Welcome to Part 2 of this month’s Cleveland Cavaliers mailbag.
The Cavs started their three-game homestand with a 122-99 win over the LA Clippers Sunday night. They will face the Miami Heat on Jan. 31 and the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 2.
If you missed the first part of this month’s mailbag, check it out here. Let’s jump in.
(Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity.)
I kinda get the feeling the Cavs are gonna wind up stuck with their lot at small forward. There aren’t many ways to make upgrades, since they’re probably trying to stay under the tax and don’t have any first-round picks to trade. The Cavs will eventually have to settle on some consistent rotation options at that position. They can’t just keep throwing Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert, Lamar Stevens, Cedi Osman, Dean Wade or Dylan Windler (for the five minutes he’s healthy) onto the floor in different spots the way they have.
If the Cavs don’t move anyone or get anyone, how do you think the three-spot lines up? (I am aware Okoro, LeVert and Osman are technically more twos than threes and Wade is more of a four than three.) – Ben G.
There are a couple of factors that play into this. With an (almost) healthy roster now that Ricky Rubio and Wade are back, J.B. Bickerstaff and his coaching staff have to work through rotations and lineup combinations. This roster hasn’t been entirely healthy for the majority of the season. The Cavs coaching staff is aware of the task at hand.
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However, part of their challenge is that their fast-paced schedule is forcing them to use the games themselves to get guys time to play five-on-five. This goes back to a quote I included from Bickerstaff in the first part of the mailbag. He wants to figure out those rotations and combinations, “the sooner, the better.” But he’s also aware they can’t create chemistry unless they go through experiences, and some of that will occur in games.
“We have to take advantage of every game and understand how important every game is from this point moving forward,” Bickerstaff said Wednesday. “Because you don’t want to sacrifice wins now, because you still have to prepare yourself … we haven’t got where we want to go. And we have to find that balance of preparing for the long term but making sure we secure things now. And again, it gets bumpy, but we just have to stick with it and trust in our guys that they know what’s best for the team, and they’re trying to do what’s best for the team.”
During the Cavaliers’ first 52 games, we have seen different guys play at that position. LeVert began the year as the starter, then Stevens switched in for him, and now Okoro is the guy. Wade was also in that early conversation when the season began before getting hurt. Now that he’s back from his shoulder injury, he’s another option at small forward. So, they’ve had several guys contribute, and they are searching to find minutes for all their guys.
“We just have to figure out the first half sometimes looks different than the second half because you’re just trying to get guys minutes, because that’s the only way that they’ll find their rhythm,” Bickerstaff said recently. “So it’s going to be all of us trying to search for that consistency, but giving guys the opportunity, and then it’ll work itself out over time.”
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Our pace is bottom-five (last I checked), yet young players can be more “confidence dependent” than vets, meaning early transition baskets/dunks can really set the tone for in-game performance. Has J.B. ever discussed pace with the media and if he plans on looking at that during the second half (of the season)? Seems like the one thing we haven’t tried this season. – Jared P.
The Cavs have the slowest pace in the league, averaging 96.13 possessions per game through 52 games. Bickerstaff has spoken to the media about pace at different moments throughout the season, but here’s what he had to say about the topic last week.
“I think the easy thing, when you talk about pace, is you talk about how quality shots are made or taken,” Bickerstaff said. “But pace and thrust in the half court are important as well. When you get into wrestling matches with people, and you allow them to grab and hold you and slow the game down, it makes it more difficult. When you are playing with more force, with more thrust, it’s more difficult to defend and to guard. We like to control tempo, obviously. But in the half court, we still want to be hard to guard. Moving quickly, moving the ball quickly, cutting with force, those are all things that help our pace in the half court and make us better offensively.”
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The Cavs are also more comfortable playing at a slower pace. When they slow the game down, they allow their defense to get set and play as much in half-court settings as possible. Bickerstaff has said they also study their pace to help measure where they are at in the season and when looking at the bigger picture.
Are you interested in revisiting your prediction that the Cavs make it to the second round of the playoffs? – Gary M.
Ha! That’s why it was a bold prediction. In all seriousness, though, I understand where this question is coming from, especially since the Cavs have continued to struggle on the road. As of now, Cleveland sits fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 31-21 record. However, they have to learn how to win on the road to keep their playoff aspirations intact and for the second half of the season to be considered a success.
