Caris LeVert | Cavs vs Bulls Post Game | 1.15.2024
Hey Caris we’ve talked so much about your offense recently um does it feel like over the last week week and a half you guys have rediscovered your defensive identity and if so what has led to that yeah I think um right now we’re really getting timely stops when
We need it and I think the really good teams do that you know like tonight fourth quarter I think they had what 14 points um and that’s huge you know being able to get stops when you need it um you know it’s a long game and there’s really good players on other team
There’s going to go on runs and things like that but um I think that like I said the mark of a really good team is stringing together those when you really need them and uh we’ve been doing that lately we got to keep it up J and a
Couple of the players have talked about just your defense being unique and different from others around the NBA what about it is so unique mine no just the defense in general the team defense oh we have really good I think versatile Defenders and I think Dean and Isaac um
Um I think they set the tone you know guarding Elite wings like tonight LaVine D rozan Kobe wh’s had it going um I think last game Mel Bridges um and then we got ja who can switch um on those guys as well um and then you got Max and
Don who you know are very strong for their size um and hold their weight extremely well so I think we just have like bigger Wing Defenders we have the ability to switch we have the ability to play zone if we need to um we’re just very versatile um and then Off the Bench
Obviously Tristan holds the paint down George is a very underrated Defender as well so um I think all the guys who play have a really good understanding of where they need to be defensively um and we kind of cover up for each other if you know there’s slippage thank
You uh Jacks Flickinger right down uh over the last month you guys have been first in three-point frequency and offensive rebounding rate how has both of those things really provided a baseline for you guys night in and night out yeah I think um being able to take
Threes take the right threes and make threes um kind of spreads the defense out Mak some guard you a little bit differently um especially you know a team like us if we hit one the basket is huge for us I think in the first half we
Kind of got hot um when the second unit got in George hit a couple um Sam hit a couple um and we kind of feed off of that when one guy gets going uh we try to get him clean looks um and TT and Ja been holding the paint
Down um killing the offensive rebounding um and they’re they’re extremely important for us and extremely hard to box out at the other team do you feel like this team has found more of an identity over this past month than they did than you guys had before I don’t
Know if I would say that I would say that um I think the continuity is picked up uh you know we’re still kind of new playing with each other we’ve got some new guys and I think every game we get get more comfortable playing together um
And I don’t think you can discount that um guys like Max George Tristan Sam um were not here last year um and I think every game that they play they getting more comfortable in our defensive system offensively as well um and we’re just you know just getting more comfortable
That’s what happens when you around people and you play together Chris Caris what is it about Dean that it feels like his three-pointers that he makes provide like more juice to you guys Dean is someone we encourage to shoot the ball whenever he’s open um we believe he’s an
Extremely important part of our team he’s an extremely good shooter uh he puts in the time puts in the work um so we try to keep his confidence High um and we know you know tonight in the fourth quarter he was huge for us uh he opens the game up we need him
Defensively on the floor because he’s such a good you know defensive player so offensively we need him to be aggressive take shots make shots Miss shots it doesn’t really matter he’s got to take them yeah
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert spoke to the media following a 109-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on January 15, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
