From Distance: Embracing the Now

Four point play...

1. Thirteen games of winning basketball has put Cavs nation into a collectively good mood. It’s certainly more fun to dissect what is right with the defending Eastern Conference Champions than what is wrong. From JMay’s fine piece on Jeff Green, to the national media’s resurgent love affair with Kyle Korver and Dwyane Wade, it’s been a delightful mini era of Cleveland basketball.

Oh, and LeBron James is an absolute monster. He’s evolved. He’s elevated his regular season game. The King is shooting the rock with confidence and precision. It’s getting almost silly at this point.

LeBron’s season is an example of how a person’s game can change over time. A player must put in the work. He must accept his current limitations and do everything he can to work within those restraints. LeBron’s shooting and dexterity around the rim are skills that he has honed as his body has aged. He is arguably better as this less athletic version of himself than he was in his physical prime.

Without that acceptance of current reality, these positive changes don’t happen. Dywane Wade has also embraced this phase of his career, and it is playing out wonderfully for Tyronn Lue.

2. Most of the talk surrounding Dwyane Wade’s recent surge has focused on the future Hall of Famer’s offensive playmaking. Kyle Korver, LeBron James, and basically every other person within the Cavaliers’ organization have talked about Wade’s ability to run the second unit as a distributor and floor general. While those voices are certainly articulating a truth, Wade’s defensive contributions shouldn’t be overlooked.

It is common knowledge among NBA junkies that Dwyane Wade is one of the best shot blocking guards in history. At only 6’4″, Wade has somehow managed to average nearly a block per game for his career. That is somewhat astounding for a guard of any size. Indeed, Wade passed Dennis Johnson for most blocks by a player 6’4″ and under four years ago. However, in the years since he passed Johnson, Wade’s block rate plummeted sinking as low as only .3 BLK in the first season without LeBron in Miami.

That is hardly a surprise. A great number of Wade’s blocks come in defensive rotation from the weakside. Wade has exceptional defensive court awareness as a rotational defender. Throughout his career, his crash down timing on the roll man has made up for some of Wade’s gambling nature in passing lanes. As Wade aged out of his physical prime, LeBron’s presence allowed him to trade assignments. Those Heat teams gambled heavily and won.

After LeBron returned to Cleveland, Dwyane had to shoulder more of an offensive load. He was both older and had less help. A historically great two-way-player began to save energy on the defensive end of the floor. Wade continued to gamble for steals, but his teammates weren’t as dominating, and his legs weren’t as fresh. While Erik Speolstra still gave his teams a chance on the defensive end by adapting a more conservative scheme, Wade was more a defensive liability than star.

3. Following a truly strange season in Chicago, Wade has embraced an almost Spursian minutes load as a Cavalier. After beginning the season as a starter, Wade has settled into the Manu Ginobili role on both ends of the floor. The roughly seven minute reduction to his playing time has done wonders for his per minute averages.

With fewer possessions as the only playmaker, Wade has rekindled his defensive fire. It has been a huge factor in the bench unit’s defensive efficiency. Every guy in that lineup knows how to play solid team defense, i.e, how to shade the back end of a Pick and Roll, when to come off a man as a rotational defender, and in Wade’s case, how to make an unsuspecting opponent feel like it’s 2006 again.

Many of Wade’s per 36 numbers are his highest since 2012. His shooting attempts are down, but he is more efficient than he has been in years. His now league average three point shooting would be a career high if he were able to maintain it.

It’s that uptick in steals and blocks that has been so beneficial to a squad that played zero defense through its first twelve games. Wade is locked in during his time on the floor. The steals and blocks are a result of play recognition and great rotational timing. Opposing offenses fear him as much right now than opposing defenses. It’s beautiful to watch.

Really, the whole squad has been fun since NBA functional lineups were forced upon Tyronn Lue via injury. That in combination with Wade’s understanding of who he can be in 2017, catapulted the Cavs into the win streak.

4. As I discussed last week, the team has benefited from the absence of certain  guys. With the return of Derrick Rose to the team and the imminent return of Tristan Thompson, it will be interesting, and somewhat terrifying, to see how Coach Lue handles the rotation.

Who knows what Derrick Rose said exactly during a recent team meeting. It was likely something about being a teammate and his responsibility to himself as a man and to his family. An apology of sorts. The guys probably listened and tried to be supportive. This squad seems to be filled with high character guys who are as concerned about Rose, the person, as much as Rose, the player.

That being said, if I were his teammate, I’d have a very difficult time trusting that he has the teams’ needs high on his list of priorities.

Let’s say his first priority is to be healthy and happy. Great. As it should be. Does the acceptance of getting little to no playing time upon a theoretical return rate second? If he finally is healthy, do we really think he is going to internalise that the team is better off without him on the floor? If he couldn’t understand team defense under Coach Thibs, should we have much hope that he ever will?

I have no desire to pile on Rose, the man. I have had similar experiences in my life. Having an injury tear you down from great professional heights can be beyond frustrating. There are days one feels good and thinks that it is possible to just perform in the same way as pre-injury. It might last a few minutes before the physical reality kicks in. One feels the loss of a super power.

It’s like aging, only one doesn’t have the maturity or skills to handle it gracefully. The whole thing happens just too quickly. Still, there are plenty of players that succeed after their physical primes because they know and embrace their limitations. They learn more of the game. Rose still has enough physical talent left in the tank to play in the NBA if he were to advance his skill-set and savvy.

Currently, he has neither, having no “old man” game to speak of. His once otherworldly talent is very much earthbound. While it is certainly a shame that he was robbed if his prime, he hasn’t been robbed of his mind.

Can he learn? Can he accept that those little flashes of joy that he used to experience as “the man” are only to be relieved in practice or in garbage time? Can he believe that the new, less sporty model could actually be a functional player? Could he, gasp, pass the ball and talk on defense?

I don’t know. I doubt it. Some people would rather be a broken Ferrari than a functional sedan. One’s identity is hard to change. It certainly doesn’t help to have teammates and coaches talk about him being “back” everytime he gets into the lane. “Back” is never an attainable goal. We only move in one direction.

For his and the Cavaliers sake, I hope Rose returns healthy with an understanding of who he is and what he currently can be as a player.

Quickies:

I’m not quite sure what to make of the Minnesota Timberwolves. We are deep enough into the season to have a decent idea of what a teams’ character is. With Thib’s squad, it might as well be preseason.

The Wolves are still pretty awful on the defensive end, despite the constant screaming from the sidelines. It feels like two different teams. Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Wiggins and Jeff Teague are all seemingly soft players who consistently get their offensive numbers.

Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson are hardnosed players who can get hot for stretches, but disappear at times. It feels like they lose every game I watch, and yet they sit at 15-11. I dunno. Color me skeptical until I see Towns play positional defense with any regularity.

The little secret around the league is not how bad Wiggins has been as a defender. That’s been heavily reported. The secret is how little KAT has done on that end of the floor. He isn’t a minus, but with that frame, he should be a plus. I’ll say it again. I’d rather have Porzingis.

I’d also rather have Kawhi Leonard, but that has gotten a bit foggy over the last few months. I miss watching Leonard play ball. The Spurs have still won at an impressive rate without him, but it’s a bummer to be without the second or third best player in league. What’s been going on? I hope the Spurs were just being their sneaky selves and that Kawhi wasn’t more severely injured than we thought. If the reports of a possible Friday return are true, it would make an competitive NBA season that much more entertaining.