Now that preseason is over, a small summary of what I've seen so far with the team
Post-preseason observations:
1. Ball handlers - Blatt loves to play with as many ball handlers as possible. He has obviously found his 2 main guys in Kyrie and Dion, but also LeBron and Delly are options. Any combination of at least 2 of them will be on the floor at all times. On the flip side, Miller, Harris, and Jones are NOT ball handlers.
2. Bigs - Andy and Tristan. Tristan and Andy. Use Love only if the other team has no real big of theirs. Kirk and Haywood as backups. Since this is kind of thin, I expect a roster improvement. Both Andy and Tristan were great in the preseason, each in their own strengths. Luckily both are good rebounders, and Love and LeBron are a huge helping hand in that regard. On offense Tristan will play the role of the pick and roller who will eventually alley-oop for easy dunks, while Andy is more of a play initiator. Both will flourish, assuming they stay healthy.
3. Shooting - the sheer amount of exceptional shooters on this team is amazing. Love, Irving, Dion, Harris, Miller, Jones, Delly, and of course - LeBron. Specifically LeBron has vastly improved his shot since 4 years ago. We saw Love on fire in one of the games, and Kyrie in another. Once they jell and get in rhythm, it will be scary
4. Offense - it seemed great at times, and not so much at other times. I expect gradual improvement. The principles are obviously there. Execution will come in time. Guys will learn when not to overpass, when not to force it, and when to attack or go iso. The learning curve can take a while, but hopefully by playoff time they'll have a good sense of it.
5. Defense - this may be (as expected) the point where there may be problems. Good teams will have great games against us, at least for the 1st part of the season. I expect that by midseason we see improvement, but this is the real question mark - can this team force stops when they need to, like great teams do?
6. Chemistry - Not that enthusiasted with LeBron's remarks. Seems that there may be issues with Kyrie-Dion and Love in general. LeBron-Kyrie seems like a match. LeBron is the obvious leader of the team, but he will willingly take a back seat as far as scoring is concerned. Will be interesting to see the reactions once the PPG stats start coming in - how much will ego truly be a non-factor, even when winning...
7. Them Little Things - I was specifically interested to see what Blatt does regarding the the little differences between Europe and the NBA, so here goes:
7.a. Stopping fast break by "using" fouls - no, haven't seen it. Maybe once, and not on purpose. Seems Blatt is going with the flow, or maybe cause it's just preseason. This is standard practice in Europe, even when over the foul limit.
7.b. End-of-quarter timeouts - h**l yeah. I dont think there was even one quarter that Blatt didnt take a timeout at about 1 min left or less.
7.c. Up by 3 foul - European coaches ALWAYS foul at the end of a game when up by 3. In the one occasion I saw, Blatt didn't foul (Miami). Perhaps it's because of preseason. Maybe just he knew Napier would miss... twice...
7.d. No set rotations, abundance of lineups - clearly, everyone saw that one... And my guess is it's not just cause it's preseason...
8. Blatt Trademarks - There are some plays that David "installs" (yeah, like on your phone...) in every team he's ever been:
8.a. "The Parker top of the key catch and shoot after a barrage of screens and picks" - you saw LeBron do it in the Chicago game. Actually you might even remember Parker do it in Cleveland, as he loved this play as well (and was really good at it).
8.b. "The Saras-Baston pick-and-roll to alley-oop dunk" (also known for Tyrese-Tyus last year) - yes, that's what the Delly-Tristan combination in the Memphis game was.
8.c. "The 2-1-2 full-court press after a made FT" - ahhh, one of my favorites. saw it against Memphis last night, and maybe several other times.
8.d. "The under the basket inbound to right under the basket" - actually I haven't seen this yet... a set of screens free's up a guy cutting to the basket, and the outbounder finds him for a dunk
8.e. "The Baston-Parker backpick followed by alley-oop" - this was when the croud needed some energizing, and normally meant - "look, we're better than you, and you know it too". Haven't seen it yet. Should be classical to run with LeBron, but also Dion, or Tristan on the receiving end.
