Hey, Cavalier fans! It’s Austin, checking in from the City That Never Sleeps as the road trip rolls on. What’s happening?
After the All-Star Break, I wondered how we’d come out in the second half. I guess that game on Friday pretty much answered that. This second-half push is going to be uncharted waters for some of the younger guys. But it’s also the best time of year if you’re a true competitor.
Right now, the younger guys have to understand that every game is going to have that little extra edge to it, and the only way you take that edge out of the game is by dominating teams on both ends – like how they took the Wizards out of it on Friday.
You’re going to go against guys that are way different now than they were earlier in the year, because they just have better focus and it means more to them now. So they’re going to be a lot different, a lot better and they’ll have an attitude – and you have to get used to it. And, most importantly, you cannot give up possessions now. At this point, every possession counts.
You can tell Kyrie is feeling it now. He’s dominated some of the top point guards in the league over this past month-and-a-half. He accepts the challenge now.
I think, as a young player, you have a tendency to, sort of, ‘lay back.’ But he feels his place in the league now. And I really think, even though he might not say it, that being elected by the coaches to the All-Star team told him: ‘I belong now.’ We already know he’s bringing the defense now. We know he knows how to run the team properly. He’s doing everything he’s supposed to do. But I think his selection into this year’s All-Star Game – with all the great seasons point guards are having – solidified it in his mind, that he is one the best in the league.
Kyrie has been a microcosm of the team. His offense has been great, but where he’s beating you is on the defensive end. And even though they’ve been scoring the ball well, I’m even more impressed with the team’s defense.
Here’s what’s happening with our defense: Guys are sticking with their assignments, but our impromptu situations are getting better.
In other words, Timo might get caught in the power forward position because of the way things shift, but he knows what he’s supposed to do in that position. Kyrie made a great play from the backside on Friday, deflecting the ball on the baseline. He wasn’t supposed to be in that position, he just happened to be there. But he knows what he’s supposed to in that position.
That’s when you know your defense is getting better: when everybody knows everybody else’s responsibility, so if they get caught in that position, they can react properly and it keeps everything together.
That’s where it starts and you can see that, every game it gets better. On the defensive end now, all you see is wine and gold. Before, you’d see a big hole in the middle. Now you see Cavalier colors all over the floor.
A big part of that improvement can be directly traced to the three guys we traded for at the beginning of January.
I thought it would take longer for them to fit in. But that’s a tribute to their understanding of the game of basketball. JR and Shumpert both understand the game so well. They are both ultra-competitive and they’re hungry, they want it.
And with Timo – he’s playing for a coach he played with before. He understands what’s expected of him, what he wants and how he wants it. And you can just see: Timo just knows how to play the center position.
Getting Timo has changed this team the way getting Nate Thurmond transformed ours.
I’ll just tell you my little experience: When we got Nate. I would just turn to my guy and say: ‘If you want to go on in there, go on in there. When your guy turns the corner on you – (and Kyrie really has this down now) – you’re going to have guys go past you, but the thing is: don’t give up. With a good big man in the middle, your man is going to get stopped. Ride your man right into him. And as long as you keep coming, you’re never out of the play. And the integrity of the defense stays complete. And that’s what’s happening now.
We all knew Shump was a great defender, and he hasn’t disappointed. But I think J.R.’s defense has surprised people. When we first got him, I was wondering. That was a part of the game I didn’t know he had. I thought it was all offense. But he’s a very good defensive player – on the ball and, even better, off the ball.
Through all this, I’m not sure David Blatt has gotten the credit he’s deserved.
I never understood it when everybody was complaining earlier this season. He’s a new coach with new players in a completely new situation. But the man is a proven winner worldwide. He just hadn’t done it in the NBA. But he’s coached in some of the toughest, most demanding, highest-pressure situations in the world.
To coach Maccabi Tel Aviv, where every game is do or die? He’s been through the wars. That’s why he was so calm going through it – because he’s been through much worse than this. It sometimes amazes me how much people press him. He’s not a novice! He knows what he’s doing.
Some of the so-called experts have also been hard on Kevin Love. People need to relax. He’s coming from a system where everything had to come through him just about every time down the floor. Now he’s with a team where he has to learn efficiency.
Love’s going from probably getting 20 shots to around 12 shots. But among those 12 shots, seven or eight are going to be great looks. That’s a rarity at this level. His averages aren’t as good as they were in Minnesota, but he is still averaging a double-double and playing at a high-level.
In the running game, the transition game, most of the time Kevin is triggering that action with a rebound and long outlet pass. Because he’s playing all the other parts of the game – he’s passing, he’s rebounding, he’s defending. Not everything you do to help your team win shows up in the scoring column.
On Sunday, I expect the Cavs to come out and give the Knicks exactly what we gave the Washington Wizards. Tuesday in Detroit is a division game, and those are always tough. So you want to come out strong right from the opening tip. You have Golden State coming up this week – and you don’t want to look that far ahead – but you do want momentum heading into that one.
Another 8-, 9-, 10-game winning streak and we can solidify our spot in the top half of the East playoff picture. And that’s exactly where you want to be.