Official Offseason News and Rumors

[Hambombs]

and last year- on defense- as a team the Cavs were 15th in the NBA in points allowed, and 12th in the NBA in opposing field goal percentage

thats not bad...its right in the middle of the pack- AND your putting Lebron on the team

they arent going to be a top 5 defense thats for sure- but there is no reason they cant be right around top 10

The REAL stat is defensive efficiency and they were 18th... that's not good. You NEED to be top 10 to win the ship

 

[WiggyRuss]

The REAL stat is defensive efficiency and they were 18th... that's not good. You NEED to be top 10 to win the ship

the Cavs should have one of the best offenses you have ever seen- their big three FITS piece wise- and has good complimentary players as well.

3pt shooting, transition, half court- they have it all on offense- this should be the best offense since the show-time Lakers

and in the clutch? only Kyrie who has the most game winners in the league since he entered it- LBJ (enough said)- and - ya know i dont know what Love's game winner proclivities are- i didnt catch many of the Siberia Timberwolves games unfortunately.. or ....fortunately....all though - it wouldve been kinda funny watching Ricky Rubio shoot.

honestly- Rubio is one of the worst shooters in NBA history- its such a shame that guy ruined his freaking game just because he cant shoot- all though- i mean, that is kinda the name of the game

guy can do everything else- i used to rip on him about his defense but i was wrong- he is actually a very good defender- he is an AMAZING passer, he has a great handle (though not as good as KI's),

he is just SO freaking bad at shooting it just ruins him- i mean- its not just 3's either- the guy has a VERy hard time finishing layups if they are contested at all- i mean- thats what PGs do- get to the hole and finish-and he CANT do it....

I would be so frustrated if i had the terrible luck to be a Twolves fan - since you see this guy who could be so good and so fun to watch - just ruin it with his atrocious, beyond awful shooting- so bad that if he was not just amazing at the other stuff he would never see the floor.

 

[bksballer89]

Usually the top offensive teams doesn't win titles unless they're a top 10 defensive team

 

[Hambombs]

Usually the top offensive teams doesn't win titles unless they're a top 10 defensive team

Correct sir.

 

[LTCF]

Usually the top offensive teams doesn't win titles unless they're a top 10 defensive team

It's more about point differential than it is defense/offense. If you have a spectacular offense, you just need a good defense. The Spurs led the league in point differential. The Spurs won the title playing unselfish offense and shooting the three well, not because they had a great defense.

 

[LTCF]

The Spurs were the best 3 point shooting team in the league. That's what won them the NBA title.

 

[DJ]

Morning all.

 

[DJ]

One of the best offense's ever???

It's too early for this...

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

The Spurs were the best 3 point shooting team in the league. That's what won them the NBA title.

