FILM BREAKDOWN: Why James Borrego can get the most out of the Donovan Mitchell/Darius Garland duo

FILM BREAKDOWN: Why James Borrego can get the most out of the Donovan Mitchell/Darius Garland duo

if you guys watch the ultimate Cleveland sports show today we technically broke some news when I said that Mike and Nory was being brought back to Cleveland on Thursday for an imperson interview Brian windhorse then tweeted it out a few hours later but not to toot my own horn you heard it here first so it comes down to three finalists for the Cavs in terms of in-person second interviews James bgo Kenny ainson and Mike and Nory and Mike and nor is a big unknown he’s had a great track record of developing big men throughout his career but he’s never been a head coach so it’s hard to know exactly how he’d run a system or what he would do when he has such a diverse complex background of other coaches influences which is perfectly normal for a first-time head coach which Mike and nor would be we know what Kenny ainson ran in Brooklyn and now he’s been with Golden State for the last few years and I’m sure it’s a deviation and a combination of what he ran in Brooklyn what he ran in Golden State but I’m not just quite sure it 100% fits the Cav’s current roster makeup and Kobe Alman is standing on business continuing to tell everybody we don’t want to break up the core for now there’s a very good chance that is just posturing there is very possible that he is just saying that to help drive up the value it does him no benefit to actually come out and say Darius and Jarett or Donovan or Evan or whoever is on the trade block because that just lowers their value so I understand why he’s doing that whether he’s telling the truth or not we’ll find out in the coming weeks but for the sake of this the Cavs are going to make a coaching higher with the core force still intact and with that in mind watching what James bgo did in Charlotte over the course of His Four Seasons there to me makes him a pretty damn good fit for what the Cavs need to do offensively to unlock the potential of what this core for theoretically speaking could be now a little background on James bgo because I actually wasn’t as familiar as I should have been with bgo when this process started here’s a simple bio he’s currently New Orleans top assistant he’s their offensive coordinator he coached the Hornets from 2018 to 2022 during that stretch he had a record of 148 and 183 he did win two NBA championships with San Antonio as an assistant he got fired following the 2022 uh 2021 2022 season partly because he didn’t see eye to eye with Michael Jordan and partly because they didn’t feel and by they I mean Charlotte ownership that bgo was the right guy to keep this young kind of firecracker locker room with all their young personalities under control and if you look at that locker room it was lamelo ball miles Bridges PJ Washington Terry Rosier Devonte Graham a bunch of guys that have had not had the greatest track record with coaches in their careers so I’m not going to blame James bgo for not being able as a first-time head coach to Corral all those big personalities I think most coaches would have failed in that situation but what I really like about James bgo and from an offensive standpoint why I think think it fits perfectly into what the Cavs should be trying to do more of in 2024 is this he plays and he preaches an unselfish uptempo brand of basketball that focuses on the most efficient shots in basketball Corner threes and attempts at The Rim I’m gonna give you some stats I talked about this on the show today but I’m going to give you these stats and then I’ll break down some films show you some of his favorite sets and how I think that fits with Cleveland in three of his Four Seasons with the Charlotte Hornets charlot finished in the top 10 in three-point attempts two of the Four Seasons they finished top 10 in three-point makes which is a hell of a testament considering the caliber of shooters that James morgo was coaching in Charlotte in his final season and to give a little context in his second season the Hornets won 23 games in his third season the Hornets won 33 games in his fourth season the Hornets won 43 games that’s a 10- win increase in backto backto back Seasons that’s no joke now I don’t think they won 53 games the following year but a 10 win improvement with that roster and going 43 and uh that be 43 and 39 that’s pretty damn good considering lamelo ball was the best player on your team the guy can coach whether he can control a locker room or not that remains to be seen But if he steps into Cleveland the Cleveland Rock locker room and the maturity of the guys in that locker room are on a completely different level than what he was dealing with in Charlotte during his last season in Charlotte in which they won four 43 games and lost in the playing tournament the Hornets finished that season second in the NBA in points per game with 115.2 points per game they finished fourth in three-point makes per game at 14 threes per game sixth in three-point percentage they shot 36 and a half% as a team number one in assist That season number one in assists 28 per game and number nine in offensive rebounds with a roster that lacked a true star with a roster that was middle of the pack at Best in overall offense talent in 2021 2022 bargo’s last season in Charlotte they finished eighth overall in offensive rating third and assist percentage second and assist to turnover ratio they had the sixth quickest Pace in the entire NBA they finished third in the NBA in shots at the rim and second in corner threes guys that’s impressive and it’s not just volume it’s efficiency and to get good looks for guys who are mediocre to okay they’re a little better than mediocre but they’re not great to get that level of efficiency from a group of players like that is no slight feat I