Pleasant Surprises from Cleveland Cavaliers' Early-Season Games
Now 3-3 as of Nov. 13, the Cleveland Cavaliers are showing signs of turning things around following a 1-3 start to the season.
Winners of two straight with a home-friendly upcoming schedule, the Cavs look to build on their recent strong play.
This resurgence has aided the performances of a few individuals, and the team itself, that we didn't see coming. While many speculated about how many points the team could put up this season, recent wins have been decided by some smaller factors instead.
Despite all of the fanfare, concerts, pregame pyrotechnics and star power on the team, these are the somewhat hidden factors that are currently propelling the Cavs' season.
Shawn Marion's Leadership, Defense
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The signing of Marion was overshadowed by the Cavaliers' other offseason moves, but the 15-year veteran is already making his mark.
While many assumed he would play a reserve role behind LeBron James at both forward positions, coach David Blatt moved Marion to the starting shooting guard spot after just three games.
The result? A 2-1 record with a much-improved defense.
In a 118-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 10, Marion played a key role in shutting down Ryan Anderson. The Cavs had used multiple bigs against the 6'10" three-point shooter extraordinaire with little success. Anderson had 23 points at the half, prompting Blatt to switch to his crafty veteran for help.
"We were having trouble with Anderson the whole night," Blatt told Bleacher Report. "I really wanted Shawn on Anderson because he plays face-in and he's such a terrific shooter. It's not easy for bigger players to guard him and that's one of the things that makes him a special player at the position that he plays. I wanted to put a lineup in there that would allow us to defend him which it did."
Marion shut down Anderson, holding him to zero points in the third quarter.
While he's averaging just 4.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, the Cavs need Marion for his defense. Any offense he can provide is strictly a bonus.
Despite serving as the team's starting shooting guard, Marion is second on the team in blocks (0.8 per game).
What's more remarkable is the difference in Cleveland's defense with and without Marion. The Cavaliers allow 14.3 fewer points per 100 possessions when Marion is in the game, via 82games.com.
After the game, Bleacher Report asked Marion how comfortable he was with playing shooting guard, even though he's primarily been a forward throughout his career.
"I'm a basketball player. It doesn't matter. I know how to win. I'll do whatever it takes to win," Marion said.
Marion may not put up flashy numbers, but his impact is definitely being felt in Cleveland.
Increase in Coverage, Popularity
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Any team that adds players like LeBron James and Kevin Love in a single offseason is sure to gain some popularity, but even the numbers coming in are somewhat surprising.
First came the season ticket sales.
The Cavaliers sold out of their self-imposed cap of 12,000 seats in less than eight hours after James announced his return, per ESPN. Owner Dan Gilbert chose not to increase prices on these tickets, even though it seems he easily could have due to the demand.
Early attendance numbers have been excellent—and not just at home.
The Cavaliers have sold out both home games to date and are the highest-drawing road team at 20,463, per ESPN. Their combined attendance rate for both home and away games is also the highest in the league (20,496) by almost 1,000 over the second-place Chicago Bulls.
It's not just people wanting to see James and company perform live; the amount of visitors to the team's website has spiked tremendously.
Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group highlighted some early season data from the Cavs' online following:
"Traffic to the team's website has increased 400 percent; page views are up 300 percent, unique visitors to the website are up 450 percent.
The whopper: Clicks on Cavaliers' web videos are up 2,000 percent.
'It's carrying the Cleveland name around the world, and that's important to us,' said Tad Carper, vice president of communications for the Cavaliers. 'It's important to promote our community, the region, the city as a brand. That's actually what matters most to us.'
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The Cavaliers brand is increasing dramatically—but not entirely due to James.
Vardon points out there's also an international dynamic to consider as well.
Anderson Varejao is from Brazil, where many of his countrymen got to take in a Cavs-Miami Heat game this preseason. Matthew Dellavedova hails from Australia, where Kyrie Irving carries dual citizenship as well. Tristan Thompson is a member of the Canadian national team, having been born in Toronto. Blatt has spent the past 30 years in Europe as a player and coach.
TV coverage has also boomed, notes Vardon:
"Carper said the Cavaliers' home game Saturday against Atlanta will be broadcast on TV in Poland, Taiwan, Finland, Greece, Japan, China, Portugal, France, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and multiple countries in the Middle East and Africa.
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We could have certainly assumed the Cavs' popularity would increase, but the early results have been even greater than expected.
Low Turnover Rate
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The Cavaliers have done a nice job taking care of the ball, led by point guard Kyrie Irving.
As a team, Cleveland is turning the ball over 11.8 times per game—fifth-fewest in the league. The Cavs rank 14th in the NBA with 308.7 passes per game, via NBA.com.
After committing eight miscues in his first two games, Irving has just four total in his last four contests.
Blatt addressed Irving's strong play in his postgame press conference following the team's win over the Pelicans.
"How many point guards in the world do you know that play four games and have one turnover (per game)? That's an amazing stat. That's a 9-to-1 ratio today, that's pretty good."
Irving isn't the only one handling the ball effectively, however.
Dion Waiters, now once again the team's sixth man, is averaging just 1.4 turnovers per game. Love is even lower at 1.2. Second-string point guard Dellavedova, currently out with a knee injury, has not committed a turnover in his first 59 minutes of court time.
In Blatt's offense, which requires a high amount of passing, this is a great sign for the Cavaliers.
Tristan Thompson's Offensive Rebounding
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Thompson was in the running for starting center duties this preseason before ultimately accepting a reserve role.
Instead of moping or letting it affect his play after two years as a starter, Thompson has thrived at his new job.
His stat line of 9.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 25 minutes may not seem like anything special, especially considering what he averaged a season ago (11.7 points, 9.2 rebounds).
But Thompson has been thriving this season by giving the Cavs exactly what they need from him: offensive rebounding.
Thompson currently ranks second among all NBA players with 4.5 offensive rebounds per game, despite not starting a single contest. Only Jordan Hill of the Los Angeles Lakers (4.6) is averaging more (thanks to Kobe Bryant, no doubt).
During the Cavs' biggest win of the season to date, a 114-108 overtime win in Chicago on Oct. 31, Thompson saved the game for Cleveland on numerous occasions. He finished with 13 boards, including tying a franchise record with 12 on the offensive end.
The Cavaliers don't require his scoring like they have in the past and instead need Thompson to focus on his glass-cleaning, defense and hustle.
So far, he's more than delivered.
Free-Throw Shooting
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Despite shooting just 43.1 percent from the field this season (26th in the NBA), the Cavaliers are putting up 102.3 points, good for 12th in the league.
Free-throw shooting has helped fill this gap tremendously because of both frequency and accuracy.
Cleveland's 82.4 percent success rate from the charity stripe tops the league. All four regular Cavs starters (James, Love, Irving and Varejao) are shooting 80 percent or better.
James (84.6 percent) and Love (88.2 percent) are both enjoying career-best marks. It's worth noting that James' previous high over the course of a season is 78 percent, a total that he achieved with the 2008-09 Cavaliers.
Not only are the Cavs making a great deal of their freebies, but they're also getting plenty of opportunities at the line as well.
Cleveland is currently third in free throws made per game (23.3) and fifth in attempts (28.3).
All three stat categories have undergone a significant boost from a season ago. The Cavaliers' makes have gone up 36.9 percent, with their attempts rising by 24.8 percent and their accuracy increasing 7.2 percentage points.
With free throws often an overlooked aspect of a team's offensive success, the Cavs have been money from the stripe 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. All quotes obtained firsthand unless stated otherwise.
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