An offensive set to be thankful for
2014-11-27https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=acjirC0p73U#t=235
Happy Thanksgiving, campers. This Thursday, since it’s a holiday, I’ll spare you my weekly 2,000 word screed on what I’d like to see the Cavs doing and just show you a perfect example of the Cavs doing exactly what I’ve been begging them to do all season long.
Hopefully, the above video above (which comes from @DawkinsMTA, who runs the best NBA YouTube channel out there) is set to the appropriate time, but since I have no idea how to do that, skip to the 3:55 mark if it starts from the beginning. This is how a 2014-15 Cavalier offensive set should look.
STEP 1: The play here is a simple 3-1 pick and roll, which was a staple of the Heat offense when LeBron played there and has been an attempted staple of the Cavalier offense this season. It’s a very effective set, since not many teams can have a 250-pound man as the ball-handler on the pick-and-roll. The problem with it so far for the Cavaliers has been that Kyrie has been setting nonchalant screens, so instead of a 3-1 pick-and-roll it’s “Kyrie and LeBron waste 8 seconds of the shot clock while standing near each other.”
On this play, however, Kyrie sets a screen like a guy who was born in Australia, not like a guy who went to Duke. LeBron’s man can’t fight over the screen fast enough, and LeBron has a lane to the basket. Now the Wizards are on the back foot, and good things can happen organically. That’s what a successful offensive set does.
STEP 2: Marcin Gortat makes a nice rotation to keep LeBron from getting an easy finish on the drive, and Kris Humphries rotates down to keep LeBron from having a pass to Thompson for an easy dunk. This leaves Joe Harris open for an above-the-break 3, and LeBron fires the pass to him.
STEP 3: Since Harris is a 3-point threat who has to be respected, Kyrie’s man leaves him to contest what would be a wide-open 3. Harris, without so much as putting the ball on the floor, swings the ball to Kyrie, who’s open at the top of the 3-point arc. This forces Dion Waiters’ man to leave Waiters alone in the corner and close out on Kyrie at full speed.
STEP 4: Kyrie now has two options: Hit Waiters with a pass that would set him up with an open 3, or decimate the ankles of a defender who has to run at him full-speed, and thus has no real chance of staying in front of one of the best ballhandlers in basketball. Kyrie goes with option B, and goes from left to right with a behind-the-back dribble on his man.
STEP 5: Kyrie is now between the top of the key and the free throw line, with options. He can pull up on his man for a mid-range jumper, which isn’t a terrible shot, but isn’t a great one. There’s still enough room between Waiters and his man for a three if Kyrie fires a pass to his right side. But the best option is the one Kyrie goes with — since Kyrie’s crossover forced Humphries to step into the middle of the lane to prevent Kyrie from getting a layup on a potential blow-by, LeBron is now open just under the basket, on the left side. In a flash, Kyrie picks up his dribble and hits LeBron with a bullet pass in one fluid motion. Now LeBron’s got a layup, and he even gets an and-1 out of the deal.
That’s what we’re talking about here — spacing, guys working together, multiple good options created by actions, and LeBron and Kyrie using their respective talents to make life easier on each other. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
I remember noting late in the game that Kyrie was back to setting weak-a## screens again. It was disappointing.
Watched some old Youtube footage of Lebron’s more herculean efforts after the above video…i gotta say he doesn’t yet look anything like the athlete he has been in the past…but man is he good at anticipating what’s going to happen. He reads the game like nobody else in the league on both ends. If we can somehow sneak into a top seed in the east, we really do have a legit shot at coming out of the East if only because he’s like a 2nd coach. If I were Dion Waiters, I would never let Lebron get more than 5… Read more »
I do think LeBron is slowing down a bit, but I’m ok with that. His move back to Cleveland may have sprung in part from a growing awareness of his basketball mortality. A few years back, when Riley was pitching the Heat to LeBron, he framed it like ‘Voltron’ (or was that John Krolik?) Anyway, the idea worked then and works especially well here. LeBron is the Black Lion, the head of the super robot and Andy, Kyrie, Kevin, and Dion are like his four limbs. He won’t necessarily have to do the wrecking, his limbs will do it for… Read more »
it is depressing how dramatically LBJ’s explosiveness has fallen off. i am still hopeful it is an injury and it will come back.
“On this play, however, Kyrie sets a screen like a guy who was born in Australia, not like a guy who went to Duke.”
Headshot
My favorite line, too.