Isolation Cavs Still Exist In The Clutch

The Cleveland Cavaliers have developed an effective offensive attack this season. Late in games though, the Cavs are still too reliant on isolation basketball.

After being one of the most frequent teams that ran isolation plays in the NBA last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have slowly cut back on the ISO plays this season. David Blatt’s ‘genius’ offense never quite got going in Cleveland last season like many had hoped, as the offensive weapons of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and to a lesser extent Kevin Love seemed to take the offense into their own hands.

Last seasons Cavalier unit often seemed more into pounding the ball and taking on their opponent one on one, instead of moving the ball and thus allowing other players to move off ball and generally give the offense more energy. Although, as the season wore on, the Cavs began moving the ball better and run a more attractive offense, which led them to finishing the season scoring 107.7 points per 100 possessions, fourth in the NBA.

Cleveland has carried that late-season offensive momentum into the 2015/16 season, as they have moved the ball on a more consistent basis and have evolved a much more damaging offensive attack.

The Cavaliers are averaging 22.1 assists per game this season, after averaging, well, 22.1 last season as well. Cleveland’s assist percentage and assist ratio numbers are very similar to last season as well but it is quite obvious to anyone whose watched the Cavs this season that the ball and player movement is a lot better then last season.

James has preached the importance of ball movement on numerous occasions this season, indicating that moving the ball and playing good defense are the two keys for the Cavs to compete in ball games. It’s true, as defense wins championships and the offense must be a well-oiled machine to win a title. Just look at the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, the last two NBA champions- both they’re games strongly rely on ball movement and defense.

Although, in late game situations and in the fourth quarter, Cleveland’s offense leaves something to be desired, as they often drift back into isolation mode of standing around and watching LeBron (mainly) try to carry them to victory. Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer shared his thoughts on the Cavs late game offense:

"The one loss on this trip was in San Antonio. Cavs coach David Blatt mentioned how the ball stops moving in close games against good teams. That is so true. Part of it can be blamed on James, who tends to dominate the ball. Part also can be blamed on his teammates, who quickly defer to James. That is one downside to having a strong leader on the court. There is a tendency to pass him the ball, then stand around and watch.But it also is up to Blatt and the coaching staff to insist other players get involved. Call some plays, do something to create some motion. The Cavs are an excellent isolation team, going 1-on-1 against opponents. The Cavs rank No. 4 in isolation plays (9 percent). The top three teams are the Rockets, Lakers and Knicks.In their losses to San Antonio and Golden State, the Cavs have only 27 total assists compared to 29 turnovers. That’s a sign of bad ball movement. A key is for the Cavs to just stay out of that isolation rut. It will be something to watch when they face Golden State at Quicken Loans Arena on Monday."

The numbers are able to back-up Pluto’s argument.

As aforementioned, the Cavs average 22.1 assists per game, which when averaged out over four quarters, should come to about 5.5 per quarter. Although, Cleveland is averaging just 4.5 dimes in the fourth quarters of games this season, a sign that the ball and player movement slows down late in games.

Cleveland’s assist percentage and assist ratio numbers also take a dip in the final quarter of ball games. Over the course of a 48-minute game, the Cavaliers have an assist percentage of 59.0% and an assist ratio of 17.1, both very good numbers. When the fourth quarter rolls around though, the Cavs assist percentage drops to 51.8% and their assist ratio also takes a dive down to 14.6.

Ball and player movement is a major aspect of the Cavs offensive arsenal. The number of different weapons they possess allows them to tear up defenses by running simple pick and rolls and then having players cut off the ball. There is nothing too complicated or complex about the Cavs offense- it is made up of great players making great team plays.

In the fourth quarter though, especially in clutch moments, when ball and player movement is needed the most, Cleveland seems to shy away from this extremely effective style of basketball, a worrying sign, as the playoffs and finals are stacked with clutch moments.

Now, to an extent, it does make sense for teams to want their best player to have the ball in their hands during the games most important moments. In Cleveland’s case, it is LeBron but the Cavs lean on him to make a play far too much in clutch moments.

As Pluto noted, often times during close moments late in games, the Cavaliers will simply stand around and watch and hope James makes a play and bails them out. Fox Sports Ohio color commentator Austin Carr has also mentioned this during multiple telecasts.

James’ usage rate this season is 32.4%, which is a fair percentage for a superstar player to have. LeBron’s usage rate matches up with those of James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Dwayne Wade and Damian Lillard. In fact, Irving’s usage percentage is 31.1%, despite him missing major time this season due to his off-season knee surgery. Love has a usage percentage of 23.3%- an increase of the 21.6% mark he had last season.

In the fourth quarter though, Cleveland is way too reliant on LeBron. James’ usage rate spikes up to a crazy 40.4% in the fourth quarter of ball games, with Irving’s also going up to 36.8%. Irving’s numbers must be taken with a grain of salt though, due to his limited number of game time this season. Love’s usage rate falls off a cliff in the clutch, down to 18.8%.

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Part, actually most, of the blame can be placed on the players. At the end of the day, it is them who stand around and watch James play ISO ball in the clutch moments of games. As Pluto also stated though, Blatt should take some responsibility in the Cavs fading away from ball movement in the clutch.

Blatt and his coaching staff must start insisting and demanding the Cavaliers to move the ball better in the clutch moments of games. It creates better looks and yields better results, while it also keeps the defense guessing. It is easy to defend isolation basketball, no matter how good the offensive player is. It isn’t easy to defend a team who is constantly swinging the ball from side to side.

As good as the Cavs are offensively, their late game offense is still way too predictable and easy to defend. In the finals last season, the Warriors were able to shut down Cleveland on offense by simply shutting down James. Now of course, the Cavs were missing Irving and Love for the series but it still points to the fact that Cleveland needs better ball movement in the clutch moments of ball games, especially come playoff time.