10 statistics that illustrate the State of the Cavs

CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 5: The Cleveland Cavaliers huddle before the game against the Atlanta Hawks on November 5, 2017 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 5: The Cleveland Cavaliers huddle before the game against the Atlanta Hawks on November 5, 2017 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled early on as they try to find their footing as a team. King James Gospel provides (at least) ten statistics that illustrate the state of the Cavs.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had an interesting start to the season, going 4-6 after the first 10 games and looking like a team out-of-sorts more often than not, though not out of answers. The Cavs’ start has been disconcerting for fans, media and the team largely because of the team’s they’ve lost to versus the team’s they’ve won against. So far this season, the teams they’ve lost to had a combined record of 199-293 last season (winning 41.3 percent of their games) while the teams they’ve beat had a combined record of 185-143 (winning 56.4 percent of their games). Losses like that, especially as some teams are missing their best players, are befuddling.

The eye test says that everybody except Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert needs to do more in their role this season. Even LeBron James, who has been stellar, but had questionable defensive effort at times.

What do the numbers say?

Here are some stats that illustrate the struggles the Cavs have had this season as well as surprising stats that show bright spots for the team:

1. 4th in true shooting percent (57.6)

— Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers getting off to such bad starts and shooting 34.5 percent from three-point range as a team, they’re one of the best shooting teams in the league all things considered. Their ranking is buoyed by their success rate inside the arc (55.1 percent shooting) and their free-throw percentage (81.1) but it shows that there are positives to look at in the Cleveland Cavaliers offense. Even without factoring in the Cavs’ fourth-ranked free-throw shooting, they’re ranked 6th in effective field goal percentage (53.3). They’re making three-point shots, just not early or often enough.

2. 30th in defensive rating (111.7)

— This isn’t hard to believe if you’ve been watching the games. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been looking out-of-sorts, missing rotations and showing dismal effort early in games. It’s also interesting to note that players like J.R. Smith and Jae Crowder have struggled to keep their man in check in one-on-one situations. Having Kevin Love at center was sure to come with issues, as Love doesn’t offer much in the way of being an interior defender and he isn’t a player running out to contest three-point shots all game. But if the team’s defensive specialists aren’t living up to their billing, the Cleveland Cavaliers have little chance of playing above-average defense.

3. 28th in fast break points (6.5)

— The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t getting out and running and for a team with LeBron James on the roster, that’s a travesty. A big factor in the Cavs’ lack of fast break points is their inability to cause turnovers. They’re currently 28th in the league with 6.1 steals per game and opponents only have 13.6 turnovers per game against the Cavs (22nd in the league). If the team played more aggressive defense – well, if they were to play sound defense period – they’d cause more turnovers. Another issue is that the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t forcing enough misses. Teams are shooting 47.7 percent from the field against the Cavs and 41.7 percent from three-point range. The Cleveland Cavaliers are at their best when they attack, whether in the halfcourt or in the open court. They haven’t done that enough this season because they haven’t had the opportunity.

4. 10th in opponent’s fast break points (9.0)

— Meanwhile, despite transition defense being a topic of conversation from everybody from the media to James, that’s not one of the Cavs’ big issues. True enough, the Cavs will see James himself standing on the other end of the court rather than chasing the ball-handler down the court. The problem is, whether James was to get a chasedown block or not, the team has an inherent issue in stopping opposing team’s from scoring if all the Cavs don’t get back down the court. The numbers advantage. If three players are racing down the court for Team X and only one Cavs player runs down the court with them, it’s not going to be hard to stop them from scoring. Other than that issue, though, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been fine.

5. 20th in percent of two-point shots made in the midrange (11.4)

— Much has been made of the Cavs’ lack of floor spacing because they added a lot of players known more for prowess around the rim and in the midrange than from three-point range. Players like Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Jeff Green – three players that will be in the rotation for the duration of the year. The problem is, for a team that has plenty of players attempting midrange shots (Rose, Wade, Green, James, Smith, Love), they’re not having as much success as they should be. The biggest disappointment so far has been Love, while Green and Rose have also struggled to score from the midrange.

