Last night, while watching the Cavaliers lose in rather pedestrian ways to the Hawks, I was thinking about which team I would rather be a fan of right now. I was very prepared to say I would rather be a fan of the Cavs than of the Hawks … until I read this insider piece from Jodie Valade about Byron Scott’s desire for a “dominant” back to the basket post player.
In the article, Scott once again proclaims the brilliance of the Princeton offense:
“I’ve watched teams that have post up guys, and I know what a post up guy can do as far as this offense … when you get a good post-up guy this offense runs even better [emphasis mine].”
I guess he means even better than 30th in the NBA.
That quote - as if there is some surprise to the notion that a fantastic post-up player will help an offense - was followed by Valade’s analysis:
“Barring an opportunity to snag one of the few back to the basket players in the league (Orlando’s Dwight Howard probably isn’t available), Scott wouldn’t mind a dominant perimeter player, a la Chris Paul whom he had in New Orleans or Jason Kidd whom he had in New Jersey.”
Just a shocking appraisal. You mean Byron would rather have Chris Paul than Mo Williams or Ramon Sessions? Remarkable.
Valade deploys another quote from Scott next:
“Most teams in the league that have a lot of success either have a big-time post up player or a big-time player. Either one. Either a dynamic post-up player or a perimeter player who’s pretty damn good. One of those two.”
This, I guess, is what we are treated to in post-LeBron era Cleveland: proclamations by the head coach that his team would be even more successful with a “dynamic post-up player” (when was the last time one of these guys entered the league?) or with a “perimeter player who’s pretty damn good” while beat reporters inform us that Dwight Howard isn’t on the trading block.
Watching the Cavs lose tonight, I must say that their effort was fine, but little else was working. The team’s pace is getting better - up to 12th in the league - but they still don’t know how to push the ball … either the guards don’t dart up the floor or the bigs don’t run with them. Watch the Mavericks play fast. Watch the Heat play fast. On top of this, the Cavs are too small to finish at the rim. And because they can’t finish at the rim, and they can’t beat anyone off of the dribble, the defenders are free to guard the perimeter players tightly, preventing them from getting open jump shots - which, frankly, is the one thing a lot of these guys are good at.
Of course, much of this is a product of the players being chosen to fit alongside of LeBron, so I don’t blame them … but Byron Scott sure sounds like a coach who is trying to transition from “this team has more talent than any of the other teams I took over - and I don’t have to teach them how to win” to “we’re not losing because of me - no, I need a big-time player.” Add to this an owner in Dan Gilbert who defined his franchise with the clear basketball principles of two men (Danny Ferry and Mike Brown) … and then simply excised them for the hodgepodge of concepts we get to watch now on a nightly basis.
Please, Chris Grant, trade Anderson Varejao while he’s still in his prime. Let the man be great at what he does for a team that actually has a prayer.
And, in the meantime, Hawks fans … you may think you’re stuck in a cycle of mediocrity, but … well, actually, you’re not better off than us. We’re both f’d. Except we get lottery picks.
I find myself struggling, deeply, with how to watch this new Cavaliers team. If I’m being honest, a big part of me hates it. I remember how contested the Cavs-Hawks games were over the last two seasons, how riveted I was by the action. By the end of this game, despite J.J. Hickson’s 31 point-5 rebounds-5 turnovers effort, I was bored. I never had any feeling that the Cavs would win.
Truthfully, I wanted to write this post after the Boston game, but I scribbled some lame bullshit about floor spacing instead. I didn’t want to come off as being dispiritingly negative. But sports, as we’ve often written in the past, are emotional. I’m currently having an emotional reaction to watching the LeBron-less Cavaliers. The basketball, simply put, isn’t up to par.
We at Mesa have been bullish about the Cavs’ chances this season. Right now, those predictions looks poor. Before last night, the Cavs’ defense was only 16th in the league, giving up 105.3 points per 100 possessions. This isn’t good enough. If the Cavs are going to compete this year, they have to have a top 10 or probably top 5 defense.
