We are approximately one fourth of the way through the 2015-2016 season. Time flies. The Cavs have played 20 of their 82 regular season games and are 13-7.
It has not been pretty. Especially as of late. There are some valid arguments on either side of the spectrum. It’s early. They don’t have Kyrie or Shumpert back. These games don’t mean anything. All of which are true.
However, there’s something called the eye test that the Cavs are not bringing back great results.
They’ve lost four of their last six games and three in a row. These losses have come to teams they are clearly more talented than, even without Kyrie and Shump.
The Wizards at home. The Pelicans, who were 4-15 coming into that game. And getting blown out by the Heat with LeBron on the bench. Yes, LeBron not playing had a lot to do with it, but it didn’t even look like the Cavaliers in uniform cared they were getting demolished.
The most common phrase I hear from Cavs fans who are trying to urge calm and downplay the significance of this not so great start is “Look at where the Cavs were at this point last year.”
So, let’s do that.
At this point last season the Cavs were coincidentally 13-7 after 20 games. The exact same record as this season.
They reached that point after starting 5-7 and going on an eight-game win-streak.
On the flip side, the 2015-2016 Cavs started 11-3, before dropping four of six.
We know that in December of 2014 the Cavs went on a six-game losing streak that spanned into the beginning of 2015, which led to trades for Mozgov, Smith, and Shumpert.
Those trades turned out to spark a 12-game win-streak and the Cavs never looked back.
Aside from those trades, there were a couple other factors. LeBron took a two-week hiatus. Kyrie had been healthy almost all of the regular season.
But with all this in mind, the question arises, “Were the Cavs really in as bad a situation at this point last season?”
The easy argument to make is that when Kyrie and Shumpert come back everything will be sunshine and rainbows. The Cavs will be unstoppable.
We can count on that and there’s a good chance it will come to fruition. But for the people who actually take the time out of their evenings to watch regular season basketball in November and December, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that this team is not playing up to its potential.
So with today marking the unofficial one-quarter mark of the season it’s time to hand out our interim report cards.
You got them in school. Every quarter they gave you a progress report or whatever. Rather than simply grade the team as a whole, let’s break down each aspect of the team: Offense, Defense, Starting Five, Bench, Coaching, and then finish with the Overall Grade.
We start with the Offense.
The Cavs are averaging 101.5 points per game, currently tied for 13th in the NBA.
They are shooting .449 percent from the field, 9th in the league.
Their .352 percent from three-point range is 13th in the league.
One of the most encouraging signs is that the Cavs are 3rd in the NBA in three-pointers made per game averaging 10.
They average 22 assists (9th) to 14.4 turnovers (14th) per game.
Their offense is largely dependent on LeBron (26 points per game) and Love (18 points per game), but almost every great team relies heavily on their stars, so that’s not something to hold against the Cavs. It would be nice, though, to see some more contributions across the board.
All of these stats and numbers added up, combined with the eye test that there are lengthy stretches with little ball movement, too much isolation, and letting the shot clock wind down to throw up a poor shot, lead to the first quarter grade for the offense:
Offense: B –
Next up, we move to the Defense
When you walk into the Cavaliers locker room there are two charts on the wall. One is the Eastern Conference Standings. The other is a chart that ranks teams in order of opponents’ field goal percentage.
The Cavs hold opponents to .444 percent shooting from the field, which puts them at 17th.
The Cavs allow 97.6 points per game, 6th in the league.
They hold opponents to .341 percent shooting from three-point range, 12th in the league.
In terms of forcing turnovers, the Cavs are 25th in the league at 12.8 per game, and they are dead last in the NBA in steals per game at 6.1.
They are also 27th in blocks at 3.9 per game.
One area they have performed well is rebounding, averaging 45.9 boards per game, 7th best in the NBA.
These numbers overall are a far cry from the elite defense the Cavs played a season ago, and lead to our first quarter grade.
Defense: C –
Starting 5
The Starting Five has been a bit of a mix and match at times this season. For the most part, it’s been Mo Williams, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Timofey Mozgov. Occasional appearances from Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova have shown up in the starting lineup throughout the first 20 games and even a couple starts from Richard Jefferson.
With LeBron averaging 26, Love averaging 18, Williams averaging 13, and Smith averaging 11 points per game, you can’t ask for much more offense from those guys.
Not to pick on Mozgov (7 points, 4 rebounds per game), but it hasn’t been the start we envisioned.
Nevertheless, when you consider two of these guys in the starting five are filling in roles that they are not suited for, they have certainly held down the fort.
If these guys could bring more energy for four quarters, they’d be much better than 13-7, so in trying to be fair with the grading of this starting five that is really made up of three starters, here’s the conclusion.
Starting 5: B
Bench
Early in the season, it looked like the second unit was one of the strongest points of the team. Delly, Jefferson, and Tristan have all played integral roles in key moments this season. James Jones has had his few outbursts. Anderson Varejao has made a few appearances. Jared Cunningham has stepped up at times.
There’s no question this bench is vastly superior to and much deeper than the 2014-2015 team. It’s probably the biggest upgrade of the offseason.
However, the last two weeks of basketball have brought this unit down a little bit. So here’s the grade for the Cavs bench after one quarter of the season.
Bench: B +
Coaching
Two aspects of this season stick out when trying to dissect the 2015-2016 Cavaliers: Lack of effort, and lack of healthy players.
This makes grading the coach a bit difficult. Because let’s face it, he doesn’t have a full arsenal to work with.
But the guys he does have are not playing with the effort you would like to see.
How much of that falls on Head Coach David Blatt?
There are some trends sticking out of the team coming out flat to start the game, coming out of halftime flat, not playing hard for four quarters, abandoning fundamentals and resorting to “Hero-Ball.”
But how many teams could lose their second best scorer/all-star point guard, and their best on-ball defender, who can guard a point guard/shooting guard/small forward, and still manage to have the second best record in the conference?
Maybe it’s just a matter of trying to hold the fort down until the reinforcements arrive. But we still can expect better of this team.
It’s a mixed bag, but here’s the grade for coaching through one-quarter of the season.
Coaching: C +
OVERALL GRADE
Finally, we piece together all these aspects. Offense, Defense, Starting 5, Bench, and Coaching, and arrive at a conclusion for the overall grade of this team.
Keep in mind, this grade does not include guys who have yet to suit up this season. It is only applicable to the guys and the minutes they’ve been on the court as a whole.
It’s easy to be prisoner to the moment and say “Oh, the Cavs lost three in a row and four of their last six.”
But it would be dishonest to disregard the 8-1 start, or the 11-3 start after 14 games, even though those wins were not all pretty.
So, trying to balance out the great start (record-wise) to the struggles as of late, here is our first quarter grade for the Cavaliers.
OVERALL GRADE: B
There’s still 62 games left in the regular season before the real action begins, but periodically it’s good to assess the situation. Check back in February when we give our semester report card for all these areas.
Thanks for being a part of this week’s special edition of Write Down Euclid. Check back next Tuesday for your regularly scheduled programming.
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