The Kobe Assist And Its Dismantling Of The Cavs

 Kirk Goldsberry’s article in Grantland about the Kobe Assist this week (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8719297/how-kobe-bryant-missed-shots-translate-new-nba-statistic-kobe-assist) is a must read.  In short, the Kobe assist happens when a player takes a shot which is missed but is then shortly put away for points. 

"Sometimes, I just gotta shoot.  I don't mind missing"

Goldsberry mentions that Dion Waiters actually is one of the top leaders for Kobe assists.  It isn’t mentioned with an attitude about it; however, I think for certain forms of teams such as the Cavs this stat is very misleading.  While Dion Waiters is getting our team points off of second possessions his shots are causing, they take an effectiveness away from the defense in a few ways.

This article mentions that there is a trade off for getting Kobe assists, since players have to crash the boards.  For example, the Celtics have a lower rate of Kobe assists because they value transition defense.  The Lakers are one of the leaders of this form of assist and have been horrendous on defense this year. 

Why does defense suffer so much though on the Cavs?  Also, why does this affect a team like the Cavs more then the Lakers?  No one would argue that the Cavs have a more effective second possession game then the Lakers.  I’m sure the stats point to this too as the Cavs repeadately blow possessions with one plus offensive rebounds.  Our Kobe assists don’t outweigh the negative defense usually, while we have seen stretches of Laker play where they somehow combined this assist style with stellar defense. 

I have a few ideas why the Kobe assist is not a well functioning part of the Cavs or a stat to look positively on for them:

None of the Cavs that are shooting demand a true double team like Kobe does.  Being double teamed leads to an easier time for the offensive boards and points.  Dwight Howard is often able to grab the rebound and go back up uncontested.  Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson have to work very hard when they get a rebound to go back up; the other team’s defenderers are true to their man. 

Furthermore, every time the Cavs get a start towards a second possession the entire offense resets, so you have Kyrie and friends staying completely down on the offensive end without total ball control.  Wathcing the Lakers, Kobe usually runs back a little not looking to reset because he trusts his bigs to finish right away.  This prevents the fastbreak if the offense doesn’t convert.  They have a balance of commitment and logic to the second chance point.

The Cavs don’t have this luxury.  On a more practical note, our bigs are working double effort to play a style conducive to these assists, since they have no advantage crashing down low.  This has to grind on them throughout the game.  There’s a reason everyone keeps saying that Varejao’s man defense is slipping.  Could this be why?  This is his leading year for offensive boards.

It also helps playing for these assists when you have a midrange man because that will allow a team to not have to totally reset their offense like the Cavs do.  Think Pau Gasol.  After a miss, Howard can easily toss out to him for a high percentage shot.  Who do the Cavs have to do this?  Varejao gets hot sometimes, but he is usually rebounding.  Maybe, Tyler Zeller will develop into the man for this because he has shown a knack for shooting the 20 footer. 

This style also hinders the Cavs’s defenese because it is not great for team attitude.  When our players see Dion taking ridiculous shots, they have to feel let down a little bit.  They may be open, they may have seen an open man.  Regardless, it kills morale.  The Lakers are definitely an example of this as we see many pouty faces due to touches.  However, on the Cavs,  this defiantly leads to lazy defense because no one thinks they’ll be rewarded with a touch.  If Dion was Kobe, it’d be easier for the team to live with because they’d have a better confidence that his shot has a better chance than theirs to go in.  Waiters is shooting .343. No way a player wants to defer to that. 

Where do we go from here then?  It’s hard to say because we are a young hustle based team that should be crashing the boards.  It causes defense problems for us, but I imagine  it does keep us in the games.  I think the issue for us is moderation.  We need to try to not commit so much on the second possession, so when it does blow up we can get back on defense.  This is as simple as having our guards not reset totally on a second possession unless it means they stay above the three line until it’s certain we have the ball.  It also means our guards need to stay more aware of defensive players playing for the fast break by coming off of their man during a rebound or shot attempt. 

I think as a whole moderation should be stressed for our Cavs team.  Even on defense, we over commit or under commit.  We have no medium zone.   On offense, players just play like they are the only one on the court after they score.  How many Cavs players will take a wild shot just after scoring?  I wish there was a stat for three made to missed contested shot.  That could shed light on the topic of moderation. 

We’re young, dumb, full of bad shots, missed rotations, and missed transitions.  What else is there to say?  I’m young, dumb, full of beer, and semi-off point.  However, screw it, let’s just hate on the Cavs for these Kobe assists because they have no excuse for shit defense aside from age and discipline.  I have the excuse of beer and age/discpline if anyone says I missed a fact in this article or missed anything else. A job is a job is a job, and if you have three excuses for messing it up that’s perfectly legit (Why would I excuse myself otherwise).  Two excuses is not or else the Cavs wouldn’t drive me crazy to watch.  That’s empirical because I pull my hair every game I watch.  

David Stern:  What would you say if I said, "You can miss a shot, have someone else maybe make it or miss it, and then potentially not play defense if they miss it, while maybe getting something called the 'Kobe assist'". Dion Waiters: I'd say, "When do I start air balling it."