Cavaliers' Blatt wants to play stars in shorter bursts, LeBron approves
Despite a well-spaced-out schedule to start the season, certain members of the Cleveland Cavaliers should be forgiven for looking exhausted at times.
Fatigue can hardly be cited as a factor for a disappointing 5-4 start - only nine games into the season and with one of the NBA's lightest schedules through three weeks. But the Cavaliers have struggled late in games, so tired legs could be a factor.
| Cavaliers | O-Rating | D-Rating | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 121.0 | 109.3 | 11.7 |
| 2nd | 103.4 | 108.4 | -5.0 |
| 3rd | 105.3 | 103.5 | 1.8 |
| 4th | 107.7 | 113.2 | -5.5 |
| Total | 109.7 | 108.3 | 1.4 |
Head coach David Blatt suggested on Tuesday that he would like to play the team's stars for shorter bursts. It appears Blatt realizes that he has tasked LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love with the third, fourth and fifth highest minutes averages, respectively, in the season's early going.
LeBron said he's in favor of playing short bursts & maybe fewer minutes. But he made it clear he's not complaining about how it's been done.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) November 18, 2014
Having three players in the top five for minutes is obscene, and while it's still very early, it isn't a good harbinger of how the team will look when their star's minutes need to be managed. That's particularly true for James, who is 30 years old and has a lot of tread on the tires from repeated runs at a championship.
| Cavs Stars | 2014-15 MPG | 2013-14 MPG |
|---|---|---|
| LeBron James | 39.1 | 37.7 |
| Kevin Love | 37.0 | 36.3 |
| Kyrie Irving | 38.4 | 35.2 |
Blatt may also want to split his three stars up with more frequency. While they've been deadly on offense together, the trio has played 256 minutes together. As a result, the team has also been left to play 20 minutes with none of them on the floor and 60 minutes with just one.
By utilizing shorter bursts and more frequent substitutions, Blatt should be able to stagger their usage while also keeping them more fresh down the stretch. He should probably consider scaling back their workloads in general, too, considering only one team in the past two seasons - the 33-49 Portland Trail Blazers of 2012-13 - let three different players average 37 minutes a night.