It is no time to panic yet, because the Cleveland Cavaliers have played just three games.
The players are still getting used to not having LeBron James having the ball in his hands most of the time on offense, and it is also the first training camp for many wearing the wine and gold, including those acquired in the deals at the trading deadline.
However, there is still something that was a problem a year ago, and has been a big issue during the opening three games on the schedule, and that is the defense.
The Cavaliers rank second to last in the NBA (ahead of only Dallas) in defensive rating this season. This is the exact same place they were a year ago, only then they ranked ahead of only Phoenix.
We thought some of the defensive issues in the regular season came out of trying to get rest for James for the playoffs. No reason to exert a lot of effort on that end of the floor when you know the end game is playing into June.
But James is no longer here and the defense hasn’t gotten any better.
Tyronn Lue’s squad has allowed more than 130 points in two of the three games played. Opponents are shooting almost 50% from the floor (49.5%) and almost 44% from beyond the three point line.
Lue and his lead defensive assistant, Mike Longabardi, have said they want a defense that switches at every position. We believe that approach is foolish.
The only way it works is if you have a solid defender at every spot. Golden State can do it because Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are great defenders. But, remember the Cavs took advantage of it in the 2016 Finals by setting screen until they got Steph Curry on James.
Sunday night, the Hawks forced the wine and gold to switch until they wound up with Kevin Love guarding rookie Trae Young. We don’t think Love is as bad of a defender as his reputation is, but there is no way on God’s green earth he can guard Young 20 feet away from the basket.
It seems that defense is an afterthought for Lue, which is odd because he was in charge of that side of the ball as an assistant under David Blatt.
Instead of imploring his squad to play fast, why not make the identity of your team a defensive one? Let that be the foundation of the team.
It was humorous that rookie Collin Sexton’s instinct is to fight over screens, which we feel is the correct way to play defense. Switching is a lazy principle.
The Cavs signed David Nwaba, guy regarded as a solid defender during his time in the NBA during the summer, and to date, he has played all of two minutes.
We believe the Cavaliers have some talent on the roster, and they are more athletic than they were a year ago, so there is no reason they shouldn’t be good on defense. Our thought is it just isn’t emphasized the way Boston does with Brad Stevens, or Chicago did with Tom Thibodeau.
For a young team, defense should be something the team can hang its hat on every single night they take the floor.
Again, it’s only three games, but it doesn’t look like that is the case. We felt the defense would be improved, and that was our reason for some optimism.
Unless it improves, it’s going to be a long season for northeastern Ohio basketball fans.
Changes should be made sooner than later. Really, that end of the floor should have been emphasized from day one. Unfortunately, they have seemed to ignore it since they won the title in 2016.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 