mentioned this on the show as well we talked about JB’s lack of x’s and o’s coming out of timeouts and his ability to drop certain plays when the Cavs needed a bucket what could he do well in that last season for James bgo and Charlotte in their halfcourt offense they were not very good they averaged 0. n03 points per possession that was 29th in the NBA second to last however after timeouts after quarters after jump balls essentially when he had a chance to draw something up on the Whiteboard and say Hey you go here you go here we’re going to run this and we’re going to execute it like this they average 0983 points per possession 10th in the NBA eight1 of a point better in an out of timeout scenario as opposed to a half court offensive scenario that is tangible coaching ladies and gentlemen tangible coaching he wants to play with Pace he wants you to be unselfish and he’s focused on getting Corner threes and shots at The Rim the two most efficient shots in basketball now you may ask how’s he doing that we’re going to go through some video clips here to give you a little context on some of the plays that he loved to run in Charlotte and some of these plays he was running with dvon Graham and Terry Rosier and lamelo ball and when I’m showing you guys this think in your head of how Donovan Mitchell and Darius scarland and Evan Moy and Jared Allen would execute in these situations and tell me you don’t get excited in the same way I get excited when I watch some of this action all right so we’re going to run through some of these plays the first is what he likes to do most and this is essentially an Iverson cut to a Veer screen up top which allows your two ball handlers to both be involved in the action and it sets up a bunch of different options for your secondary ball handlers so an Iverson cut you’ll see Gordon Hayward cut across two High screens at the elbow fou line extended that’s an Iverson cut and then a Veer cut is a high pick at the top of the key where the other offensive player can go either strong side or weak side and you’ll see this play out there’s a couple plays in a row and then I’ll highlight a couple things Hayward gets it Veer cut for Rosier comes off wide open three tons of space check the backside spacing here’s the Mellow ball coming off that same Iverson cut they have a weak side and a strong side screen for the ver Rosier comes off the strong side gets another three same example lamelo passes to the top runs the Iverson cut comes back off the Veer little rotation miles Bridges step back three and one more here same motion you’ll see Graham now he comes off with the Iverson cut the Veer screen set High Graham drives kicks out and then it’s one-on-one basketball with good spacing that leads back to a corner kick for a three I’m GNA slow some of these down and show you guys so there’s Gordon Hayward right and right there this is this is what I mean by a Veer cut you have all the space with Hayward driving so the helps side Defender has to be in help position and that puts Lorie marinan who’s the defender who you can’t see right behind the screener in a pickle do I help on the drive with Hayward or do I go with my man setting the Veer screen up top he decides to go with Hayward not helping that’s going to lead into a wide openen Terry Rosier catch and shoot three imagine Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell running this action uh you’re gonna get here’s Darius with the ball he drives if you don’t help that’s a one-on-one drive with Darius or Donovan if you do help it’s going to leave the Veer screen open and that’s a wide openen three catch and shoot for d ious for Donovan for Max dreu Levert I think could be really effective in this Iverson cut action you don’t have to kick it back to the Veer if you have one-on-one you’ll see in the next play it gives the potential for a one-on-one situation it’s essentially a whole side of the Court cleared out watch this one here is Devonte Graham comes across the court on the Iverson you’re going one on one on one and a half here but that’s an attacking advantageous position for the offensive player Donovan Darius Carris uh that’s all positions for them to succeed here and if the defense on the weak side gets lazy you come around and now you have another isolated in rotation one-on-one to attack from so that’s one of the things that James bgo likes to do that I think would fit what the Cavs do offensively Personnel wise to a te another thing he likes to do we saw JB bicker staff do this a ton this year was pick and roll it’s the staple of every offense in the NBA there’s nothing special here but check out the weak side clear the strong side clear excuse me that bgo utilized in Charlotte a bunch of these plays come from the bubble by the way that’s how long ago I was digging through some of these uh playbooks to find you some of the stuff bgo likes to do the first one’s in a little slow motion they set a slip screen to start it’s called the ghost screen and then you’re gonna have mile Bridges and as you see miles bridges come to set this screen I under the basket for the guy who would be in the corner the Cavs would have this guy stand in the corner the whole time in bgo system he likes to have him clear out strong side on a screen here from I can’t tell who that player is so that it clears the paint which puts the defense in a conundrum and you’re going to see here on backto back plays how that’s effective always starts with a little ghost screen in this case it’s Gordon Hayward miles bridges come sets a screen you see on the backside the shooter comes off and that puts Joel embiid in a pickle do I chase the screener and give up an open three or do I stay in the paint to avoid the lob it happens here again another lob it’s because the backside is clearing out which just gives a little extra space for the ball handle to work slip screen you’re