How Cavs Can Change Series

The Cleveland Cavaliers are down but not out of the NBA Finals yet. How the Cavs can change the series.

Their hustle has to change. Bodies have to be flying around. This includes their hustle for 50/50 balls, loose balls and rebounds and hustling on defense.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need to contest way more shots outside of the paint and at the rim. In Game 1 they gave up 37 contested shots. If you missed it, Game 2 wasn’t much better. Length down low could help. A player, LeBron namely, pressuring Green when he has the ball on the perimeter could help too.

I have no doubt the coaching staff has seen those glaring issues on game film. I choose to believe that all Cavalier parties have finally learned their respective lessons after Game 2 as well.

Moving the ball around and making smart passes. All players except for possibly

Channing Frye

and

Richard Jefferson

have turned the ball over with an ill-advised pass. The ball movement gets their wings going on drives and lockouts to shooters for threes.

Though LeBron and Kyrie will go one-on-one, picking and choosing how they attack in those situations is still important. If at any point they have multiple defenders on them on the drive the should pass it to the extra defenders man.

Reducing their turnovers by playing at a better pace. Players were panting during free throws. The fast pace will be the future of the Cavs but presently Coach Lue has to work with his hand.

LeBron historically plays at one general pace, no matter who’s the coach. It’s because he likes to survey the scene. Kyrie Irving, though the possessor of one the league’s best handles, is best when systematically breaking down an opponent. Kevin Love when methodically backing down a defender.

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Speed kills, and there’s something to running downhill and kicking the ball out to shooters against most teams, but clearly against these Warriors going zero mph to a hundred won’t work every time because it’s too simple. It’s an insult to this Warriors team to try to beat them with one M.O. Nobody defends LeBron one way the whole game.

Going into their bench should be considered, because playing five players for more than thirty minutes each this series is wearing them down and because certain players just aren’t producing. LeBron often looks tired, and the strategy of letting him be aggressive from the outset, taking him out early at the beginnings of halves to get his wind and putting him back in to be effective after a short rest should be explored.

What do you think the Cavs can do to get back into the series?