cavaliers Rookie Irving key to offense
By Tom Reed
Cleveland Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND
Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said he didn’t know why they needed ice bags in a basketball locker room when he was a 19-year-old shooting guard.
“I thought they were used for Kool-Aid,” Scott said jokingly. “I didn’t know you were supposed to put them on your knees and legs until I was about 25.”
Chances are Kyrie Irving will get acquainted with them much sooner. In two preseason games, the rookie point guard has pushed the ball up the court in transition, driving to the basket, getting to the foul line and collecting some bruises for his effort.
The image of Irving leading the break will become a familiar one this season, as the Cavaliers find ways to manufacture offense. After years of searching for secondary scoring in support of LeBron James, they must generate it by committee in a rebuilding season.
Scott is hoping his emphasis on defense throughout training camp will help provide some easy baskets in transition. Otherwise, it could be another long and low-scoring campaign for a club that ranked 29th last season in field-goal percentage (.434).
“We don’t want to be a half-court team,” Scott said. “We don’t want to have to set up every time we come down the floor because I don’t think we have the firepower to do that. But if we can create turnovers and rebound the ball, then we have the opportunity to get in the open floor. That’s where we will thrive the most.”
Irving has shown the willingness and fearlessness to play that style. In preseason, he averaged 16 points and got to the line 16 times, converting 14 free throws. But is the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder durable enough to absorb the elbows and forearm shivers that come with repeatedly driving the lane?
The Duke product certainly will add a jolt to an offense that ranked 25th in scoring (95.5 points). Gone from that team are Mo Williams and J.J. Hickson, who combined to average 27.1 points.
Veteran Antawn Jamison is the only returning Cav to average in double figures (19.7) for his NBA career. The 35-year-old power forward should get his points again this season, but they won’t come as easy if the Cavaliers can’t establish a perimeter presence. Jamison believes the club needs to get 15 to 18 points per game from the small-forward position. That sum used to make for a decent half on many nights when James played it.
Now the Cavaliers are relying on Omri Casspi, who becomes a full-time starter for the first time. Casspi has averaged 9.5 points in his two seasons in Sacramento, and he should help Anthony Parker and Daniel Gibson deliver buckets from the perimeter.
On the low blocks, what offense is created will likely come from the energy and second efforts of Anderson Varejao, Samardo Samuels and Tristan Thompson. The undersized Samuels, listed at 6-9, might be the club’s best low-post presence.
All of which is why Scott wants to force turnovers and control the defensive glass.
“Coach has been pushing us to get out on the break and run,” Gibson said.
Scott has already parked his intricate Princeton offense to allow for more creative and instinctive play. That should help his point guards, Irving and Ramon Sessions, who also gets to the basket.
Jamison said Irving is still learning some of the finer points of the position but enjoys watching him run the floor and create offense.
“Young fella is going to be all right,” Jamison said. “I try to get on him and try to find weaknesses. But he is tough and he brings it.”
Which means Irving will also have to take it.