Playing in the first round of the playoffs is an important step for this group to experience. They will learn the different nuances of the postseason and all it entails. How they adapt to those differences could play a factor if the Cavs make it out of the first round.
Why do teams shoot white-hot from 3 against the Cavs? Is it bad perimeter defense or just variance that will come back the other way? – Christopher B.
I asked Bickerstaff about this on Wednesday at practice with a small group of reporters in New York, and I thought his response was interesting. There have been moments where their perimeter defense was lacking – like the game against the Warriors last week. Then, there are other games where the Cavs are contesting shots and teams are just making tough ones.
“You go back and look at all the numbers around it, teams are shooting the ball well, but we’re contesting shots,” Bickerstaff said Wednesday. “It’s not like we’re giving up just wide-open 3s to people. People are just making shots against us. And it’s, we’re not giving up more, I think we’re right around average with what we’re giving up and all those things. But for whatever reason, guys are hot. Guys are hot. But again, you go back and look at it, and our contest rates are high. We could do a better job with some of them that we’re giving up in the corners. But some of it has just been unlucky, to be honest.”
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Here are some numbers that help put this into perspective. Through 52 games, opponents are shooting 37 percent from 3 against the Cavs, which is 27th in the league. However, the Cavs are ninth in the league in the number of 3-pointers made by an opponent, averaging 11.7 per game. The Cavs contest 17.6 3s per game, which is 17th in the league, according to NBA.com.
There’s another factor worth considering, too: Bickerstaff said the Cavs can improve their situational awareness. When an opponent has a hot hand, he noted how players have to crowd that guy more, as well as understanding time, score and shot clock.
“Like the shot clock is going down, and you got a guy who’s making shots, now you crowd him more to get him off the line,” Bickerstaff explained. “So I think there’s areas in situational basketball, where we can continue to get better.”
Ricky Rubio feels like a square peg in a round (hole) right now. How do we get more from him? Last season, one of the joys of this team was that it didn’t seem to matter who scored. With Donovan Mitchell on the roster, how do we keep that spirit despite how much of the ball he demands? – Drew C.
I can empathize with the concern over Rubio’s early minutes, but we need to remember he has been out for over a year with a serious injury. There was going to be an adjustment period for him and the team regardless of when he came back. He has to get used to playing with this specific group of players, and vice versa. There isn’t a lot of practice time at this point in the season, so many of the opportunities for him to go five-on-five are during games, and he has to get that run in. There should be some patience with Rubio, since we know what he brings to the table in terms of orchestrating an offense.
Bickerstaff expressed a similar sentiment in his pregame press conference on Sunday.
“You see the IQ,” Bickerstaff said. “You see his ability to put people in the right spots. You watch the conversations that he has with his teammates and the conversations that he and I have and you understand how valuable those things are. The great thing about it is we still haven’t seen him at his best yet, and he’s already added so much value. The more minutes he plays, the more reps he gets, the better he’s gonna get and the better he’ll be for the team.”
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As to your second question, that spirit still exists. Guys still celebrate one another on and off the floor, regardless of scoring. They all have the mentality to want to do what is best for the team and what it takes to win, and they celebrate one another in many ways. Yes, Mitchell is a prolific scorer, but his attitude and personality are infectious and allows guys to support him. The joy we saw last season is still very much there.
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Sunday night offered a great recent example. As Osman was closing in on tying his career high in points scored, the bench was cheering and supporting him. His teammates on the floor kept looking for Osman to feed him the ball — even Caris LeVert tried to find him toward the end of the game for another shot to break his 29-point career high. Following the game, as Osman did his on-court postgame interview, Mitchell ran over and dumped a water bottle on him in celebration. They find those moments to support one another.
“We’re all cool with each other, even off the floor,” Darius Garland said after the gaem. “We’re always doing something, just other activities that’s not basketball. I mean, it’s like a family atmosphere; it’s like an AAU team or something. Everybody just goes somewhere and we all just link up. It’s more than just basketball with us. It’s like a real brotherhood with this team.”
(Top photo of J.B. Bickerstaff celebrating with Cedi Osman: Ken Blaze / USA Today)