Some things to watch for early this year:
Pace
- They are third in pace this preseason as they are averaging 109.25 possessions.
- Preaching pace in the preseason and camp happens, can they carry it into the reg season
Defense
- Our identity is still our defense
- Increasing pace almost always hurts defense, partially bc of the lineup that can run a higher pace is usually smaller or worse on defense, we aren't changing our lineup we are changing roles in the lineup…in short increasing pace might work with our roster bc of our defense
- Famously the Warriors (who Kenny was an assistant of) significantly increased their pace while maintaining a high level defensive rating…that's the goal
Chemistry
- No one wondering if a teammate is bought in
- All the stars want to be here
- Rumors this offseason being shut down so quickly (DG walking back the trade demand his agency floated, Donovan going out of his way to say he didn't want to leave and loves being in cleveland, Jarret's insanely team friendly extension)
- Entire roster is back, not one meaningful loss
Depth
- Are we the deepest team in the league (in that Sam Merrill is significantly better than most rosters guys that are just out of the regular rotation)?
- Does our depth make it more realistic to run a higher pace all season?
- Are we finally going to see a real 10 man rotation (JB ran 8 and even 7 man rotations some seasons)
I think this is going to be a great season, my goal is to win two playoff rounds or compete with Boston in a series
Cavs are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Abiv23