Fire Mike Longabardi !!!

[Cavatt]

I'm not confident but my mind isn't made up either. I'm surprised how many fans have made their mind up after exactly three games. I'm absolutely confident fans will react to a small bad sample size by demanding coaches are fired and schemes that have been practiced for months are immediately jettisoned.



We agree that we are in the Griffin window of contention has closed, but the Griffin window of paying for those contending teams is absolutely not over. The Cavs were more responsible than many teams that knocked on the door and even won a championship, but the Piper hasn't been paid in full. Dallas isn't done paying for their run that saw a championship in 2011. Lakers were knee deep in the Jerry Buss debt until LeBron showed up and dropped some tinsel on LA.

Did this system actually fail? I disagree in regards to the late run last season up until the Finals. It was good enough to frustrate the class of the East while the offense played LeBron Ball on offense.



You made me laugh. The post had that going for it.

Until we see more change to the roster, which is still half old guys and half inexperienced guys, definitive statements on which defense is best is really a moot point. Run a few defensive schemes while the talent level replenishes.

I agree with you about reacting too quickly, but this was a scheme we have seen repeatedly fail, Longabardi has never had an above average season as a defensive coordinator and they are asking Love to switch much more than he has in the past. I am just not impressed and am alarmed because it seems to make the players disengage.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I agree with you about teaching too quickly, but this was a scheme we have seen repeatedly fail,

Not trying to be a dick with this statement, but if you watched Golden State more closely you would have seen the scheme repeatedly succeed.

 

[Rich]

Not 100% accurate. When the Cavs didn't have the right grouping when Longabardi first arrived they scrapped it. Frye and Love didn't have the foot speed. Sometimes they returned to it off and on. Then last season they used it through the EC but Golden State shredded it by isolating George Hill on JaVale. Again, I see switching as one tool to use on defense, not a magic bullet to build the whole defense around. The direction of the league is positionless basketball eventually, why not give young players that exposure because this team is a few years away either way.



The Cavs don't have a rim protector so they don't have the roster for man defense either.

I'm gonna watch a well coached team more closely but just watching the Spurs Lakers game, the Spurs weren't even switching every ball screen, let alone every off the ball screen, let alone non-screens.

Switching is one thing, but switching when you aren't forced and just freely giving up mismatches, no matter who is one the court and who can and can't shoot?

 

[pinoycavsfan]

If this coaching staff is so adamant on switching everything they should start making lineup changes. Start cedi at PG and play Nwaba..

Cedi/Nwaba/Hood/Nance/Love

 

[Randolphkeys]

I'm gonna watch a well coached team more closely but just watching the Spurs Lakers game, the Spurs weren't even switching every ball screen, let alone every off the ball screen, let alone non-screens.

Switching is one thing, but switching when you aren't forced and just freely giving up mismatches, no matter who is one the court and who can and can't shoot?

What you have just argued is called a strawman fallacy. Nobody is arguing for switching 100% of the defensive possessions. I do believe our young core will benefit from exposure to a coach who is considered adept in the schemes for the long haul. We agree it isn't a magic bullet that should be run every possession, as all of my posts today make very clear.

 

[Cavatt]

What you have just argued is called a strawman fallacy. Nobody is arguing for switching 100% of the defensive possessions. I do believe our young core will benefit from exposure to a coach who is considered adept in the schemes for the long haul. We agree it isn't a magic bullet that should be run every possession, as all of my posts today make very clear.

Except that is what Lue is saying. He has been saying switch everything.

Also when are you referring to the defense working against GS? Was it in 2016? Longabardi was only with the team a few months before the chip and defense has gotten worse every year since.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Except that is what Lue is saying. He has been saying switch everything.

If Lue is really telling the opposition exactly how he is going to defend them from now on, I may grab a torch and pitchfork and join most of you guys in scapegoating the shit out of coaches. I really think this is a misunderstanding and he is just running switching principles now so they learn the fundamentals of that defense. No coach should do the same thing every single game all season in any sport.

Also when are you referring to the defense working against GS? Was it in 2016? Longabardi was only with the team a few months before the chip and defense has gotten worse every year since.

This is another misunderstanding. I meant to convey Golden State switches the majority of their defensive sets and have for almost two seasons, not the Cavaliers switching when facing them.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I do believe our young core will benefit from exposure to a coach who is considered adept in the schemes for the long haul.

I agree with the general idea that switching can be a positive, and that the core will benefit from exposure to a coach who knows how to do it. But just because that is true does not mean that Longobardi is the best guy to teach those concepts while also maintaining an effective overall defensive. Switching is not rocket science. It is becoming more popular throughout the league, which means that good basketball coaches are able to develop those concepts on their own and/or learn them simply by observing the teams that do it well.

