This is Mitchell’s third year in the Cavaliers. His average points, assists, and playing time have all declined, but this is not a problem with his personal ability. It is obvious that Mitchell dominates the offense on the court, finishes the offense, and attracts attention. The destructive power of defensive attention is still the same. Overall, his choices are more reasonable, he trusts the support brought by his teammates more, is willing to cooperate with the coaching staff’s tactical settings, and is willing to contribute to the team, which makes him play more efficiently. These are the sense of existence that cannot be described by data.
However, if the Cavaliers want to become a historically strong team with 70 wins, they still have two advantages and one worry:
The team has many soldiers and generals, but the main force has a small load capacity
As many as 10 to 12 players can be rotated, and the playing time is average. This is the main reason why they are equally stable as starters and substitutes this year. Compared with the main players of other teams who often work for 35 minutes, the four core members of the team, Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen, can play a maximum of 29 to 31 minutes per game. , so that the main force can get more breathing space.
Furthermore, as many as 8 people on the team played more than 20 minutes, not including the recently returned shooter Max Strus, who also played 22 minutes. The entire team of 10 players averaged more than 17 minutes per game in rotation, and five players scored in double digits, which perfectly illustrates team basketball. In particular, the current trend emphasizes load management. It is a bit difficult for the core main players to be full attendance, or even play more than 75 games. The advantage of having all the Cavaliers’ players is even more evident in the middle and second half of the season when physical adjustments are needed or injuries emerge.
High degree of offensive control, often defeating opponents in the first quarter
The Cavaliers have high tactical knowledge, reasonable shot selection, fierce outside firepower, and few team mistakes. They can always play with the arrogance of taking away the game like the Warriors in their heyday. In particular, the Cavaliers are good at playing well in the first quarter, which puts them in a leading position most of the time. It is not easy to reverse them. The plus-minus score of winning the game is as high as 14.9 points for a reason.
There is not enough depth inside, so I pray that the Twin Towers will be healthy throughout the season.
However, their powerful offense also has loopholes. First of all, how to play if the three-point shot is no longer effective? Mitchell and Grande’s threading and breakthrough are undoubtedly the engine for the team to break the deadlock, but this has been the case in the past two seasons. The best they can do is to play around fourth in the Eastern Conference. If they want to challenge the Celtics’ hegemony, Mobley and Allen, the two long men in the penalty area, are the most critical figures.
