No Doubt Changes Have Helped The Browns

It’s nice to have professional football back in Cleveland again.

We say that slightly tongue in cheek, but that’s what it feels like after the Browns 28-16 win over Atlanta on Sunday.

There was no rallying behind a rookie in his first NFL game (like win #1 this season), nor was there a last second deflected made field goal in overtime (like win #2 in 2018).

This was simply the Browns looking like the better team pretty much from the first quarter of the game on, getting Gregg Williams his first win with the Browns, and raised the team’s record to 3-6-1.

That’s three times as many wins as the team accumulated over the past two seasons. Chew on that for a second. Three times.

Before that game, we heard some in the media wondering where the Browns could come up with another win or two on the schedule, meaning they thought a 3-12-1 season was the most likely outcome for the season.

After Sunday’s victory, is there any reason Cleveland couldn’t go into Cincinnati and get a win after next week’s bye week?

Also, thankfully, there won’t be any jokes about the brown and orange losing during the bye week either.

There is no question this is a different football team from two weeks ago. Just look at the number of times the team has been penalized.

In the last two games, the Browns have been penalized 11 times. The two games prior to the coaching change? Try 22 yellow flags.

For whatever reason, these guys aren’t shooting themselves in the foot anymore.

They are protecting the quarterback better too. Baker Mayfield has been sacked just twice in the last two games, none on Sunday.

In the prior two games, he was tackled seven times for loss. New offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens seems to be calling for quicker throws, and if you remember last year (we know you are trying to forget it), Hue Jackson seemed to call for longer throws down the field, which took more time for DeShone Kizer to throw.

As yes, we are well aware that Todd Haley was calling the plays this season, not Jackson.

It also helps that there was a change at left tackle last week. Greg Robinson has been solid where rookie Desmond Harrison was struggling. This is not to write off Harrison, who pretty much everyone agree has a boatload of potential. But there is no question he was having a tougher time as the season went on.

Then, we have Duke Johnson. He caught 20 passes in the Browns’ first eight games, and ran the ball 22 times. In the last two contests, he’s caught 13 passes and had four carries.

His touches have gone from 5.4 in the first half of the season to 8.5 per game in the last two weeks, and probably would have had more on Sunday had the game been in doubt. And he scored three touchdowns, the only three he has tallied in 2018.

New coaches and coaching staffs are more receptive to change. The best coaches recognize that while they still have a job and make alterations because they understand players’ performances can ebb and flow.

Hue Jackson wanted to run the Cleveland Browns a certain way, and really didn’t feel the need to change even though he won one game in two years.

Who knows how many games the Browns will win the rest of this season? It does seem a new attitude has hit the locker room though.

And that cannot hurt.

Cavs Slowing Down, And Playing Better.

There is no question that in professional sports, success is copied. What is perceived to be the reason for a title is copied by other teams searching for a model of success.

The NBA is no different. Three titles in four years by the Golden State Warriors have other teams trying to play like them. Our observation is the same as when the Cavaliers tried to play uptempo against them in the last two NBA Finals.

If you play like the Warriors, they are better at that style than you, and they will defeat you.

The Houston Rockets tried this last year, and they had the best record in the NBA. They also had a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals over Golden State, but Chris Paul got hurt, and Mike D’Antoni’s team couldn’t overcome that.

And as for the Cavs win in 2016? Remember, that Warriors team did not have Kevin Durant, and they played slower before Durant signed with them as a free agent.

The wine and gold started the season trying to play at breakneck speed. They lost their first three games, including being blown out in their home opener vs. Atlanta.

Since those first three contests, they’ve slowed their pace significantly, but they are still just 1-11 after last night’s one point loss at Chicago.

However, because of roster considerations, the Cavaliers play small lineups most of the time. They only have four traditional power forward/center types on the roster, and one of them is Channing Frye, who rarely plays.

Kevin Love is another of course, but he is injured.

That means we have seen JR Smith or Cedi Osman trying to guard power forwards, and that’s not going to end well.

