The NBA Has No Answer for the Cavaliers

The NBA Has No Answer for the Cavaliers

After losing the first game of the New Year the Cavs have since gone 15- one there’s no team playing better basketball they’ve shot up the standings all the way to number two despite dealing with multiple injuries a suspension and it begs the question just how good can they be at full strength

The Catalyst behind this recent success has been some incredible defense over those last 16 games they have held opponents to under 106 points every 100 possessions while the league average has been over 117 that’s almost 12 points better and even crazier most of that stretch has been played Without Evan Mobley a

Defensive player of the year finalist replacing Moy in the lineup has been Dean Wade you’ve got to make up for the loss of size and at 6’9 he’s another body you can throw in the pain he’s also very mobile meaning that on a play like this where he helps on Giannis he’s

Quick enough to recover to Lopez on the perimeter running him off the line with the size to keep him away from the basket this one starts with him chasing his man around a handoff to deny the ball then when Johnson gets it he completely Smothers him and forces a

Turnover the combination of size and quickness kind of makes him a defensive Swiss army knife for them you need him matching up with guards bigger forwards he can do it and when the Bulls went to a double big lineup of Dr and and Vu he

Had to defend in the pick and roll where he executes drop coverage to near Perfection forcing a pass and recovering to shut off the paint which results in a turnover when defending screeners he’s got the tools to execute different coverages this time you’re going to see Isaac aoro ice the action forcing Trey

Baseline while wage shows to the ball with the agility to get back in front of his man for a stop speaking of aoro he’s their go-to guy at at the point of attack and he’s one of those wings that won’t rack up a ton of steals or blocks

But just checks most of the boxes when it comes to individual matchups he’s quick laterally and has great length so it’s tough to beat him off the dribble he’s also really good at dodging screens and is a quick leaper off of two feet so slashers who want to turn the corner

Have trouble scoring and in addition to all of that despite standing 6’5 he’s really sturdy so if absolutely necessary he can play bigger than his position the combination of aoro strength and Wade’s quickness unlocks some switch ability for the Cavs pretty much anytime a coro’s man is used as the screener they

Just seamlessly switch to prevent any advantage and it’s the exact same thing when Wade’s man is screening he picks up Trey who thinks he now has an advantage to ISO but that just isn’t the case while Wade and aoro are fine switching on to each other other’s matchups

They’re often sharing the floor with weaker links who the offense wants to hunt and for those guys they aren’t going to give up the switch but instead play a hedge and recover it doesn’t matter if it’s Sam Merrill George Nang Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland when he’s playing that guy’s going to jump

Out show his body and recover to his man so that they can keep the matchups they want here’s one that starts with Kawai trying to get the switch onto Mitchell Donovan jumps way out and shows length while Wade stays in front of the ball and the action was pointless because you

End up with Kawai isolating his original Defender he doesn’t create any space and looks to pass but aoro jumps the lane executing these show and recover plays requires good positioning and timing aoro is glued to the screen so Mitchell continues to stay in front of the ball

While he gets back in the play and when Pao gets to the rim that’s when Jared Allen makes his presence known Allen is the anchor the reason they’re able to do most of the things they do comes back to his ability to protect the paint he’s

Not a guy who’s going to block three shots a game or end up on a defensive highlight reel but he’s got incredible length is quick on his feet and is pretty much always in perfect position here’s a play that starts with a Coro getting beat off the dribble and when

Allen comes to help he seamlessly peels onto the big man now I mentioned his strength and how he can match up with bigger guys but the lack of height still means that they have access over the top of him not with Allen there though it

Feels like a skill set was made in a lab with the goal of executing drop coverage there aren’t many guys better at defending the pick and roll but as I mentioned he moves really well for his size so when it’s necessary he can switch onto wings and I’m not just

Talking about once or twice a game he more than holds his own on the perimeter with that said I talked about how they don’t want to give up favorable matchups for the offense and oftentimes Allen switching means that you’re leaving someone else in a mismatch so it all

Comes back to executing the right coverage at the right time and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team that’s as cohesive as these Cavs remember Dean Wade can play Big so whenever he’s the one getting screened him and Allen will switch Wade’s not a mismatch because of

