Cavs searching for fine line between movement and isolation vs Warriors
Isolation basketball – a oneon-one style of play – has a negative connotation in today’s NBA.
It isn’t always aesthetically pleasing and can make an offense stagnant – compared to ball movement and player movement – and more important, it’s not as efficient as other plays.
But isolation basketball has become a subplot of the NBA Finals because the Golden State Warriors have made a tactical decision to force the Cleveland Cavaliers into isolation situations.
Over the last month of the regular season and throughout the playoffs, the Cavaliers turned into a much better offensive team through ball movement and player movement and less isolation.
The Warriors want to take away their style that has led to outstanding three-point shooting and interior offense. The Warriors have versatile defenders who can switch from guarding one player to another.
“You have to play iso,” Cavs coach Ty Lue said when asked if his team played too much oneon-one basketball in Game 1. “If you’re switching one through five and run pick-and-rolls, they’re not going to put two on the ball. They’re going to switch it. If you post up, they’re coming to double team.
“We had the matchups we wanted when smaller guys switching onto LeBron James, smaller guys are switching onto Kevin Love. Now we have to take advantage of it, getting to our spots, getting to our spacing, and take advantage of the junked-up defense.”
The Cavaliers need to make Golden State pay for some of those mismatches.
During the regular season, the Cavaliers scored .84 points per possession – just above the league average on isolation plays. They are at the same number for THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS are much more efficient as a team when LeBron James (right) is acting as a distributor rather than trying to carry the offense alone. The Golden State Warriors, on the other hand, are just fine when Steph Curry (left) take matters into his own hands. the playoffs. Compare that to 1.081 and 1.147 points per possession in the regular season and playoffs for the Warriors.
There are better ways to score. Yet, Cleveland has two of the better one-on-one creators in the league in James and Kyrie Irving. There is a time and place for isolation basketball. But it requires efficiency, and it isn’t known for its efficiency.
“You could say it has little place because the ball should be moving and players should be moving,” Warriors assistant coach and basketball philosopher Ron Adams said. “Yet, there are many teams who have key players where maybe the only way they can score is doing that more than another team that has more scoring at different positions and can score in different ways. It will always be a part of the NBA.
“In this series, there are certain instances with both teams where if there’s a matchup, you’re going to have to go at it a little bit. But that can’t be the main focus of what you do offensively. If they had their druthers, it wouldn’t be Cleveland’s focus, and it certainly isn’t our focus.”
Interestingly enough, the Warriors, who are lauded for the poetry-in-motion style of passing and moving without the ball which leads to beautiful basketball, have one of the best isolation players in the league: Steph Curry.
“Every team needs to play to their strengths, and we run some isolation at times,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “Usually, it would be Steph getting a one-on-one matchup that he likes. When he’s feeling it, he’ll start going into his dribble-shot combination, fadeaway three over a big guy. Those often come out of isolations maybe after a switch. So it can be effective.”
Among players who have more than 20 isolation plays in the postseason, Curry is scoring a league-high 1.25 points per possession, and during the regular season, he scored 1.07 points per possession on isolation, best among players with at least 200 iso possessions.
Irving and James know the recipe for success in isolation.
“It’s a fine line,” James said. “When you’re out there and they’re switching and you have a one-on-one matchup, quick moves and not holding it as long is good. When you keep the ball on one side for too long and you’re pounding and pounding and pounding, then that won’t result in good basketball. It won’t result in good rhythm for everyone out on the floor.”
Said Irving: “Now it’s the one-on-one challenge of just beating your guy. So you’ve got to find that balance, though. That’s the most important part. Because when you’re going one-on-one, guys are still watching you, and the offense kind of becomes stagnant. So finding that balance where we can have continuity and getting the ball moving and finding guys in their iso areas where they’re most effective.”
(USA Today/TNS)