So, why not zag when other teams are zigging. Perhaps it is time to go back to the way NBA teams used to play, with two post players.

Larry Drew tried it last night, starting Tristan Thompson at center and using Larry Nance Jr. at the power forward.

Now, they were playing the Bulls, one of the NBA’s “have nots”, but Cleveland narrowly missed a road win, losing by just one point.

Thompson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and although Nance had just 2 points on 1 of 8 shooting, he still corralled 14 boards and had four blocked shots.

This would mean more minutes for 6’11” Ante Zizic and some spot minutes for Frye as well.

Drew has slowed the pace since he took over the squad and the result is much more competitive games. Two of the last three Cavaliers’ losses have been by two points or less on the road.

We thought the Cavs best bet this season would be to use their depth and play at hyper speed, but their smaller players, wings and point guards aren’t good enough defensively.

Currently, the best defenders need to get more time.

Nance is rated the best, but he only averages 20.6 minutes. Next are David Nwaba (9.3), Smith (19.1) and Sam Dekker (18.8). Then come Love and Thompson.

If you are struggling on defense, why not get those guys on the court more often, particularly Nance and Nwaba.

One more thing on the defensive end. This team simply must figure out a way to stop dribble penetration by opposing point guards. It can be done, because other teams do it to the Cavs.

Again, it’s pretty simple. Teams need to play according to the talent they have. Playing small makes no sense for this group of players.

Playing slower and bigger should be the way to go from here.

Hold On! Tribe Trying To Restructure, Not Blow It Up

The Cleveland Indians were in the news over the past weekend and extending into today after it was reported the team would be willing to trade some veteran players, not including Francisco Lindor and/or Jose Ramirez.

Many fans took this to mean Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff were going into rebuilding mode. This could not be further from the truth.

Of course, the team also declined to make qualifying offers to Michael Brantley, Andrew Miller, or Cody Allen, the Tribe’s primary free agents.

We have talked about the fact that the Indians’ offense was very top heavy in 2018, largely dependent on Lindor, Ramirez, and Brantley, and the latter doesn’t look to be on the roster next spring.

Combine that with the payroll in ’18 was as high as the franchise can have, and you can see some restructuring of the roster has to be done.

If you look at the every day lineup from the end of last season, outside of Lindor, Ramirez, and Greg Allen, everyone else was over 30 years old, which means improvement isn’t likely, so we are sure the Indians want to get younger.

The issue is that among the Tribe’s top ten prospects (from Baseball America) show the only position player who played above the AA level last season was 1B Bobby Bradley.

So, there is no help on the horizon from the minor leagues.

While we are sure the front office would love to move Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kipnis, or Yonder Alonso, our guess is there wouldn’t be much of a return for that trio, it would pretty much be a salary dump for low level prospects.

So, you have to look at players who you can sell high on, and that brings us to Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Yan Gomes.

There is no question the strength of the Indians is their starting pitching, and they brought up a rookie into the rotation this season in Shane Bieber, and their top prospect is another starter in Triston McKenzie, who was at Akron last season.

Both Kluber and Carrasco are under reasonable contracts for the next two years, so they would have huge value for teams looking for starting pitching.

We believe you should A). Deal from strength, and B). Better to trade someone a year too early than a year too late.

Kluber is going to be in the top three in the Cy Young Award voting this year, the fourth time in his career that will be the case. However, he did show signs of wear and tear as the season went on.

Keep in mind, he has thrown 200 innings or more five consecutive seasons. His strikeout rate was the lowest since before his first Cy Young season in 2014. Is he starting a decline? That’s what the organization has to ask themselves.

His salary jumps from $10 million to $17 million this year and basically stays there through 2021 on club options.

Carrasco has less wear and tear on his arm (only one 200 inning season) and is still making under $10 million in 2019 and 2020.

Carrasco might fetch more in a deal for that reason.

Gomes is 31 years old and is coming off perhaps his best season in the major leagues. It would be a good baseball move to try to trade him at his peak.

