Paul Dolan and Optimism: Opposites Attract
November 18, 2010Game Recap: Jackets Hang Around, Stun Kings Late in Third Period to Hand LA Their First Home Loss
November 18, 2010Before Wednesday night’s game where the Cavaliers hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, head coach Byron Scott listed five team goals on a dry erase board underneath the flat-panel television that typically broadcasts another basketball game.
Chief among the endeavors was ball movement, with a listed goal of 30 assists as a team. Sure, 30 seems like a nice, round number with which the Wine and Gold can set their sights, but it is also a number that has provided fruit each time the team has come close to attaining it this season. In the back-to-back losses to New Jersey and Indiana, the Cavs recorded 21 and 15 assists, respectively. In their win over New Jersey on the road, the Cavaliers racked up 27 assists.
And in Wednesday night’s win over the Sixers, 28 more. Just two shy of their goal, and a tally mark in the win column.
“The last couple of days we have been talking about our offense and really getting the ball moving,” said head coach Byron Scott. “With 28 assists, our guys did a heck of a job trusting each other.”
Trusted each other, indeed. Following the more-recent groin injury point guard Mo Williams, we stressed the importance of Ramon Sessions to focus more on passingthan he had over the first two weeks of the season. Struggling to find a jump shot, and shooting a career low 45.5 percent on shots at the rim, we said that – for this team, as currently constructed, to succeed – Sessions would need to get back to assist (and assist-to-turnover) levels which he was providing during his first two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwoves.
Over the last five games, the Cavs are averaging 22.0 assists and 10.8 turnovers. And in his last two games, Sessions has provided the Cavaliers with 13 assists and only two turnovers.
“That’s what you want from your point guard (high assists, no turnovers). Ramon got us off to a good start the way he was pushing the ball up the floor, and him taking care of the ball is big, especially against this team because they turn them (turnovers) into points. Again, he did a real good job of orchestrating the offense, getting us into our sets and taking care of the basketball.”
If the Cavalierswere to continue to work at a pace of 22 assists and 10 turnovers, they would be among the top-10 in the former, and the absolute best in the NBA in the latter. Where head coach Mike Brown stressed defense and calculated half-court plays, Byron Scott is taking an Eric Mangini-like approach by stressing mistake-free, team basketball.
When asked if these last five games have been a sign of what the team was working on in their days off, Coach Scott confirmed his expectations of a team that takes care of the basketball at all times.
“We always stress taking care of the basketball, said Scott. “That little orange thing is pretty valuable. We always stress taking care of the ball as much as possible.”
Over the course of the last three seasons, the Cavaliers have averaged just over 20 assists per game, large in part to LeBron James’ career average of seven assists per game. But often times, the Cavaliers fell into a funk of standing around and watching one man dribble down the clock only to hoist up a mid-range jump shot. And while this Cavaliersteam may not have a 30-7-7 guy on their roster, Byron Scott’s Princeton offense will not allow for one guy and four bystanders.
Even if it results in one too many passes, this Cavaliers team will continue to have is sight set on that coveted 30 assist mark. They will endeavor to play mistake-free basketball, and wil l ultimately win (and lose) as a team.
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(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
10 Comments
I think Rick was tracking the number of missed layups on Twitter, but I would guess they could have easily hit their goal of 30 assists had they made HALF of their bunnies.
Rick was tallying the number of times the Cavs had the ball in the paint and didn’t score. Some of this was, yes, caused by missed lay-ups. Alternatively, the team was driving and kicking out a LOT in the fourth quarter. Joey Graham/Antawn Jamison make those threes in the corner and 30 it is.
For the record, what I was counting were drives into the lane and shots attempted at the rim, but with no points scored.
I decided to do the tally based on a stunning number of such drives that have failed this year for the Cavs. We simply are not a great team when it comes to finishing at the rim. Yes, Hickson and Moon can finish (although Hickson has to be able to use two hands to do so) and Hollins finishes with dunks, but our guards (who do the majority of the drives) cannot.
I did not count drives which ended in free throw attempts. Only those which ended in missed shots or blocked shots in which the Cavs lost possession.
They finished with 13 such near-rim misses.
Maybe layup wasn’t the right term, but from the wayyy up at the Q Tuesday night they looked to be missing a lot of very close shots. I didn’t read the Twitter stuff the next day but I thought it was funny because I was texting a buddy all night, who couldn’t watch the game, how awful they were at finishing. Seeing the tally was great. Harris stuck in my head as a main offender.
Did anyone see all the empty seats in Miami last night? I’m proud of all the Clevelanders still supporting this team.
Didn’t read the Twitter stuff UNTIL the next day that is…..
For what it’s worth, CLE is eighth in the NBA in terms of FG% on shots ‘at the rim,’ converting 59.5 of them, with 56 percent of makes being via assist. If you take it out to < 10 feet, they're considerably worse at 39.7.
good to see Byron stressing what matters.
Status report:
1 game out in the Central.
Above .500 in conference and .750 on the road.
.333 at home (ouch)
I agree that there have been too many missed shots at the rim this season. I do feel good that the team has been getting a lot of looks in the paint and many seem to be good shots, just not falling. To me, it shows they’re being aggressive. I feel like the looks will start to fall as the team gets a little more comfortable with the system.
@4 The wife and I were at dinner and the game was on. When I pointed out all of the empty seats to her, all she said was “that’s pathetic”
Can’t help but wonder if Scott had coach the Cavs the past couple of years. My hunch is we’d be enjoying an NBA championship or two
[…] a while back, just prior to the last matchup with the 76ers, Scott mentioned that Coach Scott’s goals for the team that night included 30 assists? The team fell just short of that with a season high 28 assists. Unfortunately, that was pretty […]