Cleveland Cavaliers: Tristan Thompson, the rim protector, and more

Potentially benefiting from less switching?

Much of last year the team switched, pressed or doubled the pick-and-roll, taking advantage of Thompson’s speed and ability to hang with ball-handlers. That ability seems to have receded somewhat of late and this year the team’s chosen to ice the pick-and-roll more often, which involves Thompson hanging back in the lane and not challenging the ball-handlers so much. As a result he’s in better position to challenge shots at the rim.

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(Here’s an informative piece from a few years ago by John Schuhmann for NBA.com on icing the pick-and-roll, how it’s used and why it’s effective.)

All of that may account for some of Thompson’s improvement. Some of it may also fall into the category of small sample size, or issues with Defensive Field Goal percentage. Second Spectrum, which provides numbers to NBA.com, use arena cameras to determine which player is closest to the shooter when the shot is taken.

That’s not always the person who is supposed to be guarding the shooter, or sometimes a rotation never comes forcing the defender to yield an easier shot than the scheme called for. Yet Thompson’s dramatic turnaround certainly suggests something more than statistical noise.

For Thompson to be so good for a team that is so bad around the basket (allowing two-thirds of shots within 5 feet to fall, second-worst in the NBA) actually makes his accomplishment even more impressive. Indeed, Thompson’s overall DFG percentage improvement has been stark enough to rank him among the biggest defensive turnarounds this year.

What’s even crazier about that is Thompson’s been heavily victimized by the Cavaliers weak work defending the three-point line. He’s allowing a 48.7 percent rate – higher than he does inside six feet – on three pointers after allowing around 40.3 percent last year. Despite that he’s still managed to improve his defensive field goal percentage by nearly six points.

Thompson’s not the only Cleveland Cavaliers player who’s made a turnaround in his DFG percentage, though. Jordan Clarkson has turned his defense around as well, going from bad to pretty decent (with regards to DFG percentage).