A ‘clumsy’ aspect of the Cavs that must be fixed to become a title threat

After an informative film session on Thursday afternoon, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson he felt better about his team’s season opener. Sitting with ClutchPoints and two other reporters in the Baruch College gymnasium, Atkinson gave a full diagnosis The Cavs lost 119-111 to the New York Knicks.

“I’m actually more positive after watching it. We were right in the game. We didn’t play great there.”

“I think the clumsiness I’m talking about on offense is definitely because of the new lineups playing together. There were just a couple of missed reads. What really sticks is Lonzo (Ball) throwing it to Dean (Wade). Dean’s not even looking at him. You’re playing with Lonzo Ballso watch out. Maybe if you play with CP (Craig Porter Jr.), it’s different. We are just beginning to understand each other. So that definitely stood out. Free throws were obviously a big problem. Don (Mitchell) with a usage rate of 37% is too much. And he’s a selfless guy, we all know that, but we have to help him a little bit more.”

Having 21 assists with 15 turnovers isn’t a team high, nor is a total of just four offensive rebounds. But Mitchell isn’t worried about this being a work in progress. He is calm and confident about it everyone will understand that.

“You throw in different rotations, you’ve got young guys, you’ve got older guys,” Mitchell said after Wednesday’s game. “Just different things, and that just comes with it. That’s why I don’t think I’ll take this loss to heart. Hey, we’ve got a lot to work on, to build on. But like I said, with that being said, we’re tied in the fourth.

“It’s early in the season. I’m also playing with a lot of different players,” Evan Mobley he added. “Some guys are out there, it’s a different flow. Everyone’s still learning each other. I feel like the first half was so-so, and then as the game went on, it got better and better. I mean, it’s definitely different – it looks out there, and when you see different guys, you’ve got to know their tendencies. Also, they’re good and they fought well here, so I think the young guys did a great job. They’re doing their job and their part, and we we just have to make it happen together.”

Ball saw a lot of stagnation in his first game with Wine and Gold, but knows that movement will come with time.

“We’ve got a lot of things we want to get to screening, and guys are just looking to see who’s going to set a screen, not just run into it,” he said. “It’s a whole new team, pretty much. Like Kenny said, we had five new guys in the rotation last night.”

“You work on your stuff in training camp and you do it and it looks great against you,” Sam Merrill added that night. “I think there were some moments in the first half where we maybe got away from what we were trying to do, what we’ve been working on the last couple of weeks. Whether it’s the play we think we need or just the overall rhythm of what we’re trying to get into. (We) did it a lot better in the second half. That’s why we played a lot better.”

While a 46.5% field goal percentage and 41.3% clip look respectable on paper, Atkinson had some dire evidence to back up his claims about the offense’s shortcomings.

“The quality of our hitting was poor,” he said. “Everybody’s going to say, ‘Oh, it was Don or Evan, they took a lot of midrange.’ You can say that, but it is a collective. We really have to work collectively to get good shots. In the NBA, all the pieces have to move together. We got too caught up… that’s the most isolations we’ve played in two years. Our shooting quality was in the eighth percentile. That’s how we dealt with it.”

“Just try to get the easier baskets,” Ball added. “I feel like there were some opportunities where we could have gotten away from the game and just taken it ourselves, especially in transition where we didn’t necessarily get there. But like I said, it’s the first game. We’re still learning each other. It’s going to take some time, but hopefully it’ll be quicker.”

Atkinson’s last point in the analysis of the offense was precisely on the non-involvement of Jarrett Allen.

“He’s a great pick-and-roll player. I told the guys this: best field goal percentage in the league. He’s our rim shot. We didn’t throw him the ball. When we put it in his pocket, it’s like crazy. It’s like 1.39 (points per possession). It’s like when you stop giving the ball to a full block.

“It wasn’t the Jarrett Allen that we all know. It’s more us not looking for it. But the other way around, you can’t just get four rebounds. So I was really blunt with him. I can’t be like, okay, I’m not going to rebound.”

Allen had a terrible night, scoring just four points on four shot attempts and grabbing just four boards in 28 minutes of action. Admittedly, the absence of Max Struss and Darius Garland makes it difficult as those are his primary additions. Still, Atkinson thinks they need to stop taking Allen for granted.

“If we don’t break through that defense with his rim shot … what did we have, eight rim shots? Like, f*ck guys,” he said. “I like that we got a lot of threes, but we got to the rim. Give the Knicks credit; they did a good job of keeping us at bay.”

Cavaliers must remember that Rome was not built in a day

The Cavs weren’t too happy with their defensive effort despite allowing 65 points to the Knicks in the first half. Between using Jaylon Tyson and multiple looks at Jalen Brunson, and by keeping Karl-Anthony Towns in check, Cleveland kept New York’s two biggest scoring threats at bay.

“We did a lot of good things,” Atkinson said. “Fouling is a foul. Stats are stats. The ones that always bother you are some (lack of) focus (ones). We fouled four three-point shooters. Right off the bat, it was a little lack of focus. But I didn’t get anything like, ‘Oh, we didn’t compete hard.’ None of that. I think there was more focus.”

The Cavs are optimistic that communication will improve over time.

“I think every group is different,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve got two of the best defensive players in the league, so that helps clean things up a lot. But I think we could do a lot better on the ball, certainly the running backs, and just be better at communicating. Those are probably the two biggest things that stood out to me last night. Hopefully it won’t take too long, but obviously the adjustment period will be as long as it takes. say.”

“It’s communication on the defensive end,” Merrill added. “I think offensively, it’s guys trying to figure out roles. “Like, ‘If I’m on the floor with these guys, I’m doing one thing. Maybe with another group, it’s another.’ So it will take some time. But we have smart and competitive guys, so they’ll figure it out.”

Mitchell likes to see the Cavs put to the test right away, especially the new, inexperienced members of the team.

It will serve them well not only in the short term but also in the long term.

“There were a lot of things that they did well, and there are some things that we can work on, whether it’s holding screens or sliding screens, coming out or not coming out, spacing to the right, pulling behind, shooting or not shooting. Those are all things you learn. You can do that in practice, and that’s fine, but when you get that way to see what’s better in these moments and start working against the team, be there with us at the top East, right? So this is the perfect scenario for us to throw them into the fire and also put ourselves in a situation where we have to communicate.

“It’s not just up to them to figure it out. It’s up to me and Eva especially to kind of lead it. I mean, for us, we did a great job responding in the third quarter, even the whole second half. The ebb and flow is going to be a big part of the year, and I think this was great. I’m really happy with the way our guys came out, especially with our young guys coming out.”

Mobley was also encouraged. The end result didn’t go their way that night, but in the early stages of the season that’s fine.

“We’re in a good position and we’re going to be a good team,” he said. “That’s what I think. Definitely early. We’re learning each other more and more. But all the pieces that we have that are out there and also that are on the floor, I feel like it’s been a good job.”