Cleveland Cavaliers: Passing Is Positive
By Joshua Howe
The very first game after LeBron James made it a point to speak to Kyrie Irving about his game (speak, not argue), the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to pull out a victory against the not-so-great Denver Nuggets.
But hey, after you lose to the Utah Jazz, this is a good win, right?
The topic that LeBron chose to bring up with Irving was none other than that of his passing skills. Everyone knows that he can pass, it’s simply getting him in the mode of finding his teammates rather than looking to score each time down the floor.
To this point, there has been a big similarity to LeBron’s early days in Miami, when he and Dwyane Wade would go back and forth in an effort to try and feel out who should be the alpha dog and when it was the right time for one of them to score.
Coming in, this was going to be an immediate issue due to how much Kyrie’s ball handling factors into his game. He needs the ball to do what he does. Or at least, he has so far. That might have to change as the season progresses, and LeBron is letting him know early that passing and, more importantly, trusting the pass is one of the most beneficial parts of team play.
In the first few games, James was the only player really making an effort to find his teammates. But everything was so discombobulated and with the team having spent little time together to form a strong chemistry, those passes that were intended for other Cavs ended up either sailing out of bounds or into the hands of the opponent.
So LeBron did what he is supposed to as a leader and addressed the issue. And guess what? For the first time this season, these Cavs started looking fun on offense. The ball movement was much better and guys were looking for other guys, making the smart pass and playing with their heads up.
As a team, the Cavaliers recorded 25 assists for the game. James had 11 of those and Irving had six, with all other players save two dishing out at least one dime. It was the first time this season that they had more assists than their opponent (win or lose) at the end of a game. This was also coming off of a loss in which they had six total assists as a club.
The defense of the Cavs has still been atrocious, but as has been noted countless times, that’s going to take much longer to solve than the offense. In a sense, it’s surprising that this offense has needed this long to even have what one might consider a relatively decent game. This wasn’t an offensive beast of a game, that’s for sure.
But better. And that’s where it starts.
Cleveland can’t take their foot off the gas pedal now. They’ve found something that’s starting to work and as they chip away, they’re goal should only get clearer. More ball movement leads to better looks, and there are far too many great shooters on the Cavs for open attempts not to drop eventually.
Of course, one of the changes that was a big factor in the win was allowing LeBron more control of the ball. Instead of Kyrie bringing it up the court, it was often James. He initiated the offense and got things rolling, forcing players like Irving to play it his way. This is nothing new to James, as he ran the offense almost solely during his final season in Miami.
The hope is that once things start to fall into place, Kyrie will take a page out of LeBron’s book and James will eventually be able to play less minutes and as well as off the ball more often. But for now, his command of the team is necessary and taking over ball handling duties is one way to cement that power.
Fans can only hope that this game was a springboard for the Cavs and that they noticed the difference in what helped them win. Guess we’ll see. Next test is tonight against a solid New Orleans Pelicans squad.