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The Art of ... Individual Defense

Some players do something so well, that they really do elevate that certain skill to a true art. And there are nights where Iman Shumpert’s work on the defensive end amounts to an absolute masterpiece.

There was no better example of Shumpert’s latest exhibit than Cleveland’s previous series against the Celtics. After Isaiah Thomas went off against the Cavs in Games 1 and 2, the former Georgia Tech star held him to 6-for-26 shooting over the next two contests. But the versatile Shumpert didn’t limit his focus to Thomas. He also chipped in against his childhood friend and teammate – Evan Turner – who shot just 36 percent from the floor in the series.

But Shumpert’s no one-trick pony. He’s extremely skilled on the defensive end, but has been an efficient offensive weapon as well for the Wine and Gold. And when J.R. Smith was ejected from Sunday’s series-clinching Game 4, Shumpert stepped up to notch 15 points, going 3-of-4 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 from the stripe.

”Shump is underrated as an offensive player,” praised Coach Blatt following the victory. “In our system he gets not a whole lot of looks. He gets his chances but generally they’re the result of playing off the other guys. But I thought he made huge plays on offense, driving to the rim and getting fouled. He didn’t miss a foul shot, especially in crunch time, which we really needed. He defended everybody on the court, he played physically. He was without question the X factor in our victory tonight.”

Nothing about Iman Shumpert is conventional. His hairstyle, his fashion, his musical taste and talent. Naturally, it’s no surprise that the Cavaliers’ best perimeter defender has a unique approach to the defensive end.

So as the Cavaliers continue to prep for Round 2 of the playoffs, we sat down to study The Art of … Individual Defense with the Wine and Gold’s top stopper ….

There are games in which you seem to get your hands on every pass, every loose ball. Do you do boxing training or anything in the offseason to sharpen your hand speed?

Iman Shumpert: Not professional boxing. (laughs) There were a lot of drills that we did in high school to help us earn a high-deflection count. One of the things we did in high school (and also in college) was we charted deflections. So I’ve always looked to disrupt in that way – just keeping the opponent off balance, never letting him feel safe as far as throwing a pass while I’m guarding him.

Can steals sometimes be an overrated statistic?

Shumpert: I think so. Because there’s a lot of times where I don’t do anything on the play – maybe I’m just on the backside, but due to the pressure LeBron is supplying over here or Mozzie’s pressuring whoever it is on the post. A guy just loses the ball and I wind up corralling and it’s my steal and I didn’t do anything for it.

As long as the team gets the steal, then you move on. It’s not about the individual statistic; it’s about making it easy for us on the offensive end – which is getting out in transition and getting off to the races.

Not asking for names in particular, but who’s the toughest type of guy to guard?

Shumpert: Whoever’s got the whistle. When you’re guarding guys that earn the whistle a lot, it’s extremely hard to guard them – because you have to save fouls for crunch time, so that allows them to get in a rhythm early on.

And then another tough cover is coming off the bench against a guy on a roll. If you come off the bench and walk into a guy who’s already hot, it could be a long night for you. No matter how good a defense you play, if the guy already got his confidence rolling, it doesn’t really matter what you do.

Is it possible to get into a ‘defensive rhythm’?

Shumpert: Nah, not really. But if the offensive player starts losing confidence, that gets the defender’s confidence up. And I think the team can feel it. And once my team can feel it – that their top scorer can’t get off, that’s when we get rolling.

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The best player on the other team, you have to realize, they’re gonna run damn near every play for that guy. And you’re not going to be able to stop him every play.

The plays you want to be able to stop him on are when your team does a good job of guarding the play, you stop the play and he goes into his one-on-one package. If you can stop his one-on-one package, that’s when you disrupt things.

Because at the end of the day, when a coach doesn’t draw something up that is successful right away, that’s when they’re banking on their moneymaker. That’s when you give the ball to a LeBron and say: ‘Make a play and save the day.’ And if you can stop whoever that guy is, that gives your whole team confidence. Because you can start to see: ‘OK, now that we’ve made our adjustment and we can guard every play you’re throwing at us. And if your key guy can’t score on our defense, you’re in for a long night.’

You did a lot of that against Boston – against both Isaiah Thomas and your Oak Park buddy Evan Turner. What was that matchup like – taking on your old friend?

Shumpert: (Tuner and I) have a whole chart going as far as how many times we’ve played since we separated from being teammates. And those four games under my belt really help with the chart. (laughs) So, every time we play each other, we definitely make a big deal as far as the personal battle. It’s always fun to play against him, it’s always really competitive.

