CLEVELAND, I will solve your problems

[Kathoro]

Irving now looks like he might be injured sufficiently to abandon giving him as large of a role. He really looked bad after injuring himself in Game 1 against Atlanta. He tried to come back but his tire was clearly blown too badly to be substantially effective. I was hoping he would recover over the long break after the second round, but he obviously didn't.

The optimum strategy would probably be to sit Kyrie in Game 2. If the Cavs win Game 2, they should sit Kyrie for the rest of the series. I just can't imagine them having a chance against Golden State in the finals with Irving in this condition.

The way Lebron used isolations to choke out the Cavalier offense in the second half of the 4th quarter of Game 1 against Atlanta was pretty epic I might add. I love Lebron, but I also love pointing out his flaws.

[huevonkiller]

That fourth quarter of Game 1 was not easy on the eyes, but his series against Atlanta was adequate. We'll have to see what transpires in the future.

Ky's game four was impressive in his limited minutes. Glad to see him on the court again.

[huevonkiller]

What is even more pathetic is that Lebron's ego is so blinding that he is probably delusional enough to think that he is an elite defender. He yells at his teammates when they play poor defense or miss boxing out, two things that he does all game long. The Cavs could actually compete for a championship if Lebron considered the mere possibility of trying to spell at least two letters out of the phrase "defensive effort," but anyone with at least three neurons in their skull would realize that Lebron will never play another possession of defense for the rest of his career. He is nothing but an above average player. If he just stood at the offensive end of the floor and never crossed the half court line to the defensive side for the rest of his career, his defensive impact on the game would be exactly the same as it is now.

I just saw this Gem from one of your posts in late 2014. However, when the real season started, LeBron took over defensively. He played PF/C 64% in the playoffs, defensively rebounded better than Love, and didn't have to play with guys that defended terribly last year like Waiters and Varejao anymore.

Timo wasn't rim protecting at this level on his other team, and Thompson hasn't played nearly the amount of minutes LeBron has in the playoffs either. LeBron is the one perimeter superstar player that can dominate a game defensively when he needs to. His versatility is ridiculous, I think GSW is an incredible opponent capable of beating anyone easily, but your post above was quite inaccurate.

For someone who supposedly has more than "three neurons in their skull", it is surprising you weren't aware that the Regular Season doesn't matter to a guy who's already accrued a million VORP and BPM like LeBron. I think he's smart to take possessions off in the superfluous part of the season, and I think Kyrie should have taken that advice as well, given how brittle he is. It sure looks like Kyrie went at it nearly full-speed in the regular season, and now he's not responding so well. The guy played fewer minutes than Kyle Korver in the ECF. I'm going to guess they shouldn't completely follow your advice, dude.

[Kathoro]

I was using hyperbole, dude. I think I made a topic with the title "Lebron is the worst defender in the history of basketball." I obviously didn't believe that statement was accurate either.

In regards to Irving getting injured, I strongly believe that following my advice would allow the Cavaliers to perform much better while playing Irving much less minutes. This could actually lead to Irving getting injured less.

There is a possibility that Irving is simply too fragile to stay consistently healthy while playing over thirty minutes per game. Unless that becomes relatively certain, the Cavaliers would be wise to follow my advice.

[huevonkiller]

I was using hyperbole, dude. I think I made a topic with the title "Lebron is the worst defender in the history of basketball." I obviously didn't believe that statement was accurate either.

A plausible explanation until I saw this other dime piece:

"Does anyone have any in depth statistical analysis to examine his defensive impact? My gut feeling is that his defensive effort is so pathetic that he is literally one of the worst defenders in the league."

I mean really, the Heat were a joke this season on defense and that's with one of the best rim protectors in the game. I'm going to go out on a limb and say an older Chris Bosh, Rashard Lewis, and Wade have the ability to make you look worse on defense.

In regards to Irving getting injured, I strongly believe that following my advice would allow the Cavaliers to perform much better while playing Irving much less minutes. This could actually lead to Irving getting injured less.

"Kyrie Irving should be the primary player initiating all of the Cavalier offense in the half court. He is one of the best ball handlers in the history of the NBA and has absolutely elite quickness. He can blow past his defender from the top of the key at a tremendous rate. He should have the ball pretty much as much as Iverson did in his prime"

Ok...

It sounds like you want him to take on even more wear and tear than he did this year.

There is a possibility that Irving is simply too fragile to stay consistently healthy while playing over thirty minutes per game. Unless that becomes relatively certain, the Cavaliers would be wise to follow my advice.

Let's see if Irving can consistently outplay James Jones in the latter stages of the playoffs first, before we start planning the entire offense around him. The guy has been like this his whole career it is not surprising. I think he'll play better in the Finals, but we'll have to see.