His size and we just has talked about Allen’s ability to defend in space it’s not just the fact that they can switch but how perfectly executed it is there’s not even a breath of fresh air for the ball handler by the time Allen’s jumping out to him and again there’s no

Advantage to attack as for everyone else on the roster that switch is not happening even with stru getting absolutely bricked walled by this screen Allen’s going to come up high to take away a jumper but he’s still dropping back to to the roll stru recovers back to square one and this time Allen’s

Already switched on to harden when PG comes to get it off a handoff he is not switching with stru from there Max does a great job of Defending georgean isolation more times than not Allan wants to sit back in that drop coverage and man do they execute this perfectly

Aoro goes over the top of the screen while Allen sits in front of the ball and as soon as it gets moved to Port he recovers to not give up a three then Bobby tries to take him off the dribble doesn’t create anything and aoro slides

Down to force a turnover here’s one that starts with Mitchell at the point of attack Allen dropping and Wade sinking from the weak side Wing to tag before jumping into a passing Lane everything I’ve talked about works together first it’s Wade getting screened by a guard at

The point of attack and Merill jumps out to show before recovering then they move the ball up top for a second action with Merrill’s man receiving a handoff and Allen comes up in a high drop to take away a pullup before showcasing some more of that Mobility against a drive or

How about this one Wade and Mitchell do not switch the initial handoff Allen recognizes that it’s a Spain pick and roll and makes sure to avoid the second screen while aoro jumps in front of the ball it doesn’t get much better that’s a perfect transition into my next point

The fact that anytime someone gets hit by a screen or gets beat off the dribble there’s always another guy sliding down they’ve implemented a tactic of having the weak side guy rotate early and the goal is to meet attackers on the strong side block here’s one that starts with

Giannis attacking Allen out in space and while that’s going down nang’s moving on a string to beat him to that left block where he draws a charge it doesn’t matter who’s down there they’re always coming over this one starts with the switch between Wade and aoro to not give

Up a lane but look at Mitchell he’s waiting on the Block and steals a pass to a cutter or you’ve got a high pick and roll against Dame where Allen’s forced to come up to the level to not give up a three and when he turns the

Corner here comes Mitchell to get in front of him allowing aoro to recover the key here is that the defense moves on a string everyone’s bought in nobody’s missing a rotation and the scramble is just perfect Mitchell comes over from the weak side Wing stru slides

Up to play in between two Shooters and everyone recovers to their original assignment without giving up a highquality opportunity it’s got to be demoralizing for an attacker to have to beat aoro off the dribble only to get met by Allen at the rim and when they try to hit their

Big Here Comes Mitchell to snatch it away despite not having a ton of size Mitchell’s super effective in these spots because of his absurd 6′ 10 wingspan he can eat up space and makes passes really difficult everything I’ve talked about up to this point comes back

To the fact of how hard it is to create advantages against this defense the pick and roll coverages are executed to Perfection you can’t hunt for a mismatch because they won’t give it up and anytime you do get into the paint there’s another Defender waiting to

Rotate over so what ends up happening is that they force teams to live in isolation which typically isn’t a great recipe to success there’s really only one other thing to talk about the return of Evan Mobley obviously Wade was replacing him due to injury and he’s

Been a big key in unlocking some of Cleveland’s tactics Moy moves really well for his size but he doesn’t give you the same type of perimeter defense as Wade so I think you lose a legit option at the point of attack with that said he still allows for that switch

Ability with Allen between the four and five and he’s a way better rim protector so you’re getting some of that back actually that brings up a really important factor the big difference with having Moy instead of Wade is the non Allen minutes Wade can’t play the five

Full time so they had to rely on Tristan Thompson or Damen Jones when Allan was off the floor but Mo’s a legit all defensive caliber big on his own so what I’d expect them to do is start and close with the mo Allen pairing but in between

Stagger them as much as possible when Allen’s on the floor he’ll be next to Wade and that leaves Moy with all the backup five minutes all that’s to say this defense isn’t going anywhere they have weak links but do everything in their power to cover them up while being

Scheme flexible and everyone has bought in so come playoff time it’s going to be really hard to score on them what I’m more worried about with the return of Moy is how that impacts the offense their approach is very Mitchell Centric which of course means lots of spread

