Hey Cavalier fans and CavFanatics – it’s Austin, checking in from frigid C-Town (after spending the weekend in sunny Florida). So, what’s happening?
The Cavs are starting to gel and get some wins and it’s been fun to watch. It may sound overly simple, but the first thing is, we’re just shooting better. I mean, you have to put the ball in the basket.
The defense is starting to take hold, too. When we win games, defensively, we play an ugly game. But that’s the way Mike wants it and, to me, that’s what they are. We want to play ugly. And the key when you play ugly is to be efficient on the offensive end, because every point is precious. And that means at the end of each quarter, that final three-to-five minutes, you have to be very good with your execution.
We need to finish each quarter on a good note, especially on the road. If you do that, along with good solid defense, you’ll win your share of games. The ball has to be respected at the end of each quarter. You can’t be careless. You have to respect the ball because it means a lot to you. When we don’t respect the ball at the end of the quarter, we’re usually in tough shape when the fourth period rolls around. When we respect the ball and end the quarters on a solid note, we always seem to be right there down the stretch.
One positive thing I’m seeing is that everybody seems to be focused now on their own role. I think three weeks ago, we would’ve gotten blown out by Miami. But now we’re in a different mindset.
The only thing that really hurt us against Miami is that, in the first half, we didn’t play the Heat like we believed we could beat them. But in the second half, we played like we felt we could beat them. It was a totally different team from the first half to the second. And Miami felt that, too. They knew they were in trouble; we just couldn’t quite get over the hump when we needed to. But I liked the comeback effort and what they showed on the road.
This was a good weekend for the Cavs and even though there’s no such thing as ‘moral victories,’ I really think the way they came back against Miami will really help them moving forward.
And this weekend, there was an indication that the Cavaliers are starting to ‘get it’ on the road. It’s simple. It’s like a heavyweight fight. Do you want to get hit in the head first or do you want to hit your opponent in the head first? And that’s what it comes down to. You want to be the one to hit first and the team is starting to understand that now.
And a lot of that is rooted in the pace of the game. Right away, Kyrie has been coming out attacking and that is so important to our mindset. The team feeds off him. When he starts out fast, he takes the team with him. Attack on the road instead being attacked.
In this league, the aggressor is always rewarded.
I’ve always said, guys play better when they know their roles and when and where their minutes are coming from. In the NBA, the life-blood of the team and the individual is minutes. You want to know that. And I think that’s what settled the team down.
And I think a lot of the stuff the coaching staff put in about a month ago is starting to show up now. They’re starting to just do things by habit now, and that’s a good thing.
And I have to say, on offense, the pace is much better. Kyrie is pushing the ball more now, attacking, especially early in the game. And that’s setting the tone for the team. It’s like Kyrie’s saying: ‘OK, now you have to come with me, because I’m going.’
Now the team is revved up, ready to go. Now they pass the ball ahead instead of trying to dribble it ahead – making the defense cover the entire floor. You’re catching them backing up. What you’re starting to see more is Kyrie, Dion and Jack coming down the floor and the defense backpedalling. Now you’ve got them under control and you can get what you want.
And early offense is key. Mike Brown’s been stressing it all season. They’ve been focusing so much on defense that the offense had fallen a bit behind. But the defense is almost becoming second-nature to them. So now the offense is finally starting to click.
Something I did not like about the weekend was that both Orlando and Miami were able to take Bynum out of the game. The league is adjusting to what the Cavs want to do with him.
But that’s what the league is all about: making adjustments. You come out and do your thing, they’ll adjust to you. Now you have to make your adjustments to what the league is doing to you.
And this weekend, we saw how a lot of teams are going to try to play Bynum. They’re going to try to double-team him from the backside and leave him that one pass to the corner. And we have to work on getting him the ball, even if it means him re-posting. But we have to do something. We can’t allow teams to take him out of the game.
Our halfcourt offense has to go through Bynum every time. If teams are going to overplay him, we have to find the open man and make them pay for that. We have to recognize that early and either get into better passing lanes or give him space to create.
On more thing about the center position: I’m really enjoying the different ways Bynum and Anderson Varejao affect the game. They’re such different big guys. It’s like bringing in a fastball pitcher after a curveball pitcher. It’s a really nice change of pace for that second unit. And it seems to be catching teams off-guard. The entire pace of the game is different.
Speaking of Andy, I loved what I saw at the end of the Orlando game, with Dion sticking up for Andy after Nicholson decked him.
You can see how Andy reacted to it. And to me, that was a galvanizing moment.
Granted, they need more of that. But that was a galvanizing point for the whole team. You can talk about camaraderie and teamwork and all that, but moments like that start you heading down the path of being a real team.
You have to have that mentality. It says “CLEVELAND” on that jersey. You represent the Cavs and the city. When you go out there, you’re out there as part of a whole – not one little piece. You’re part of something.
I really do feel like the Cavaliers are starting to turn a corner. They haven’t turned it yet. There’s still some more rust that they need to shake off as far as how they compete on a consistent basis and how they execute. They’re still throwing the ball away and aren’t quite sure how to close games.
But again, it comes down to how they perceive themselves. Do you perceive yourselves as a championship team or just a good team? Do you have that swagger? And can you back the swagger up? They are growing into that, but it doesn’t happen overnight.
You look at teams like the Heat and the Pacers. They come into your gym thinking: ‘We bad!’ And they can back it up. Right now, the Cavs kind of ‘slide’ in; they don’t strut in yet. But they’re headed that way.
They’re getting there.