If I was Tyronn Lue, this is what I would do with the Cavs’ rotation

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue is already considering it but I would recommend changing the starting lineup and rotation. However, my adjustments may be a bit more drastic than his.

(Cue the hate) If I were Tyronn Lue, the constantly ridiculed head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, I would make significant changes to the starting lineup and second unit.

I mean, every series is indeed different but I’ve long held the view that defense is what wins championships, that age-old adage we’ve all heard growing up.

It’s true though. The greatest NBA champions and their teams — Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird’s Celtics, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s Chicago Bulls, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, David Robinson and Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James’ Miami Heat and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors — have all been praised for their defense.

What changes for the Cavs then, for them to be one of better defensive teams in this postseason?

(1) Start LeBron James at power forward, the position he dominates the most. Throughout the postseason, players will consistently cross-match but by starting James, teams are at a disadvantage from tipoff.

(2) Move Kevin Love to second unit and Larry Nance Jr. to the starting lineup in order for the Cavaliers to have better pick-and-roll and interior defense as well as keep James’ minutes down by staggering he and Love’s minutes. The Cavs will be running offense through Love when James sits.

(3) Start Cedi Osman at shooting guard and slide Rodney Hood to small forward with James sliding to power forward. With Hood and George Hill joining Osman on the perimeter, this is possibly the best five-man unit the Cavs will field from a defensive perspective.

For those wondering about Osman, he’s simply not in the playoff rotation. In fact, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue is already considering shortening the rotation. Still, with the boost he provides defensively and the legitimacy of his three-ball, it would be wise to start Osman.

Hill, Hood and James will be the primary playmakers in the starting lineup, setting up Smith and Nance for easy opportunities as they attack the rim.

Starting lineup: George Hill, Cedi Osman, Rodney Hood, LeBron James, Larry Nance Jr.

Second unit: Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Jeff Green, Kevin Love

If defense wins championships, those looking at the Cavaliers giving up 98 points — just two points shy of 100 in case that was forgotten — as a sign the defense is fine is ignoring two things. Considering the Cavaliers gave up 109.9 points per game in the regular season, 26th in the league, the threshold of excitement might be easy to cross if you’re a Cavs fan.

Yet, with the Pacers making 39.8 percent of their threes (making 11 of 28 attempts), six Pacers shooting at least 45.0 percent from the field and giving up 25 free-throw attempts (of which the Pacers made 15, so the score could easily be more lopsided), the defense wasn’t exactly “good.”

The Cavaliers allowed opponents to make 36.7 percent of their threes and gave up 19.4 free-throw attempts per game in the regular season. That the Cavaliers were below average in this area is indicative of two things: too much space for shooters and an opposing team who is faster, more physical and more aggressive.

This video breakdown from BBallBreakdown’s Coach Nick shows exactly what I mean and, at the heart of the Cavaliers defensive lowlights stood one player: Love.

The beloved big man was often lackadaisical in pick-and-roll coverage, leading to open shots for the Pacers because he was soft at the point of attack.

Against a team with athletes like the Pacers, Love is at a physical disadvantage against every starter. Everyone is too fast and though Love has surprised with lithe movement from time to time, there’s a reason that he’s been subbed out at the end of close games this season and past seasons.

His defense is his Achilles heel.

Now, moving Love to the second unit isn’t just about bringing a superior athlete and defender in with Nance but removing Jeff Green from the starting lineup with James playing in his place.

James is better equipped to physically battle with well… any player in the league when compared to Green. Better still is James’ defensive potential on the weakside, as his abilities as rim-protector, defensive quarterback in the backline and potential to disrupt plays with his off-ball defense are better than Green’s.

He and Nance are bigger defensive threats in the frontcourt than Green and Love, this much is certain.

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Of course, this isn’t really about Green’s defense, which has actually had a positive impact more often than not.

It’s about getting a player who shot 33.8 percent on corner threes in the regular season, which ranks 10th out of the 13 Cavaliers who were signed prior to the last week of the season.

He ranks 10th out of the 11 Cavaliers from that group to actually attempt a corner three, as neither Thompson or Ante Zizic would in the regular season.

If there’s going to be a player who takes that shot from the corner, James — who made 38.2 percent of his corner threes — should be that player. If the Cavaliers should invert the responsibilities of their forward or just want to let either player in the backcourt shoot that same shot, they would all do better than Green as only Nance had a worse percentage on corner threes.

To that point, if Nance should be left open behind-the-arc, his midrange shooting percentages dwarf Green’s.

Nance made 54.5 percent on shots 10-16 feet away from the rim and 50.0 percent of hist shots from 16-24 feet away from the rim. Compare that to Green making 25.9 percent of his shots from 10-16 feet away from the rim and 39.0 percent of his shots 16-24 feet away from the rim.

He managed to get a pass of to a teammate on 27.8 percent of his drives. Green managed to do so on just 11.9 percent of his drives. So even in attacking a closeout, if Nance couldn’t finish above the defense he’s far less inclined to keep it himself and more likely to find cutters or shooters on the move (4:1 assist to turnover rate for Nance compared to a 0.6:1 assist to turnover rate for Green.

