Hahaha - that was good - up to this point I've just only gotten leading questions in lieu of any team assessment at all.
That's fair. Sometimes rivalries in this game can engender a bit a guarded analysis that won't tip your hand.
Cavaliers Pros: The offense on this team isn't hard at all to figure out, and that means it was well-conceived. Rubio is the straw that stirs the drink. Since he's not a good long-range shooter, he'll need to penetrate and create space. As long as that is within his ballpark, he's got some really good tools at his disposal, and that starts with Kevin Garnett.
Garnett's presence at the center will not be a total win, but on offense he ought to be pretty close. He's lost a lot of the speed on his formerly lethal first-step to the point where it cannot be an 'every down' weapon, but his jumper hasn't gone anywhere, and that ability will keep most centers (and most teams' defense anchors) from being nearly as effective as a help defender and lay-up/dunk deterrent.
That's important because it opens up runways so Blake Griffin can dunk on the souls of the league. Add Gallo, Redick, and Frye to that mix, and you've got long range shooters, solid midrange threats, and a lethal finisher with a clear runway.
I don't know how good Blake Griffin will be when its all said and done, but he should take a nice step forward next season, hopefully manifesting its self in a small step forward on his jumpshot (he shot just 37% on 9 attempted 2pt jumpers per game) and his defensive acumen. He should be just below the ceiling for a 2nd team All-NBA select next year, and should be a lock to repeat as an All-Star
Defensively this team has its issues, but its not on the perimeter. Rubio allegedly is a good enough defender, and next to him is JJ Redick who has held his own as adaquate against the league's guards for years now. Gallinari is a liability defensively, but Thabo Sefelosha is still one of the best perimeter defenders out there. On top of that, Sefelosha can guard most 3's as well as 2's and 1's (especially if the 1's are a little slower, or the 3's are a little lighter or smaller), and there is so much offensive firepower on this team that they can afford long stretches with a offensive underachiever in Thabo out there, because where most teams keep their offensively challenged guy (Center), the Cavs are rock solid.
Cons:I don't know how the Cavs will deal with the larger offensively capable centers in the league, other than to run them out of the building. KG isn't built for the banging that he'll take from the Andrew Bynums, Boguts, and Howards of the league, and neither is anyone else on the Cavs roster. Teams that play inside-out ball or have a real offensive weapon at the center position will have a clear blueprint on how to succeed, because Garnett will not be able to play the disciplined help defense he likes to, and Blake Griffin is not good enough yet to do what Garnett does in his place.
Gallinari is another real problem area for Cleveland (as noted above), because he's too slow for the faster SF's, and too weak for the burlier ones. He'll need help against those guys, and the problem is that leaves the paint open for layups and dunks from the opposing teams' bigs.
Aside from injury concerns to Garnett, the other looming question as discussed previous is Ricky Rubio. Depending on who you read, or talk to, he may or may not have the tools to be a effective defender and ball distributor right away. The one thing everyone agrees on however is that he can't shoot, and he isn't a stellar athlete. This means that teams will just "Rondo" him up, and back off him. He'll have room to pass, but unlike Rondo he doesn't have 3 straight years of 8+ assist per game NBA seasons to draw on to prove he can still do his thing even when teams back off him. Plus, he's not nearly as fast, so the more athletic competition he'll face in the NBA will have an easier time anticipating his drives, and countering them. If Rubio can't get the ball to his teammates in a fashion that puts them in a place to succeed, the whole thing kind of falls apart, and the one truism in the NBA is that all rookies struggle mentally when they first enter the league, especially when they're asked to do too much. Asking Rubio to start and lead a high paced multi-faceted offensive team with multiple options might seem like a dream come true, but even in the best case scenario its going to involve some significant growing pains as the season wears on.
All in all, I think Cleveland has built a very very interesting team, but they need to bulk up at the center position with a starting-caliber option. Not that they'll start him, but because A) They'll need that option at some points and B) Garnett WILL get hurt, and Channing Frye will make what was a tenuous interior defense into a lay-up line. They also need a very competent backup PG (the Jennings comparison to Rubio was an interesting one, but even Jennings had Luke Ridnour, right). What they don't need is more skill on the wings or frontcourt, and they don't need more athleticism.
That's 860 words of analysis, and I expect a dozen TP's, as well as analysis in kind. Unless all that's out there are leading questions.
Topic: 2011 CB draft: How does my team look?/division rankings (Read 590164 times)