Cleveland Cavaliers: What Is Wrong With TImofey Mozgov?
Timofey Mozgov has regressed in his first full season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on why Anderson Varejao should be the starter at center instead of Tristan Thompson while Timofey Mozgov was recovering from injury. Two weeks later, I think I should have written about who between Thompson and Varejao should permanently replace Mozgov.
Mozgov has struggled immensely since the beginning of the season. All of his numbers are down compared to last year. He is averaging 3.5 fewer points per game this season (10.6 to 7.1), 2.6 fewer rebounds (6.9 to 4.3), 0.4 fewer block (1.2 to 0.8 BPG), and playing 5.5 fewer minutes (25.0 to 19.5). They aren’t career lows, but the drop off has been alarming.
Some of it can be attributed to him still recovering from right knee surgery. However, it could also be because he is struggling in a system that was supposed to be familiar to him by David Blatt, his former Russian national team coach.
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Mozgov isn’t being looked upon as a top scoring option, but he is supposed to be the dominating interior defender that the Cleveland Cavaliers believed they had.
Opposing teams have not hesitated to dribble penetrate to the lane against the Cavaliers. Opponents are making 36.6 percent of their field goal attempts against the Cavaliers, which is 10th in the NBA. This equals out to a .488 percentage, which ranks 15th in the league. The averages might be skewed due to three-point attempts being included within the calculations.
As a defensive unit, they have struggled all season. They are currently ranked ninth, but that can be deceiving.
Defending the pick-and-roll has been the biggest issue with Mozgov. He defended it well last season as the Cavaliers were ranked fifth in the NBA in the category. They are now ranked 15th. So what could be his issue? It could be Kevin Love playing more within the interior this season rather than on the perimeter.
Playing fewer minutes could be taking him out of rhythm– or he might not be as good as all Cavalier fans originally thought.
In his last 10 games, Mozgov has averaged 5.4 points and 3.4 rebouinds per game. He still has trouble catching passes down in the post. He also hasn’t been as aggressive as last season, which has shown in his rebounding and shot-block numbers. On some plays when he should dunk, he goes for the layup, and it easily gets blocked by opposing centers.
He just hasn’t made the progress that the Cavaliers thought that he would. Thompson has played in most of the fourth quarters while Mozgov is on the bench even if a team hasn’t put a small lineup in the game.
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It is still early in the season, but he has not looked like the same player that was acquired last season, and changed the whole defensive culture of the team. If his struggles continue, there could be more minutes given to Varejao and possibly Sasha Kaun. Only Mozgov knows what he has to do to improve his overall game, and get back to playing at a high level.