While the 2015 NBA Playoffs have been amazing, the Finals themselves have proven to be astronomically good through the first several games. Overtime games, incredible individual performances, and diving all over the place have been the custom so far, leaving hope that these Finals will continue to be the highly exciting events they’ve proven to be so far.
However, some of the elements in the Finals so far have people living in shock and awe over things that shouldn’t surprise them. Yes, it’s surprising that the Warriors can’t seem to shoot straight and yes it’s surprising that the Cavs were been able to take a game away from the home-court advantage of the Warriors, but there are three things that people are shocked by that they really shouldn’t be.
1. Matt Dellavadova’s Fiesty Play
The Aussie Enforcer (new nickname I just came up with but you can use) has been the shining star in the playoffs, at times even eclipsing the greatness LeBron is showing. He’s diving for loose balls, sometimes with crazy dangerous results, and coming up clutch with floaters and big shots. The casual NBA fan has been amazed by this performance.
The issue here is that the casual NBA fan pays no attention to college basketball. If they did, then they would have seen a really impressive St. Mary’s team in 2013 that was anchored by Dellavedova. Actually, they would have seen a highly impressive Dellavedova that carried a St. Mary’s team into the NCAA tournament. He was everything for the team, which often involved diving for lose balls and especially creating defensive havoc against the other team’s star player.
Right now, the only thing we haven’t seen from Dellavedova is elite scoring. Primarily because he hasn’t had to. There’s something to be said about the player who is able to know exactly what he is required to do and doesn’t try to force anything more than that. Shane Battier made an entire career out of that. When he had to score, he did. When he didn’t, he did everything else everyone else was unwilling to do. That’s why he was an elite defender, and that’s why Matthew Dellavedova is just the man to try and stop the NBA MVP.
2. LeBron’s Scoring Frenzy
Speaking of scoring, it shouldn’t be shocking to see the scoring output we’ve witnessed from LeBron James thus far. Or maybe not the scoring so much as the need for scoring. After all, this is a depleted roster, dealing with many injuries. These injuries have mostly affected the offensive capabilities in Cleveland. It’s hard to replace what Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and even Anderson Varejao (a highly underrated rebounder) bring to the table.
So yes, LeBron is putting on a historic scoring display right now, but it’s part of the system the Cavs are having to play. Lacking offensive power means they have to focus entirely on a defensive game. That’s what you saw work well in games one and two, which, of course, are the games Cleveland won. Say what you will about David Blatt and whether it’s actually him calling plays, but somebody in the organization is putting together a gameplan to work around having very few players available. It could be that they’re just doing it on instinct, but it could probably make sense if the guy who has been an acclaimed head coach in Europe for a long time had something to do with it.
3. The Play Of The Cavs Supporting Cast
First thing is first: J.R. Smith often does more harm that good. Now that it’s out of the way, we can mention the fact that he’s been a solution to one of Cleveland’s larger problems: shooting. Dion Waiters was never a reliable shooter and wasn’t showing signs of developing into that. Mike Miller wasn’t giving enough productivity. Moves had to be made.
Enter Smith and Shumpert. Iman brings in a little bit of offense off the bench, and Smith will hit important shots. The main question is whether he should be taking any of them, and whether he should bother being on the court during defensive situations.
Defense was solved by picking up Timofey Mozgov, a massive space eater who could fall asleep on the court and be more productive than Kendrick Perkins. He was there to be the fallback plan for when Anderson Varejao inevitably got injured, pulling in stops and rebounds. He’s done far more than that, though, as somehow Cleveland has turned him into a pick and roll monster.
Simply put, and this sounds sort of crazy considering the next point in this article, the supporting cast in Cleveland is just better than what Golden State has to offer. Their problem is that now, the supporting cast is all they have besides LeBron.
4. Andre Iguodala
On any other team, Andre Iguodala would be a starter. Actually, Iggy should probably be the starter on his own team, as there isn’t much Harrison Barnes does better than Andre. But Andre is impressive in that he has fully embraced the role of coming off the bench. It’s the similar, and very rare, mentality to what you find in players like Shane Battier in recent years or Matthew Dellavedova right now. He does what he is there to do and he does it incredibly well.
If the Warriors are to combat what Cleveland brings and secure their title, they have to get more out of their supporting cast. In particular, they need more Iguodala in their lives. Either way, whichever team gets more out of their supporting players tends to win games, and the same seems to be running true during these incredible Finals.
The Joseph Craven
I'm tall, but not so tall that people point and stare. Sports nerd often more interested in what's happening behind the scenes than on the field. Lover of basketball, the Premier League, Mississippi, and studying the human condition.
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