[Kathoro]

You have to remember that offense and defense are linked together in basketball. Better offensive shooting percentage and less offensive turnovers per possession can lead to better defensive efficiency.

Let us separate offense and defense into four categories for the sake of argument:
1. Pure Offense
2. Pure Defense
3. Offensive-Defense
4. Defensive-Offense

Obviously, James is probably an incredibly good Offensive-Defender. His pure defense can be a different story. James posted an D-XRAPM of -0.8 last season despite having an O-XRAPM of +8.7. Damien Lillard posted the highest combined XRAPM last season with a D-XRAPM as low as -1.0, and he was SIX-FOOT-THREE, played POINT GUARD, and was FORTY-THIRD in combined XRAPM. I believe Ryan Anderson was the front-court player who posted the highest combined XRAPM last season with a D-XRAPM as low as -1.0, and he was NINETY-FIRST in combined XRAPM.

Considering the size, strength, speed, leaping ability, and offensive-defense of James, his pure defense is absolutely putrid. I should have been more specific in my criticism of his defense by criticizing his PURE defense, not his OVERALL defense.

In regards to the Heat, they dropped from 11th to 19th in defensive efficiency, which is not an astronomical drop. They also played about half the season without Bosh, who posted a D-XRAPM of 3.3 last season. In losing James, they probably lost a lot of offensive-defense as well. Plus, two different seasons are two different seasons. Lots of things can change from year to year even if the roster is similar.

In regards to Irving getting injured, I am willing to entertain the possibility that he is too fragile to stay consistently healthy while playing over thirty minutes per game. My advice could lead to more wear and tear per minute, but it could also lead to less overall minutes. The Cavaliers have already locked Irving into a massive contract, so they would be wise to follow my strategy unless it becomes clear that Irving is too fragile.

[huevonkiller]

Obviously, James is probably an incredibly good Offensive-Defender, and probably a good defensive-offensive player as well. His pure defense can be a different story. James posted an D-XRAPM of -0.8 last season despite having an O-XRAPM of +8.7. Damien Lillard posted the highest combined XRAPM last season with a D-XRAPM as low as -1.0, and he was SIX-FOOT-THREE, played POINT GUARD, and was FORTY-THIRD in combined XRAPM. I believe Ryan Anderson was the front-court player who posted the highest combined XRAPM last season with a D-XRAPM as low as -1.0, and he was NINETY-FIRST in combined XRAPM.

Considering the size, strength, speed, leaping ability, and offensive-defense of James, his pure defense is absolutely putrid. I should have been more specific in my criticism of his defense by criticizing his PURE defense, not his OVERALL defense.

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/2544/tracking/defense/

He has a defensive field goal percentage of 41.4%, which is 2.7% better than the average and he's doing this on 40+ minutes of work after all the possessions on offense he takes. He's been quite useful at the rim and on 15+ foot jumpers. He's also rebounding at an absurd rate for him.

In regards to the Heat, they dropped from 11th to 19th in defensive efficiency, which is not an astronomical drop. They also played about half the season without Bosh, who posted a D-XRAPM of 3.3 last season. In losing James, they probably lost a lot of offensive-defense as well. Plus, two different seasons are two different seasons. Lots of things can change from year to year even if the roster is similar.

From 11th to 21st according to BBR, which is a colossal difference, and this is - Rashard Lewis, - Ray Allen, + Deng and + Whiteside.

In regards to Irving getting injured, I am willing to entertain the possibility that he is too fragile to stay consistently healthy while playing over thirty minutes per game. My advice could lead to more wear and tear per minute, but it could also lead to less overall minutes. The Cavaliers have already locked Irving into a massive contract, so they would be wise to follow my strategy unless it becomes clear that Irving is too fragile.

Why risk it in the regular season? Right now Tristan Thompson is a trillion times more valuable than Love because of health alone. If I were running a team, I wouldn't care what LeBron does during the regular season, and I'd want to see Kyrie in a suit more often. Then I'd worry about who takes what shot later on, depending on what these guys have left in the tank.

[Kathoro]

There are three specific aspects of Lebron's pure defense that are absolutely putrid during the regular season:
1. Preventing the man he is defending from successfully driving past him with the basketball.
2. Allowing the man he is defending to perform successful cuts without the basketball.
3. Getting back in transition.

There are two specific aspects of Lebron's pure defense that are not absolutely putrid during the regular season:
1. Defensive rebounding.
2. Contesting certain shots.

