10 keys to winning a title

Make Kyle Korver uncomfortable

The basketball world stopped when news broke that the Cleveland Cavaliers had traded for Kyle Korver. The veteran sharpshooter is one of the best to ever let it fly in league history. He was joining a team that was built for a player like him.

He spent years trying to take LeBron James down as a member of the Atlanta Hawks. Suddenly, they were on the same team. To make matters worse (for everyone outside of Northeast Ohio), the Cavaliers didn’t really give anything up to get him.

Korver is a great player to have next to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Those two guys put so much pressure on defenses with their amazing driving ability that shooters can get free. No one is better at catch-and-shoot threes than him.

While he is a special marksman, he doesn’t really do much of anything else. Especially at this juncture in his career, Korver has a very specific role that he doesn’t really deviate from. He’s out there to catch the ball and then shoot the ball.

Korver is far from a defensive specialist. In fact, he’s actually a liability on that end. He doesn’t move very well and he has poor instincts.

Offensively, he’s not really going to break defenses down. He doesn’t want to dribble the ball and he doesn’t really venture into the paint too often. He’s not looking to take defenders on and create for others.

Korver is great at running around screens and knocking down open looks. The Warriors need to make sure that they don’t let him get into a rhythm. If he does, it could mean trouble with the way that James’ vision and willingness to find the hot hand.

Golden State could treat him the way Cleveland treats Stephen Curry, grabbing and bumping him as he comes off picks. It’s much easier said than done, but the Warriors need to stay close to him and run him off the line. Turning Korver into a ball handler and playmaker takes away his greatest strength.

Making Korver uncomfortable eventually makes him unplayable. The way the Warriors can really do this is by forcing him to play defense. They need to attack him as much as they can.

Taking Korver out of the game changes Cleveland’s offensive approach. For a team with a lot of weapons, disarming one is huge. He won’t single-handedly win them a series, but he can put the Cavaliers in great position.