This current group perhaps went as far as it could in 2016, and the organization gave them two more shots to win a title.

The front office knows they need to address the offense and they need some younger position players who have an upside.

The core remains the same. The Indians are still trying to get better for 2019. They aren’t starting the rebuild.

Hard To Tell If Changes Made A Difference Vs. Chiefs

It is difficult to evaluate the Cleveland Browns in their loss on Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs because quite frankly, the visitors were too damn good.

And once CB Denzel Ward went out of the game, it was going to be difficult to get the Chiefs to punt the football, which they didn’t do until the fourth quarter when the game was all but decided.

Despite the injuries on defense, S Demarious Randall was already out before the game started and Ward, CB E.J. Gaines, and LB Christian Kirksey all left during the game, the Browns were in the game at the half, trailing just 21-16.

This was partially due to Kansas City not having a real good defense, and partially due to new offensive Freddie Kitchens using some of the weapons that Hue Jackson and Todd Haley never utilized.

Duke Johnson caught nine passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns, his most catches since week four of 2017. It was the most he was used out of the backfield all season.

David Njoku grabbed four passes for 53 yards after not catching a pass against the Steelers the previous week.

And recently signed WR Breshad Perriman was also involved, catching two balls for 36 and running two end arounds for nine more. One of his receptions was on, get this, a crossing pattern!

It also may have helped the offense that rookie LT Desmond Harrison sat out and was replaced by former second overall pick, Greg Robinson. Granted, quicker, shorter throws were called for Baker Mayfield, but pass rushers weren’t sitting in his lap either, at least from his blind side.

We would keep Robinson in the starting lineup going forward, and it sounds like interim coach Gregg Williams may keep him there.

The defense should get a boost after the bye week with the return of CB Terrance Mitchell, and hopefully Joe Schobert as well. There is no question at all the defense misses Schobert, a Pro Bowler last season, who calls the signals on that side of the ball.

And although John Dorsey has done a great job building the roster, heck in the first round, he drafted a possible franchise quarterback, and a cornerback who could make the Pro Bowl in his rookie year.

However, we do have point out that drafting Chad Thomas in the 3rd round is not looking good, nor was the signing of Chris Hubbard to play right tackle. Those are blips on the radar though.

The truth is, the Browns may have faced the most brutal schedule in the league this season. They have played five games against arguably the top ten teams in the NFL: Steelers twice, as well as the Chiefs, Saints, and Chargers.

And it ain’t getting any easier with Atlanta (4-4) coming in, and games remaining with Carolina (6-2), Houston (6-3), and Cincinnati (5-3) twice.

It could be very difficult for the Browns to get more than four wins this season, but that will mean a probable top ten pick next spring.

This time though, Dorsey can look for best player available. This team needs depth, with the primary areas being offensive line, linebacker, and cornerback.

Our guess is the Browns coaching change will be a positive thing going forward, but it may be tough to see because of the schedule.

Cavs Real Problem? Lack Of Communication Internally.

It was a week ago that the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to fire head coach Tyronn Lue, and the reaction nationally wasn’t favorable, particularly in regards to owner Dan Gilbert.

Gilbert is viewed by the media as the NBA’s version of Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, a man who makes moves like he knows the sport, but if really just a bit more than a fan. And a fan who acts impetuously, someone who is looking for a change after a couple of losses.

The movement away from Lue wasn’t a problem for us, but the lack of a plan from the top of the organization down to GM Koby Altman is.

Firing a coach six games into a season shows a lack of communication throughout the organization.

It is pretty apparent that the Cavs wanted to get younger after LeBron James announced he was signing with the Lakers.

Didn’t Lue and Altman (and we guess, Gilbert) sit down at that point and talk about the direction for the future? Maybe they did, and then Lue decided that winning games immediately was the way to go, so that’s when the wheels were put into motion to make a change on the bench.

If Lue wasn’t going to make a commitment to playing guys like David Nwaba, Ante Zizic, and Sam Dekker, then couldn’t a joint decision have been made at that time for Lue to walk away?