SAN ANTONIO – Entering the 2014 Finals, the 2000-01 Lakers were the last team to win a championship after ranking outside the top 10 in defensive efficiency in the regular season.
They still are.
The 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs, who — in a season between championships — allowed 8.5 fewer points per 100 possessions than the league average, were one of the best defensive teams in NBA history. The Spurs’ D continued to rank in the top three over the next four years, but could only go downhill after that incredible 2003-04 season. And it proceeded to go downhill every single year for eight years, until it dropped out of the top 10 in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (see table below).
Out of the top 10 is not where you want to be. Over the last 37 years (since the NBA started tracking turnovers in 1977-78), only three teams have won a championship after ranking outside the top 10 in defensive efficiency in the regular season. Twice as many champs have ranked outside the top 10 in offensive efficiency.
And though their offense had developed into a beautiful machine that ranked in the top two those two seasons, the Spurs knew they had to get better defensively.
“We thought that’s what was missing against Oklahoma City [in the 2012 conference finals],” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said a year ago, “that we couldn’t make stops when we needed to. We would call them ‘stops on demand.’ In fourth quarters and big games you have to be able to do it.”
You can’t just flip a switch in the playoffs. Habits have to be built throughout the season, so that when the time comes, you can fall back on what you have developed.
“We slipped a little bit,” Tony Parker said, “and we knew if we wanted to get back to the top, we needed to get back to where we were [defensively] when we were winning championships.”
So the Spurs went back to the drawing board in the summer of 2012. And as a team that has embraced analytics, they dug into the numbers and realized that being a great defensive rebounding team (which they were) didn’t matter if you didn’t defend shots well enough (which they didn’t).
“What we found,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford told NBA.com last week, “were that teams who weren’t as effective defensive rebounding were still ranking incredibly high in defensive efficiency. The areas that they were focused in appeared to us to be field goal percentage defense. So we felt like we needed to go back to parts of our system that would improve our defensive field goal percentage.”
Basically, they needed to better contesting shots, both inside and outside. Easier said than done, but some shifts in personnel certainly helped. Tiago Splitter had two years in the Spurs’ system under his belt, Kawhi Leonard had one under his, and both have played bigger over the last two seasons.
In that time, the Spurs allowed just 93.4 points per 100 possessions in 1,907 minutes with Leonard and Splitter on the floor, the lowest on-court DefRtg of any two-man pair in the league that has played at least 1,200 minutes together over the last two seasons. The tandem of Splitter and Tim Duncan has protected the paint as well as any big man combination in the league. And Leonard has quickly become one of the world’s best perimeter defenders.
Their teammates and coach were quick to point out the importance of those Leonard and Splitter, but also said that there has just been a better collective focus on the defensive end of the floor over the last two years.
“[It was] just coming in here from day one in training camp and making it a priority,” Duncan said, “making them understand that every game, every film session, everything else, this is what we’re going to hang our hats on.”
“We just worked at it,” Popovich added. “I mean, it’s basketball. There is nothing magic about it. You know, we worked at it and the guys committed to it, and we got better defensively.”
With better defenders and a better focus, the Spurs went from 11th in defensive efficiency in both ’10-11 and ’11-12 to third last season. Not coincidentally, they got back to The Finals for the first time in six years and came within six seconds of winning a championship.
This season, they brought back their core (and the best defensive lineup in the league) with one more year together in their system. Though no player averaged 30 minutes per game, they again ranked in the top five in defensive efficiency. And in the Western Conference playoffs, they got those “stops on demand,” holding the offenses of both the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder well under their regular season efficiency marks and setting up a Finals rematch.
The Miami Heat have gone in the opposite direction in the last two years. After ranking in the top five defensively in their first two seasons together, the Heat ranked seventh last season and 11th this year.
Dwyane Wade‘s “maintenance program” — he played just 54 games in the regular season — had something to do with this year’s regression. But so did bad habits. The Heat’s defensive scheme can overwhelm offenses when it’s sharp, but can also get broken down pretty easily when it’s not. It was inconsistent all season, pretty darn awful at times (especially in January), and finished just outside the top 10.
It got better in the playoffs, but the champs never really put 48 minutes of great defense together. In the conference semifinals and finals, they allowed both the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers to score more efficiently than they did in the regular season. Getting through the first three rounds was about how good the Heat were offensively, especially in the fourth quarter, than an ability to get consistent stops.
That wasn’t enough in The Finals. The Heat finally ran into a team that was great on both ends of the floor. And they got slaughtered.
The Spurs’ offense, of course, was a thing of beauty. And once it got going, the Heat could do nothing to stop it. They didn’t have a great defense to fall back on. They couldn’t get stops on demand.
Their not-top-10 defense, those bad habits and that inconsistency, had come back to bite them.
“We were always trying to conjure something,” Shane Battier told Bleacher Report after Game 5. “But you can’t win a championship trying to conjure something. It has to be who you are, and it has to be pure, and that wasn’t the case for us this year.
“We just didn’t have the fundamentals to stop an offensive juggernaut like the Spurs. And we were exposed.”
But you don’t get the largest point differential in Finals history (70 points over five games) with what happens on just one end of the floor. The Spurs didn’t just eviscerate the Heat defense, they shut down what had been a ridiculously good offense through the first three rounds, particularly in Games 4 and 5, when they held the Heat under a point per possession.
“We felt confident coming into the series that we were going to be able to score,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Maybe not as much as we typically are used to, but coming off of some very good defensive teams and series in the Eastern Conference, we felt we could rely on that. But they shut us out of the paint pretty consistently.”
Don’t let anyone tell you that “defense wins championships” is just a cliché, because it has plenty of evidence — including the result of the 2014 Finals — to back it up. These were two great offensive teams. But only one had been defending at a high level all season.
As a result, they’ll be holding a parade down the Riverwalk.
Spurs defense, Tim Duncan era
Season DefRtg Rank Lg. OffRtg Diff. Playoffs
1997-98 96.2 2 102.0 -5.8 Lost conf. semis
1998-99 92.1 1 99.2 -7.1 Won Finals
1999-00 95.7 2 101.2 -5.6 Lost first round
2000-01 94.9 1 100.2 -5.4 Lost conf. finals
2001-02 96.5 1 101.6 -5.1 Lost conf. semis
2002-03 96.6 3 100.7 -4.1 Won Finals
2003-04 91.6 1 100.0 -8.5 Lost conf. semis
2004-05 95.8 1 103.1 -7.3 Won Finals
2005-06 96.9 1 103.4 -6.5 Lost conf. semis
2006-07 97.4 2 103.7 -6.3 Won Finals
2007-08 99.5 3 104.7 -5.3 Lost conf. finals
2008-09 102.0 6 105.4 -3.5 Lost first round
2009-10 102.0 9 104.9 -2.9 Lost conf. semis
2010-11 102.8 11 104.5 -1.7 Lost first round
2011-12 100.6 11 101.8 -1.2 Lost conf. finals
2012-13 99.2 3 103.1 -4.0 Lost in Finals
2013-14 100.1 4 104.0 -3.9 Won Finals