Perhaps Longabardi is an "expert" in switching, but he does not appear to be an expert in how to incorporate switching effectively into a roster that does not have the requisite personnel. The incorporation of Longabardi's system, whether it is "switching" or some kind of hybrid, into this team has seemingly failed, over multiple seasons.

In other words, you don't get rid of Longabardi because you're abandoning switching concepts. You get rid of him because he'd proven to be a bad defensive coach.

 

[Cavatt]

So they went from giving up 130 a night to 102 just by simplifying the scheme. Drop the 5 in the pick and roll, and they stopped the off ball switching on screens. Let's see how the defense hold up now.

I have to say that this was the type of defense that was successful immediately after the trades last year, but when they implemented the "whole system" they suddenly became terrible defenders again after the allstar break.

It's a pretty interesting thing. Why would you need the "advanced system" that is too complicated for your personnel(like maybe a super high IQ team could run it?) if it actually gives up more points than the simplified system? Makes you wonder if you couldn't have stopped the 1st, 2nd and 3rd option that GS had, and even if they scored inefficiently on that 4th option, you would have at least stopped the first 3. In some ways I think the Cavs were trying harder to stop that 4th option than the first 3 in their defense even in the finals last year.

So, even if we take it on faith that they are running the "only system that can deal with GS". That really isn't necessary for this team on any level. This team needs to learn the fundamentals of defense because they are no good at defense and they are very young.

This disconnect between what the coaches want, and what the players are capable of is my biggest criticism of Longabardi. It has been an ongoing problem since he got here, and has basically never been addressed.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

View: https://twitter.com/NBAOfficial/status/1045729219949613063?s=20


So isn’t the Freedom of Movement just an extension of the hand check rule that was in place but with additional body parts added and post play factored in? Wrapping around a defender in order to impede a pnr, using your hands to stiff arm an offensive or defensive player when in awaiting a ball coming to the post or just simply using your body re-direct (equivalent to a press in football). All these are more egregious fouls and aren’t ground breaking but I do feel like the impeding progress or momentum line gives them enough wiggle room to call soft contact fouls.

This makes it awfully easy to attack a switching defense because there are gaps during a switch that can be exploited if body parts aren’t used to make initial contact with the individual that switched on to you. Rockets had been the best switching team last season and it’s what made them a formidable defense. They’re struggling with that same defense although it’s probably personnel based considering they lost Ariza, LMM and added Melo.

 

[rcj47]

Start cedi at PG and play Nwaba..

Cedi/Nwaba/Hood/Nance/Love

I'd also send Hood to the bench:

Sexton/Nwaba/Osman/Nance/Love

Of course, their scoring is highly questionable and that is what teams like GS really do well that buries other teams. But Hood is a minus offensively to me because he is so inefficient (11 pts on 11.4 FGA) so whoever is next up should be in there for him - anyone at this point. He makes zero defensive effort along with Clarkson. I'd rather have Korver in there - at least he tries.

While I agree some (few) teams are good at switching, I don't see any team switching on virtually everything. It is crazy to me to see how often our bigs are trying to stop guards one on one this year. No 4 or 5 in the league is going to stop a guard isolated at the top of the key.

 

[TheAdmin]

Longabardi is not well liked by the players.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I knew it. He looks annoying as fuck lol. Always jumping up and down with his small ass physique.

 

[Soar]

Longabardi is not well liked by the players.

Yeah because he looks like the fucking goblin from Harry Potter. He's also the same height.

 

[TitleTown]

So they went from giving up 130 a night to 102 just by simplifying the scheme. Drop the 5 in the pick and roll, and they stopped the off ball switching on screens. Let's see how the defense hold up now.

I have to say that this was the type of defense that was successful immediately after the trades last year, but when they implemented the "whole system" they suddenly became terrible defenders again after the allstar break.

It's a pretty interesting thing. Why would you need the "advanced system" that is too complicated for your personnel(like maybe a super high IQ team could run it?) if it actually gives up more points than the simplified system? Makes you wonder if you couldn't have stopped the 1st, 2nd and 3rd option that GS had, and even if they scored inefficiently on that 4th option, you would have at least stopped the first 3. In some ways I think the Cavs were trying harder to stop that 4th option than the first 3 in their defense even in the finals last year.

So, even if we take it on faith that they are running the "only system that can deal with GS". That really isn't necessary for this team on any level. This team needs to learn the fundamentals of defense because they are no good at defense and they are very young.

This disconnect between what the coaches want, and what the players are capable of is my biggest criticism of Longabardi. It has been an ongoing problem since he got here, and has basically never been addressed.

Wow...bravo! Fantastic fucking analysis.