going to see him get to the three this time the helps side Defender doesn’t rotate quick enough and you have an open three imagine this pick and roll action we’re gonna run run through a couple more times but imagine this pick and roll action with Darius or Donovan and instead of having Devonte grar Rosier come off the backside you have Max stru coming off the backside for the Cavaliers it’s another little fake set to get into the same essential action here this time it’s a little roll to PJ Washington gets the lay we’re going to free frame these again here’s the slow motion one Hayward with the slip one thing to keep in mind let’s say this is Darius with the ball and Donovan sets the ghost screen you can swing it to Donovan here and he’s got one-on-one with half the floor clear because you have the Baseline cutter coming to the opposite corner so that’s another option in this offense that you don’t really see because of the clips I picked there’s your screen there’s your Baseline screener or shooter coming off the screen if you’re the big man what do you do you’re in a pickle if it’s little little adjustments like this and the same thing’s going to happen on all four clips that make the defense think and have to make these split-second decisions he had both options there he had the lob or the three-pointer here he goes to the three watch how the helps side defender in the pick and roll it’s Pascal seak in this point guarding the screen and Kyle Lowry on the bottom gets caught the screen boom that’s Max stru that’s the catch and shoot movement that Max stru got his Contracting Cleveland with to a te it’s little plays like this that I think bgo has in his Playbook that benefit what the Cavs have currently on its roster it’s it’s a I don’t say a Max made in heaven but it makes a lot of sense another play he like to use this little elbow give and go and then I’ll show you the counters to the give and go next for this particular sequence imagine this is Donovan Mitchell with the ball for these plays simple elbow give and go gets ahead of steam driving Hayward misses the layup Donovan’s much better than Gordon Hayward you’ll see the same thing this is Malik monk back from 2020 little give and go defense has to communicate those plays run back and forth now you say that’s super basic the defense will counter well of course they’ll counter and here’s what the Cavs or bgo would do to counter that how about you’re playing high side well go back door simple read and react Donovan is as good as any player in the league at creating space and creating passing Lanes off the dribble Lamela M Lamela ball did a great job in that scenario here’s another option that Veer scream we talked about there it is again just from a different set Donovan drives picture Donovan in this situation gets the screen Darius when that passes to him Darius kicks back Mo or Allen sets the screen and you got a one-on-one opportunity with Darius Carris Donovan however you want to split it this time it’s going to go to a little uh it’s another Veer screen but then PJ Washington’s gonna drive same situation it makes the defense make these quick reads and reactions and if they don’t you have a fouron three Advantage this is a fake Veer into his weak side or strong side whatever you want to call it pick and roll catch the defense in rotation and bgo systems all just playing basketball he’s going to put you in situations where you have a numerical advantage and it comes down to the players to just go out there and play basketball there’s little nuances to the offense he runs it’s not recreating the wheel it’s just making the real wheel run a little more efficiently than it does on a basic level here’s a dribble handoff into the corner and then Rosier goes one-on-one there’s about 38 different variations off this little give and go action but it all starts looking the same and when it starts looking the same it’s much harder to J uh guard because you don’t know what’s coming and the Cavs offense was super predictable last year let’s call it spade a spade moro’s offense is anything but that and with some of the players that Cavs have currently on the roster whether they make big time moves or not I think what James bgo wants to run at the premise of his offense at the most basic principles of his Playbook fit pretty pretty well with what the Cavs offensive skill sets currently are and it utilized PJ Washington in a playmaker role I can Envision Evan Mobley doing that it utilized Don and Darius and all those guys in situations that we didn’t necessarily see them have to make decisions on the fly like they would in this system but I think they’re capable of and when I look at what bgo wants to do versus what ainson wants to do versus what Mike and Nory theoretically would want to do based off his track record and the coaches he’s worked with in the past I just think James burgo fits what the Cavs need in this next head coach more so I am officially planting my flag on June 12th at 7:47 p.m. in the James bgo Camp I know they interview Kenny ainson I know they’re also going to talk to Mike and Nory tomorrow but Mikey McNuggets is firmly in the James bgo Camp to be the next head coach of your Cleveland Cavaliers

James Borrego is one of the finalists for the vacant head coaching job with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Whoever gets the job will have to figure out how to unlock the backcourt duo of Darius Garland & Donovan Mitchell, which struggled at times during JB Bickerstaff’s final season.

James Borrego’s past experience with the Charlotte Hornets, who played a 2-guard backcourt, is well versed in how to maximize a duo like that.

McNuggets went back to his days with the Hornets and dug up some of Borrego’s favorite sets and explains how they could fit with the Cavs current crop of talent.

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