Put out a statement thanking the coach for guiding a championship team, taking the franchise to two other Finals, and saying there is a change in direction for the squad.

That’s how it should have been handled.

Then, you have the whole Larry Drew as the new head coach, or interim head coach, or “new voice”, or whatever the heck he is right now.

When Altman and Gilbert decided Lue was out, didn’t they reach out to Drew to see if he wanted the full time gig, and negotiate a contract at that time?

It seems like there was no communication at all. It seems like they fired Lue, and called Drew and said, by the way, you are the new head coach.

And Drew said not so fast.

Look, we get why Drew wants security. He is 60 years old and was basically screwed out of his last two jobs because a new management team came in.

And we get why the Cavaliers wouldn’t want to be tied in with Drew through the 2019-20 season. They want the opportunity to go out and find their version of Brad Stevens in the off-season.

To fans and media alike, the whole thing looks like it was not very well thought out. A well run organization would have thought these things out ahead of time and saved themselves the embarrassment.

A new coach could’ve came in during the summer, put together their plan, especially from a defensive standpoint, and started the season developing rookie Collin Sexton, and getting the most out of the younger players on the roster.

Instead, we have one of the worst teams in the NBA playing a style to which it is poorly suited.

All because it doesn’t look like the front office (including the owner) and the head coach didn’t communicate very well over the summer.

Hot Stove Season Opens For Tribe

Now that the World Series has ended, the Hot Stove season has started for major league baseball teams, and initially there are a lot of procedural things that must be done.

The first is making decisions on the contract options for many players. The Indians historically don’t offer many (if any) player options, they like to be the one making the decisions on an extra year for a player in question.

Both decisions made yesterday by the front office were no brainers, in our opinion.

The Tribe picked up the option on Carlos Carrasco, one of the best starting pitchers in the sport. Carrasco has won 35 games over the past two seasons, striking out at least 200 hitters in each year.

They passed on outfielder Brandon Guyer, saving $2.75 million. Guyer is a platoon player who feasted on left-handed pitching when he came over from Tampa in 2016, but in the subsequent years, he’s had injury issues and his production, while still good, isn’t at an elite level versus southpaws anymore.

Next on the agenda are making qualifying offers to the prospective free agents. We are sure such a deal will be offered to Michael Brantley, but the real questions would be Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

If you make the offer, you have to be prepared the player will accept, and that’s why we would extend the deal to Miller only. If he’s healthy, which he hasn’t been since the middle of last season, he’s still a dominant reliever.

Allen has declined in performance in 2018, perhaps due to the wear and tear of making a lot of appearance over his seven years in Cleveland. It’s a tough decision and a tough business because Cody Allen has been a loyal player, willing to do whatever Terry Francona wanted him to do.

To improve the roster for the 2019 season, the Indians will need to gain some financial relief, meaning it would behoove the front office to look at highly paid players, who aren’t producing to the level of their contracts.

The chief players to look at here are Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kipnis, and Yonder Alonso. It is doubtful Encarnacion can be moved, because being a DH limits him to American League teams.

The other two would be in play, but there is no question in our mind that Cleveland would have to eat some money to make any deal happen.

Moving both would lop about $22 million off the team’s projected salaries, minus whatever the team would have to pay to make it work.

Although they will be the favorites to win the AL Central for the 4th consecutive season, it would be hard to take them seriously as a World Series contender with an outfield of Kipnis in LF, Tyler Naquin in RF, and a platoon of Leonys Martin and Greg Allen in CF.

There is also the matter of rebuilding the bullpen, which with Miller and Allen’s likely departure has just Brad Hand as a proven, reliable option.

It appears the organization has high hopes for Jon Edwards, but it would be nice to have another proven arm in the ‘pen going into spring training. The cost for relief help would seem to be less than that of a solid big league hitter.

In a few days, we will know who is available in the free agent market and can examine some possible low cost options who could help.

The Indians have the stars, now they need to surround them with better secondary players.

