While being guarded by Blake, he loses the ball and is lucky that Damian Lillard didn't collect a steal in the process.
Undeterred by his near turnover, Irving continues to ignore teammates and tries to get to the basket. After winding the shot clock down to just eight seconds, he realizes his attempt is futile and lobs a pass out to James at the top of the arc.
Now, James is put in a tough situation. Love and Waiters have grown tired of just standing in the corners for the past 10 seconds and have begun to gravitate toward James. Irving tries to occupy Love's spot in the corner, but is blocked from James' view by Varejao and Lopez.
Whatever spacing the Cavs once had has been killed by Irving.
James is faced with trying to drive on Nicolas Batum or shoot over him now that his passing options have disappeared. James chooses the latter, only to fall victim to the same trap Irving fell into.
The defense collapses and the shot clock is running out. James loses the ball, tries to recover and get a shot up but is called for traveling. Waiters and Love, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer a season ago, never touch the ball.
An ugly, selfish possession all around and one that we've see far too often thus far.
The good news?
This is an easy fix.
When the Cavaliers stick with Blatt's plays, they've looked brilliant. Sure it takes some extra effort, but one can't argue with the results.
In a 110-101 win over the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 7, the Cavaliers registered 25 assists in their highest scoring regular-season game of the year. The ball moved, spacing looked good and Cleveland came away with 110 points as a result.
For players like Irving and James, they have to make sure to keep the offense flowing and avoid plays like the one detailed above.
Pick Up the Pace
Along the same lines, a more aggressive offense leads to a quicker pace, something the Cavaliers definitely need to strive for.
Cleveland is just 28th in the league at 93.28 possessions per 48 minutes, a surprisingly low pace considering the athletes on the roster.
As Christopher Reina of RealGM.com pointed out before the Nuggets game, the Cavs aren't utilizing what could be a major strength:
"With LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving anchoring the team, the Cavaliers were widely expected to have one of the best offenses in the NBA and playing at a slower pace mitigates that advantage.
The Cavaliers rank 14th in offense at 105.7 points per 100 possessions (despite ranking 30th in AST%), but rank 27th in defense at 111.2 points per 100 possessions allowed.
Despite being one of the most productive offensive players in the NBA throughout his career due to his high efficiency scoring and passing ability, James has never played in an offense that is in the top-10 in pace.
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What?
James has never played in a high-octane offense before? Surely, something must be done.
When ran correctly, there's nothing slow about Blatt's offense. It may require a few extra passes to find the open man, but it still operates quicker than the typical isolation play.
James is tailor-made to operate in an offense that can get out and run. After all, who's going to step in front and stop him in the fast break?
Not Carmelo Anthony, that's for sure.
Add in Love's outlet pass ability, and Cleveland should be able to get quite a few easy (and quick) buckets this season, provided they choose to do so.
Again, avoiding the "hero ball" type of play is critical. The Cavs are too talented to sit around and watch one player attempt to take his man one-on-one.
Given their personnel, cranking up the pace would be wise for the Cavaliers this season.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010. Connect with him on Twitter for more basketball news and conversation.
All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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