Cavs’ Slumping And Defense Is Still An Issue

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a decent stretch of games from December 3rd, a win over Brooklyn on the road, through December 18th, another victory on the road over Indiana.

The wine and gold went 4-5 in that span, and the losses were pretty much against the NBA’s best squads, two losses to Milwaukee, and defeats at the hands of the Warriors and 76ers.

No one can complain about losing to those teams.

However, since the win over Indiana, the Cavs have lost to Charlotte, Toronto, a depressing home loss to Chicago, and Memphis.

The injuries appear to have taken its toll on the roster. Of course, Kevin Love has missed most of the season, but now Tristan Thompson is out as well, and David Nwaba and Rodney Hood have been out of the lineup in the past couple of weeks.

That’s two of the team’s best players, their best perimeter defender, and perhaps their best perimeter shooter. You take those spots off of any NBA team, and they will struggle, so it is no surprise the Cavs’ performance has dipped as of late.

The slump has coincided with rookie Collin Sexton hitting the proverbial rookie wall too, which hasn’t helped the team’s showing either.

Sexton has made just 20 of his 64 shots in those four games (31.3% compared to his season total of 42.9%), and he’s hit just one of his last 12 three point attempts, covering seven games.

His assist totals are up though, accumulating 15 in the past four contests, compared to 2.6 dimes per game for the season.

He’s also not getting to the free throw line either. In six of the last 10 games, he failed to get to the charity stripe, something that failed to occur only seven times before this stretch.

While many people have written Sexton off because he didn’t play like Kyrie Irving immediately, we still think the 19-year-old can still be a good player.

That said, it may be time to bring the rookie off the bench for awhile so he can watch the game develop before he gets in there. Besides, most of the time, the offense at the beginning of the game runs through Larry Nance Jr. and Cedi Osman a lot of the time anyway.

Hood and Nwaba are “day to day” and Thompson and Love will return after the first of the year, so help is on the way.

We were curious about a statement Nance made the other day about the team’s defense. It is funny that two of the team’s best defenders are Nwaba and Nance, two players who both joined the team in the last calendar year.

NOTE: The six best defenders, according to Defensive Rating are Nance, Sam Dekker (traded), Love, Nwaba, Thompson, and Jalen Jones, recently called up from the G League.

It is odd that only Love and Thompson are holdovers, and both came to the Cavs before Tyronn Lue brought Mike Longabardi on board to handle that side of the ball.

We have been critical of the team’s defense over the past few years, and although a lot of the faces have changed, one that hasn’t is who is coaching it.

One move we would love to see made after the season is bringing in a new mindset defensively. Cleveland is last in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage and defensive rating.

There are teams that play good defense in the league without having superstar players. Utah ranks 5th, Memphis is 6th, Miami is 8th.

It can be done.

This team doesn’t have an identity defensively, meaning a concept to hang their hat on. The points per game allowed is down due to the slower pace Larry Drew has the team playing at.

Until they establish solid defensive concepts, they are going to struggle to win.

At Least Cavs Work And Play Hard.

After LeBron James left for Los Angeles following the 2017-18 NBA season, no one figured the Cavaliers were going to be at the same level they reached over the past four seasons, meaning The NBA Finals.

There were a few of us who thought the Cavs could still be competitive, like contending for a low playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but when you lose the team’s best player, Kevin Love, to injury, any thoughts of that went out the window.

Love has played just three of the squad’s 30 contests to date, and won’t be back until mid-January, so he will likely play just half of the Cavs’ schedule in 2018-19.

Since then, the wine and gold’s second best player, Tristan Thompson recently went out with a foot injury, and he will miss two to four weeks.

Despite these injuries and a coaching change six games into the regular season, the Cavaliers continue to play hard, and since Larry Drew took over, the shorthanded Cavs have been a pretty competitive basketball team, meaning they aren’t getting blown out on a nightly basis.

The team’s front office has taken a ton of criticism over the years about how the team was built around James, the trade of Kyrie Irving and the return they received, and their attitude toward this year’s roster.