 

[DJ]

the Cavs should have one of the best offenses you have ever seen- their big three FITS piece wise- and has good complimentary players as well.

3pt shooting, transition, half court- they have it all on offense- this should be the best offense since the show-time Lakers

and in the clutch? only Kyrie who has the most game winners in the league since he entered it- LBJ (enough said)- and - ya know i dont know what Love's game winner proclivities are- i didnt catch many of the Siberia Timberwolves games unfortunately.. or ....fortunately....all though - it wouldve been kinda funny watching Ricky Rubio shoot.

honestly- Rubio is one of the worst shooters in NBA history- its such a shame that guy ruined his freaking game just because he cant shoot- all though- i mean, that is kinda the name of the game

guy can do everything else- i used to rip on him about his defense but i was wrong- he is actually a very good defender- he is an AMAZING passer, he has a great handle (though not as good as KI's),

he is just SO freaking bad at shooting it just ruins him- i mean- its not just 3's either- the guy has a VERy hard time finishing layups if they are contested at all- i mean- thats what PGs do- get to the hole and finish-and he CANT do it....

I would be so frustrated if i had the terrible luck to be a Twolves fan - since you see this guy who could be so good and so fun to watch - just ruin it with his atrocious, beyond awful shooting- so bad that if he was not just amazing at the other stuff he would never see the floor.

You do realize Rubio drastically improved his shooting last year on 3's, right? And for the 3rd straight year improved his overall FG %.

You may not be LOL in the future.

 

[DJ]

Russ has met his match with the copy & paste jobs.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Russ has met his match with the copy & paste jobs.

Seldom would I post an article with that much volume but it is 100% on current topic.
No reason for Cavs fans to post pages of inaccurate opinions on the topic moving forward.

 

[WiggyRuss]

You do realize Rubio drastically improved his shooting last year on 3's, right? And for the 3rd straight year improved his overall FG %.

You may not be LOL in the future.

DJ- he averaged 1.6 attempts per game- and made 0.5 per game- say the TWolves in a 2 weeks stretch would play 5 games.

That means in those two weeks (yes i am a math genius, lol) he would make about 3 or 4 three's TOTAL- IN A TWO WEEK STRETCH- we will be generous and say he makes 4! it is totally statistically not material- not significant-


and overall he shot 38% from the field- which is just mind-boggling bad- can you even fathom how bad that is? to shoot 38% from the field?- its hard for a coach to play a guy like that- the name of the game is putting the ball in the bucket- and there was NOT A PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE THAT GOT RUBIO's MINUTES THAT WAS WORSE THAN HIM.


"We’ve harped on, preached about, and cajoled to the masses Ricky Rubio’s one massive deficiency: Shooting the basketball.
That is a pretty big flaw when you’re a professional basketball player, but even those of us that have naysayed Rubio’s game from the start find this nugget from HoopsHype hard to believe.
According to the Pro Basketball website, Rubio is on pace to be the worst shooter, percentage-wise, in the history of the NBA.
According to Pro Basketball Reference, the worst field goal percentage in basketball history is Joe Fulks at just above 30 percent.
Rubio is a 35.5 percent career shooter. Should he retire today, that would rank him as the eighth-worst shooter in pro basketball history.
Where the truth to HoopsHype’s claim comes in, is that all of those players that were worse shooters than Rubio were all born in or before 1934.
Because of rule changes, basketball becoming more of a big man’s game, and various other factors, shooting percentages were much lower until the mid-1960s.
All of the players that came out worse than current-day Rubio were either out of basketball by then or were past their prime and had already amassed most of their unbearable stats.
So if we were to venture a statement as to Rubio’s ineptitude from the field, we’d say that he is the worst shooter in the last 50 years of pro basketball, but not the worst ever.
Other Rubio nuggets in the growing local and national frustration that is his lack of jumper include MinnPost piling on Rubio for the Wolves fourth-quarter problems, FanSided running with HoopsHype’s claim of eye-wrenching shooting, and a Grantland shot chart of Rubio’s that shows, strangely, that he’s worse at shooting when he’s closer to the basket.
rubiobad"