As for the starting small forward?

Hood will thrive in with more opportunities in the starting lineup; a starting lineup with plays designed for him to make plays off the bounce and as a spot-up shooter.

Though Love is a deadeye shooter and threat in the post, this is a lineup with five “live” players, threats to make plays off-the-dribble on every possession and have defenses scrambling to stop them.

For all of Love’s offensive prowess, attacking the rim from the perimeter is not one of his elite skills. Though he’s shown more in terms of straight-line drives, he’s not a great finisher on the move. It’s one of the reasons you don’t often see him diving in a pick-and-roll. He also lacks the burst and vertical explosion to consistently threaten defenses off-the-dribble.

Unless he’s still hobbled by a late season hamstring injury, Nance suffers from none of those physical limitations.

The pick-and-roll is an opportunity for Nance to get lobs and putbacks. There’s no reason he can’t play a similar role to Houston Rockets center Clint Capela.

For those concerned about spacing without Love, opponents become so concerned with Nance’s finishing ability when he can gather a head of steam that they cover him on perimeter. If they opt to stop the drive, he can make them pay.

Have you ever wondered how a team who has a center that can’t shoot jumpers but needs space for James Harden and Chris Paul to drive is so dominant?

An additional note:

Last season, Tristan Thompson became proficient as a passer in the short roll and it’s possible the Cavs try to use Nance in a similar role with four athletic perimeter threats outside.

Now back to the unit’s defense, each of the players in the starting unit is a strong on-ball defender with the physical tools, instincts and awareness needed to execute defensively.

The Platoon Swap

The bench is full of firepower in Love, Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith and Jordan Clarkson. Against second units, they’d dominate and allow the defensive-minded first unit to resume clamping down.

Mixing and matching players from both units should and would happen — in fact, Hill, Korver, James, Green and Love are Lue’s favorite five-man group — but this about keeping Love in an aggressive role all game.

While his defense is a problem, the idea that an All-Star player shouldn’t come off the bench because coming off the bench always equates to a relative lack of talent has to realize that, like they’ve had defense, championship teams have had an All-Star caliber player coming off the bench.

The Celtics did it with Kevin McHale. The Spurs did it with Manu Ginobli. The Warriors did it with Andre Iguodala.

They did these things to bring balance to their team.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need two things: to set a defensive tone and to be able to let James rest. A great way to do this would be with a platoon swap, in which Love came in with a “bench unit” to run a package of plays that feature him in the high-post.

A package which works at it’s best when there are strong cutters and shooters around him.

“Minnesota Kev”

Green is the Cavaliers’ second-most active cutter with 1.49 points per possession on 98 possessions (89th percentile), only behind James’ 1.62 points per possession on 118 possessions (97th percentile). Korver utilized cuts the fourth-most of any Cav, scoring 1.52 points per possession on 41 possessions during the regular season (91st percentile).

As far as shooters go, Korver (who will also find Love inside for easy buckets as he cuts) is as good as they get as a spot-up shooter. In the regular season, Korver was in the 99th percentile on spot-up attempts, scoring 1.42 points per possession on 114 attempts.

Clarkson scored 1.15 points per possession on 52 attempts in the regular season (85th percentile), while Green (209 attempts) and Smith (204 attempts) both scored 1.00 point per possession as a spot-up shooter and ranked in the 55th and 53rd percentile respectively.

As far as player who can set him up for buckets, as previously mentioned, Love is sure to be a beneficiary of Korver’s passes inside.

In the regular season, Smith passed on 37.0 percent of his drives and racked up 35 assists. Calderon passed on 26.8 percent of his drives and racked up 71 assists.

It’s imperative to find Love behind-the-line, be it on drive-and-kicks or the pick-and-roll, as Love scored 1.27 points per possession on a team-high 218 spot-up attempts (95th percentile). With his adjusted mechanics, Love knocks down the three-ball effortlessly and with extended range.

This should come in handy in transition as well, as this is a group that will like to get out and run.

Smith, Love and Green all had at least 125 attempts in transition, only trailing James’ 448 transition attempts. Clarkson (61 attempts) is a speed demon and having Love as a trailer, along with Korver and Smith, makes them a dangerous group on the break.

Of course, starting Love is a more inside-the-box route for both he and the team to be successful.

James has always been proven to be successful with great shooters around him and though Hill, Hood and Osman are three-point threats, their outside shooting has been shaky from time to time. Love, however, stays consistent.

Nonetheless, there’s a lot to be said about setting a defensive tone and allowing Hill and Hood, who averaged a combined 29.6 points per game (36.2 points per 36 minutes) with the Utah Jazz last season, to be the perimeter playmakers beside him.

Especially as playing without each other at tipoff may allow Hood and Love to be as aggressive as the team needs them to be. Hill too.

*Unless otherwise referenced, all stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com