Plenty has been said about the slow start from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Whether it is poking fun at the older roster or mocking the historically bad defense, the situation is always doom and gloom. And all of these problems that Cleveland has are relevant issues. The defense IS historically bad, no question. The roster IS one of the oldest LeBron James has ever played alongside. Dwyane Wade has gone as far to say that the Cavs do not strike fear into anyone right now. But chemistry can, and has, been resolved. The older roster will not get any younger but with the way teams coast through the regular season and rest players, tired legs are not quite the liability they once were. The Cavs have a different problem that is harder to solve.
They lack a clear identity, and partially because of the makeup of the roster.
What identity is that? Well, the Cavs have had one of the most prolific offenses over the past few seasons. The idea that if a roster has LeBron and a bunch of good shooters around him, teams would have a tough time defending it. That has been the case over the past three seasons. In 2014-2015, James’ first season back in Cleveland, the team endured many growing pains and conflict while starting 19-20. Despite all of that, they finished the season eighth in points per game and third in offensive efficiency. The following season, their championship year, yielded the same rankings. Last season they ranked even higher at fourth in points per game and third in offensive rating. This season, the team is tenth in the league in points per game and statistically looks similar to recent years. But the way in which they generated offense in those seasons is very different.
The Cavaliers previously were one of the top teams in 3-point shooting. It seemed almost unfair when they acquired Kyle Korver last season for essentially two cases of Great Lakes Christmas Ale. In 2014-2015 they were second in the league in 3-point attempts, fourth in made threes and fifth in 3-point percentage. In ‘15-16, they were second in attempted threes, third in made threes and seventh in percentage. Last year they were second in the league in all three of the aforementioned categories.
This year, that script has been drastically flipped. Cleveland is ninth in attempted threes (down 17.6 percent from last season), 12th in made 3-pointers (down 24.3 percent from last year) and 18th in percentage (3.1 percent worse from last season). They are attempting five percent more 2-point field goals this year compared to last and have overall attempted, and made, fewer field goals (down 6.6 percent and 4.7 percent respectively). The departed Kyrie Irving had a big say in the offense over the last few seasons, but the drop off is quite dramatic. It does not help that they are getting crushed in the rebounding categories, reeling in nearly 12 percent fewer offensive boards. If you have not been in tune with the way the league is shifting and why the Cavaliers offensive change is important, here is a quick synopsis:
The NBA is in the midst of a 3-point frenzy. The traditional big men of yester-year are gone, replaced with ones who can stretch the floor and shoot from anywhere. Unless you’re Giannis Antetokounmpo, shooting is incredibly vital to keeping opposing defenses off balance. The 3-point craze is having such a strong gravitational pull on the league that it has made wing defense arguably the most coveted trait in a player. Klay Thompson and Robert Covington are two examples who exemplify exactly what the league is moving toward. They can go unconscious from behind the arc and play tight defense when it is needed most. The Cavaliers’ closest player on their roster to this is J.R. Smith, and he is a poor man’s replica at best.
Simply put, the roster for the Cavs as currently constructed is going to have a hard time fitting in with the NBA’s new framework. When Isaiah Thomas returns, the team’s shooting should improve, but the defense won’t. When Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade started together at the beginning of the year, it perfectly exemplified why shooting is so necessary. Rose and Wade are both poor shooters and are not the most reliable defenders. Opposing teams did not respect their jump shots and crowded the paint, forcing bad offensive possessions that would come up empty. If Rose and Wade are to be on the court together, there has to be enough shooting around them to mitigate the flaws. Kyle Korver and Channing Frye, for example, would have to be alongside them on the floor.
Cleveland’s bench has been a bright spot, something that has not been said in recent seasons. Jeff Green has come on to be one of the Cavs’ more consistent reserves. He has taken over Richard Jefferson’s role seamlessly, but his shooting is not great either. Tristan Thompson started the season on the bench but was ineffective before getting injured. Obviously he is not a shooter, but his offensive rebounding prowess should more than make up for it. Iman Shumpert has been nearly traded what seems like hundreds of times, but is still on the team. The Cavs will need more defensive intensity from him and smart offensive play, not pull-up threes and long 2-point jumpers like he showed last season. Jae Crowder has been woefully underutilized so far despite being perhaps the team’s best defender, a byproduct of head coach Tyronn Lue figuring out lineups.
Lue has tinkered with different lineups all year and will continue to do so. But the answer he is looking for will be very difficult to find with the personnel at his disposal. The team is simply not made to take -and make – threes at a high clip and does not have the defense to get stops when the offense goes quiet. Thomas coming back and taking over at point guard will undoubtedly help, but even James says the Cavs cannot rely on that as their saving grace. Cleveland needs to adapt to their players’ strengths, not try to make schemes of the past few seasons fit where they simply do not.
Cleveland was not heralded to have a great defense. In fact, defense has been a question mark ever since James came back to Northeast Ohio. But the offense was supposed to be an unstoppable machine with shooting all over the floor. We knew part of their identity would be sloppy defense, but not an offense with poor shooting. The Cavaliers need to remedy their identity issue one way or another or risk having to solve too many issues too late in the season.