Theoretically, someone could easily be a horrible defender despite being good at rebounding shots and contesting shots when in position. I have noticed that James is appearing to give substantially more effort on his defensive rebounding in the playoffs, but I also believe that he is still vastly underperforming relative to his talent in the three aspects of pure defense that I have mentioned above.

In regards to risking an injury to Irving:
I actually believe that my plans for Irving could reduce his injuries. By running my offense, there is a good chance that Irving would be able to make good decisions with the basketball much more frequently, which could lead to less situations where he would put his body in danger by forcing up stupid shots in the paint against large front-court players. I believe he would be able to able to run my offense and decrease the rate of situations that could cause him injury. If I was coaching, I would actually place a strong emphasis on making correct decisions with the basketball to avoid getting into situations that could cause injury. Currently, Irving is ending many pick and rolls by forcing up stupid shots in the paint against large front-court players and smashing his body into the ground. By running my offense, Irving would either blow past his man and put up easy layups without smashing his body into the ground, blow past his defender and dish out easy passes without smashing his body into the ground, or get stymied by his defender and reverse back to behind the three point line without smashing his body into the ground.

[Kathoro]

Perhaps the most important point I have made in this topic is the following:

KYRIE IRVING DOES NOT NEED A PICK TO GET PAST HIS DEFENDER WITH A HIGH RATE OF SUCCESS. THEREFORE, THE CENTER HOLDS MUCH MORE VALUE TO THE OFFENSE BY HOVERING NEAR THE PAINT AND SETTING UP FOR AN ALLEY HOOP OR EASY FINISH WHEN IRVING IS HANDLING THE BALL ON THE PERIMETER.

This statement is like medicine to the Cavaliers. They would be wise to take it. When Irving successfully uses the pick from a center in the pick and roll, his instincts are to blaze to the rim and put up a shot if there is not an easy pass available. The center requires time to roll to the rim after setting the pick, and Irving takes much less time to blaze to the rim. This is leading to Irving forcing up many stupid shots in the paint and smashing his body into the ground. If Irving isolated more often with the center hovering near the paint, Irving could end many drives with lobbing or dishing the ball to the center and abstaining from smashing his body into the ground.

In my opinion, if the Cavaliers continue to use the current strategy, Irving will continue to follow his instincts. This will lead to Irving forcing up stupid shots in the paint, turning the ball over in the paint, and smashing his body into the ground.

[huevonkiller]

Here's the problem with your theory, the Cavs have an elite defensive rating with Tristan Thompson's below average rim protection, and Timo gets benched throughout these games when teams try to play small ball against them.

LeBron is at almost +5 DBPM as well. It seems unlikely any of this matters.

The regular season is very unimportant for older players, and the Heat looked lost without him on defense. Sources needed either way.

There are three specific aspects of Lebron's pure defense that are absolutely putrid during the regular season:
1. Preventing the man he is defending from successfully driving past him with the basketball.
2. Allowing the man he is defending to perform successful cuts without the basketball.
3. Getting back in transition.

Ok, you still need sources. LeBron's DRPM is actually quite respectable, so you're not getting anywhere with this. Kevin Love's post-season defense was terrible though according to stats.nba.com, perhaps you should direct some attention at him.

There are two specific aspects of Lebron's pure defense that are not absolutely putrid during the regular season:
1. Defensive rebounding.
2. Contesting certain shots.

Well unless you're running an LA Laker-style offense, LeBron is defending all the shots that really matter. And he doesn't get called for fouls because of his athleticism/length which adds to his usefulness.

Theoretically, someone could easily be a horrible defender despite being good at rebounding shots and contesting shots when in position. I have noticed that James is appearing to give substantially more effort on his defensive rebounding in the playoffs, but I also believe that he is still vastly underperforming relative to his talent in the three aspects of pure defense that I have mentioned above.

Theoretically, if Mike Miller doesn't start/play two games for them they might have lead the league in defensive rating.

You've already been shown his rebounding, court position, and on/off court defensive impact. There's not much more to discuss you just don't have the figures.

In regards to risking an injury to Irving:
I actually believe that my plans for Irving could reduce his injuries. By running my offense, there is a good chance that Irving would be able to make good decisions with the basketball much more frequently, which could lead to less situations where he would put his body in danger by forcing up stupid shots in the paint against large front-court players. I believe he would be able to able to run my offense and decrease the rate of situations that could cause him injury. If I was coaching, I would actually place a strong emphasis on making correct decisions with the basketball to avoid getting into situations that could cause injury. Currently, Irving is ending many pick and rolls by forcing up stupid shots in the paint against large front-court players and smashing his body into the ground. By running my offense, Irving would either blow past his man and put up easy layups without smashing his body into the ground, blow past his defender and dish out easy passes without smashing his body into the ground, or get stymied by his defender and reverse back to behind the three point line without smashing his body into the ground.

