Signs of Life

It was nice to see a little edge on the Cavaliers in Thursday’s game against Detroit I just need they needed something like that to happen to shake them up. They were kind of sleep-walking there through the first game – kind of easing into it – then that scuffle seemed to wake them up. You could see the intensity pick up, the execution was better and they had a little bit of extra purpose.

Devin Brown looked good, Shannon Brown was very instrumental and I thought Dwayne Jones did some real nice boardwork. And LeBron looked like he had some pep in his step. He was ready and he came out with a purpose. And the team followed that whole concept. You can see them starting to get revved up.
It’s a matter of pride now. After that lackluster outing against Washington, you could see that this team has pride. They’re the Eastern Conference Champions and you could see – after that scuffle in the third quarter with Rasheed – that they were saying, “OK, you want to play now?” And it was really good to see that fire in the belly.

I know it’s early, but a few guys have looked good to me. I’ve always liked Devin (Brown). He’s a little undersized for the three, but he can play there because he’s a strong individual and he plays well around the basket. Shannon has impressed me. And Boobie is starting to understand how to play the point guard – when to use his penetration.

And I also like the fact that they’re taking the ball out of LeBron’s hands and allowing him to play the game. Use that ability that he has to run plays during the game – when you need it. This way teams can’t sit on LeBron the entire time. And that’s a big plus. The more we can do that – again, I go back to what I saw this summer at the FIBA Tournament in Vegas – the better off the entire team will be. The young man will be unstoppable if he can just play the game.

As far as the last roster spot for a big man, it seemed like Dwayne Jones got the upper hand with his 13-rebound game on Thursday night. His offensive game needs a lot of work, but as far as everything else, he’s on it. Some of the other guys show flashes, but we haven’t seen them enough to really know what they do.

It’s tough when you’re fighting for a roster spot and every minute on the floor. I didn’t experience that at first – because of the way I came into the league. But when I went to Dallas in the later part of my career, every dribble, every shot had to be perfect. And that’s real tough.

The Cavaliers have a brutal road schedule to start the season – especially considering that they’ll be gone for eight days in China. A tough road schedule can solidify a team. I think it will, because you kind of get into a group setting, and you focus that way. But you have to fight off becoming travel-weary. They’re going to have to get as much rest as they can. Every chance you get, you have to get off your feet. You have to be smart about the situation.

It’s tough on a coaching staff, because so many of your days are cut off – and these are days that you need to spend implementing things into the offense and defense. In China, you’re going to have media around you all the time, you’re going to have practices cut short. You’re going to have all types of things that interfere with the teaching process and what you want to put in. And sometimes, you might have to say, “We can’t make it – we have this to do.” Because the most important thing is to get all of your offensive and defensive schemes in. It’s as simple as that.

You can tell right now that the Cavaliers are learning the new offense because they’re just a little bit robotic. But that’s how it happens.

But the most important thing – and change that I’m seeing in the offense – is that they’re pushing the ball up the floor to the first man. What I think they understand, is that when you push the ball up, it makes the defense have to get back and get to the level of the ball. And that flattens them out. The defense that doesn’t get all the way back is chasing – and you have control of them. And a lot guys will get caught out of position. Once you have defenders chasing like this, all you have to do is move the ball.

The good running teams like Phoenix, that’s where they really take advantage of you. They get big fours guarding guards. They get centers guarding small forwards because they push it up the floor so much that all you do is wind up chasing them the whole time. And that’s what Mike is trying to incorporate into the offense: Let’s get more aggressive; let’s force teams to chase us.

Like Coach Fitch used to tell us: If you rebound and play defense and push the ball down the floor, I don’t care if you run a play. Because all the plays are going to be right in front of you. Just play basketball. Because guys are going to be out of position and a guard could wind up one-one-one with a center. And those are easy baskets.

The most important thing that comes out of this new philosophy is that guys will not be able to set up on LeBron. He is probably the fastest guy in the league in terms of covering ground from one end of the floor to the other. So why not take advantage of that? Get the ball out there and push it up the floor. Don’t hold it, don’t dribble it up the floor – get it up the floor. The ball moves up the floor much faster passing it up the floor than dribbling it up.

When I was in high school and the Celtics used to invite me to play with them in the summer, we’d play 40 minute scrimmages where the only turnover was dribbling the ball.

You don’t have to have quick people if you move the ball with the pass, because all you’re doing is passing to a “position.” But when you’re dribbling the ball up, you’d better have guys who can handle the ball quickly, because if not, you don’t have a fast break.

I’m hoping the guys catch on to this, because it could be a huge plus for us.