So who’s winning on the chart?

Shumpert: That ain’t something for the public.

How important is film work?

Shumpert: Our film guys do a great job of getting us ready. Especially me; they give me extra stuff as far as guarding whoever the top scorer is – if there’s a guy coming in off the bench, somebody that can hurt us if they get too involved.

(Coaches) sort of circle him on the scouting report, let me know who it is, and I just sort of pick two or three moves I know he’s going to go to, what he likes to do, what people force him to do all the time. And I just try to do my best to make guys uncomfortable.

In this league, guys can score, no matter what I do.

There’s times I play extremely good defense in my mind, have a two-handed contest and guys will drain it right in your face. Sometimes you play great defense and a guy will just overpower you and lay the ball up and there’s nothing you can do. The best thing you can do is try to get into somebody and keep coming at him, keep coming at him, keep coming at him -- wear him down so that, by the end of the game, they don’t have anything left to get those buckets.

That’s the fight, as far as defense goes: Can you play on an island, where guys go into their offensive package and you get crossed-over in front of everybody? Can you deal with the embarrassment of getting crossed-over by somebody in the second quarter and have them so exhausted that in the fourth quarter they can’t even make a free throw?

You hear of guys saving energy on the defensive end so their better offensively. Can that work the other way around?

Shumpert: Well, I don’t think I ‘save’ anything. But I’m kind of allowed some rest at times with all our offensive weapons. We have so many guys who can score the ball; so many guys who can do so many different things. I have extra energy sometimes, I might as well burn it on the defensive end.

People will say: ‘Man, you’re everywhere on defense.’ Well, if I have to score the ball, I might not be everywhere.

I don’t have that offensive load right now, playing with these guys. It’s not like I don’t want that offensive role; it’s just with the guys that we have, the biggest thing to focus on is the defensive end, making sure we get stops and extra possessions.

When you’re at home watching playoff games on TNT – are you still scouting opponents?

Shumpert: Of course! I’ll watch the whole game. But I’ll watch it and I’ll key in on who I know is gonna be the ‘problem child.’ If they have a problem child on their team, I’ll key on him.

Like watching James Harden, for example. You have to watch and see (which defender) is making mistakes and who’s doing it right. If they did it right, how did they do it? What makes him uncomfortable? How long did it take before he was exhausted? When did he start putting his hands on his knees? When did he finally miss a free throw? If he hits an and-one and goes crazy, can he hit his free throw after that? You have to look at stuff like that.

It seems like you put great emphasis on the human element on the defensive end …

Shumpert: So many people in this day and age get so caught up in the numbers. That’s cool and everything, but if you can really gauge how a player plays – how he feels – through a game: when he gets emotional, when he gets tired or frustrated. That’s how you know how to guard somebody.

I’ll never know how to be able to guard somebody if you give me a chart and tell me these are his percentages. Those percentages mean absolutely nothing once the rim gets big for someone.

Once a guy like LeBron comes down and hits three straight threes – your scouting report is out the window. If he does that, his confidence is now to the point that there’s nothing you can do. But if you watch enough film and enough games, you’ll know – after he did get that hot – what knocked him off, what happened? Did people try the ‘let’s-foul-him-hard’ thing and it pissed him off to the point where he locked in too hard? You have to pay attention to all that stuff.

The emotion of the game plays a big part in trying to stop somebody. It’s the human element. It can’t be written down and read about. If you haven’t played it and you haven’t been in it, you’re never going to understand. I can tell when somebody’s confidence is rising and I can tell when it’s gone. You have to be able to feel the game.

How much does your versatility – the ability to guard multiple positons – help you on the defensive end?

Shumpert: To me, I take everything as a challenge. I don’t see defense as you have to be ‘versatile.’ I think it’s a pride thing.

You have to study. If you study, you’ll understand what an offensive player wants to do and be able to take it away.

The best thing to do on defense, I always tell people, is to play offense on defense: ‘I’m going to make you do what I want you to do.’ If I let you make your move, I’m dead every time. So, you might think you’re crossing me over, but if the scouting report says I have to send you right, if I have to get crossed-over to make sure you go right – you’re gonna go right. You’re never really winning; you’re doing what I want you to do. And that’s the game you have to play.

But you have to be willing to get on that island sometimes. You have to be willing to sometimes go out there and get cooked for 30. But it’s a job I’m willing to do. Whatever it takes to get that jewelry.