We have discussed a few times how the Cleveland Cavaliers have changed their offensive style of play since Larry Drew took over as head coach six games into the season.
The Cavs are one of the most workmanlike teams in the NBA with the ball, ranking ahead of only Memphis and Houston (surprisingly) in pace of play, and ranking last in the league in assists (tied with the Knicks).
They are also dead last in scoring, but is up to 14th in the association in defensive scoring, despite being behind only San Antonio in worst field goal percentage against.
The wine and gold haven’t turned into playoff contenders under Drew, but they are 5-13 since he took over the reins, and the most points they’ve allowed in a game under the new head man is the 129 allowed last night against the defending champion Warriors.
They allowed more than 130 twice in the first six games under Tyronn Lue.
Part of the reason for last night’s performance was the Cavs got caught up playing Golden State’s game.
And we have said many times, you try to play that way against them, they are better at it than you.
Four times since Drew became head coach have the Cavs held teams under 100 points, which never happened in the first half dozen contests.
This isn’t to say the Cavs are suddenly a decent defensive squad or that Lue was a terrible head coach. We are saying that the slower pace seems to be suiting this group of players better.
Which brings us to the Cavaliers’ offensive strategy, which allows them to control the pace of play.
While they certainly run when they get an opportunity, mostly off of turnovers, not defensive rebounds, when Cleveland gets in a half court situation, they are very deliberate.
On many possessions, they run the shot clock down to around ten seconds, and run a play, a lot of times some kind of curl move into the paint which results in a decent shot, a mid range shot.
If the defense reacts well, the Cavs don’t get a good look. We guess that’s fine with Drew because his club is controlling the tempo.
Cleveland is also in the top ten in offensive rebounding, led by the irrepressible Tristan Thompson, who is second in the league in the category. The extra possessions helps slow down opponents too.
And that could help explain the low assist totals. Thompson gets a lot of hoops that way, and there is no passing helping him.
The Cavs also don’t take a lot of three pointers, even though they are in the middle of the pack in percentage. In watching the games, they do take the wide open looks, but they aren’t forcing long jumpers.
We know the analytics say to take three pointer instead of long twos, but is it better to miss a three or make a two?
While the Cavs aren’t winning, other teams are having success playing slower. Among the teams playing with a slow pace are Memphis (13-9), Indiana (14-10), and the most successful team is Denver (16-7).
It seems some teams are figuring out you can’t beat the Warriors playing their style.
We will have to see how the offense evolves when Kevin Love returns to the lineup. He should provide better spacing because whoever is playing the power forward, whether it be Larry Nance Jr. or Cedi Osman, aren’t a threat from behind the arc.
However, controlling the pace is the best way for the Cavs to remain competitive most nights.
That’s good coaching.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 