8.f. "The Bluthental double-pick and pop for a 3" - This is a signature move for Kevin Love to master. He gives a screen for the ball handler, turns around, and pops out beyond a screen set by player X (say Tristan, or Dion, or LeBron). If the D doesnt switch, and the screens are good, he's open for a wide open 3. Haven't seen it yet. Eagerly waiting - this will be the crushing move that defenses will break on.
8.g. "The zone-to-5 defense" - The famous 2-3 zone that changes to man-to-man. Started to see it. Still a work in progress. Derrick Rose was able to beat it quite easily before stepping back for 3's
9. Specific players - can't help it - gotta write it down...
9.a. LeBron - was mainly cruising through the games he did play. When he decided to play - wow! the "new" step-back jumper, hitting 3 balls, I mean wow, just wow. Only thing that bothers me is that through some of the games he didn't look completely healthy, and he seems to be having some trouble adjusting to his lesser body weight (which, frankly, I don't know why he's doing it). If he's healthy and is in "ON" mode - wow...
9.b. Kyrie - glimpses of greatness, accompanied by general lack of understanding. He's got a lot to learn, but when he eventually comes to, he'll be the next Tony Parker, but better.
9.c. Love - we saw (and know) he can shoot, but we're starting to see him develop an inside game, and also the fake, drive and pass. A bit concerning is his tendency to disappear, but that's natural for a non-ball-handler on a team like this. He's got to be super-efficient when he does get his looks, or he becomes "only" a rebounding machine... which brings us to:
9.d. Dion - Probably the biggest question mark. If Dion makes the "leap" and starts playing smart basketball, there's no stopping this team. If he continues to play hero-ball and try his 25-ft fadeaways, he'll be traded. I think it'll be the former, and I think Blatt will be the reason. Seen it happen with so many players - Ricky Hicman, Tyrese Rice, Ariel McDonald, Jeremy Pargo, and more. Gotta believe...
9.e. Andy - Profoundly impressed. He's the perfect player for this kind of team ball. Constant movement, passing skills, smart play overall, and above all - he makes shots when he's open. On top of it he anchors the defense, and once it sync's - he'll be the focal point.
9.f. Tristan - I admit I haven't seen him last year, but from what I've seen so far - he's the junkyard dog of this team - scrappy, a fighter, and practically the only big with some athletic ability. Blatt has always utilized these kind of players to the max. Really optimistic here.
9.g. Delly - Maybe the player with the most "Blatt-hours" so far, and it shows. Not surprised it's his pass to Tristan for that dunk. Was given the assignment to guard Rose and didn't do well. One of the concerns for him is his ability to defend those quick athletic PG's, and he'll have to get better, or the team will have to recognize and cover for him. Overall he's a lock for that 3rd-4th ball handler.
9.h. Miller/Marion/Jones - aka "The Vets" - they know all about preseason, so the jury is out on them. In general they look a bit old and out of it, but hopes are high.
9.i. Joey - I think evidently he will grab some meaningful minutes behind Dion instead of Miller/Jones. But not at the beginning. Showed some good (but not great) shooting, and nice (but not great) overall skills.
9.j. Haywood/Kirk/Price - had quite a good preseason, especially Kirk. Will probably make the team, and maybe actually play upon injuries. All 3 are quite huge dropoffs in talent compared to the others.
10. Conclusions - there aren't any. It's preseason. These are just observations, for what they're worth. I think conclusions for this year will start to appear only at around the allstar break. But...
11. Predictions - still too early, yada yada... Cavs will win more than half of the next 5 years championships. David Blatt will be a first-ballot HOF - how many coaches won multiple NBA championships, multiple Euroleague titles, an Olympic medal and the European National Championship (not even counting local-country championships)??