6. 10th in percent of three-point attempts (36.4)

— The Cleveland Cavaliers are taking three-point attempts, they’re just not making them. That Rose, Green and Wade are all shooting 30.0 percent or lower from long distance isn’t surprising, although one of them raising the bar on their traditional performances behind-the-arc would be tremendous for the Cavs. The big problems are that Smith (23.4 percent) and Crowder (28.6 percent) are struggling from behind-the-line. They combine for 8.2 out of the Cavs’ 30.5 three-point attempts per game (26.9 percent). With Rose, Green and Wade combining for 5.6 three-point attempts per game, James, Love and Kyle Korver would have to be lights out from three-point range to boost the Cavs’ three-point efficacy. That is, unless Smith and Crowder get it together.

7. 21st in percent of field goals assisted (55.6)

The Cleveland Cavaliers are clearly getting a lot of their offense from isolation, as evidenced by the above statistic. With James responsible for 9.1 of the Cavs’ 21.9 assists per game (41.6 percent), the Cavs’ lack of ball-movement is even more alarming. Part of the reason the Cleveland Cavaliers assist numbers are so low is because of the lack of three-point consistency but it’s also because Rose (1.7 assists per game) has gotten tunnel vision on his drives to the rim more often than not. The Cleveland Cavaliers thrived with a drive-and-kick offense last year. It seems like Rose forgot the “‘-and-kick”. It’s easily correctable but head coach Tyronn Lue has to stop saying he doesn’t care about his starting point guard’s lack of assists. He did the same thing with Kyrie Irving.

8. 8th in points per possession (PPP) for isolation attempts (0.97)

— As I alluded to in the above paragraph, the Cleveland Cavaliers isolate players to score a lot. Namely, James and Rose. Both players size their opponent up before driving at the rim from the perimeter. James will get all the way to the rim if he wants and is converting efficiently from every area of the floor. Rose hasn’t been efficient with his outside jumper and has forced too many shots around the rim, lowering his efficiency inside. However, Rose is shooting 47.9 percent from the field. James is shooting 60.8 percent from the field. When Isaiah Thomas returns, the Cleveland Cavaliers ability to score in isolation will only improve – as Thomas’ all-around scoring ability and inclination to pass on drives is a better compliment for James and the Cavs than Rose.

9. 27th percentile in spot-up attempts

— Simply put, the Cleveland Cavaliers catch-and-shoot threats have been underwhelming. The Cavs have five players shooting 30.0 percent or below from three-point range, not including Tristan Thompson. That means the majority of their rotation is struggling to make their long-distance attempts. An easy way to wind up in the 27th percentile in spot-up attempts. Love (34.6 percent) and Channing Frye (35.8 percent) have been average from three-point range. Iman Shumpert (38.5 percent), who hopes to return to the court on Tuesday, has been above-average. Korver has been stellar (47.3 percent). James is shooting 35.9 percent from three-point range. So long as Love, Frye, Korver and James maintain their efficiency, Shumpert’s arrival (and then Thomas’) will allow the Cavs to improve their ranking in spot-up attempts without hoping for Smith and Crowder coming out of their shooting slumps. However, the Cavs need Smith and Crowder to break out of their slumps, as they’re two starters and responsible for more than a fourth of the Cavs’ three-point attempts. That won’t just boost their rankings but their wins as well.

10. 28th in defensive field goal percentage (47.8)

— The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing poor defense on a team and individual level. They’re missing rotations, closing out short on shooters, failing to body-up on their man as a defender and generally showing no physicality. As a result, it looks like players are shooting in a gym by themselves sometimes. Rose, Smith, Crowder and Love have been the team’s worst defenders, with Rose, Smith and Crowder struggling in isolation, Love struggling in the pick-and-roll and Smith, Crowder and Love struggling to close-out on shooters (James as well). Smith and Crowder are players whose defense can be expected to turn around and Rose has been solid defensively (although he’s been uneven in his performances). Love’s lack of physicality, energy and awareness is concerning though – especially because as the center he’s the back line of the defense.

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*All stats gathered from stats.nba.com and www.basketball-reference.com