Dave McMenamin covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for ESPN. In a 32 minute interview with Soaring Down South editor Valerie Morales, McMenamin shared his thoughts on the upcoming Eastern Conference Finals, isolation basketball, and who he expects to advance to the NBA Finals.
VM: How are the Cavs going to approach the ECF? Will there be a psychological letdown after a Chicago series that was filled with star power?
DM: Even though the Atlanta Hawks don’t necessarily have stars, they beat the Cavs three out of four times. When both teams were at full strength in March, the Hawks completely handled the Cavs. There might not be the star power of a Derrick Rose, or a Defensive Player of the Year (Joakim Noah), or a Most Improved Player of the Year (Jimmy Butler), but you are talking about Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and Al Horford. They all made the All-Star team. The Hawks had the most wins in the East.
Certainly something that’s caught LeBron James attention is that Mike Budenholzer comes from that San Antonio Spurs system that has had so much success coaching against LeBron.
VM: Collectively, do NBA players attach influence and meaning to what happens in the regular season?
DM: When I covered the Lakers, they were so experienced and they’d been together for so many years, and had been through so many playoff runs-both successful and unsuccessful- that a regular season game didn’t really register. When Kobe Bryant is your leader, he is not going to let anyone have their confidence hurt based on how they performed in the regular season.
LeBron has the same type of experience as well but the difference between this Cavs team and those Lakers teams are that everybody else- Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellevadova- those guys are in their first playoffs. The regular season is all they have to fall back on.
VM: As an Assistant Coach for the Cavaliers, Tyronn Lue seems more engaged than other assistants around the league? Is this a false impression?
DM: What distinguishes Lue from every other assistant around the league is he’s the highest paid. He has to earn that paycheck. That said, I think it’s a collaborative effort on Blatt’s staff. David Blatt has a ton of experience overseas, we all know that. But, none in the playoffs. Nothing illustrates that better than Tyronn Lue grabbing David Blatt at the end of game 4 in Chicago and saving Blatt from being laughed out of the league. Had Blatt been granted that timeout and called for a technical foul, that would have been one of the biggest blunders in the history of sports. Tyronn Lue saved Blatt from himself in that instance and he has been a valuable member of the staff in other facets.
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When the Cavs made the mid-season trade for Timofey Mosgov and they changed up their defensive schemes because of it, a lot of that was on Tyronn Lue to implement the changes in practice day to day. It’s not just Tyronn Lue. It’s Jim Boylan who’s a former head coach in this league and Larry Drew who’s a former head coach in this league. It’s even guys like Phil Handy and Damon Jones who are player development coaches for this staff and have voices that are heard when it comes to putting game plans together.
VM: The greater the stress, the greater the opportunity for a J.R. Smith moment. Are the Cavs worried about that?
Feb 24, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) shares a laugh with guard Mike Miller (18) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Cavs beat the Pistons 102-93. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
DM: I don’t think they are worried. I think they are aware he has incidents in the past, including these playoffs, that have been regrettable and cost him a two game suspension and may have cost him a starting position with the Cavs moving forward. Iman Shumpert took over and it doesn’t look like David Blatt will be going back to J.R. in the starting lineup anytime soon.
I think the Cavs know they wouldn’t be the team they are today had they not made that trade and had J.R. not filled the void right away and made shots and diversified their offense. LeBron is making sure he has J.R’s ear and when he sees J.R.’s feathers getting ruffled, he is doing whatever he can to get J.R. to focus on the task at hand.
VM: In the playoffs, the Cavs are averaging 18 assists a game. Can they get to the Finals with a ball movement rate that is particularly mediocre?
DM: The assists number is a little skewed. The Cavs take a lot of free throws. You can’t get assists when you throw it down to a guy and he goes to the foul line. The Cavs have won 8 out of 10 playoff games. Their biggest strength has been their defense, holding their opponents to 40.7% from the field shooting. They are not allowing teams to light it up.
You can win with any type of formula as long as you do enough of the other things to make up for it. If you are a demon on the defensive end and your isolation scoring involves one of the top 5 players of all time in LeBron James, then you’ll be okay.
VM: Can an isolation based team win the title?
DM: Absolutely. I think the Cavs can win it all. Las Vegas says Golden State is the favorite to win it all. I’d agree with that but you can’t look at this Cavs team and say they are incapable of winning the championship.
If you want to identify the Cavs as an isolation based team compared to their peers- 15% of their scoring comes off of isolation- I think it would prove the theory wrong that it’s impossible to play this style of basketball and win it all.
VM: Tristan Thompson, James Jones, Paul Millsap and Mike Muscala will be impact players. Agree?
DM: Tristan Thompson has been invaluable since Kevin Love went out. He makes up so much for Love’s absence. James Jones is a guy who has found opportunities when they come. Millsap is a star so of course he will have impact. He will cause matchup problems for the Cavs. Millsap can play outside, inside and put it on the floor. Muscala is another guy, like Dellavedova, who can be underestimated and can hurt you.
VM: Who do the Cavs think they have to control?
May 11, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) shoots the ball against the Washington Wizards in game four of the second round of the NBA Playoffs. at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
DM: The name LeBron mentions is Jeff Teague. He’s an All-Star. His numbers have dropped from the regular season but he’s still an effective player- 15 points, 7.5 assists, close to 2 steals. The main area where LeBron believes Jeff can hurt them is if the Cavs are turning the ball over, specifically if LeBron is turning the ball over like he did in the regular season against Atlanta.
In the second round, against Chicago, LeBron had 27 turnovers in 6 games. He knows a guy like Teague can take the ball and turn it into a score. You don’t want to give the opposition easy possessions in the playoffs. I think Teague is the guy and for Kyrie it’s an interesting proposition.
Teague is another All-Star point guard. Kyrie was guarding Mike Dunleavy at the end of the Chicago series so he wouldn’t have to go up against Derrick Rose. On Monday, Kyrie said he would not be cross-matching to start the series and he would be ready to take the challenge guarding Teague and Dennis Schroder.
VM: The Hawks lead the playoffs in assists. How do the Cavs approach that part of the Hawks game?
DM: If the Cavs get caught looking at one player they will lose. Atlanta isn’t a team where you can focus on one guy. I think it comes down to team defense and helping the helper, knowing your proper rotations and to make it a point of emphasis and a point of pride to perform on the defensive end like they did in the Chicago series. Also, it’s recognizing there isn’t one guy you can focus on. Anybody on the Hawks can have a 15 point quarter.
VM: Do you think it’s going to be a long series?
DM: I think it will go 6. I think the Cavs will win. I think they found something against Chicago. If LeBron is 100% and if Kyrie is near 100%, even if they don’t have home-court advantage, I think they should beat the Atlanta Hawks.
VM: If the Cavaliers lose to the Hawks will this be a failed Cavaliers season?
.DM: It would depend on how they lose. If they were swept, or if there was dissension among the ranks of course they would say it’s a failure. Up to this point, you have to feel positive about this season. When Kevin Love went out, all bets were off. The Cavs responded admirably against Chicago. LeBron said in his Welcome Home letter that this is a process and he doesn’t expect it to happen overnight. Already, it’s exceeded LeBron’s expectations.