How did Irving get injured in College again? I mean he barely played right? What about this year with his shoulder, knee, foot ?

For his long-term stability nothing in the regular season should concern him, and then after the Cavs get to the playoffs then his status relative to his teammates can be assessed correctly.

[Kathoro]

In the playoffs thus far:

1. Timofey Mozgov: 14.2 FGA/GM, -6.5%
2. Tristian Thompson: 15.3 FGA/GM, -5.1%
3. JR Smith: 7.8 FGA/GM, -8.3%
4. Iman Shumpert: 9.8 FGA/GM, -3.5%
5. Lebron James: 9.1 FGA/GM, -2.7%
6. Kyrie Irving: 11.2 FGA/GM, -0.3%
7. Matthew Dellavedova: 8.5 FGA/GM, 0.6%
8. James Jones: 5.1 FGA/GM 3.1%

You can see here that Mozgov and Thompson are contesting vastly more shots than James and contesting shots vastly better than James. JR Smith and Shumpert are contesting a similar quantity of shots and contesting these shots better. If you are going to use the contesting shots argument, it appears that James ranks fifth out of his teammates.

Thompson, Shumpert, and Mozgov have been in the top four of best Cavalier shot contesters, and these three players are starting with James now. These three players are probably driving up any regular defensive plus/minus numbers for James. JR Smith and James Jones are coming off the bench, and Kyrie might be playing a larger fraction of his minutes without James on the floor lately. James Jones and Kyrie might also be driving up any regular defensive plus/minus numbers for James.

My pattern recognition capabilities identified Thompson, Mozgov, and Shumpert as the players vastly responsible for the success of the Cavalier defense, and I am most likely correct. You might be dealing with one of the highest living IQs on the planet here. My IQ is so high that I can make arguments without quoting statistics and they will probably be correct.

There are several factors that are responsible for the success of the Cavalier defense in the postseason:
1. The shot contesting of Mozgov.
2. The shot contesting of Thompson.
3. The unique ability of Thompson to stay in front of ball-handlers who are smaller than him.
4. The offensive rebounding of Thompson making it more likely for a Cavalier possession to end with a made basket.
5. The shot contesting of Shumpert
6. The ability of Shumpert to chase players off the ball
7. The deflections caused by Shumpert
8. Most likely the ability of Shumpert to stay in front of ball-handlers.
9. The shot contesting of Smith
10. Most likely the ability of Smith to stay in front of ball-handlers
11. The ability of Dellevadova to stay in front of ball-handlers due largely to his tremendous effort in this regard.
12. The hustle of Dellevadova fighting for loose balls
13. The defensive rebounding of James.
14. The masterful offensive abilities of James and the way his Cavalier teammates play offense around him.

There are a few factors that are hindering the Cavalier defense but haven't prevented them from being a great defense in the postseason:
1. The putrid ability of James to stay in front of ball-handlers.
2. The putrid ability of James to stay with the man he is supposed to defend when that man moves without the basketball.
3. The putrid ability of James to play effective transition defense.
4. Kyrie Irving.
5. James Jones.

I rest my case.

[italia13calcio]

You might be dealing with one of the highest living IQs on the planet here. My IQ is so high that I can make arguments without quoting statistics and they will probably be correct.

Argument won.

[huevonkiller]

Well the problem is if I apply your own logic than LeBron shouldn't have had his contested FG% this regular season, or his DRPM, should he? Timo/Thomp were quite terrible there, but James was still at -1.5%. Honestly this isn't difficult for me, I already expected such an argument from you. Additionally, Shump and JR weren't even on the roster in the first part of the year. You can keep posting about how guys score off cuts against him, but until you provide sources you're speaking some unintelligible language to me. And I barely speak this language, so please be merciful.

Sources please.

In the playoffs thus far:
1. Timofey Mozgov: 14.2 FGA/GM, -6.5%
2. Tristian Thompson: 15.3 FGA/GM, -5.1%
3. JR Smith: 7.8 FGA/GM, -8.3%
4. Iman Shumpert: 9.8 FGA/GM, -3.5%
5. Lebron James: 9.1 FGA/GM, -2.7%
6. Kyrie Irving: 11.2 FGA/GM, -0.3%
7. Matthew Dellavedova: 8.5 FGA/GM, 0.6%
8. James Jones: 5.1 FGA/GM 3.1%

You can see here that Mozgov and Thompson are contesting vastly more shots than James and contesting shots vastly better than James.

