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January 23, 2014Indians join the list of teams interested in Luis Ayala
January 23, 2014Last time in the Cavalier film room, we talked about the potential of the Cavalier offense when they’re sharing the basketball. As always, if you have any recommendations for film room topics, please contact me at kirk@waitingfornextyear.com.
This week, we’re going to dive into the fevered comeback that fell just short against the Mavericks on Monday afternoon, looking exclusively at how the rebounding of Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao on the offensive glass made the comeback possible. We’ll also go back to another terrible Mike Brown X’s and O’s session in crunch time.
Let’s start early in the fourth quarter with Tristan Thompson wanting the ball more than the rest on the floor. Anderson Varejao gets a wide-open mid-range look that he’s been knocking down with such efficiency this season after there appears to be some confusion between Brandan Wright, Dirk Nowitzki, and Vince Carter on who is supposed to be covering him.
Because of the confusion, Thompson is the deepest underneath the basket as the shot goes up. One of Tristan’s greatest strengths is staying in the play on every offensive possession and not assuming a make in any scenario.
Thompson holds his ground and then pushes back against Nowitzki to clear some space in the restricted area.
The ball comes off the rim, and Tristan outjumps Nowitzki, tipping the ball back behind him and toward the basket.
He recovers it, rips through, and gets fouled by Wright on the floor.
Next, we start on a Kyrie Irving baseline drive. Three sets of eyeballs from Dallas are attached to Irving on the drive as he blows by Calderon. Varejao and Thompson are both outside of the paint as the drive begins to draw defenders away from the basket.
Kyrie gets met at the hoop by Shawn Marion, and he misses the shot, but every other Dallas defender is focused on Kyrie and has not picked up on both Cavalier big men dashing toward the offensive glass.
Tristan comes right through in the space vacated by Marion and puts it back up for the hoop. One thing that’s been a problem for Thompson is bringing the ball back down below his neck when he goes back up with the shot. Keeping it high and not giving anyone a chance to chip it out of his grasp is important.
Moving on, Kyrie gets a 15-footer blocked by Shane Larkin. In the mad dash and with the shot clock winding down, Varejao uses hand-to-hand combat with Dejuan Blair to secure the rebound.
As he secures the rebound, Irving is directly behind him, but you can see that Dallas’s defensive balance is completely thrown off with Jack and Waiters both standing wide open on the three point line.
They say the best time to shoot a three pointer is off an offensive rebound because of the open looks and scrambling defense in that sequence.
Andy fires it to Jack, who launches from well beyond the arc but drills it as the shot clock goes off. Andy’s passing ability has been nothing short of phenomenal in the last two seasons. He’s one of the few things that gives the Cavalier offense some flow for stretches.
The fourth offensive board looks a lot like the second one with Kyrie on the right-side drive headed straight to the hoop. Notice that Thompson has his man sealed on the opposite side to keep the helpside defender away and keep the lane open for Irving. Andy is outside of the paint.
Irving gets chipped and pushed as he goes to lay it up (no foul call, of course, in this awfully officiated game). But, Thompson’s early work in the drive pays off.
Thompson springs for the rebound, goes up for it in one motion, and once again gets fouled. One thing Thompson really needs to work on is converting more and-one opportunities.
Thompson makes the first foul shot, but he misses the second one. Below, we see Varejao pinched in the box-out by Shawn Marion and Vince Carter. Why Dejuan Blair isn’t on that side and he’s instead accounting for Jack I’ll never know.
Andy gets one arm through and keeps pushing, keeps scrapping, keeps moving toward the hoop with both of these guys hammering away at him for space.
Andy never even really gets by them, but he does get one arm through as they move to the middle of the paint, and he tips it with his right hand and it falls in. There’s no better example of the relentless nature of Anderson Varejao than right there.
Moving along, a Luol Deng shot goes up from the right corner. You’ll see that once again Andy and Tristan start outside the key to effectively crash the boards.
Thompson puses his way through, knocks a defender off balance, and leaps toward the ball.
Carter shoves Tristan in the backside as he goes up for the dunk, and back he goes to the foul line.
Tristan misses both free throws, which was a killer in this game for the wine and gold. However, Varejao is on the left side of the free throw lane. This time, it is Dejaun Blair low and Shawn Marion high blocking him out. The NBA rule that allows movement for all but the shooter as soon as the ball is released helps offensive rebounders like Varejao. He already has an angle on Blair with the ball not even halfway there. Marion isn’t putting forth the effort.
