The Cleveland Cavaliers want to push the pace more this season, according to Donovan Mitchell and Evan Dammarell of Right Down Euclid. This might lead to some easier looks and advantage situations for Cleveland in games, and transition offence can get guys going, and the team can feed off of great shots in odd-man situations.
Last season, the Cavaliers played at the slowest pace in the NBA, which resulted in some stagnation for the team.
Now, Cleveland did generate their share of turnovers defensively, and the Cavaliers did have the league’s best defensive rating in the regular season, and it’s not as if they were out of sync as their default setting. The Wine and Gold had 51 wins last year, and finished fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Despite those things, Cleveland was bogged down in the playoffs in their loss to the New York Knicks in the first round, and going into this coming year, it’s sensible for the Cavs to be stressing getting up and down more. Cleveland is also reportedly emphasizing for the team to have more man and ball movement in their offense, so it’s natural for them to want to have more urgency in their offense. That’d be logical to utilize offseason additions such as Max Strus and Georges Niang as shooters, too.
All of that said, while the Cavaliers are wanting to push more, and that not just meaning they’re going to be jacking up shots, it’s still evident Cleveland needs to clean up on the defensive glass. The Cavs were inconsistent as a defensive rebounding team last year.