But one thing they should be commended on is stressing character on the players they’ve given both Drew and Tyronn Lue to coach.

We are sure everyone has heard about the issues with the Chicago Bulls, who by the way, have the same record as the Cavs. The team fired Fred Hoiberg because they weren’t winning and when new coach Jim Boylen took over, he started implementing longer and tougher practices, which irritated some of the players.

Our guess is that Bulls’ management will be looking to move the players who are feuding with the new boss as soon as possible. There is an entitlement felt by some players, who have been coddled since it was determined they were good at basketball, and some players don’t do everything they can to win games.

That hasn’t been the case with the Cavs. Since Drew has taken over, he has changed the roles of several players, and no one has said a thing.

Which is something, because the players like Love and Thompson, who both have made four straight Finals appearances, could be upset that the Cavaliers have one of the worst records in the NBA. Instead, Thompson in particular (because of Love’s injury), has established through his work ethic, how to conduct yourself as an NBA player.

The lone dissenter was JR Smith, and once again, the front office and coaching staff did the correct thing by telling the player to stay home until a potential trade can be worked out.

Bringing back Matthew Dellavedova, a player with a excellent work ethic, was another good move by GM Koby Altman, although not as good as getting a first round pick in the deal with Milwaukee.

The players the Cavs have on the roster are coachable and willing to do what the coaching staff is asking. That should not be minimized.

The work ethic James put in place here still exists. That should help the Cavaliers going forward.

The Cavs’ Slow Down Offense.

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.

LeBron’s Version Is A Bit Of Hindsight.

With LeBron James coming back to Cleveland as a member of the Lakers tomorrow night, the events of the summer of 2017 is being rehashed, particularly the trade of Kyrie Irving to Boston.

As we said and thought at the time, despite the narrative LeBron and his camp what to put out there now, this is what we think.

First, we don’t believe James and Irving could have co-existed in 2017-18, because Irving was tired of playing with James, and having two all star players not getting along is a recipe for disaster.

Look at what happened in Chicago with Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose. Remember the whole Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant issues with the Lakers. You can’t force two guys to get along when one party doesn’t want it to work.

Second, the Irving trade rumors came before the ’17 Draft, and when David Griffin was still GM. Was Griffin working because owner Dan Gilbert wanted Irving out? Or did Irving ask the organization for a deal?

We believe Griffin knew the only way to improve the roster, and make it deeper, was to move a very valuable commodity in Irving. Getting a solid point guard in return and adding another young, athletic player would help the Cavs win another title.

That was supposedly the move with Phoenix, with Cleveland getting Eric Bledsoe and the 4th pick in the 2017 draft.

Were talks really going on with the Suns? We don’t know for sure, but the rumors were out there.

It was reported that James did not want the deal to happen, although, behind the scenes, he was perfectly happy with the move, because he thought (and we agree) that Irving plays for himself first, which is against James’ style.

However, when he was asked if he would commit to the Cavs long term if Irving was not moved, James declined.

Now, thinking about this at the time (not now with hindsight being 20/20), why would you hold on to Irving without a commitment from James to keep the “Big Three” together for a few more years?

If he wanted to, James could’ve killed the deal if we would have been willing to sign a contract extension.

Without that, the Cavs were looking at a rebuild after the 2017-18 season anyway, because a Irving-Kevin Love led team isn’t going to win an NBA title.

Look, he get that James didn’t (doesn’t) trust Dan Gilbert, and he has every reason not to, but Gilbert had to do what was best for the future of the Cavaliers. And if Brooklyn would have played to expectations a year ago, maybe Luca Doncic, Jaren Jackson, or another top rookie is in Cleveland today.

Kyrie Irving is a popular player in today’s NBA. He’s flashy, he can handle, and he is a tremendous finisher at the rim. In short, he’s a highlight reel player.

However, he’s a poor defender and not exactly a great or willing passer.

It’s not in James’ best interest image wise to say he was in favor of the Cavaliers moving on from Kyrie to improve ball movement and defense, which would have helped in beating Golden State.

