Cavs Need to Make Adjustments

            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!