LeBron crashes the boards, plays 40 minutes of defense, plus has a -2.7% contest rate. Smith and Shump are just mortals on the boards, Moz plays half the game or less if the other team can play small, Thomp doesn't rebound like James on D. It is easy if you piece it all together. Thomp might be their best overall defender in the playoffs, but I'd have LeBron right after him, due to his plethora of contributions and versatility.

During the Regular Season Mozgov and Thompson were at +1.8%, whereas LeBron was at -1.5%. Your entire argument was premised on the regular season by the way, and LeBron's was still above average. I mean really, you don't have the combination of metrics to make these arguments. I don't see a cognitive flow.

JR Smith and Shumpert are contesting a similar quantity of shots and contesting these shots better. If you are going to use the contesting shots argument, it appears that James ranks fifth out of his teammates.

Right, so if LeBron just rebounds like a shooting guard, saves energy, or lets the other team treat him like Kyrie Irving on the boards, then he might have the energy to defend shots like Shump and such.

You might be right about that, unfortunately that doesn't sound like the best strategy.

Thompson, Shumpert, and Mozgov have been in the top four of best Cavalier shot contesters, and these three players are starting with James now. These three players are probably driving up any regular defensive plus/minus numbers for James. JR Smith and James Jones are coming off the bench, and Kyrie might be playing a larger fraction of his minutes without James on the floor lately. James Jones and Kyrie might also be driving up any regular defensive plus/minus numbers for James.

Nope. http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/2544/tra ... r%20Season

LeBron was always good at contesting shots. At least above average, given how much he plays.

My pattern recognition capabilities identified Thompson, Mozgov, and Shumpert as the players vastly responsible for the success of the Cavalier defense, and I am most likely correct. You might be dealing with one of the highest living IQs on the planet here. My IQ is so high that I can make arguments without quoting statistics and they will probably be correct.

There are several factors that are responsible for the success of the Cavalier defense in the postseason:
1. The shot contesting of Mozgov.
2. The shot contesting of Thompson.
3. The unique ability of Thompson to stay in front of ball-handlers who are smaller than him.
4. The offensive rebounding of Thompson making it more likely for a Cavalier possession to end with a made basket.
5. The shot contesting of Shumpert
6. The ability of Shumpert to chase players off the ball
7. The deflections caused by Shumpert
8. Most likely the ability of Shumpert to stay in front of ball-handlers.
9. The shot contesting of Smith
10. Most likely the ability of Smith to stay in front of ball-handlers
11. The ability of Dellevadova to stay in front of ball-handlers due largely to his tremendous effort in this regard.
12. The hustle of Dellevadova fighting for loose balls
13. The defensive rebounding of James.
14. The masterful offensive abilities of James and the way his Cavalier teammates play offense around him.

There are a few factors that are hindering the Cavalier defense but haven't prevented them from being a great defense in the postseason:
1. The putrid ability of James to stay in front of ball-handlers.
2. The putrid ability of James to stay with the man he is supposed to defend when that man moves without the basketball.
3. The putrid ability of James to play effective transition defense.
4. Kyrie Irving.
5. James Jones.

I rest my case.

I love reading your blog-style posts and think of you as the Charles Barkley role model this place sorely needed, but I think the rest of the posters here might require more evidence for your claims. Just a tip.

LeBron has DRB%, DRPM, Contested Shots, on/off, and DBPM in his favor. Remember, my argument is literally that he's at least a decent defender, there's nothing you can say to dispute this without a slew of additional sources.

[Kathoro]

We keep switching back between arguing about his regular season defense and postseason defense and it has become annoying to even spend the energy to sort it all out. I've admitted that he has given substantially more effort on defensive rebounding in the postseason.

You are acting as if crashing the boards excludes someone from being able to contest a shot. There are five players on the court. Statistically, it appears as if MOST of the time, a player has an opportunity to crash the boards without needing to contest a shot because the man he is defending will not have taken the shot. It is overwhelmingly more likely that one of the four other players will have taken any given shot.

You can cite any plus/minus numbers you want. They will never be able to separate James from his teammates and identify who is actually what fraction responsible for the success of the Cavalier defense. I can watch the games and tell you which areas of defense James excels in and which ones he is laughably underperforming relative to his talent in.

[huevonkiller]

You can cite any plus/minus numbers you want. They will never be able to separate James from his teammates and identify who is actually what fraction responsible for the success of the Cavalier defense. I can watch the games and tell you which areas of defense James excels in and which ones he is laughably underperforming relative to his talent in.

LeBron allowed .81 PPP according to Synergy Sports last year.

There's not much else to discuss but I'm fine with you becoming an offensive coordinator, I'm quite indifferent on that.