To borrow a catchphrase from longtime ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, Rodney Hood is going to be a “bad, bad man” for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It’s not just that Rodney Hood was in the 81st percentile of pick-and-roll ball-handlers with the Utah Jazz this season. It’s not even because prior to Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets ten of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ top fifteen lineups featured Hood in them.
It’s those things, the absence of All-Star Kevin Love and the potential for Hood to evolve into a member of a new Big Three this season that has dictated circumstance.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will need to keep putting the ball in Hood’s hands to win games. As a result, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue’s faith in him will be a major benefit to the team moving forward.
"“[Hood]’s going to continue to get better and continue to pick up his sets… We just need him to be aggressive.”"
Those were the words uttered by Lue in his postgame media conference when reporters asked him if he felt the newcomers were as aggressive as he wanted them to be prior to the game.
Lue, who thought the new Cavs were as aggressive as he wanted them to be, was particularly impressed by Hood.
Hood, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, finished Tuesday’s game with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field.
After averaging 5.0 three-point attempts per game in his first five games for the Wine and Gold, Hood had just one three-point attempt against the Nets. It was the second straight game in which he took just a single three but Hood took five more field goals this time around.
Maybe the moment of the game, Hood hit an and-one go-ahead jumper with 40.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, putting the Cavaliers up 123-121 after his free-throw.
That more or less sealed the win for the Cleveland Cavaliers as it was the last time the Cavaliers trailed the Nets and the team’s final field goal. The Cavaliers would go on to win 129-123 and avoid their first losing streak since the trade deadline.
Hood proving himself in the clutch, on a championship-contender no less, was big-time for the 25-year-old.
However, what led to that performance was that he was more aggressive with the ball in his hands than he’s been since his arrival to Cleveland.
Dubbed a “silent assassin” by George Hill, Hood attacked the rim off-the-dribble consistently, constantly looking for his shot be it in isolation or off the pick-and-roll. That’s the way it should be moving forward for this sweet-shooting 6-foot-8 lefty with a great feel for the game and a high IQ.
With Love and his 17.9 points per game missing for another month, Hood (who is averaging 16.0 points per game this season) is the player most capable of replicating his scoring output. That’s all they need to give the offense the firepower they’ve had all season.
Jordan Clarkson (14.5 points per game) is a microwave scoring threat and easily replaces the scoring of Dwyane Wade (11.2 points per game).
Larry Nance Jr. and George Hill aren’t the scoring threats that Channing Frye and Kyrie Irving were but they’re better defenders and make heady plays on offense, mitigating their scoring differential. The same could be said of Cedi Osman and Derrick Rose.
That said, when Love returns, the ability to thoroughly dominate on both sides of the ball will be new and extraordinary.
Hood doesn’t have to start, though it would be my preference. He does, however, need to be heavily involved in the offense for the team to reach their potential. That’s just a fact.
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*Unless otherwise referenced, stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com for the 2017-2018 NBA season