Andy gets right underneath the basket and gets a hand on the ball.
Here’s a better angle directly underneath the bucket. Andy outworks three Mavericks for the rebound.
There’s never any question as to the strength of Anderson inside. He rips it through Marion and Dirk reaching for it and clears the rebound. The possession ends with a Thompson dunk.
The final offensive rebound we’re going to show begins with a missed Kyrie jumper. This play perfectly shows how Varejao and Thompson are able to both operate on the boards without interfering without one another much at all. It’s rebounding in levels or tiers.
Andy gets a hand on the missed shot, tipping it back toward the middle of the paint where Thompson is.
In the scramble, Thompson beats out three Mavs for the ball.
Thompson kicks it out once again to start the possession over again. Most big men would’ve probably given up on the ball once Varejao was in the area, but it’s the attitude that any ball is up for grabs on that end that makes the Cavs a good offensive rebounding team.
The Cavaliers grabbed just 14 offensive rebounds for the entire game, but nine of those came in the fourth quarter. Eight of them (all of which were shown here) came in a six-minute stretch where the wine and gold cut the deficit from 14 to 2. They were all courtesy of Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson. In those two players, the Cavaliers have two of the top 20 offensive rebounders in the league (Thompson – 14th (12.3 ORB%), Varejao – 19th (11.3 ORB%)). The Cavaliers as a team are just 11th in the league, securing 27.0% of potential offensive boards. The dropoff comes from the bench, where Tyler Zeller grabs 10.6% but the team plays even smaller with three guard lineups and Earl Clark is at just 2.9% ORB%. There’s also less ball movement with the Jack and Waiters isolation plays that leave the big men in less opportune position to grab them.
There’s one more thing I just HAD to revisit, the five-second call on the inbound play with 2.8 seconds left down just three. How did this happen AGAIN to the Cavaliers? Let’s look at the personnel and setup. Jarrett Jack is the inbounder, and then we have Varejao, Deng, Irving, and Miles lined up in a straight line nearly perpendicular to Jack’s angle at the basket.
Miles flashes from the corner, then curls back around. Irving heads over top of the Miles flash. That’s likely one option for Jack to hit.
Kyrie keeps heading up the three-point arc and away from Jack after a Deng pick. Miles is guarded and hanging down low. Varejao has hardly moved and is covered by Vince Carter at the top of the key.
Irving just keeps going to the far corner after an Andy pick, but against the 6’11” Brandan Wright, Jack has no chance of getting that pass off without a deflection. Miles comes back and tries to rub off another Deng screen.
We’re at about four on the count here, and nothing worthwhile has developed. Deng and Miles are in the middle of crossing paths, so neither is an option. Irving is 50 feet away from Jack. Andy seems to be the only one flashing toward the ball with any sense of urgency.
BOOM! Five! Jack lets the ball go, but it’s only after Dan Crawford’s whistle blows. The Mavericks basically stayed at home, used a tall inbounder, and let Mike Brown’s crappy inbound play unfold.
SO many thoughts went through my head when I saw this play. First, Jack should not have been the one that triggered this pass. It should’ve been Varejao for his added height and the fact that he’s a better passer and decision maker than Jack. It’s hard to shoot a long, contested, isolation jumper from the sideline, which is Jack’s only discernible contribution this season. Second, why do you have Kyrie flashing AWAY from the inbounder? Third, once again, I looked at this inbound play and I could honestly NOT tell who the desired target was. It was probably Kyrie on one of those two screens coming back to the top of the key, but Dallas sniffed it out. Additionally, WHY must Mike Brown have inbound plays where there seems to be only one option? Miles and Deng should have both been options to receive the ball, and the spacing should have been far better. They could have inbounded into the backcourt for crying out loud since it was the final two minutes! The desperation wasn’t there early enough in the five-second count.
How many times are we going to be forced to burn an extra timeout or have this happen because Mike Brown can’t draw up a decent play? It’s a real problem, and it’s an indictment on the head coach, plain and simple. The Cavs have to get open, but these clustered, one-option abominations aren’t going to cut it.
Until next time, the film room is closed!
2 Comments
Mike Brown shouldn’t have been fired the first time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well said, Kirk. The offensive rebounding was fun to watch, but the inbound play was the one I was really interested to see. Once again (and with gusto this time), I REALLY REALLY LOATHE THIS. STOP IT MIKE BROWN. YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW!