The Cleveland Cavaliers start training camp this week. It is the first time the entire team will be together after a tumultuous summer, which featured an upset loss in the playoffs to the Boston Celtics and the departure of the team’s best player.
If anyone is feeling bad about the upcoming season, please listen to new coach Byron Scott as he visits the television and print interview circuit. Scott will change your mind from the gloom and doom forecast for this season’s wine and gold, and have you feeling optimistic about the franchise.
Scott has overseen rebuilding projects before, taking the New Jersey Nets to two appearances in the NBA Finals, and putting the New Orleans Hornets into the second round of the post season while coaching at both locations.
Keep in mind the Cavs have made one appearance in the Finals in history.
Mike Brown did a good job in his five years at the helm, guiding the team to its only appearance in the championship round, and also setting a club record for wins in the regular season with 66 in the 2008-09 campaign.
However, Brown’s offensive philosophy was stale with little or no motion. Perhaps this was due to the reluctance of his best player to do anything else, or maybe he felt running the team around a single player, like Orlando does with Dwight Howard is the way to go.
Brown was a first time head coach, and sometimes, those guys let their ego get in the way, thinking their way is the only way to go.
Scott has been a head coach in the NBA for several years, and sometimes coaches who have been around for awhile realize that if Plan A doesn’t work, then perhaps Plan B will. They understand the most important thing is winning games. It doesn’t matter how it gets done.
The new coach is going to try to maximize the talents of the roster, which should be the goal of all coaches. One of the problems with last year’s offense was it made three point jump shooters out of players who offered more on that end of the floor.
Scott has already indicated he wants Mo Williams to go to the basket more often and also get more to the mid-range jumper. He’s also put out there that he’s going to use Antawn Jamison better, getting him back to the player who averaged in the high teens rather than the 15 points he scored after the deal.
He wants to use Daniel Gibson’s shooting ability. He wants to have more than one ball handler on the floor. He wants to develop J.J. Hickson’s talents. Jamario Moon will do more offensively than just stand in the corner.
In short, more than one guy will touch the ball on most possessions. That’s a major difference from the attack used last year.
For all the talk about offense, Scott doesn’t ignore the defensive end of the floor. He wants his team to play great defense because that will fuel the fast break game that he favors. That foundation is already set from Brown’s emphasis from the moment he became the coach of the Cavaliers.
The new coach’s enthusiasm is catching. He’s not an excuse maker. He expects to win with this franchise and makes no bones about saying it. He has said he inherited more talent here than he had when he took over the Nets.
If you listen to what the man says, you have to like him. With Byron Scott at the helm, the Cleveland Cavaliers are in good hands, indeed.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 