Hey, Cavalier fans and CavFanatics! It’s A.C., checking in. What’s happening?I felt great about that win over New York on Wednesday night. They haven’t beat us in Cleveland since 2006, so it’s fair to say we have their number.
The thing is: the NBA is all about matchups. And we match up well with them.
They play helter-skelter, fastbreak ball. We play systematic fastbreak ball. So, pretty simply, the difference is: our style beats their style. They don’t respect situations within the game, they just play the game. They can be up 15 or down 15 and they’ll play the same way. We’re going to defend you. We’re going to set plays up when the situation calls for it. They don’t do that.
The system is hurting that team. And that’s why I think we beat the Knicks. Because our system is better than their system.
Even in a nice win, we still turned the ball over too much. But I think that problem is going to work itself out.
Now, you might think I’m a little bit crazy writing this, but I still think the turnover problem was because of fatigue from the road trip.
When you stay out like that, that long, your first game back is still like you’re on the road. And you still have to recuperate. And you look at the last two games we lost before the Miami game – the blowouts against Chicago and Atlanta – most of the turnovers are because you’re tired. You don’t think right. You don’t have the sharpness, the quickness to see moves ahead of time.
And then, you could see it against the Heat – you saw their energy coming back. They were starting to play the way they did before the trip. The quickness was there, the passing was sharper. The defense was there; the offensive cuts were there. Their legs were under them on the jump shots.
You could see as the game went on: We got stronger and Miami got weaker. We got our second wind. And in the bad losses before that, we could NOT get our second wind, because we didn’t have it. And I think a lot of it is being fatigued.
You can lie to your body that you’re not fatigued, but you are. It definitely happens. I noticed it myself, and I didn’t even play on that West Coast trip! The other day, I got home from work and started watching TV, and the next thing I knew it was morning.
One guy, however, who NEVER seems fatigued is Anderson Varejao – who might be playing the best ball of his career. He’s playing at an All-Star level.
Andy’s absence is why we had so many problems last year. If he would’ve been healthy, it would have made a HUGE difference.
My nickname for Andy is “Priceless.” There’s nobody in the league like him. The closest guy is Joakim Noah in Chicago. And believe it or not, Andy is better offensively than Noah. He knows the game. He knows how to get you off your feet; he knows how to use his left hand, his right hand. He uses hook shots, reverses, up-and-under moves. And he’s got a decent little jump shot.
We’re also getting better production behind Andy at the 5, as well. Ryan Hollins had a heck of game on Wednesday and Samardo looks like he’s starting to find himself again.
I think Coach Scott has brought Samardo along slowly and made him understand certain things.
Number one: You have to play within the offense. If it’s not there, give it up and get it back. In other words, it’s not always just ONE option. The way I was taught to play the game, if I go to make my move and it’s not there, that means Option 2 is available. That means someone is out of position to stop Option 1.
Samardo has got to understand the sequence of plays. Because he knows: around the basket, nobody can handle him. There’s nobody in this league that’s strong enough to handle him. Maybe Andrew Bynum in L.A. But on a consistent basis, there’s nobody that can handle him around the basket. He has to know that and he doesn’t know that. He’s still searching.
If you want to survive in this league, you must learn to defend and learn the sequence of an offense.
Number two: The one thing Samardo really needs to understand is that fatigue makes a player a coward. You must be in shape.
The thing I always had to make sure of was that I was in great shape. When you’re a scorer like I was, conditioning is your biggest ally. You can’t afford to get tired. You can’t stop. The team depends on you to score. I didn’t want to lag down the court, tired, when we need baskets!
Understanding condition is HUGE in this league. You can have better talent than a player you’re going against, but he can dominate you if he’s in better shape. And I NEVER wanted that to happen.
Aside from Samardo, another guy who’s getting more comfortable on the floor is Omri Casspi.
Omri’s starting to see the pace with which we want to play. He’s starting to understand how he can be effective on this team. He’s starting to relax now and he’s stopped worrying so much about missing shots. The kid just wants it SO bad.
On his shot, he’s starting to finish the shot – and Jamahl Mosley has been working with him diligently on that. He was leaning back and pulling the string. Now he’s leaning forward and following through. Jamahl’s been working big time with him on that.
He’s got the quickness to slash. He was taking a beating when he wasn’t’ “playing positive.” Now he’s “playing positive” and he won’t take as many beatings. He’ll start handing out the beatings.
This weekend, it’s another pair of tough games. New Jersey is playing better ball – better than the last time we faced them on New Year’s Day.
Boston – now, that’s going to be interesting.
One thing I always respected about the Boston franchise, they don’t care who they put out there – those guys are going to compete. They have a certain “bravado” about them. They think they’re supposed to be better than they are. And they’re going to look down their noses at us.
That’s where we have to spank them. BANG! The first time you see them this year, you lay it on them. Then, when they come here, we have them a little bit on their heels. But you have to spank them in the first game up there. And that’s what I want to see.