Cavs Mailbag: Is The Defense Inconsistent Due To Rebounding?
Welcome to Cavs Mailbag! In this daily mailbag, Spencer Davies will respond to fans’ curiosities surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the duration of the 2023-24 season. In order to submit yours, simply send your questions on X to @SpinDavies or via email at spindavies22@gmail.com.
The Cavs have stacked back-to-back wins for the first time this season, albeit against undermanned competition in the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers. They’re back to .500 with an extremely testy schedule coming up, starting with the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
With a day off in between, let’s get to your questions:
Have the rebounding issues exposed the Cavs defense? The Pistons’ poor three-point shooting seems like the main reason we won that game. - @WillSD3V
Crashing the boards after stops has been a thorn in Cleveland’s side this season. Starting that game last night, Detroit had a 13-1 rebounding advantage in the first eight minutes. That can’t happen when you have Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley on the floor at the same time.
In some cases, they’ve been out of position to get the rebound because they’re in help defense or contesting a shot, which means that others have to put a body on the next man underneath. Teams will make the Cavs pay with second and third chances. Statistically though, Cleveland has the second-highest box-out percentage defensively in the NBA, so maybe it’s not about that as much.
Here’s an oxymoron stat: The Cavs are a top-10 defensive-rebounding team (33.8) but have a bottom-four defensive-rebounding percentage (68.9%). Does that indicate long rebounds off opposing triple tries are hurting the team? It’s a good question.
So, among others, Allen and Mobley have to simply be stronger with the ball by grabbing and securing the ball. It feels like Max Strus has been the most effective gang rebounder on the team, chasing it down after stops and going for loose balls to save possessions.
Cleveland’s defensive metrics are really odd right now in studying the data. (The Cavs are allowing the ninth-least amount of three-point attempts in the league, but are getting torched at a 37.5% clip, for an example of that confusion) We might need more of a sample size. They trust their system and we know it’s been successful.
Nov 17, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) shoots over the defense of Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) during the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
How vital has the energy from Max Strus been to the Cavs this early in the season? He’s developing on-court chemistry quickly with guys like Evan which is great to see. - @HipsterTito
Strus has been essential. I love the way he’s made plays in secondary and tertiary actions, particularly in the pocket. He’s attacked closeouts well and has been quite effective in transition around the rim. Once he can get those pesky side-iron layups to fall in the half-court, Strus will command even more attention. He’s clearly getting a feel for the team game-by-game. The Mobley connection goes both ways as well, with the big man finding him on cuts and handoffs more frequently.
Defensively too, Strus has pressured ball-handlers more and more with each game. It makes sense that he’s been in attack mode guarding his opponents above the break because of the protection Allen and Mobley provide behind him.
Why does J.B. always overuse players? - @derickderick08
It’s a fair ask. We may need to give J.B. Bickerstaff some leeway for these first 12 games because of the roster instability and a lack of continuity in players available. He did talk about a 10-to-11-man rotation during training camp, so that has seemingly gone by the wayside.
I do believe that once Isaac Okoro and Ty Jerome get back into the fold, Cleveland’s rotation will at least extend out to nine guys regularly. He has more trust in his depth than he’s had in years past. He could do a better job of not relying overly so much on some players though. Bickerstaff's a matchup guy, and sometimes, that can be iffy.
