Cavs offense has been great under Atkinson, but there’s one area he wants to see them improve
Atkinson wants the Cavaliers to be better at offensive rebounding: “That’s the big one for me.”
The undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers have been winning with their offense just as much as with their defense. The Cavs have the second-best offense in the league (122.4 offensive rating) after Monday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
There hasn’t been much to complain about with their attack. Kenny Atkinson was brought in to overhaul the offense and he has. Still, he thinks that there’s room to improve, especially with getting second chance opportunities.
“We’re not offensive rebounding at the level that I thought we could or should,” Atkinson said when asked before Monday’s game about where his team could improve most offensively.
“We’re 25th or something. Can we get more to the middle of the pack? I’m not saying we’re going to be one or two in the league, but I definitely think we could do better there.”
The Cavs are now 28th in offensive rebounding percentage after their second win over the Bucks. They’re retrieving just 21.9% of their misses. The off chance that they did get an offensive rebound they’ve taken advantage of it. They’re scoring a league-best 1.5 points per offensive rebound they grab. The issue is they aren’t getting many so it isn’t very impactful.
This is something Atkinson is trying to fix, but there’s a part of rebounding that is difficult to teach.
“It’s a knack, it’s really a feel,” Atkinson said when asked about what makes someone a good offensive rebounder. “I do think we’re trying to strategize it a little. I’m not going to give you what this is. There are definitely [things to consider, such as] who’s going. Where are they going from? And at what angle are they going? Are they crashing baseline side? Are you crashing from above? Are you crashing the top buy? Are you crashing five? Are you crashing four? Are you crashing three?”
Atkinson pointed out offensive rebounding in training camp as an area he wanted to see Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley grow in. Saturday’s game against the Bucks is a good example of why that is important. Mobley tipped a ball to Okoro who was able to grab the rebound. Now, it’s about making plays like that more commonplace.
The Cavs are off to a good start, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still room to grow.
“We understand as a team that it’s early,” Atkinson said. “[It’s only] seven games. There’s no conclusions being made. [We’re] focusing on our improvement, our internal improvement. It’s more about us and what we’re doing.”