The
Cavs need a single focus this season—winning the championship. Anything else is
unacceptable. The team is that good. Even without Kyrie and Shumpert on the
floor, this team should be playing better. There are no excuses, but there needs
to be adjustment.
Move. It seems so simple. The Cavs need
to move on offense. Too often one player is dribbling the ball and four are
standing flatfooted. Set a pick. Cut to the hoop. Switch across the baseline.
Post up underneath. Do anything but just stand there. If you plant your feet
for your shot, realize this is NBA basketball. If someone doesn’t feed you the
ball in two or three seconds, you’re no longer open.
The
Cavs have some serious threats in terms of feeding their teammates. When they
pass up the bad shot for the good shot, they become far more effective. When
they pass up the better shot for the best shot, their offense is unbeatable. At
times they look lazy or confused. Like many fans, I look at this team and I
know this is our chance for a championship. In terms of both talent and depth,
it doesn’t get any better than this!
Switch. At times, I think the Cavs are
fighting too hard to work through opponent’s picks. Yell, “Switch”. And then,
switch. It’s pretty obvious what other teams are doing with these picks, since
teams have been using this offensive strategy for decades. One guy is trying to
set up a shot—and, when that ends up being an open jump shot behind the line,
it’s going to hurt. Or, the other guy is going to roll towards the basketball
and is looking for an easy bucket or the deadly plus one.
Spread. Too often the Cavs defense
collapses on the ball and then a man opens up on the weak side for the easy
three. The game plan for many teams is to spread the offense. The way to beat
that is to spread the defense.
Every
team is going to make errors on defense. What do you want to give the other
team when they force those errors? An easy two or an easy three? It seems
logical to err towards protecting against easy threes. This is particularly
true since it seems the road to the championship runs through Golden State.
Coach
Blatt and Lebron, listen up. Move! Switch! Spread! In terms of talent, you won’t
find a better team. You have a rare opportunity. Don’t waste it!
