LOS ANGELES – Shortly after Sunday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, their sixth consecutive game during this repulsive series, some players pulled up video clips in the visitor’s locker room and wanted to see where things were going wrong.
Veteran center JaVale McGee, a three-time NBA champion, gave pointers to Collin Sexton, who then gave advice to newcomer Isaac Okoro and encouraged him to go a little more into the ball on the defensive side, while he continued to search for his own. attack points on the attack. Darius Garland asked Sexton to help him stop the ball in transition after giving up 16 quick points in the loss.
The Cavs believe they have identified their primary problem. Make no mistake, there is more than just one. Nevertheless, any chance of a revival begins at the defense – the side of the floor that had a beautiful start reinforced, the area that had to help the undermined Cavaliers stay competitive.
“I do not think there is currently a problem with the offense,” Cedi Osman said after the 128-111 loss. “I think defensively we need to be better. I mean, it just is not enough, especially not against these types of teams. We have to play harder. You see the other teams, they do not let us score easily, but we gave up so many easy points tonight. Offensively we will score because we have guys who can score the basketball, but defensively we just need to be better. ”
It is important to recognize a problem. The real question is whether the defensive misery that plagued the Cavs in this miserable month can be rectified.
“I feel it’s fixable,” Sexton said. ‘We gave up some open tries tonight, wide open. We guys just let ourselves be knocked off the dribble. If so, it’s going to be a tough game. When your husband goes downhill and makes everyone else turn, it’s hard to play like that.
“We talked about it. We know what to do. We just have to go out there and do it. At the end of the day, we can not continue to talk about it. We can not go on to say we are going to turn it on. It does not work like that. We had to make sure we were just going to play there and play hard, play for each other, and we had to be proud of the defense. We can not allow teams to score 120, 130, it is not going to win any matches. ”
At one point in the season, the Cavs, who finished last in defensive efficiency two years in a row, sat at the top of the category. They have now crashed to 22nd.
On Friday night, Cleveland gave up 70 points in the first half to a Los Angeles team that played without Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. It didn’t even matter that the Cavs ’attack broke out for 58 points. They were still halfway through 12 behind. By the end of the night, the Clippers had become the sixth team in the last seven games to score the 120-point mark. Only the Phoenix Suns failed. They missed it by one point.
“I do not know what the answer is, but it is easy for us to see the picture between defense and non-defense,” Osman said. “When we played defense, we were offensively great. We shared the basketball and played for each other. There are going to be nights that they are going to score naturally, but we have to show the effort, toughness and the willingness that we want to defend. ”
Osman said the only option is to get together.
“I think I play team defense. Help each other and cover each other, ”he said. “It was the best part we did at the start of the season. At the moment we are just leaving each other on the island and letting them play one-on-one. We can not do that. We had a difficult piece. We played against very good teams. It’s true. But I mean, I do not think that’s an excuse, because we’ve already beaten good teams, great teams and competed with them. Why not compete now? We need to get our minds right. We work for it. Coaches work for it. We try to understand everything they tell us. It’s up to us. It’s up to the players. Because it’s us who play. We need to be better. ”
Aside from the impromptu session late Sunday night, players seem to think the breakdown of coaches with coaches is beneficial. Bickerstaff provided the platform to speak openly in the meetings. It’s about accountability, about constructively pointing out mistakes, instead of putting blame.
According to Osman, there is team-wide recognition of mistakes when they appear on film. Guys can see where improvements need to be made. But there is an outline somewhere.
“We have to execute it in court,” Osman said. “I know we are a team that can play defense. At the start of the season, it’s the same. No difference. OK, yes, we are currently missing some players, but that can be no excuse. There’s always a next man up and our mindset should be defense, defense, defense, and then we’ll think about the offense. That’s the only way we’re going to push to win the games now. ”
Larry Nance Jr. brought by a broken left hand does not help. He’s the most striking defender from Cleveland, one of the mouthpieces at the end.
The opponent’s offensive rating with Nance on the floor is 108.5. This is tantamount to a offense that functions like the Detroit Pistons or Washington Wizards – two teams in the bottom third of the league. With Nance off the track, the opponent’s offensive rating explodes to a machine-like 117.5. It’s comparable to the Clippers, Nets and Jazz – three of the best in the league.
Andre Drummond’s regression is also notable – although he still finishes seventh in Defensive Win Shares and sixth in the rankings.
The Cavs know that a better defense can relieve some pressure from the struggling offense. The same can be true in the other way, with transgression offering confidence, not shrugging the shoulders and not being able to affect the following possessions.
“We have to get back there. And I feel like we’ve strayed from that, ‘Sexton said. “We know what we have to do, we only have to do it for 48 minutes. We can not do it one quarter, at most two quarters, because games will be over. The only way we are going to get out of this is to be together and build on that and continue to trust each other. ‘
At this point, the Cavs probably feel like every time they try to plug one hole, then water comes out of another.
Maybe there is just too much to upload and not enough speckling.
“We know we have to get better,” head coach JB Bickerstaff said. “And if you understand it, that’s the beginning of it. We understand that we did not play our best basketball against very good teams again. If you have the mindset, it gives you the opportunity to improve and be better. And this is where we are now. The guys are still committed, the guys are still bought into what we’re trying to do. They are together. We did not shatter or break. ”
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