Pick and roll it’s simple if the big sits back and drop coverage he’s stepping into one of his lights out pullup threes and as soon as a big comes up to meet him early he’s using his running Backes physical tools to put pressure on the rim in other words more

Time than not teams are going to put two on the ball which is where Jared Allen skill set comes into play if a wing rotates down but he catches the ball in close he’s got the size and touch to punish the mismatch but if he gets the

Ball in the short roll and gets met by help early he’s also a good enough passer to make that read and create a good look for a teammate and in the event that the weak side low man rotates down before the role ever materializes that’s when Mitchell will

Fire a skip pass to the corner Corner creating an open three himself these simple pick and rolles show why it’s imperative to surround Mitchell with as much shooting as possible which is exactly what they’ve done they went out and got Max stru and George Nang in the

Off season two very good Shooters to go along with guys like Garland or Levert who have also proven that you can’t leave them open in addition to those names Isaac aoro who was viewed as a complete nons spacer is shooting a career-high 38% from three including 40% off the catch capitalizing on those

Corner opportunities and he’s always had a pretty nice slashing game so in the event that he catches with a lane to attack that’s another layer to this Cleveland offense the big thing I want to talk about though is the difference between Moy and Wade Moy just straight

Up doesn’t shoot threes it’s not part of his game so when he’s on the floor with Allen that’s two non-shooters which really clogs up Mitchell’s driving Lanes but Wade on the other hand is shooting 40% from three and I’m not just talking about stationary Corner looks he’s relocating drawing Closeouts and taking

Advantage of flybys so when he replaces Moy they get this four out onein look that takes Mitchell’s game to another level I started with talking about the pick and roll when he gets into the defense having a guy like stru who can fill out space and knock down a on the

Move is huge it’s not just a pick and roll though he’s a nightmare to contain one-on-one when given that much space with the shooting threat burst and handle to utilize all three levels effectively when you can’t stop a guy from touching the paint and bringing help results in whatever you want to

Call this pass if the ball finds a great shooter your defense has some problems the craziest part I haven’t even mentioned their best shooter Sam Merill with the recent injuries he’s seen an increase to his minutes and his shooting numbers will actually blow your mind every 75 possessions he attempts 12 and

1 half threes no that’s not a typo and he’s shooting 49% off the catch do you know how absurd that is the reason he’s able to get so many shots up despite playing off ball is because he’s more than comfortable shooting through impossibly Tight Windows while moving in

Either direction you get the idea so when he’s on the floor one thing the Cavs really like to do is use him as the ball screener that way if the defense gives up a switch all of a sudden Mitchell’s got a favorable matchup in isolation good luck and remember I

Talked about how the Cavs will hedge and recover screens from guards well other defenses try that too but the difference is that for the very slight moment Merrill’s left open it’s basically like giving up a layup just look at this one he doesn’t even set the screen just

Running through and Cole Anthony shows for not even a fraction of a second that’s all the space he needs to catch turn and fire because they have so many capable Shooters they’ll use the gravity of that movement to set up Mitchell’s pick and rolls this one starts with a

Little give and go then screen from struse which forces two to the ball and leaves Max with room to comfortably catch and shoot and this one starts with streu coming off a pin down but that doesn’t create any advantage so he keeps moving into a cross screen for Mitchell

Who’s going to then set up the Twan game gafford’s back and drop so he steps into a real easy triple plays like those really highlight how although the Cavs run a lot of pick and roll it’s not some stationary stand around and watch spida go to work type of approach their

Offense is very free flowing with lots of ball movement screening and running around round that last play I talked about started with stru running off a pin down option one in that scenario is one of his moving threes same thing for Merill he’ll come off screens or

Handoffs where I’m not sure he’s ever missed a shot and that goes for Levert he gets the dribble handoff nobody comes out to meet him and he’s got himself a clean look from Deep usually the recipient of these handoffs is Mitchell though it’s another way for them to set

Up that Twan game where one once again it helps to have shooting on the floor and here’s one that starts with a similar setup except Mitchell rejects the handoff and cuts back to the three-point line finding some room to catch and shoot himself when they’re not

