Cleveland Cavaliers’ Defense Will Thwart Year 1 Title Hopes
By Sam Mattfolk
@MattSamFolk
Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Star Forward LeBron James famously took his talents back to his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers this summer, hoping to bring a championship to the beleaguered city of Cleveland. The Cavs’ excellent summer started not with “The Return,” but with a stunning lottery victory that landed Andrew Wiggins.
Wiggins was the key asset that allowed for the acquisition of power forward Kevin Love, an ideal sidekick for LeBron. Cleveland should be an incredible offensive force once they develop some chemistry, but the Cavs won’t win the 2015 NBA Finals because of defense.
Cleveland has a decent defender in the middle in center Anderson Varejao, yet Varejao is one of the NBA’s frailest players. Last season’s 65 games was the first time since LeBron was last in Cleveland that Varejao had appeared in at least 40 games. Love and reserve power forward Tristan Thompson will play some center as well, but neither is a viable rim protector.
Thompson struggles on the defensive end as well, not quick enough to handle stretch-fours and not physical enough to handle strong centers. Although Love’s shortcomings as a post defender are mitigated somewhat by his excellent defensive rebounding, the Cavs’ toughest matchup in the East will be the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are armed with perhaps the NBA’s best front-line with first team All-NBA center Joakim Noah and forwards Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson.
On the perimeter, PG Kyrie Irving is amongst the NBA’s worst defenders at his position. According to Real Plus-Minus, a new ESPN metric that attempts to isolate a player’s contribution from that of his teammates, Irving rated 65th defensively out of 75 point guards who had played enough minutes to be considered with a score of -3.38. For comparison, Phoenix Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe scored a +3.97, the best mark for a point guard, and a difference in defensive contribution worth 7.35 points per game. Those points would make for a greater total Real Plus-Minus than all but two players in the NBA: Chris Paul and LeBron James. Cleveland will struggle against teams with elite point guards, including top Eastern Conference challengers from Chicago to the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards.
On the wings, James may be one of the NBA’s top defenders, but he didn’t play to his ability a year ago. It didn’t require the lukewarm scores in advanced statistics to see James wasn’t putting forth his usual effort on the defensive side of the ball. With starting shooting guard Dion Waiters another very low scorer on DRPM, the task will mostly fall to James to guard elite wing scorers. Miami Heat castoffs Mike Miller and James Jones will contribute as shooters, yet neither is a good defender. Reserve small forward Shawn Marion will take on the role of stopper during his minutes, but Marion is essentially a more athletic version of what LeBron got out of Shane Battier in Miami at this stage in his career.
Cleveland’s best defense will be rebounding, which the Cavs should thrive at. Love is one of the best in the NBA, and he will be spelled by another great rebounder in Thompson. LeBron is also one of the better rebounders at small forward. Will limited second-chance opportunities be enough for the Cavs to tread water defensively? Only time will tell.
There is hope, certainly, for Cleveland to be a serious contender to win a championship — adding LeBron will do that to most teams. A devastating offense will bring the Cavs a long way, yet playoff basketball more often than not comes down to defense. The Bulls are constructed to push Cleveland around and may be the most complete team if Derrick Rose can return to his pre-injury form. The Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder all would pose significant matchup problems for the Cavs in a potential NBA Finals.
This team probably needs a year to gel before it grows into the monster it could become, and LeBron’s brilliance is all that can expedite the process. As usual in his career, it appears it will all come down to LeBron James.
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