Nov 4, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the third quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Cavaliers are Struggling to Defend the Rim
Searching for a header photo for this article, I typed “Kevin Love” into the USA Today Photo Archive. Several of the top results were snapshots of Love standing under the basket, hands at his side, as an opponent swooped in for a layup or dunk. We all knew the Cavaliers would have some challenges defending effectively, particularly at the rim, given their personnel. We all know that four games is a small sample size. That being said, the way things are going are not exactly shocking.
The Cavaliers currently rank 28th in the league in defensive efficiency, surrendering an average of 109.7 points per 100 possessions. They haven’t allowed an absurd number of shots at the rim, but opponents are shooting 56.7 percent (4th highest in the league) on the shots at the rim that have been contested by Cavaliers’ defenders[1. Per the NBA’s SportVU player tracking statistics].
But you can see from this opponent shot chart that their problems extend beyond the rim. Perhaps overcompensating for an interior defense that they know is flawed, the Cavaliers have been torched from beyond the three-point line—they rank 24th in opponent 3PT%. It’s a work in progress in Cleveland, but there is a lot of work left to do.
Brandon Knight, Driving Things in Milwaukee
Their record might not show it, but things are looking up for the Milwaukee Bucks. Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo are still finding their footing, but Brandon Knight has been terrific, looking exactly like the point guard it appeared he might never become. Through five games his per game averages — 18.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.0 steals — are all career-highs, even though he’s seeing essentially the same number of minutes he’s played in each of his three previous seasons.
One of the most dramatic shifts has been his aggressiveness attacking the basket and willingness to use dribble penetration to set up his teammates.
Knight is driving the ball far more often then he did last season and, although those drives[1. Defined as any touch that starts at least 20 feet from the basket and is dribbled to within 10 feet, per NBA.com’s SportVU player tracking statistics.] are producing slightly less efficiency for his team’s offense, they are far more likely to result in a scoring opportunity for someone else than they are for Knight. For a player who had appeared to settle into a “shoot-first, scoring” point guard role, this has been an exciting twist. He has assisted on 39.0 percent of the Bucks’ baskets while he’s on the floor, also a career-high and a huge increase over last season’s AST% of 26.6.
With this bump in his numbers, Knight’s Box Plus-Minus[2. A box score-based estimate of a player’s net (offensive and defensive) impact on his team’s performance, from Basketball-Reference.com] is above-average for the first time in his career. At +6.1 points per 100 possessions, his BPM ranks 11th among all players at this point.
There is still plenty of cohesiveness to be developed in Milwaukee’s offense. They’re overall efficiency is near the bottom of the league and they’ve actually been slightly worse when Knight has been on the floor. However, this stylistic change in his approach has to be viewed as a positive sign. If he can continue to be an effective offensive facilitator it will make the developmental paths of Giannis and Parker much smoother.
The Knicks Shifting Touches
The Triangle Offense has been installed in New York and so far the results have been mixed for the Knicks. They currently sit 21st in offensive efficiency, scoring just 99.2 points per 100 possessions. The product has not been great but we can already significant evidence of a changing process. The table below shows a few different offensive categories for the Knicks, this year and last, tracked by the NBA’s SportVU system.
None of those categories are inherently good or bad, it depends on a team’s personnel and intentions. But they are a reflection of how much the offensive process has been changing for the Knicks. In both elbow touches and passes per game, they’ve gone from the middle of the pack to one of the highest marks in the league. Their drives per game number was near the bottom of the league last season, but has fallen even further.
Again, process for the sake of process is not the endgame here, but it has to be heartening to see the Knicks follow through on their intentions. They are moving the ball more, and to different spots on the floor, with a focus on penetrating the defense with the pass instead of dribbling.