Cavaliers’ coach Byron Scott is perplexed by his team’s defense. He talks about it to the media after every game, and you have to assume he addresses it in practice to his young team.
What has been a constant for the Cavs since Scott took over, is their lack of defending the three-point shot.
As more and more teams make this shot a part of their daily arsenal, the weakness in this area gets more and more glaring.
Last year, the wine and gold ranked 7th from the bottom in the NBA in stopping the long-range shot.
To be fair, a number of playoff teams ranked in the bottom ten, including the champion Heat. However, those teams had great success in defending the two point attempts.
The only teams with worse three-point defense than Cleveland and worse overall field goal percentage against were the Nets and the Bobcats, the league’s worst team.
The year before, Scott’s first year at the helm, his team was the worst in stopping the three pointer, allowing a whopping 41.1% of those shot to go in.
Granted, the Cavs were in transition after LeBron James left for Miami, but clearly the way Cleveland approached the long-range shot defensively wasn’t very effective.
This year, after eight games, the Cavaliers have improved their defense against the three-point shot, but it appears to be at the expense of defending any other field goal attempt.
Opponents are shooting over 50% for the season against the wine and gold, a shocking figure in today’s NBA.
Clearly, something is amiss and it needs to be fixed right away, starting with Saturday night’s game against the Mavericks.
The key to the defense rests with the team’s best player, Kyrie Irving. He simply has to stay in front of opposing point guards.
On the road, Irving played well offensively, but he struggled defending Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams. Allowing penetration breaks down any defensive concept Scott wants to put in place.
The other problem has been the lack of a shot blocker. Tristan Thompson simply has to do better in protecting the rim, that’s his responsibility.
Anderson Varejao is a good defensive player, but he’s not a shot blocker. Perhaps when Tyler Zeller gets back, he can be the big body this team needs to play interior defense.
Without that shot blocker behind you, it is incumbent on the smaller guys to contain their man, making sure they keep a body between the opponent and the basket. And that means everyone!
If one player breaks down and allows his man to get by, it breaks down the entire defensive philosophy.
That’s the problem Scott and his staff have right now.
And until it changes and everyone picks up the gauntlet and plays solid defense, the Cavs are going to have problems winning basketball games.
We understand that this is a young team, and they are still trying to learn to play acceptable defense.
That’s why the team’s best player, Irving, has to set the tone. If he can stop his man, the Cavs’ defense will get better immediately.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 