10 keys to winning a title
Put Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in a pick-and-roll
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a phenomenal offensive team. They have some gifted players who can make big plays. They can put points up in a hurry.
Their defense, on the other hand, is a different story. All year long they’ve struggled on that end. It’s their biggest weakness.
Normally, when a guy is a major defensive liability, you can pull him off the floor. Unfortunately for Cleveland, two of their weakest links happen to be two of their best offensive players. They can’t afford to just sit Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
Irving and Love are playing with extreme confidence. Their brilliant offensive play is energizing they defensive efforts. They’ve played well on that end during the postseason.
Of course, they haven’t played an offense like Golden State’s. The Warriors have weapons all over the foot. They can bend defenses to their will.
Where Irving and Love really struggle is in the pick-and-roll. The point guard dies on screens while the big man doesn’t move well. The Warriors need to attack this.
Irving will guard Stephen Curry and Love will have a hard time finding someone to hide on. While there’s a good chance he’ll guard a center like Zaza Pachulia, he’ll probably end up on Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and even Kevin Durant for some possessions. That’s when they need to challenge them.
Curry is a deadly player in the pick-and-roll. If Green or Durant is his screener then the Warriors’ attack becomes even stronger. There is a clear advantage there for them to exploit.
Sometimes Steve Kerr (and now Mike Brown) try to get too cute. They do too much with the offense, over emphasizing motion and passing. Sometimes they just need to simplify things and let the best players do what they do best. Brown has suggested they’ll use more pick-and-roll.
Warriors fans have called for that play all season long. Now would be the time to use it over and over again, forcing Irving and Love to dig down defensively on a regular basis.