From Distance: No Rut, No Groove

Four point play…

1. January and February can be pretty miserable months for a lot of folks. Well, those in the Northern Hemisphere anyway. The holiday season is both thankfully and sadly over. The weather is essentially complete garbage. Days are still obnoxiously short even post Winter Solstice, and Valentine’s Day is a thing. Not a fantastic mini era of existence.

It’s easy to get gloomy and/or bored out of one’s mind this time of year. One needs a good electric blanket and a Netflix account to get through. Ya know, or books and loved ones. I guess that works too.

Remember that when we are barraged by “what’s wrong with the Cavs?” articles. Barely past New Years, some writers have clearly resolved to be instigators of some severely hard eye rolls. The back of my head hurts.

With your qualifiers or not, no Dave, this team is not in a rut. By definition, a rut is “long deep track made by repeated passage.” Nope. This is a team necessarily going through a process in order to eventually reach its desired goal. The organization is trying different paths via lineup and minute distribution in order to learn and maximize its potential strengths.

The Cavaliers must see how Tristan Thompson and Isaiah Thomas fit into the equation. The team found a nice groove with both guys out with injury. (Side note: why is “groove” positive and “rut” negative? Old wooden wheels got caught in grooves as well, right?)

Many of us already pine for the days of that fantastic bench lineup. While it is clear the Cavs would probably win more regular season contests by continuing to use that old successful rotation, any LeBron James team isn’t horribly concerned with regular season success.

It was infinitely more fun to watch Channing Frye, Jeff Green, Kyle Korver, and Dwyane Wade kill it off the bench, but fans (and writers) need to consider the larger picture. The integration of these players is automatically going to knock the Cavs out of any good rut. It is a necessary evil as the team goes through its evaluation process. LeBron’s NBA 2K18 lineups need to be tested out on the floor.

2. Still, at this point, I hope Tristan Thompson is auditioning for other teams. Without Iman Shumpert and Derrick Rose, poor Tristan is getting the brunt of my basketball annoyance. Sorry, but it is tiring to see the opposing bigman continually leave Thompson, preventing LeBron from attacking one-on-one. Again, unless he is absolutely destroying people on the glass and on the defensive end, it just isn’t worth playing him.

On the other side of the ledger, I am still happily riding the Jeff Green train of surprise! Green has truly found his era. In Boston, he did a fine job limiting Kyrie Irving in isolation. We all know what a nearly impossible task that is. The fact that the Cavs have another 6’9″ guy who can check All-World players like Irving and Curry is incredibly encouraging. Once Love twisted his ankle, the trap and recover didn’t work quite as well against the Celtics, but early on, the size of both guys made it difficult for Irving to deliver assists. Normally, it forced the Celtics into patient ball-swings. That is the desired result against any potentially devastating Pick and Roll.

In general, the Cavaliers’ lack of an adequate point guard on-ball defender has forced guys like Green and Osman to spend a good deal of energy chasing around smaller ball-handlers. It might not be ideal, but both guys have done an admirable job of sticking to the game plan and leading their man to the defensive help.

That switch-ability is going pretty well so far. I hope fans realize how often those two players are guarding outside their normal positions. Green has spent almost as much time on opposing centers as he has on point guards. Osman has almost been solely employed against second team point guards. Both guys are hanging in despite their tall order. It is yet another practice session for postseason ball. Every potential playoff foe seems to have a dominant guard.

3. With Isaiah Thomas back, Green and Osman are unlikely to be alleviated of that responsibility. The Cavs will certainly gain some offensive firepower with Thomas. His production of 17 points in 19 minutes was good to see, even if his defense was somewhat tragic. Look, we know he will never be a good defender due to his size. I just hope that his conditioning and defensive awareness return soon. He wandered around aimlessly on that end of the floor in his game 1. That’s ok. If it continues in game 5 or so, worry will set in. He can’t save his energy for the offensive end like he may have done in the past. Thomas must make it a habit to give it his all on defense.

4. Kevin Love has done just that. His work on the defensive end has been consistent and with force. It seems like a long time ago that Kevin had his arms glued to his front side in a weak effort to draw a charge. He has been rotating with intention and verticality all season. His on ball defense against opposing post players has also been solid.

It’s almost ironic that Kevin twisted his ankle after blocking a shot against Al Horford. Kevin doesn’t block a lot of shots, but he has been altering quite a few this year.

Here’s hoping Love isn’t out for long. The NBA universe seems to close its collective eyes when Love is dominating for the Cavaliers. If he has a rough couple games, they wonder where Minnesota Love has gone. He is a better, more complete player now than he was in Minnesota. I would also like to see him get a few more assists, but really, that is the only category that is vastly different.

In December, Love tore up the league. He went for 22 ppg and 10 rpg while drilling 46 percent from deep. Oh, and that was in only 30 minutes per game. Per 36, he is having as good of a counting season as any of his Minny days, excepting his insane 2013-2014 season. He’s great. Let’s give him some credit.

Quickies: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPfHexAaPZ8

What?! Terrance Ferguson might end up making the Thunder a relevant squad. I know, it is one game, but scouts have long found Ferguson an interesting prospect with this shooting, length, and spring. He showed all three in his explosion against the Lakers. Personally, I dug that he ditched NCAA nonsenseball in favor of the Australian league. Admittedly, his performance in L.A. was in glorified garbage time, but Ferguson was part of the reason the game turned to garbage so quickly.

He has an incredibly quick release and Ferguson rarely puts the ball on the floor. Both things are crucial if he wants to play along side of Russell Westbrook. While he won’t contribute defensively anywhere near the level of super defensive ace, Andre Roberson, Ferguson’s ability to catch and shoot could really open up the floor for the Thunder’s main guns. Just don’t hurt your wrist on the rim, young man.

Speaking of athletic wings, DeMar DeRozan has officially added the three to his shot chart. The All-Star has drilled 12 of 21 three-point attempts over his last three games on his way to averaging 37 ppg. On the season, DeRozan is making almost 37% on his long ball attempts after years of being sub 30 from deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfgt9ULO6F8

This might be a problem. DeMar can get his shot off on anyone. He is still one of the best mid-range guys in the league by using impeccable footwork and elevation. With this new dimension to his game, teams are going to have to change how they guard the Raptors. The Cavs aren’t likely to be frightened at all, but the rest of East should be taking notice.