*Originally published on Yahoo! Contributor Network in 2011.
In his first year as Cavaliers head coach, Byron Scott led the rebuilding team to a 19-63 record. In his previous head coaching stints, Scott managed to lead the New Jersey Nets back to the playoffs within 2 seasons and the New Orleans Hornets back to the playoffs within 4 seasons. While reaching the playoffs this season may be quite a stretch for the current Cavs team, a review of past statistics can help clarify Scott’s strategies to improve the offensive and defensive play.
In his first year as Cavaliers head coach, Byron Scott led the rebuilding team to a 19-63 record. In his previous head coaching stints, Scott managed to lead the New Jersey Nets back to the playoffs within 2 seasons and the New Orleans Hornets back to the playoffs within 4 seasons. While reaching the playoffs this season may be quite a stretch for the current Cavs team, a review of past statistics can help clarify Scott’s strategies to improve the offensive and defensive play.
Improving Execution
of the Princeton Offense
Regarding pace (estimated
possessions per game), the Cavaliers last season played at a faster pace than
any of Scott’s past teams (93.0 possessions per game). Relatively speaking, the pace was 10th
fastest in the league, which was comparable to the pacing of his offenses with
the Nets (12th-91.8, 9th-91.8, 10th-91.6).
However, Scott’s Hornets teams always ran one of the 10 slowest paced
offenses in the NBA, including ranking 26th (89.9) and 28th (87.8) in pace in two
playoff seasons. With Kyrie Irving
drawing frequent comparisons to Chris Paul, Scott may slow down the Cavs’ pace
to in order to capitalize on Irving’s half-court strengths.
Much like their pacing, Scott’s
Nets teams were middle-of-the-pack regarding offensive performance, including efficiency,
field goal percentage, and turnovers per game.
However, the slower pace for the Hornets meant that Scott needed his
teams to be even more efficient, protecting the ball and attempting higher
percentage shots in order to win. While
Scott’s teams ranked in the top 4 in fewest turnovers per game in 3 of his 5
years in New Orleans, the team ranked in the bottom 5 in field goal percentage
in 3 of his 5 years. They became a top
10 shooting team in 2007-2008, ranking 8th in overall field goal percentage
(.466) and 3rd in three-point percentage (.389). In comparison, last year’s Cavaliers ranked
29th in field goal percentage (.434) and 23rd in three-point percentage
(.342).
Overall, Scott will look for the
team to run the Princeton offense as efficiently as his Nets and Hornets teams
did. The acquisitions of Irving and Omri
Casspi should definitely help. While
Irving will provide court vision, speed, and perimeter shooting, Casspi will provide
careful passing and three-point shooting.
In two NBA seasons and 24.5 minutes per game, Casspi has averaged 9.5
points per game on .371 three-point shooting and only 1.1 turnovers per game.
Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson will
be more of a project on the offensive end.
As the Princeton offense requires strong jumpshooting, scouting reports have
noted that Thompson needs to improve his shooting form and confidence in his
shot. Improvements here will also help
his free-throw shooting, where the Cavaliers certainly want to avoid having
Thompson join the ranks of the worst free-throw shooters in team (and league)
history, including Chris Dudley, Jerome Lane, Ben Wallace, and Shaquille
O’Neal.
Establishing the
Defensive System
While Scott has been known for implementing the Princeton
offense everywhere he goes, he has quietly helped develop top-ranked defenses
as well. In fact, Scott’s teams have
only made the playoffs when ranking in the top 5 in points allowed per
game. With the Nets, this meant ranking
5th and 2nd (92.0, 90.1); with the Hornets, this meant ranking 5th twice (95.6,
94.3). Regarding defensive efficiency
(points per 100 possessions), the Nets were 1st in the league in twice
advancing to the NBA Finals (99.5, 98.1).
The Hornets were comparably good, ranking 7th and 9th (105.7, 107.0). While Scott’s Nets teams excelled in forcing opponents
to commit turnovers and attempt bad shots, his Hornets teams thrived on dominating
defensive rebounding percentage and limiting opponents’ three-point
percentage.
With this in mind, Cleveland’s three-point defense
absolutely must improve. The Cavaliers
gave up the highest opponent three-point field goal percentage in NBA history
last season (.411). This was quite
different than the previous five years under Mike Brown, in which the Cavs twice
led the league in lowest three-point field goal percentage allowed en route to
deep playoff runs (2006-2007: .329; 2008-2009: .333). Interestingly enough, the Cavs were
eliminated by top three-point defenses in all five playoff appearances under
Brown: Pistons (1st-.325), Spurs (2nd-.334), Celtics (1st-.316), Magic
(2nd-.342), Celtics (t-4th-.342).
As the Cavs may slow down the pace this year, perhaps they
can cut down on fastbreak points allowed*.
Last year, the Cavs ranked 20th in fastbreak points allowed per game
(14.2). In Scott’s best years in New
Orleans, the team ranked 7th (11.0, 11.1).
Likewise, the Cavs made it to the 2007 NBA Finals in part due to ranking
5th in fastbreak points allowed per game (10.2)
In the end, if Scott can help the Cavs slow down the pace a
bit while forcing more bad shots and turnovers and controlling the defensive
boards, the defense should be several steps closer to becoming a top-ranked
defense.
*Statistics for fastbreak points were only available
starting with the 2004-2005 season.
Sources:
All statistics are from Basketball-Reference.com, except “fastbreak
points”, which came from TeamRankings.com.
Scouting reports for Tristan Thompson were reviewed via
DraftExpress.com and NBADraft.net.
Other sources are:
Boyer, Mary Schmitt.
“The Princeton Way: With more players handling ball and shooting,
Cavaliers are enjoying a new-old offense.”
Updated October 24, 2010. From
Cleveland.com.
Accessed December 11, 2011.