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My Biggest Cavs Hope: Improved Continuity

By Luke Sicari

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There are over 170 million reasons for Cleveland Cavaliers fans to be hopeful for the 2015/16 NBA season. After falling just two games short of winning the franchise’s first ever NBA championship and the city of Cleveland’s first major professional sports title since 1964 last season, this Cavalier team seems ready and poised to make another furious run at the gold.

The biggest hope for the Cavs this season though is ultimately the improved continuity and chemistry between the squad heading into season two of the Big Three era.

It has been well documented how shaky things began for Cleveland last season. The 19-20 record in January, the constant rumours that LeBron James and David Blatt didn’t see eye-to-eye, Kevin Love’s struggles to fit in, or out, of the system and that’s just to name a few. Expectations were set high and while Cleveland ultimately reached and possibly exceeded those expectations given the injury problems, there is no doubting that the first few months of the Big Three era was tough.

There should be no such problems or growing pains this season, as the roster won’t need time to gel and create chemistry. That part has already been done last season. Sure, the Cavs have added some new pieces in Mo Williams, Richard Jefferson and camp invite turned 15th man Jared Cunningham, but Williams and Jefferson have been around the league for years and won’t need much time fitting into bench roles, and Cunningham will barely see the court.

The Cavaliers showed glimpses late last season and into the playoffs of how devastating this team can be with all guns blazing. From January 15 onwards last season, after the trades to acquire Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were made, the Cavaliers had a ridiculous offensive rating of 110.4, which would place them first in the league and the defense also underwent an improvement, as the Cavs 102.1 defensive rating would place them 12th in the league.

All of that was achieved while blending in three new players into the system mid-season and after a challenging first half of the season, so just imagine how dominant the team will be with another year of continuity under their belt. The offense will run smoother, the defensive principles will have improved and the general feel around the teams training camp this season seems a lot more business like then last season, as the overriding theme for the Cavaliers seems to be Unfinished Business.

Remember how destructive the line-up of Kyrie Irving, James, Love, Smith and Mozgov was last season? You know, the one that put up an offensive rating of 116.8 and a defensive rating of 96.4? Or how about the array of spot-up threats that the Cavaliers possessed last season, with James Jones, Joe Harris, Irving, Love, James and Smith all above the 84th percentile for spot-ups in the entire league? Not to mention the scary prospect of the Cavs using Love more as a key piece on the offense, with the possibility of him working at the elbow once again this season like he did in his final season with the Timberwolves sure to give opposing coaches nightmares.

Now, while the team will be more comfortable with one another, a carry over concern from last season that is still well and truly affecting the team is health. Love is returning from serious shoulder surgery, no timeline still exists for Irving’s return, Shumpert is set to miss three months, Mozgov is not 100% returning from off-season knee surgery, Anderson Varejao is returning from an Achilles tear and Smith and Matthew Dellavedova both dealt with minor niggles in the pre-season. Is that everyone?

So while the injuries are a concern, at the end of the day, it is just a matter of when, not if, the Cavs get a fully healthy roster back together. Despite the health problems though, the projected starting five for Tuesday’s season opener of Williams, Smith, James (most likely), Love and Mozgov still has a lot more continuity and chemistry then the starting five of last season’s season opener, Irving, James, Love, Varejao and Dion Waiters.

Plus, Dan Gilbert should be sending a thank you letter to whoever scheduled the first month of the season. After a tough road back-to-back to begin the season in Chicago and Memphis, the first month is as easy as it could possibly get for the Cavaliers.

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The Cavs only play six playoff teams from last season (with one of them being the Brooklyn Nets) in their first 17 games and this will definitely help them overcome some health concerns early on. A 12 to 15 win start in the Cavaliers first month is definitely not out of the picture and after last seasons slow start; a fast one would be ideal for Cleveland.

The Cavaliers are entering this NBA season as title favourites and with improved continuity and chemistry; there is no reason why the team won’t be able to reach that goal. Once Irving and Shumpert fully return and the team gets to 100% health-wise, there will not be a scarier team then Cleveland in the entire league.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com/stats

Next: Biggest Concern for Cavs: Western Conference