The Point Four-ward: Bench Pressed

Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…

1.) Since taking over for David Blatt two weeks ago, much of head coach Tyronn Lue’s mission has been jiggling the cables connecting the three biggest pieces of the Cavs’ home entertainment system — LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love — in an attempt to find that perfect HD-quality picture, that rich Dolby surround sound, the foundation-shaking bass that was promised on the outside of the system’s box.

On the whole, Lue’s insistence that his two transition maestros — James and Irving — play a more downhill, attacking style has helped. At least, it’s helped James, Irving and Love. James, who seems to have sealed his jump shot in a time capsule sometime back in early 2014 (maybe we’ll see it again in 2024? Or 2064?), has been able to convert buckets against an unsettled defense or pass off to teammates who find themselves wide open as the result of the defense collapsing to try to stop James.

The same has been true for Irving, who has been able to bring the score-first mentality to the court that suits him.

And it’s been great for Love, who now finds himself the recipient of wide-open look after wide-open look. This action has helped Love start games out strong and has led to his most impressive stretch of games (his 4-12 shooting performance for 12 points in the team’s 106-97 loss to the Hornets in Charlotte Wednesday night not withstanding) since becoming a Cavalier last year.

Problem solved, right?

Right??

2.) Well…

The elevation of Tyronn Lue to the (extra padded) head coaching chair hasn’t had quite the same invigorating effect on all of the Cavaliers. All the focus on the team’s stars has obscured the fact that their bench has been positively feeble since Lue took over.

Take, for example, the play of Iman Shumpert.

Since the firing of Blatt, Shumpert has seen his minutes drop to an average of 19.5 per game, down from his season average of 24 minutes. In those same six games, Shumpert is averaging just 4.1 points per game and has scored five or more points only twice.

Now, it is true that — excluding last year’s Finals — Shumpert has never been called on to score as a member of the Cavaliers. He comes in and provides elite perimeter defense of the quick, slappy-hands variety and having a player like Shumpert fill that role and embrace it the way that Shumpert has (he rarely takes a shot just to get one up in the air) has been and will continue to be critical to the Cavs championship ambitions. But his drop in minutes is concerning when the team’s new head coach promised more defined roles and rotations and a further reach down the bench.

On a team devoid of a lot of offensive pop coming off the bench, it is extremely helpful to have Shumpert go off for 10-15 points every four or five games. Under Blatt, that’s exactly what Shumpert would do. Under Lue, though, Shumpert is taking just four shots per game as a shooting guard in nearly 20 minutes. Basically, if Delly isn’t on — and he was out on Wednesday nursing a sore hamstring — it’s tough to imagine the Cavs’ bench as it is currently being utilized — with Shumpert joining Dellevadova, Timofey Mozgov, and Richard Jefferson or Mo Williams — mustering up much, if anything, in the way of offensive life support for the starters.

This season, Shumpert is shooting 39% on corner threes, but is taking just one of those per game (which, yes, does make the high percentage a little suspect). Why not create action that gets him another attempt or two from those spots when he’s on the floor? Another couple of points from Shumpert isn’t the secret elixir that will morph the Cavs into a team impervious to all comers… but it — or a move like it — sure could add a shake of hot sauce (and, really, only just one shake) to a Cavs bench playing firmly in Blandland.

3.) In Lue’s first seven games, this is the way he’s handled his bench:

In his first game against the Chicago Bulls, Lue went 10 deep. Tristan Thompson was still coming off the bench and he, Dellavedova and Shumpert all played over 20 minutes and were joined by James Jones and Mo Williams with roughly six and three minutes, respectively. That unit contributed just eight points in more than 75 combined minutes.

Against the Timberwolves, Dellavedova scored 18 points in 25 minutes off the bench, while the other reserves — Shumpert, Mozgov and Williams — chipped in 13 points in 43 combined minutes.

The bench had, by far, their best game against the Phoenix Suns as Jefferson (who had been idle the previous two games) and Mozgov each reached double figures scoring 14 and 10, respectively.

Mozgov had another strong game against the Pistons scoring 12 points and pulling down eight boards. The other five Cavaliers who got off the bench chipped in just eight points in 51 combined minutes on the court.

Dellavedova had another strong game against the Spurs, notching 15 points, three assists and four boards. Four other Cavaliers combined for 11 points off the bench.

Then, in Monday’s game against the Pacers, Delly was held scoreless and the entire bench chipped in just ten points as Lue relied heavily on his starters in what was eventually an overtime win.

And in Wednesday’s loss, the bench scored 18 points but only Shumpert and Williams played more than nine minutes while, again, Lue leaned on the starters, even when they weren’t getting it done.

The bench isn’t devoid of talent, but it doesn’t have too many players outside of Dellavedova who are comfortable creating their own shot. They need someone to get them the ball in their spots. Sometimes that person has been James, but with Irving thinking “pass” less and Delly currently idle, the Cavs need to find their spark elsewhere.

4.) But maybe the bench’s help is on its way.

Since Lue was hired, he’s talked about getting Kevin Love more comfortable. That didn’t just mean getting him more touches — which he definitely has, as a result of Lue’s insistence that Irving and James play with an increased pace — but also getting him playing “like he did in Minnesota.”

Translation: Lue wants to run some of the offense through Love at the elbows, which was a mainstay in the playbooks of his most successful seasons as a member of the Timberwolves.

While Love has already benefited from the attention James and Irving draw when they attack more quickly, the 6-10 forward admitted recently that we haven’t seen many of the “Minnesota plays” implemented yet. When we do, the assumption has been that they will feature Love playing while James and Irving are resting. It might also mean that Cavs fans will get to see more of Love as a passer who can use the attention he draws to create opportunities for his teammates.

After all, there’s talent sitting on the Cavs bench that could give Love some Minnesota flashbacks. He excelled playing with a hulking center in Nikola Pekovic and a lanky defensive stopper in Corey Brewer. Could Love, maybe, develop that same chemistry with their Cavalier versions, Mozgov and Shumpert?

If Love continues to play as well as he has been playing almost exclusively with the starting unit, though, where would his minutes with the second unit come from?

For the Cavs, who have struggled to fully utilize Love since the moment he pulled on a wine and gold uniform, having too many options with their power forward is suddenly a great problem to have.

At least, Cavs fans better hope that’s the problem.