Jackson’s Dismissal Was Inevitable

Whether or not the news came yesterday, or next week, following the Chiefs game, it was inevitable. Hue Jackson was going to lose his job by the end of the 2018 season.

Really, it was only the ridiculous organizational set up the Browns have, where multiple people report directly to owner Jimmy Haslam, that allowed Jackson to have started this season at all, because we doubt GM John Dorsey would have kept Jackson on as head coach after going 1-31 in his two seasons here.

After winning two of the first five games this season, two consecutive losses had the “dysfunction” returning to Berea. There were reports nationally that offensive coordinator Todd Haley could be fired after Sunday’s game. That’s the kind of news that permeated the media a year ago.

Sashi Brown was gone, Dorsey was here now. The only common denominators to the feeling the organization was in chaos were Jackson and Haslam, and the owner wasn’t going anywhere.

That leaves Jackson, whose best attribute as head coach seemed to be blaming other people for the losing.

We have heard reports that Brown wasn’t the person making the decision to start DeShone Kizer last season at quarterback, we would have been fine going with veteran Brock Osweiler.

And as for real football players, as Dorsey said early in his tenure, don’t forget not all of the players who have played well for the Browns this season arrived before the 2018 season.

Myles Garrett, Joe Schobert, Christian Kirksey, Jamie Collins and others were on the roster, yet the Browns couldn’t win a single game.

The Buffalo Bills are rebuilding this season, going into the year with rookie Josh Allen and second year man Nathan Peterman at quarterback, and when Allen was injured, they signed former Brown, Derek Anderson.

They’ve already won two games this season.

Our point is it is hard to lose every game, and even more difficult to win one contest in two seasons.

Hue Jackson accomplished it.

In reality, the reason he was brought back for a third year was Haslam not wanting to be perceived as an owner who goes through coaches like he changes underwear. He may be the only person on the planet who would have brought Jackson back for a third season.

When the Browns drafted Baker Mayfield, we are sure they told him things would be different now with Dorsey in charge, but halfway through the year, it was back to the same old Browns routine.

It was surprising that offensive coordinator Todd Haley was let go as well, meaning the offense is now in the hands of running backs coach Freddie Kitchens, and we would guess Al Saunders will be helping him out.

And even more surprising is the appointment of Gregg Williams as the head coach, and maybe that’s why Haley was let go. Picking one of the coordinators over the other may have made it uncomfortable.

Going forward, the Haslams need to change the structure of the organization and commit to Dorsey by giving him the power to hire and fire coaches. That’s how most, if not all, NFL teams work.

This kind of stupidity should not happen again. Here’s hoping the changes make a positive impact on the Browns for the rest of this season and beyond.

Lue Wasn’t A Good Fit With This Roster

We were going to write a piece today about how Tyronn Lue is coaching the team he wishes he had rather than the team he had. We were about halfway done with it when the news came down that Lue was fired this morning, six games into the season.

We are sure many people will hammer on Dan Gilbert, but really, it was Lue’s inability to adapt to the talent he had on the roster.

Yes, Lue was the head coach when the Cavaliers won their only championship in 2016, but in our opinion, his chief role on that team is he wasn’t David Blatt.

That’s not as harsh as it sounds. The players, led by LeBron James, didn’t respect Blatt, but because Lue played the game, they would listen to him.

And it paid off with a title, and Lue will forever be remembered fondly in Cleveland for that reason.

However, Lue couldn’t adjust to life without James.

His mantra was to “play fast”, but the Cavs’ best player is Kevin Love, who isn’t built for playing that way.

He seemed obligated to play veterans like Tristan Thompson, who also cannot play that style either.

Instead of trying to play like the Golden State Warriors, who play up tempo and have defenders who can play the switching style favored by Lue, and his defensive assistant, Mike Longabardi, why not try to play like Boston, a team who stresses individual defense (aka guarding your man).

We watched the Atlanta game, where the Hawks just set screens until they got Trae Young being guarded by Love. Heck, the Cavs did the same thing to the Warriors in the ’16 Finals, waiting until Steph Curry was on James.