 

[trojanfan12]

Usually the top offensive teams doesn't win titles unless they're a top 10 defensive team

^^^This^^^

Wiggy thinks that the Cavs will have the best offense since the Showtime Lakers. He forgets that those Lakers teams also were very solid defensively and their fast break was triggered mainly by steals and defensive rebounds.

The Nash/Stoudemire Suns had a better offense than the Showtime Lakers and never even made the finals because of poor defense (and a well timed Robert Horry hip check).

 

[DJ]

Seldom would I post an article with that much volume but it is 100% on current topic.
No reason for Cavs fans to post pages of inaccurate opinions on the topic moving forward.

NP, I'm just joking anyway. Wait till you see some of Russ' sonnets and ballads.

 

[DJ]

DJ- he averaged 1.6 attempts per game- and made 0.5 per game- say the TWolves in a 2 weeks stretch would play 5 games.

That means in those two weeks (yes i am a math genius, lol) he would make about 3 or 4 three's TOTAL- IN A TWO WEEK STRETCH- we will be generous and say he makes 4! it is totally statistically not material- not significant-


and overall he shot 38% from the field- which is just mind-boggling bad- can you even fathom how bad that is? to shoot 38% from the field?- its hard for a coach to play a guy like that- the name of the game is putting the ball in the bucket- and there was NOT A PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE THAT GOT RUBIO's MINUTES THAT WAS WORSE THAN HIM.


"We’ve harped on, preached about, and cajoled to the masses Ricky Rubio’s one massive deficiency: Shooting the basketball.
That is a pretty big flaw when you’re a professional basketball player, but even those of us that have naysayed Rubio’s game from the start find this nugget from HoopsHype hard to believe.
According to the Pro Basketball website, Rubio is on pace to be the worst shooter, percentage-wise, in the history of the NBA.
According to Pro Basketball Reference, the worst field goal percentage in basketball history is Joe Fulks at just above 30 percent.
Rubio is a 35.5 percent career shooter. Should he retire today, that would rank him as the eighth-worst shooter in pro basketball history.
Where the truth to HoopsHype’s claim comes in, is that all of those players that were worse shooters than Rubio were all born in or before 1934.
Because of rule changes, basketball becoming more of a big man’s game, and various other factors, shooting percentages were much lower until the mid-1960s.
All of the players that came out worse than current-day Rubio were either out of basketball by then or were past their prime and had already amassed most of their unbearable stats.
So if we were to venture a statement as to Rubio’s ineptitude from the field, we’d say that he is the worst shooter in the last 50 years of pro basketball, but not the worst ever.
Other Rubio nuggets in the growing local and national frustration that is his lack of jumper include MinnPost piling on Rubio for the Wolves fourth-quarter problems, FanSided running with HoopsHype’s claim of eye-wrenching shooting, and a Grantland shot chart of Rubio’s that shows, strangely, that he’s worse at shooting when he’s closer to the basket.
rubiobad"

He isn't retiring today and is only getting better.

SMH.

 

[trojanfan12]

Seldom would I post an article with that much volume but it is 100% on current topic.
No reason for Cavs fans to post pages of inaccurate opinions on the topic moving forward.

But they probably will anyway.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

^^^This^^^

Wiggy thinks that the Cavs will have the best offense since the Showtime Lakers. He either forgets that those Lakers teams also were very solid defensively and their fast break was triggered mainly by steals and defensive rebounds.

The Nash/Stoudemire Suns had a better offense than the Showtime Lakers and never even made the finals because of poor defense (and a well timed Robert Horry hip check).

If anyone remembers, in pre-season 1 of the Heats Big 3 era, Spoelstra only worked on defense.
He knew the offense would be sketchy at first, but over time would work itself out.

I'm sure James will remember the importance of that and more then likely follow the same blue print.

 

[bksballer89]

damn stephen a said offensively he doesn't think hibbert is worth $5

 

[lakersrule]

damn stephen a said offensively he doesn't think hibbert is worth $5

Sounds about right. We'll see if there is any improvement after working with Kareem this summer.