Why?
Because the team’s offense is most likely going to be somewhat anemic. At 100 points per 100 possessions before the Atlanta game, they ranked only 23rd in the NBA. What the Cavs don’t have are a wealth of players who can create their own shot. Evidence of this fact is visible on nearly every play. It’s why, in my opinion, Byron Scott has emphasized transition basketball so much. If you’re fast and can jump, it’s a lot easier to create a shot in the open court than in the half court.
Problematically, Scott has been trying to keep as many shot creators on the floor as possible, which is leading to some very small backcourts that aren’t capable of guarding the opposition. Boobie Gibson has no chance against Joe Johnson in the post. Neither does Ramon Sessions. These guys can’t even guard Marvin Williams.
Right now Coach Scott is having a hard time finding the right rotation to balance offense and defense. Make no mistake about it, the personnel he’s been given makes it a tough job, especially since - irrationally, in my opinion - Scott’s Princeton offense insists on having two excellent ball handlers on the floor at all times at both guard spots. But the coach needs to do better.
Sadly, maybe even tragically, I’m almost ready to give up on the team. I know I shouldn’t. It’s only been 5 games. But bad losses to the Raptors and the Kings and a defense that, according to the coach, is getting worse have drained my energy.
Like I said, I don’t want to be oppressively pessimistic. But I also need to be realistic. And I need to manage my time, like every other Cavs fan needs to. Is it worth committing our time, attention, and money to the Cavaliers?
I’m not sure yet. It might not be. However, there is still time…
What the Cavs, as a team, need to do to get me re-excited about watching them play basketball is create drama. They need to convince me that they can compete. That I don’t know the outcome of the game before it begins. Last year I knew the outcome of plenty of the games the team was playing in, but that was different. I was interested in following every dribble because I knew I was watching a historically great player execute at the highest level. That quality is quite obviously absent this season.
All I ask then, Cavs, is for you to compete. Make me believe you can win. And how do you do that?
Well, you need to win. More than just the home opener. This is a catch-22, I realize. But you need to do it quickly. Or I’m going to be forced to actually try to meet a girl instead of watching the final 77 games of your season.
And nobody really wants me to do that. Especially not girls.
If you follow front office moves, you already know that today Cavs exec Lance Blanks was hired away by Phoenix to be their new general manager. Blanks worked under Danny Ferry during his entire tenure as Cavs’ GM, along with the brief stint under Chris Grant after Ferry’s contract expired earlier this summer.
As someone who has staunchly defended the Cavs’ executives for the past several years, I find this to be an interesting moment. We all know that among most NBA fans and pundits, the perception of the franchise’s front office has been less than favorable for a long time. Ferry is still routinely blamed by the usual talking heads for hastening LeBron’s exit by trying to build a team with veteran rentals rather than young players. Practically every trade made or rumored trade NOT made has been another bullet for the critics. The consensus among the people with microphones—as well as the fans who listen to them without thinking on their own—is simple: the Cavs’ front office was a disaster. This has become Gospel.
And yet…other franchises keep offering jobs to Cavs execs!
After years as Assistant GM, Blanks—whose name only surfaced as a contender for the job last week—has now been hired away by a well-respected organization in the Suns. Danny Ferry was Paul Allen’s first choice to take over as GM of the Trailblazers about a month ago. Ferry declined, reportedly due to Allen’s similarities to Dan Gilbert in terms of the level of meddling he was capable of. And lest we forget, Atlanta tried to hire current Cavs GM Chris Grant to be their General Manager back in 2008. Grant declined the offer in order to stay with the Cavs as Assistant GM and VP of Basketball Operations.
