Fixing the Cavs with A.I

No I'm not talking about Allen Iverson, I'm talking about Artificial Intelligence.

In this post I put the Cleveland Cavaliers through the machine learning ringer and find out why certain lineups are working , why others aren't and most importantly how to get the most out of them.

The spotlight for the Cavs has really been on the defensive end and with the integration of Isaiah Thomas. The findings in this post go into some of the reasons why the defense is struggling as well as how to get the most out of Isaiah lineups.

With the fresh news of Kevin Love fracturing his hand and being out for 6-8 weeks, It's a perfect time to also look at what line-ups work without Love in them.

What have we learned out of all this?

Defense & Shooting is certainly an issue for the Cavs and it's consistent with the general consensus from most NBA analysts and the general fan. This is a good thing, as the data is backing up the eye test and the general perception.

However what we have found specifically is that:

• The Isaiah Thomas line-up needs to fix it's offensive schemes to get the right balance between taking 2's and 3's. Making 3's is obviously going to be a concern given the teams shooting woes, but this line-up needs to be taking more 3's the first place and getting shot selection right. There is hope for a positive +/- with this line-up with a tinkering of the offense.

 

• There are good signs again with the algorithm finding positive +/- non-Lebron and non-Kevin Love lineups. The common ingredient in both, being the pairing of Frye and Korver to give the Cavs the shooting they desperately need. These small ball lineups obviously need to be rolled out against specific line-ups but there is some real positive signs, especially as they hold their own on the boards.

 

• What really surprised me with the non-Lebron and non-Love line-ups was Jeff Green being on the court. For me the eye test showed he was killing the Cavs on both ends of the floor.  In these small ball line-ups he's clearly doing something right with both holding their own on the boards.

 

• Jae Crowder and JR Smith are a big problem. They are in the worst Cavs line-up and neither of them are in the best non-Lebron or non-Love lineup which is really telling. Their overall poor play, shooting woes and lack of confidence is really killing the Cavs. 

 

• The overall poor performance on defense for most Cavs lineups has been well documented, but one driver that has not been widely mentioned is how the Cavs poor shooting has been contributing to the poor defense. It's really hard to play well on defense when you are constantly scrambling back on defense after a missed shot. An uplift in shooting % will not only help on the offensive end but also with their ability to get a defense set.

With all the talk of the Cavs defensive problems, I have put the below video together which shows 4 straight defensive plays. It's a microcosm of the real problems that are going on with the Cavs:

1. Poor basic fundamentals on defense (JR Smith)
2. Lack of awareness and not being engaged mentally (Lebron)
3. No communication and luck of trust (Kevin Love and Jae Crowder)