Having James and Irving at odds going into last season would not have helped the wine and gold. Getting prepared for life after LeBron is just being prudent.

Now, the plan didn’t work because the Brooklyn draft pick wound up being the 8th pick and not a top five choice.

That’s the biggest problem with the trade.

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.

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.

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.

Moving On From LeBron

Tonight, LeBron James makes his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that will be nationally broadcast. No doubt you are already aware of that, because several networks have hyped it.

We don’t care.

You see, we are old school. We’ve been a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers since the day they were born back in 1970, and we are fans of the team, not any individual player.

Younger fans seems to follow players, they support LeBron James or Kobe Bryant or Stephen Curry, and that’s fine, that’s their right.

But James isn’t wearing wine and gold anymore, so our interest in all things LeBron has waned.

To be quite honest, we probably would have watched James’ new show on HBO, The Shop, if he was still a Cav, but since he’s joined the Lakers, the Yankees of the NBA, it’s not must see TV.

Sure, it will be cool when James starts nearing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all time scoring record, because a majority of those points were scored wearing a Cleveland uniform, but for the most part, our interest will be limited to keeping aware of what is happening in the league, just like we do any other team.

We will forever be thankful for the 2016 NBA title, something quite frankly, we never thought we would see. James was primarily responsible for that, as well as the four consecutive Finals appearances.

It’s almost as though he retired. His next glory moment here will probably be when his #23 jersey is retired by the Cavaliers, as the greatest player in franchise history.

And that event will be greeted warmly by fans in northeast Ohio, as it should be. After all, we appreciate greatness.

As for the Cavs, last night was their first game without James, and we should allow the players and coaching staff a little transition period.

First, the wine and gold may have played the best team in the Eastern Conference in the Toronto Raptors, who have one of the top ten players (some might say top five) in Kawhi Leonard.

Losing to them at home is certainly no disgrace.

However, Tyronn Lue and the coaching staff need time before we make any conclusions as to this edition of the wine and gold is a playoff team, a post-season contender, or a squad that should be looking toward the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery in May.

Already, we heard criticism of Kevin Love, because he shot 5 for 18 last night. This is the overreaction of one game. Love will shoot the ball better, he’s too good of a shooter.

Remember, this is a new system for the coaches and the players. And pretty much every guy on the roster has a new role, except for maybe Kyle Korver and Tristan Thompson. You have to provide time to get used to the newness.

Even teams with championship aspirations have periods of adjustment when new players are added in, so a team that lost the best player in the game should and will be no exception.

Let’s see what the Cavaliers look like in two or three weeks before jumping to any conclusions. After all, expectations are lower this season than the last four years.

Watch Love’s Numbers Go Up in ’18-’19

After Kevin Love signed his contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer, there is no question who the leader this edition of the wine and gold is.

Love is a former champion, a five time all star, and a second team All NBA selection twice.

When Love arrived in Cleveland, he was regarded as kind of the third wheel after LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, and he quickly became the whipping boy for fans because he no longer averaged the 26 points he scored in Minnesota.

As Chris Bosh predicted when Love joined James with the Cavs, it’s not easy to be a guy who doesn’t have the ball in his hands all the time, when playing with LeBron.

The former UCLA All American looked and played tentative at times, seemingly unsure of what he was supposed to do on the court.

He played inside and outside with the Timberwolves, and with the Cavaliers, it seemed he was more of a three point shooter.

Now that James has departed the squad, Love will be the primary scoring threat, and people have questioned whether or not he will be able to handle the role.

If you look at the numbers, there is no question Kevin Love can get back to averaging 20 points per game.

Yes, Love’s scoring has dipped since coming to the Cavs, 17.1 per contest in four years here vs. 19.2 in six seasons with the Wolves. But that drop comes from getting less opportunities.

In Love’s best scoring seasons in Minnesota, he averaged 19.3, 16.6, and 18.5 shots per game. With the wine and gold, that number has dropped to 12.7, 12.7, 14.5, and 12.4 in the four years here.

