It’s always fun looking at the local news across the US and catching one of those stories that aren’t national news but they might hold ground once Playoff time comes around.
We know that the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t the best when it comes to defending against teams that utilise the ‘Small Ball’. We saw them cave in The NBA Finals against the Warriors and we know that it a focal point for the Cavs.
Well it seems they have found someone that can significantly help with this problem. Jared Cunningham, I know right! Who knew!
Teams have gone small on the Cavs with success this season. The Washington Wizards blitzed them off their own floor last week playing four guards, and other opponents have followed suit. The Portland Trail Blazers were no exception Tuesday night, but Cunningham’s defensive play in the second half helped flip a game the Cavs once trailed by 18. The Blazers shot 59 percent in the first half and totaled 59 points, but the Cavs’ smaller, defensive-minded lineup ground them down to just 44 points and 39 percent in the second half. Cunningham’s perimeter defense was a reason why.
“Jared is a guy that can defend people and we needed his intensity, his one-on-one defending capability,” coach David Blatt said. “If you’re a young player or if you’re a player that doesn’t normally get a lot of minutes or is looking for a chance to play, you go out there and you defend your man and you hold your ground, then you’re going to earn minutes. And he’s playing because he earned minutes because he was able to do those things for us. And I think that’s a very positive thing.”
Now I’m not sure if they tripped up upon this great strategic move or not but hey, at least they found it now. And because they’ve clocked on it, they’re going all in with it. Cunningham has now had multiple 30+ minute games and I won’t be surprised if he gets more minutes with all these teams going small ball now.
This will definitely help for the rest of the season and of course the Playoffs.