Why on Earth would this happen? Well, there are three possibilities:
1) Danny Ferry secretly spent the past five years compiling a vast photo archive of owners around the league in compromising positions
2) Key decision-makers in other franchises are all complete morons who somehow managed to miss the Cavs’ execs’ obvious laundry list of bad decisions, dysfunction, and general instability that people like Bill Simmons and Chad Ford have been trumpeting for years, or…
3) Contrary to what those same scions of public opinion seem to believe, people who know basketball can see past the crap and have realized that the Cavs’ front office has consistently been pretty fucking good for a long time.
As you may guess, I happen to stand firmly in the camp #3.
One side note: Blanks’s ascension to the top post in Phoenix cements the fact that long time Spurs’ GM R.C. Buford is the Bill Parcells of NBA executives. Like Parcells, Buford’s former assistant staffers are dispersing to the highest decision-making positions in franchises around the league. Danny Ferry worked under Buford in San Antonio before being hired by Gilbert in Cleveland. Ferry brought Blanks with him from San Antonio, then promptly hired Grant away from Atlanta. Blanks has assumed the GM post in Phoenix, Grant has taken over in Cleveland, and Ferry will undoubtedly have another shot as soon as he wants it. Sam Presti worked under Buford for several years before being hired to run the Sonics, who of course then become Oklahoma City. A few weeks ago, Presti’s assistant GM Rich Cho was hired by Portland to be their new GM—the job Ferry turned down after yet another former Buford staffer, Kevin Pritchard, was fired from the job on draft night. Finally, New Orleans hired Dell Demps, another Buford disciple, away from San Antonio to assume the GM job in New Orleans. So if you count Grant thanks to his association with Ferry, 1 out of every 6 NBA teams is currently being headed by someone who can be traced back to Buford, with two former staffers (Ferry and Pritchard) having already been GMs. Pretty impressive, especially for a guy who styles himself like this.
Back to the real point.
On the one hand, I am sad to see Blanks go. His departure symbolizes the end of the brigade (Ferry, Grant, Blanks) who I came to place a great deal of trust in over the past several years. I may not have agreed with every move they made, but I also have read enough to know that some of those moves were more or less forced on them by LeBron via Dan Gilbert. I will always wonder what the team would’ve looked like had that trio been allowed to operate without restrictions, but I guess none of us will ever know. Though you can bet your ass that if I ever run into Ferry or Blanks in an airport like I did with Derek Anderson, I will go out of my way to thank them and inquire.
On the other hand, I am also very pleased to see Blanks go. Not because I wouldn’t he rather have stayed with the Cavs, but because the more success he, Danny Ferry, and other Cavs’ alumni have as the top execs in other cities, the harder it will be for ignorant critics to continue the myth that the teams’ failures during the LeBron era were the fault of the front office.
Best of luck in Phoenix, Lance. Thanks for your efforts here in C-Town. Keep fighting the good fight.
Welcome to the final Bazooka Point of the regular season. 82 games. We did it.
This is also the first Bazooka Point I actually wrote before the game was over. I’m confident writing, however, that the Hawks won.
Time will tell whether or not Mike Brown’s strategy - certainly approved by Bron et al - to essentially take the past four games off will pay off or not.
It’s a double-edged sword for Coldstone. If he played everyone, someone got hurt, and the Cavs didn’t win the championship, then he could probably get fired for making that decision.
If the Cavs don’t win the championship now, the very same thing could happen.
In that sense, I applaud Mike for taking the risk. I’m just not sure that losing four straight games is the best way to enter the playoffs.
Especially since I saw trainer Max Benton with Antawn Jamison right before the half, after ‘Tawn limped off of the court, and then he didn’t come out to the floor or the bench in the third quarter.
Rest and an injury would be a total disaster.
Having said that, I also have a sneaking sense that Coldstone would like to see his team struggle in the first round. Last year they had no adversity until the third round. I think he thinks that hurt them. Now, I don’t know if that’s true or not. Mo Williams wasn’t good, for example, during all three series, not just against Orlando. But I can understand why he wants to challenge his team.
We’ll see how it goes.
Tim and I will figure out how to best cover the playoffs and let you know. Thanks for reading this season. We hope you enjoyed it.