For the most part, that’s between 6.5 to 7 shots per game difference. Which by the way, is a lot.

Since Love is a career 45% shooter, you can figure three more baskets a game, that’s six points, which added to the 17 points he’s scored with Cleveland, puts him at 23 PPG.

His free throws also dropped from around eight a game in his best three seasons in Minnesota, to under five each year with the Cavs.

A lot of that is a result of playing on the perimeter, something we believe will decrease now that the middle doesn’t need to be free for James to operate.

An 80% free thrower, getting three more charity tosses per game should result in another 2.5 points. That puts him around 25 points per game.

Will his rebounding totals also increase? Not as much as the scoring, we say. With the Wolves, the second best rebounder was Nikola Pekovic, and there wasn’t much beyond that.

Even with James gone, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. provide better rebounding than the players Love had as teammates in Minnesota.

Although, we definitely see him getting back into double digits off the glass, after grabbing 9.3 boards a year ago.

The fans who wondered where the Kevin Love who played in Minnesota was will see him this season.

Why?

Because as we have said before, no player with the Cavs the past four seasons sacrificed more than Kevin Love.

As for the rap that a team can’t win with Love as the best player, look at the rosters for those teams.

When Ricky Rubio joined the team, they went 26-40 in the strike year, and were 40-42 in the second year Love was healthy. They were getting better, and Love is definitely a better player now.

Kevin Love will show everyone this year what kind of player he is and can be. It’s a shame he hasn’t been appreciated by many during his time here.

If We Were Ty Lue This Season…

The Cleveland Cavaliers start training camp this week, and this season could not be any more different than a year ago.

First, the best player in the sport, LeBron James, is no longer wearing the wine and gold. Second, because of that, the Cavs are no longer a contender for the NBA Championship.

Coach Tyronn Lue should be coaching a different style with a younger roster, and we think he will do just that. In fact, for the first time since he took over for David Blatt in 2016, we might see the real Ty Lue.

While the roster no longer has James, it does have a perennial top NBA player in Kevin Love, who should be the focal point for the 2018-19 edition of the Cavs. He should get the most shots, and score more than 20 points per game for the first time in a Cleveland uniform.

The rest of the roster is filled with young, athletic types, many of them interchangeable. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

From the most Lue took over here, he has talked about playing an up tempo style, and now he has better personnel to do that, and it might just start with the second unit.

With the current roster, the starters figure to be a veteran group, with George Hill at the point, JR Smith at the #2, Cedi Osman at small forward, with Love and Tristan Thompson playing the big man roles.

The second unit could be filled with young guys who want to play fast. First round pick Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., David Nwaba, and Sam Dekker.

Let’s not forget veteran sharpshooters Channing Frye and Kyle Korver, and young big man Ante Zizic, who did some good things when Thompson was hurt a year ago.

The point here is while there is no superstar (and quite frankly, James ranks even above that level), there are plenty of solid NBA players who should get playing time, and how better to do that than play very fast and come at opposing teams in waves.

We should also add here that it would not a surprise to see Smith and Korver, and perhaps even Thompson moved before the season starts, or be dealt early in the season.

We are sure Lue would like to start Hood, as he could be the secondary scoring option, but putting Smith on the bench could cause a myriad of issues.

Back to style of play, Lue should be telling his young team to push the ball at all opportunities and defensively pressure opponents as much as possible. Defense takes energy, and playing it with effort causes players to tire easier.

With the depth on the roster, that shouldn’t be an issue.

All this said, it is doubtful the Cavs are going to win 50 games or more this season, but they can finish above .500 and make a playoff appearance.

On the other hand, they could also win 30 games and be back in the draft lottery.

That’s why they are still interested to us. We are anxious to see how Osman plays with increased time and responsibility, we think the kid can play.

We want to see Sexton, a rookie who plays with energy and confidence. We also think Nance can blossom, and we will bet his outside shot is much better than a year ago.

This group will be interesting to say the least. Although the expectations will be different, it should still be fun to watch the wine and gold this winter.