Hey Cavs fans and CavFanatics. It’s A.C., checking in from the City of Brotherly Love. What’s happening?
The Cavs dropped a tough one on Wednesday night. The Bucks were without some of their main guys, but sometimes that’s when a team is most dangerous. They fought hard and it was a difficult loss, but in the NBA you have to put it behind you because there’s always another one looming a day or two away.
Offensively, the team’s off to a little bit of a slow start. But they’ve been really good on the defensive end.
Right now, Mike Brown and his staff are changing the culture, and they’re right in the middle of it. Naturally, the defense is going to come faster because they’ve spent more time with it. It’s like you’re making a cake. You add more ingredients as you get closer to putting it in the oven. So, they’re going to start putting more offense in as the season progresses and it’ll become more free-flowing.
The problem early in the season is, guys sometimes play on pins and needles because they’re thinking too much. And that’s going to slow them up, too. But once they get the offense installed, they’ll be fine.
At that point, guys will be thinking less and playing more. The guys that have been here and the veterans seem to be more in-tune. And that’s understandable, even though the system itself is new to them also. But again, everything will come as they get used to playing together and they won’t have to think about what they’re doing.
C.J. Miles is a perfect example. First of all, he’s comfortable. You can tell that he feels good about the situation he’s in. He understands how to play, he’s had a year playing with Kyrie and Dion, so he gets where his shots are coming from. And on top of that, they look for him when he comes into the game. He’s comfortable with that.
Jarrett Jack is another example. The way he runs the second unit is essential to success. You can’t replace that knowledge and that experience. Jack calms things down – and that is so important.
An area where you’re seeing a nice veteran presence is at the small forward. Right now, it’s almost ‘small forward by committee.’ And as long as those three guys understand that’s what it is, it will work. It’s once one player gets disgruntled that you have a problem. But right now, they all understand what’s going on – they’re veterans, they know it’s all about the team and getting wins.
Andrew Bynum is another veteran who knows how to win. And right now he’s working his way back from the knee injury. I know how tough that is. You have to get used to trusting it. That’s the first thing. Then you have to get used to a little bit of discomfort. You’re going to have discomfort; it’s never going to be the same feeling. And you have to take care of yourself. Ice right away or whatever treatment the staff gives you, you have to do it, religiously. And that’s what Bynum has done since he got to Cleveland.
It’ll all start coming back to him. It’s been a year-and-a-half and I think he’s playing pretty well.
Bynum changes the game defensively and offensively.
He alters the mindset of the opposing offenses; they don’t want to go in there against him. Teams can’t go running around in the paint free of charge with Bynum in there.
And, offensively, with him, we can have an inside game and a perimeter game. Before, we were mostly perimeter. But now you have an inside game and that opens up a whole new set of plays in the playbook. When teams play zone or get in a defensive position designed to stop Kyrie, you can go down low and run a whole different set of plays. He’s going to change all that.
Bynum’s getting comfortable with the Cavs and rookie Anthony Bennett is trying to get comfortable in general.
His first basket against Milwaukee was big, because it’ll help him relax a little.
As far as being the No. 1 pick, it doesn’t have the same meaning as to when I came in. When I came in, I was asked to play and contribute immediately. They gave me the ball and said, “Produce.” But Anthony’s lucky; he doesn’t have to do that. He can ease his way into it. And that should help his development. But eventually he’s got to get used to being expected to produce. He has to understand that. I had a lot of nights where I’d have nightmares because of the pressure. And I knew I was going to get the ball the next day anyway. He doesn’t really have to go through that.
Right now, he’s just going through what most rookies do. The speed is a little too fast and the lights are a little too bright. And he’s just finding out the big difference in the intensity level between the preseason and the regular season. It’s much different.
Not only that, but they’ve started to scout you. Teams are going to force you to do the things you don’t want to. They’ll force you to your weaknesses. And you have to minimize your weaknesses. He’s got to learn all that. He’ll be alright once he does. It’s a man’s world in the NBA.
This weekend, we’ll get our first look at the Sixers.
Their rookie, Michael Carter-Williams, has really surprised everybody. But you look at Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes. They’ve got some guys there, they know how to play the game and they like to get up and down the floor. And the Sixers are another example that the preseason doesn’t mean a damn thing. These guys are coming out there and playing the game.
They play up-tempo, they defend you. They’re fun to watch. You have to come ready to play or a young team like that will beat you. By the same token, the league and the season usually catch up to teams like that after a while because, again, you get scouted, they understand your weaknesses and what it takes to beat you.
And that’s what it comes down to. Eventually the league will catch up to Philly, and they’re going to have to make adjustments. And we’ll get a look at where they’re at – and where we are – this weekend. It should be fun.