It is early, but Lue didn’t seem to realize who his best players were.

Certainly Love and Cedi Osman appear to be the best players, but Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. have shown they are among top guys, and they rank 7th and 8th in minutes per game, behind Rodney Hood, George Hill, and Thompson.

The firing may have come quicker than normal because of the owner’s impetuousness, but it does make sense because it was becoming increasingly obvious the coach and the front office weren’t on the same page about the future of the team going forward.

We are sure management wanted to see Ante Zizic play more.

One of the things we questioned over the last year was the ignorance of size for an NBA team. Lue and his staff seemed to ignore the need for size in today’s game.

Even, the Warriors had five big guys on the roster. If a team played a big man, the Warriors had alternatives. Lue never seemed to warm to having Zizic on the roster, until all his big guys were hurt.

Defense never seemed to be a priority either. David Nwaba had a reputation for being a solid defensive player with the Bulls, but he couldn’t get off the bench here.

Was it unfair that Lue was fired six games into the season? Probably not, but he probably shouldn’t have been brought back at all. That was on the front office, hoping Lue could be different.

It will be interesting to see what else happens in terms of personnel. Will Kyle Korver and Thompson, two Cavs with some trade value, be moved sooner than later.

Lue should be thanked for being a part of the group who brought a title to Cleveland, but he wasn’t a fit for where the franchise is now.

Now is the time for a teacher to be brought in.

Hue Jackson’s Biggest Problem May Be Talking

When John Dorsey was hired as the general manager of the Cleveland Browns at the end of last season, it was thought the circus atmosphere around the franchise would end.

Guess again!

Just seven games into the 2018 season, a season in which they have already won two games and tied another, a big improvement over last year’s winless season, the Browns are in the center of controversy once again.

And this time it started because one of Hue Jackson’s issues came out once again, the love of his own voice.

After another tough loss in overtime to Tampa Bay last Sunday, Jackson was asked about the offense’s struggles in the first half. His answer was that was his area of expertise, and maybe he could help out.

Afterwards, he stated that he was the head coach of the football team several times.

Jackson doesn’t know how to deal with or handle the media. For one, he tends to speak in absolutes. For example, there was a big deal about Josh Gordon starting the opener against the Steelers, because Jackson announced he would not start.

Our point is why say Gordon would not start? Jackson could have just told the media he would decide later as to who would take the first snap.

He’s done that before too. He did it earlier in camp when talking about Joel Bitonio playing left tackle, proclaiming it plan Z. A week later, Bitonio was playing the position.

He don’t know if Jackson says these things to make himself feel important, or to be glib with the media, but he needs to learn how to speak to the reporters. Don’t say anything that can be held against you later.

As for the comments after the game about getting involved with the offense, why not say something like we have to get better at all facets of the game immediately after kickoff, there is no need to point fingers at a particular unit or coach.

That comment became the story, and after watching the offense the last two seasons, we are sure the last thing Browns fans want to see is having Jackson’s hands on it.

All of this became an issue because of the ludicrous organizational set up the Browns have, where the GM and the head coach (and who knows who else) reports directly to owner Jimmy Haslam.

We would assume that Dorsey would love to bring in his own coach, but as of this moment, Jackson doesn’t report to him, so he has no authority to replace him.

That’s not how winning organizations are set up.

We feared this very thing in the off-season when Jackson was brought back after a two year record of 1-31. We felt because of all of the losing the past couple of seasons, if the Browns struggled this season, there would be clamoring for the coach’s job.

And that’s exactly what is happening. After an encouraging win over the Ravens at home, the team laid an egg against the Chargers and played a terrible first half vs. Tampa.

The wolves started howling.

When you think about it, the situation wasn’t fair to both Dorsey and Jackson. The GM doesn’t have the coach he wants, and Jackson is questioned about his employment every time the Browns lose a game.

However, Jackson needs to learn to be quiet. As someone once said, it is better to be quiet and have people think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

To Get Better, Cavs Must Improve Defense

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.