CLEVELAND – On the defensive and offensive ends of the floor, every player has a job to do. When each possession begins, it is up to all five men to do their job to the best of their ability, be there to help when needed and to play selflessly for every minute they’re on the court.
As the Thunder closes out this five-game east coast road trip with a Sunday afternoon tussle with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Head Coach Scott Brooks and his staff want to make sure the team bounces back from a tough loss to the Atlanta Hawks, after having won four straight games prior to Friday night. In Orlando, Miami and Washington, the Thunder’s defense was outstanding. In Atlanta, it was solid for the first 18 minutes or so, but wasn’t as sharp as the game wore along. Against good teams in the NBA, there cannot be any slippage and that’s where the Thunder’s focus lies moving forward.
From guards like Russell Westbrook, Reggie Jackson, Andre Roberson and the newcomer from Cleveland, Dion Waiters, defensive possessions begin by getting into the ball with physicality and toughness. Big men also have to be both aware and aggressive in their coverages in order to contain the ball-handler and also prevent easy slip passes to big men diving to the rim. If all five men on defense do their job for 24 seconds, the Thunder’s chances of getting a stop improve dramatically.
“We have to play better,” Brooks said. “It’s going to take 48 minutes of good basketball. You can’t have a two or three minute lull where it’s not good.”
“It’s about us buckling down and playing defense,” Waiters explained.
As for the Cavaliers, the Thunder knows it is quite a different opponent than the one it defeated at Chesapeake Energy Arena earlier in the season. LeBron James missed that one, and Cleveland has added JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov, completely re-tooling their lineup and rotations. The Cavaliers are shooting a ton of threes and will utilize a variety of sets and actions to get James isolated in one-on-one situations in addition to attack situations that result in lobs for Mozgov and kick-outs to the perimeter for three-pointers.
“They’re as deep of a team as there is in the league,” Brooks said. “(Mozgov) gives them a big that is athletic. He’s a very athletic big. He gets down the court as well as any big in the league. He does a great job of running into screens and rolling out of them. ”
Going against his former team doesn’t add any extra fuel to Waiters’ fire, which is brimming at all times. Even though he’s been with the Thunder for just a few weeks, Brooks and his staff have recognized a level of competitiveness and toughness in Waiters that is a signifier of his internal commitment to winning and playing as hard as possible every minute he’s on the floor. Although it’s an important game for the Thunder as it closes out the longest road trip of the season, it is still just one of 82 in the regular season that the team must use to build towards playing the best it possibly can as a unit.
“Just come out there, be ready, play basketball, don’t think too much and have fun,” Waiters said. “I have that chip on my shoulder every day, even in practice.”
Broadcast Information
Tip-Off: 2:30 p.m. CT
Television: ABC
Radio: Thunder Radio Network, WWLS the Sports Animal