Cleveland Cavs Finding Their Way, Yet Admit Defense Still Has a Long Way to Go
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers' offense, although off to a sluggish start to the season, is expected to eventually become one of the league's best.
The defense? Not so much.
Heading into a Nov. 10 game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Cavs ranked 21st in the league by allowing 101.4 points per game. They've seen opponents shoot 49.0 percent from the field, just a smidge better than the Los Angeles Clippers for worst mark in the NBA.
LeBron James, typically an all-world defender, has at times looked disinterested during games, admitting to playing "a little passive" during losses to the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers, according to Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
Coach David Blatt even made his first lineup change just three games into the year, benching shooting guard Dion Waiters in favor of the defensive-minded Shawn Marion.
Now faced with the challenge of guarding a good young Pelicans team led by Anthony Davis, how would the Cavaliers fare?
First-Half Results
"D up, Irving!"
Pelicans guard Eric Gordon had just blown by the Cavaliers' floor general, converting an all-too-easy layup at the rim.
While it may have just been one fan's desperate plea for better effort from the Cavs' $90 million man, 20,561 others could almost be seen nodding in agreement.
Gordon's basket had just pushed the Pelicans' point total to 51, although the second quarter had not yet concluded.
Two minutes later, New Orleans marched into the locker room up 56-51 thanks to a lackluster defensive effort by Irving and the Cavs.
Ryan Anderson did his best Dirk Nowitzki impression, coming off the bench to score 23 first-half points behind 5-of-7 shooting from deep.
The Cavaliers consistently left him open on the three-point line, even after Anderson had converted multiple times.
Kevin Love summed up Cleveland's defensive effort on a baseline drive by Gordon. Love didn't attempt to block the layup, nor did he contest it, instead choosing to stand planted and extend both arms out as a way of supporting Gordon's aerial drive.
While the Cavs' offense looked solid enough, the defense once again looked to be an issue.
Second-Half Improvements?
Cleveland buckled down in the third quarter, using an inspired offensive effort from James to ignite the crowd. The Cavaliers in turn enjoyed their best defensive stretch, outscoring the Pelicans 34-23 in the third.
Anderson, who terrorized the Cavs in the first half, suddenly fell silent.
Blatt did a nice job of mixing his lineup around to one that could handle his outside shooting.
"We were having trouble, obviously, with Anderson the whole night. I really wanted Shawn (Marion) on Anderson because he plays face in and is such a terrific shooter. It's not easy for bigger players to guard him. I wanted to put a lineup in there that would allow us to defend him, which it did. That was the only quarter that he defended him. The rest of the game he killed us."
Anderson finished with 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including 8-of-12 from deep.
On a team with Davis, Gordon and Tyreke Evans, it was Anderson's name that kept popping up in the locker room after the game.
"The first half was not pretty for us. We had to make a lot of adjustments. Anderson seemed to just be on fire," noted Love. "We changed up our coverages on him. I've always been a big fan of his game since I played against him in the Pac-10 when he played for Cal. He's always been a great player, and it's great to see him healthy again, I just wish he didn't play so well against us."
Tristan Thompson, who was tasked with guarding Anderson for a long stretch in the first half, noted that the team struggled initially due to their unfamiliarity with his abilities.
"Ryan is a tough matchup because he's a 6'10" forward that shoots the three just as well as any guard in our league," Thompson said. "In terms of matching up the bigs, that was something different for us, but he was hot in the first half, we made a couple adjustments and kind of quieted him down in the second half."
Cleveland also struggled to contain Davis, who continues to put up monster numbers in just his third pro season. Despite the loss, he compiled 27 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
Given his length, it appeared extremely difficult for any of the Cavs' big men to challenge his shots at the rim. Cleveland entered the game allowing opponents to convert 63.4 percent of all shots within five feet of the basket, second-worst in the league (via NBA.com/stats).
Thompson acknowledged the challenge of handling Davis, confirming that he is one of the toughest guys in the league to cover.
"Oh yeah. He's tough to guard because he's so long, athletic and active. You've got to always know where he is and kind of feel out the area, because if you don't he'll get offensive rebounds and alley-oop dunks."
While the Cavaliers went on to win the game 118-111, it was clear some more work was needed on the defensive end.
Concerns Moving Forward
Blatt seemed to have a new favorite word in the postgame press conference.
"I was a little disappointed in the moments of lethargy that we have on defense," Blatt said. "Our guys need to understand that if we want to consistently beat good teams, we cannot afford to sleep for parts of the game or part of the quarter. That's disturbing. That's worrisome. We can't afford to let ourselves be lethargic on defense at any point during the game."
Blatt is certainly trying to send the right message, but has it gotten through?
Obviously, the numbers say otherwise right now.
When looking for a veteran's opinion of the team's defense, Bleacher Report asked Marion about just how far the Cavs were from where they needed to be.
"A long way. We know it. We show great things at times, but it's not the system yet. We just got to keep moving in the right direction."
When asked if this was more attributed to 10 new members on the roster or the plethora of young players, Marion said:
"I think it's a mixture of everything. You can't just say it's one thing. Ultimately, we've got to figure it out and get better."
Now 3-3 on the season and fresh off an 118-point game, the Cavs' offense appears to be clicking.
The defense, in the words of Marion, still has a long way to go.
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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