From Distance: Kyle’s Play

Four point play….

1. Well, I didn’t realize that was on the table. Tyronn Lue “just felt like” surprising J.R. Smith via text message before the Cavaliers continued their road trip against the Phoenix Suns. Welcome to the bench, Earl!

Okay, I doubt those were Coach Lue’s exact words, but they might as well have been considering the timing of the move. After two losses in L.A., the Suns contest(I use the term loosely) loomed as an obvious “get well” game for the Wine and Gold. These days, there is nothing like a trip to the desert to get your shot wet.

If I were J.R. Smith, I would have been very excited to hoist some first quarter shots as J.R. has been wont to do since Kevin Love went out with injury. Instead, Smith was again demoted to the bench seemingly at a whim.

Benching a guy before a Suns game is both a good move and a ridiculous one. It’s good for your reputation as a coach. There is little chance that the choice will backfire against such awful competition. The ridiculous part is roughly the same. A Suns game lets struggling starters regain their mojo.

Since his arrival, it has been widely assumed that Rodney Hood would take over Smith’s starting two guard spot on the depth chart. I’m still not convinced that that would ultimately be a better fit come playoff time. Perhaps I simply don’t know enough about Rodney Hood’s playoff chops to want to chance wrecking J.R.’s confidence.

I’ve long been a proponent of keeping J.R. Smith in the starting lineup, not necessarily because he is a better player than Hood, but because his bench productivity as a Cavalier has been rather lacking. Benching him seems to be too small a benefit for a possibly large cost.

2. However, if it is Kyle Korver that is actually inserted into the lineup, I am totally fine with it. That’s the part that surprised me. Lue has started Smith, Hood, and Cedi Osman without going to what is probably his best option in Kyle Korver.

Earlier in the season with Tristan Thompson behind and Isaiah Thomas next to him in the backcourt, there was no huge team defensive advantage of having Kyle’s defensive IQ out there. When the rotations were murdered by a little guy who couldn’t care less about defense, and a bigman who has lost about six steps, Korver’s supreme rotational abilities often went without notice. There was no string on which to be attached.

With the addition of George Hill and Larry Nance Jr, Korver’s incredible talent as a team defender has an opportunity to shine. His one-on-one defensive limitations are mitigated because he has far more help on the back end.

Korver has always been a better defender than people give him credit, but it is true that he isn’t great on ball. As a help defender in PnR and a lock and chase guy, Korver has excelled.

Offensively, the advantages are obvious. LeBron James knows when and how to leverage Korver’s shooting to torture defenses. Even teams less inept than the Suns give up easy backdoor cuts against Kyle in their terror to defend a lob dunk or three.

However fun it was to watch Korver score 22 points in 23 minutes on only SEVEN shots, don’t get used to it. It makes too much sense. It’s too easy. We all know that if Lue thinks he can beat a guy one-on-one, that guy won’t get minutes.

Okay, I should relax a bit. For all I know Rodney Hood will thrive as a full-time starter. I don’t doubt his talent. Perhaps J.R. will rekindle his Sixth-Man-of-the-Year mojo and throw fire off the bench.

What I fear is that Kyle will be relegated to the pin upon Hood’s return. Smith will struggle with his shot, while Jeff Green soaks up more wing minutes. If Cedi and Kyle end up being the odd men out, Koby Altman’s attempt to make this roster foolproof will be unsuccessful.

3. We haven’t even gotten into Jordan Clarkson yet. The dude is simply dominating the rock too much. It is what we all suspected might happen, but it needs to be curbed for any of these rotations to fly.

It is comical to contrast Jordan Clarkson’s inability to find Korver on the weakside with The King’s passing artistry. Korver truly is a consumate professional. I wouldn’t have blamed him has he gone all Dion Waiters/Isaiah Thomas on Clarkson.

You won’t see this from La Flama Blanca. “I’m open”, says Kyle Korver quietly to himself before sleep.

For whatever reason, Clarkson doesn’t notice that Kyle Korver is on his team when they run out there together in the second unit. Rodney Hood ran far more Pick and Roll action when he was in Utah. Obviously, he won’t need to do that too much when he shares the floor with LeBron, but he should absolutely be handling more when James is on the bench, regardless of starting status.

I wrote a few weeks back that I would give Jordan a chance, that I wouldn’t immediately lump him in with chuckers from Christmas Past. I did. He chucks. Love the enthusiasm, Jordan, but for the love of basketball, look for the weakside three. The pass is almost always there if you just look to make it.

4. Kevin Love can’t get back soon enough. Much of the rotation issues that plague the Cavs are a result of his injury. With the influx of wing talent since he has been out, I’m hoping Love can take Green’s big man minutes and all of Tristan’s. Green should play at times depending on the matchup, but not like he has been lately.

I’m not sure how much of Green’s recent play is a result of his bad back, or simply a natural regression, but he has not been the pleasant surprise we enjoyed earlier in the season. Green must refuse to settle for shots. It would make sense that a sore back would limit his desire to barrel hard towards the rim. If that’s the case, sit him until he is healthy. He’s not helping anyone with his bricky 3 point shot and his off-balance mid-range game.

When Love returns, he will likely have an abundance of space on the block with which to work. If Lue surprises us all by keeping Korver in the starting lineup, Hill, Korver, Bron, Love, and Nance could form a unit that should be a terror running “floppy”.

Nance can do some damage from the elbows on and off ball. With the above lineup, all guys are brilliant at anticipating when the defense gets too high on a screen to prevent the backdoor. Easy layups and threes should abound. With Nance’s bounce, a defense has to pay more attention to lob possibilities, giving all the screen setters major room.

We could call that lineup, the All IQ lineup. Defensively, that squad should be able to use its length and intelligence to wreck offensive action before it starts. They would have some issues against great one-on-one play, but I would trust each of those guys to make the proper early rotation to prevent the easiest looks.

The trip to L.A. wasn’t any more important than Phoenix. The Cavs are still in chill mode until everyone is back. Still, April is almost here. It’s time to get going.