In the dead of August, the calendar is nowhere near the time of year when meaningful basketball is played, yet the buzz around the Cavaliers has reached a fever pitch now that Cleveland has reached an agreement to bring Kevin Love to town.
There has been much talk about the Cavaliers bolting to the top of the Eastern Conference ranks, and for good reason. The trio of Love, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving is as exciting as any in the NBA. Each player averaged better than 20 points per games last season, and they combined to put up 74.0 points, 23.0 rebounds and 16.9 assists this past year.
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That said, talent doesn't always mean championships. The Cavaliers have three players with the tools to lead them to a successful season, but their approach will be just as important as their talent.
With that in mind, we will look at ways for Cleveland to highlight its best three players, along with a dive into Cavaliers coach David Blatt's playook through footage from his Maccabi Tel Aviv days. The video is from J, who is identified as @j_069 on Twitter and is known to break down NBA plays .
The intent here is to view each of the Cavaliers' best three players in positions that highlight their strengths. For instance, James is an exceptional passer, while Love can stretch the floor as a shooter and Irving has an insane handle.
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James the passer
For the Cavaliers, it will be important to avoid stagnant offense. They have several players who are known to pound the ball, including James, Irving and Dion Waiters. When James played for Miami, one play that combated overuse of the dribble and counted on James as the primary passer was their wide backscreen action.
In this set, James cuts toward the ball and plants near the top of the key. Backscreens are set on both sides, with James often finding a man on the cut toward the basketball. James always has the option of putting the ball on the floor and breaking off from the play or settling for a short jump shot, but he has enough options that he doesn't revert to one-on-one play.
This approach or something similar would work well for Cleveland. At 6-8, what separates James from other athletic wings is his ability to see and create plays. This puts him in the position to do that, while also taking advantage of Love's ability as a screener and putting Irving in position to catch and score off the ball, which is a luxury he has not experienced much in his career.
Love the shooter
One of Love's best assets is his ability to stretch the floor as a shooter. Similar to Chris Bosh in Miami, Love will provide James and Irving with space to drive with his ability to hit the 3-pointer and pass to open teammates.
Ignore the fact that Love missed both opportunities in this compilation and focus on the setup. In the Wolves' stagger pin, the play overloads on the opposite side of the ball and Love emerges for an outside look.
Why this play works for the Cavs is because the ballhandler has the option to wait for it to develop and find Love or attack their one-on-one matchup. There are only two players located on the ball side, which would provide James or Irving with ample space to drive to the rim. There also is a man in the corner to stretch the floor, which is a role suited for Mike Miller or James Jones.
Kyrie the dribbler
Because the Cavaliers were ostensibly a one-man show last year, we can use the Irving crossover mix as a reference to how he can be used at times during the upcoming season.
You'll notice that Irving is most effective when using the screen as a decoy and crossing over in the opposite direction. That should only become more effective with the current Cavaliers roster. Irving will have Love to set screens and shooters on the wings. James also could step out in screen-and-roll scenarios with Irving.
Blatt used several pick-and-roll setups in transition that would benefit Irving, who has the speed and handle to weave through traffic and outrun defenders.
Blatt approach
There are plays within Blatt's arsenal that highlight each of the above characteristics of James, Irving and Love. While this will be his first season within the NBA, Blatt has creative offensive sets and avoids running isolation plays for the sake of running them.
His approach in transition best suits the currently assembled roster, because James and Irving are explosive with the ball in their hands and Love is an exception passer to start the fastbreak. Blatt emphasizes secondary rim runs and early side pick-and-roll plays.
There are other plays in the halfcourt that work with the Cavaliers roster, but Blatt's "Chin high" set works especially well with Love's skillset. In this play, the big man sets a backscreen and receives the ball. He then runs the offense, with the option of catching and shooting or initiating a wing hand-off pass that goes into a screen and roll.
Rim runs — Blatt likes to have players attack the rim after the initial transition approach fails.
Side pick-and-roll — Offense is initiated on the wing with a seamless pick-and-roll set.
Chin high — Love would succeed in a set in which he can initiate offense with passing and step out to shoot.