Happy Thanksgiving to all of the readers and followers of Cleveland Sports Perspective! Hope you enjoy the most overlooked (in our opinion) of the major holidays.
We have sports thankfulness for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who besides playing outstanding basketball to start the season, also keep sports fans in the area from obsessing on the terrible season the Browns are having.
The 17-2 start is a total surprise of us, and we still think the true test for this basketball team will be the playoffs. We hate saying that because it seems like we are downplaying an amazing first month of hoops, but we know the Cavs are a strong regular season team, will their new style and new coaching pay off next spring.
We liked Kenny Atkinson as a head coach when we had the Brooklyn Nets overachieving during his time there, and when he was dismissed there, he did what basketball lifers do, learning more about the game as an assistant under two men who won NBA titles in Steve Kerr and Ty Lue.
The prevailing thought around the NBA media folks was the wine and gold needed to trade either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, because their view of the game is skewed by how most teams in the NBA play today, with one big man inside and four shooters around the perimeter.
And neither Allen nor Mobley are particularly prolific three-point shooters.
Since basketball is a sport where height matters, we always felt the two big man lineup could succeed, and with the offense described above, you have a lot of players standing around, ready to shoot, while another player tries to get dribble penetration and force the defense to help.
Atkinson figured having Allen and Mobley moving and not being stationary would be a device to make it work.
Mobley is actually making less three pointers than a year ago by percentage (35.3% compared to last year’s 37.3%) and is only taking less than one more shot per contest. He also has the ball in his hands more, and his scoring is up two points per game.
An overlooked reason is his free throw percentage which is up to 82.4% from last year’s career high of 71.9%.
We love how Atkinson isn’t afraid to talk basketball philosophy after games. J.B. Bickerstaff used to talk more about effort, and “the grit” of the players, but Atkinson talks about how the players move on the court, who influences the game without scoring, etc.
Another subtle thing occurred Sunday night. After rookie Jaylon Tyson, usually not in the rotation had to play against New Orleans because of injuries and had a big game, the coach made sure he got minutes in the next contest.
Players need rewards for playing well.
There is also an old hoops adage that says if you don’t play your bench, you will never have one. Last season, the Cavs had five players who averaged more than 30 minutes per night and generally played eight or nine most games.
This season, only three players play 30 minutes, led by Donovan Mitchell’s 31.5 (he played more than 35 last season) and they play 10 or 11 most games.
That develops depth.
Look, Bickerstaff inherited a mess when he took over the job and he restored order, leaning on defense to give the younger Cavs an identity.
He’s doing the same thing in Detroit, where he has the Pistons sitting at 8-11 after winning just 14 games all of last year.
But Kenny Atkinson seems to be putting the finishing touches on this group. They’ve embraced the defensive concepts the former coach taught but now have a more diverse offense to go with it.
That is a reason to be thankful.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 