Tag: Earl Clark

Cavs’ Parts May Not Fit

Since the holiday season is upon on, it seems appropriate to refer to the roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers as the island of misfit toys.

This isn’t to denigrate the talent of some of the players, and really, it is not to rip on GM Chris Grant for his selections in the draft.

Grant’s job is to draft the most talented player available when it is his turn to pick.  So, if he thought Anthony Bennett was the best player last summer (and it is way too early to judge otherwise) then you have to take him.

The problem with the roster is it is too heavy in some areas and it needs help in others.  Our thought was that Grant could deal from strength to shore up the weaknesses, and he may do that in time, but he can’t wait much longer.

Let’s look at the power forward position.  Currently, the wine and gold have four players that are primarily “fours”:  Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, Earl Clark, and Bennett. 

Mike Brown tries to alleviate the problem by playing Varejao at center and Clark at small forward, but they give up a lot (Varejao—size, Clark-quickness) at those spots. 

Most NBA teams use two power forwards on the roster, so right now, there is an overload there.

At the small forward, the Cavs have Alonzo Gee, a defensive specialist, and they can play swingman C. J. Miles there as well, although in limited minutes.

Gee doesn’t shoot well enough to be considered a problem for the player assigned to guard him, and Miles doesn’t have the size to be able to guard the elite small forwards of the league, although he is the one Cleveland player who has knocked down open shots thus far.

In the backcourt, the Cavaliers have the centerpiece of the current roster, point guard Kyrie Irving.  Irving can score and set up teammates, and if he has a weakness, it’s that he loves his dribble. 

It would be one thing if he were moving with the dribble, but more often than not, he’s at the top of the key bouncing the ball and going nowhere.

That could be because of the simplistic offense the coaching staff runs.

The other players who get time in the backcourt (along with Miles) are Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack, both combo guards rather than true off guards.  This means both are more effective with the ball in their hands.

However, the coaching staff probably wants the ball in Irving’s hands. 

You could have plays where the ball starts in Waiters or Jack’s hands and they set up Irving, but you would have to have something set up for that, and right now that doesn’t look to be the case.

So, the three-headed backcourt doesn’t seem to fit well together right now.

So, the pressure is on Grant to convert his superfluous parts into ones that can help this basketball team win and win now, because although there is talent on the roster, it doesn’t fit together. 

There are too many players who have similar games, which is fine if they play at different times, but when you have to play Waiters and Jack at the same time or have Thompson and Varejao on the floor at the same time, it’s a problem.

If this team is going to start winning, this roster may have to be fixed.  Grant has to make some moves to get this team to start putting games in the win column.

JK

On the Cavs Offense Troubles

The NBA season is a week old and after the Cleveland Cavaliers won their opener, apparently there were a few fans that felt the days of 60 win seasons returned with Mike Brown.

That is based on the reaction of some people after the wine and gold lost consecutive road games to Charlotte and Indiana. 

The truth is this team has to get used to playing together.  There are several new, key pieces getting a lot of playing time.

Think about it.  In Brown’s top nine players are only five players (Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Alonzo Gee, C. J. Miles, and Dion Waiters), who were with the Cavs last season.

And since those five aren’t usually on the court at the same time, there is an adjustment period needed.

The holdovers have to get used to playing with Earl Clark, Andrew Bynum, and Jarret Jack and have to be re-acquainted with Anderson Varejao.

They have to learn where these players want the ball to be effective, and in Bynum’s case working off a legitimate low post threat.

That could explain the offensive struggles that hurt the Cavs during the two road losses.  Of course, it also could be the schemes that Brown has put together which at times seems like an early pick and roll, and if that doesn’t work, it’s up to Irving to come up with something.

That’s how Brown’s offense worked when LeBron James was here.  Last night, Austin Carr mentioned the Cavaliers struggled late in the game because there were too many 1-4 sets with Irving trying to break down the defense.

Brown has stated he has stressed defense in training camp and has done very little with the offense, and we will give him the benefit of the doubt on this right now.  Still, his history has shown his offense has struggled especially against good defenses and in crunch time.

The other problem for the Cavaliers right now is they aren’t shooting the basketball very well.  Whether that is part of the offensive design or not remains to be seen, but several Cleveland players are having problems in this area.

Both starting guards are really having problems. 

Irving is the league’s defending three point shooting champion and right now, he is shooting just 37% from the floor, compared to 46% in his first two years in the league.  He has also hit just 2 or 11 attempts from behind the arc. 

You have to expect that this is just temporary based on his track record.

His backcourt mate, Dion Waiters had some issues with shot selection as a rookie, but he still made 41% of his shots.  Through four games this season, he is making just one out of every three shots. 

Newcomer Earl Clark is another player way off his career norm.  Clark hit 44% of his field goal attempts a year ago, and is making only 32% from the floor after four games.

Thank goodness for C. J. Miles, who is off to a sizzling start, hitting 52% of his shots and making 8 of 21 from three-point range.

Irving, Waiters, and Clark will start to make more shots, but Brown’s history shows people have reason for concern about the ability to score points late in games.

There has to be a better plan than get the ball to Kyrie and hope for the best.

JK