Setting up their pick and roll game the balls likely running through Allen in the middle they really like to set up the Chicago actions which is a pin down for a player to receive a dribble handoff the thing is when the action gets fronted and a back door cut is

Available Allen’s a good enough passer to take advantage and in the event that these screening actions actually don’t lead to any openings he’s also a skilled enough scorer to put it down himself and show off that touch around the rim of course the key to running this style of

Offense is that the guys running around are actually threats to shoot but it also requires that these players to be capable ball handlers and when I say they all are I mean it this one starts with a down screen into a hand hand off for Merill and I know I focused on the

Shooting he can also put it down and whip a one-handed skip pass to Dean Wade in the opposite corner this next play starts in the hands of Mitchell but not to set up a pick and roll instead initiating while stru and Allen set up a flare screen from there they turn it

Into a pick and roll and stru hits Allen for some float game the list goes on and on you’ve got Caris LeVert who’s a skilled enough ball handler to apply pressure and genuinely might be the most underrated passer in the league I don’t even think I need to talk about Darius

Garland as he made an All-Star Game based on his ability to create and all that’s to say they’ve got options this play starts with Merill setting a back screen for Wade which the Hawks defend really well and with no Advantage Allen’s going to then move towards the

Corner to hand it off to stru he drives and takes it all the way to the rim for two I keep going back to those last six games over that stretch they’ve had a 122 offensive rating sixth in the NBA they’re first in shot quality fourth in three-point attempts and fifth in

Percentage I mean everything points to this being a high-powered offense yet I’m concerned for a couple of reasons firstly I kind of addressed the mo issue but I really want to harp on that for a sec he isn’t a shooter so right away you’re losing that spread floor setup

And I also don’t quite know how he fits into the free flowing style that they’ve been running you can’t spot him up so do they put him in the dunker spot he’s a good enough passer to initiate in the middle but isn’t nearly as good as Allen

At rolling or finishing so it almost feels like you have to lose a key function to fit another piece I’m also worried about a coro’s ability to stay on the floor he’s hitting his threes right now and as long as that continues you don’t have any issues but how ack

Able is it because in the playoffs teams will definitely make him knock down shots if you have to reduce both aoro and Mo’s minutes how much defense are you sacrificing then you have the Darius Garland question mark it sounds insane because he’s very clearly the second best offensive player on the team and

One of the better guards in the league but I’m more so referring to how his return affects the offense’s Tendencies what I mean is that although he’s shown to be a a seamless fit into the movement offense he still has to get his touches in the pick and roll which means one of

Two things either he’s taking the ball out of Mitchell’s hands for a few possessions or they’re not going to the motion as much with that said Remember the Moy and Allen Dynamic I talked about on defense specifically how Moy fills a void that they desperately needed whenever Allen left the floor it’s the

Exact same thing here the offense has been completely collapsing whenever Mitchell sits down and having a guy like Garland to stagger and continue driving the ship forward can go a long way that takes us to the hard part just how good is this team well for one they have the

Third best net rating against top 10 opponents at plus 2.4 behind just the Celtics in Bucks that’s fueled by their defense holding top 10 offenses to 113 points every 100 possessions second in the NBA the defense is real that’s not going anywhere I wouldn’t be surprised if they have the best playoff defense

Just grueling out series after series but I also wouldn’t be surprised if a team like Boston or New York found a way to completely shut down their offense and force them into making tough decisions with Moy and a coro’s minutes all things considered I think there’s a

Pathway to a deep playoff run here if Mitchell and Garland are clicking and they surround those two with as much shooting as possible without losing anything defensively the offense should translate much better than it did last year the recipe for success is so obvious even a competent offense to go

Along with that defense is enough to make a run at the title we’ve seen it happen before and the recipe for failure is also obvious an offensive collapse against a highlevel defense and another early exit which of the two will we see well we’ve got less than 3 months until

We find out if you enjoyed this breakdown make sure to drop a like subscribe and turn my post notifications on to be first on more content if you’re interested in my more in-depth research make sure to check out my website and social media profiles you can find those

Links in the description feel free to let me know down in the comments what you think of the Cavs as always I hope you all have a great day and I’ll catch you guys in the next one

The Cavaliers have won 15 of their last 16 games despite dealing with various injuries, which begs the question, just how good can they be?

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