The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a winning streak. After last Sunday’s disappointing loss to the Pistons, the wine and gold have rebounded to defeat the Clippers, Heat, and Lakers at home this past week to raise their record to 30-21, and now have the second best mark in the Eastern Conference. However, now they hit the road for three straight (interrupted by the All Star break) against quality teams: the Jazz, Lakers, and the suddenly potent Raptors. Have they turned things around? We’ll find out after the next three contests.
The Cavs won these three games due to their defense. All three opponents were held to 90 or less points, and that makes it very easy to win games. It appears that Coach Mike Brown eased concerns by LeBron James and Larry Hughes by telling them it would be counter-productive to change the offensive philosophy during the season. Brown probably told the team if they are going to go anywhere this season, it will have to be with an emphasis on the defensive end. After three games, it looks like the Cavs are bought in.
Brown has changed the playing rotation a little bit, shelving for the most part Damon Jones’ one dimensional game and giving more time to the more versatile Sasha Pavlovic. Pavlovic’s defense has always come under question, but the guy he’s replacing isn’t exactly making all defensive teams. Sasha can make the outside shot and he can take the ball to the basket which makes him more difficult to defend. Despite being the "world’s greatest shooter", the opposition knows where he will be on offense, camped behind the three point arc.
Jones’ three point shooting has been replaced by rookie Daniel Gibson, who offensively is his clone. The people’s choice was the team’s point guard, he continues to have problems distributing the ball. Another no assist game yesterday makes three of the last four in which he has not assisted on a basket, and he now has five dimes in his seven starts. There is no doubt that at this point in his NBA career, Gibson is a shooting guard in a point guard’s body. No one is saying he has to be Jason Kidd, but he should be able to get his teammates involved more often.
Meanwhile, Eric Snow has benefited from decreased playing time, which was to be expected. Snow has dished out 31 assists in those seven games, despite defenses playing off of him. His defense has remained good against the bigger point guards, and his minutes are down to 15 to 20 per night.
The defensive posture also coincides with a decrease in Donyell Marshall’s playing time. The veteran has played just 13 minutes per game in this "defensive oriented" streak. Marshall has problems handling power forwards on the defensive end, and if the team is putting its eggs in that basket, Marshall could continue to have problems getting meaningful playing time.
Whether this emphasis works on the road will be known after this trip. After these three games, the Cavaliers will also have played as many home games as road games, a true measure of where the team is. Danny Ferry will be looking closely at these games too. The trading deadline is coming is less than two weeks. Ferry needs to have a good feel for where this team is.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 