Jersey Shore, Kenny Atkinson, and Evan Mobley: How the Cleveland Cavaliers have changed for the better

Millennials of a certain age may fondly remember a dumb, wildly popular show called “Jersey Shore,” about a bunch of older-than-you-realized alcoholics living in a party house in the eponymous area.

“Jersey Shore” was immensely and desperately a product of its time, an era Gen Zers may mix up with the Cretaceous. Understandably so. Certain things that have become commonplace today, like smartphones, social media, etc., were just beginning to pick up steam. We weren’t quite as connected to the digital world; things felt smaller then, for better or worse.

Most relevantly for this article, Uber, Lyft, and their ilk weren’t around yet. In order to safely imbibe a few beverages at a bar, people had to order these things called taxis, or cabs, for transportation.

Back then, the cabs’ arrival was the harbinger of joy, a sign that the party was about to begin for real. They often took an hour to show up, so it was a genuinely exciting moment when they finally parked at the door. The night beckoned, and the cab’s honking if you took even two seconds to materialize at your door was simply fun curling its finger at you to come join.

And boy did the “Jersey Shore” cast enjoy their cabs. “THE CABS AH HE-YEAH!” Pauly D would bleat when he saw a glimpse of yellow outside their abode’s sea-salt-blurred windows. “THE CABS AH HE-YEAH!”

10% of you are nodding wistfully, nostalgic for a time of what retroactively seems like incomprehensible inconvenience. The other 90% of you are confused as hell, so to get a sense of what I mean:

This overly elaborate intro was created (obviously, I’d assume) so that I could kick things off the only way I know how:

“THE CAVS AH HE-YEAH!”

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Everyone knew the Cavs would be good. They’ve been good for years, thanks to an elite defense featuring perpetual DPOY contender Evan Mobley and perpetually underappreciated Jarrett Allen.

I’m not here to discuss the D much, but a few things stand out. They’re switching a lot more often. Including Dean Wade in the starting lineup makes them legitimately giant, and Wade has held up well against the point of attack when he inevitably switches onto ballhandlers. Mitchell has been an underrated defender since he first flew into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and Darius Garland is quietly working harder on that end than ever before.

So the defense was never a question. This year, the Cavs decided to switch out the blunt training swords they’ve been bringing to fights for frightening artillery. That strategy — playing modern offense and making shots — has worked wonders, and Cleveland’s offense is actually ranked one spot better than its third-place defense.

What’s changed? It starts at the top. J.B. Bickerstaff was fired last season despite taking the team into the second round of the playoffs. New hire Kenny Atkinson was given two related directives: fix the team’s offense and figure out how to make Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen work together.

Five games into the season, the changes are apparent and promising.

Although the Cavs are shooting roughly the same percentage of shots at the rim and from deep as last year, they’ve shifted several of their threes from above the break to the corners (a higher-percentage look) — most notably from Garland and Mitchell.

The ballhandling is more diversified this season, freeing up Garland and Mitchell for more off-ball actions to get them open looks. So much activity is happening that defenders eventually have to slip up. Look at this:

Mmm-hmm. That’s sexy basketball, right there.

Truth be told, though, that play is a little misleading, the exception that proves the rule. Although the general concepts are true (drive, kick, rinse, repeat until an open shot emerges), the Cavs are actually making 30 fewer passes per game this season than last, a 10% drop. To be clear, it’s not that the ball movement is bad (Boston and Dallas, for example, regularly rank near the bottom in passes per game). It’s that the Cavs are opening up good shots sooner.

The Cavaliers averaged 17.2 wide-open threes per game last year (and shot 39.6%); this season, that number is up to 19.3 (and they’re shooting an NBA-best 55.2% on those attempts). A directive from Atkinson to play faster has paid off so far; Cleveland took an average of 12.1 seconds to get a shot up last year but has needed just 11.5 tick-tocks this season.

They’ve gone away from some of their old bread-and-butter offensive stuff. They’ve dropped from fifth in the league in elbow touches to 20th (although I should also point out they lead the league by a metric mile in points per elbow touch this season). All those passes to players at the free-throw line have instead been replaced by an emphasis on perimeter drives to the basket.

Last year, Cleveland averaged 49 drives per game, 17th in the league. This year, they’re rocketing to the paint nearly 60 times per night, the third-most, and those drives are working. When they choose to shoot off a drive, they lead the league with a 58% FG%; they also have a higher assist share off drives than anyone else. Every time they get two feet into the paint, good things happen.

The change is most evident in Evan Mobley, who has taken the basketball intelligentsia’s orders to develop a three-pointer, balled them up, and dunked them into a trash can. Atkinson has empowered Mobley to bring up the ball, so instead of trying to become a volume three-point shooter (something unlikely to ever be in his future), Mobley has leveled up his ballhandling, unlocking new methods of scoring two-pointers.

His time of possession has risen dramatically. Instead of initiating everything at the catch on the elbow, Mobley is starting from the perimeter more often. He drives nine times per game, twice as many as last year and just a couple fewer than Mitchell, eviscerating defenders with physicality and twitchy length.

Mobley is noticeably stronger, and he’s not shy about showing it off. Watch as he gets a smaller Max Christie on him after the pick from guard Ty Jerome and simply bulldozes the poor sod like so much mulch:

A more confident handle has turned Mobley into a monster in transition (92nd percentile in points per transition possession, per Synergy), taking it coast to coast with surprising aplomb no matter which royalty is in the way:

More intriguingly for nerds like me, he’s also running four pick-and-rolls per game despite logging just 36 such possessions all last season. Coach Atkinson loves to have a shooter (often Sam Merrill) set the inverted screen, forcing defenses into challenging situations. I’m particularly fond of these snug inverted P&Rs, set inside the three-point line to give defenders even less margin for error as Mobley steams toward the hoop:

Mobley could still stand to tighten up his handle even more, and the next step for him is figuring out how to make more plays for others off the dribble. But the change in confidence and usage has led directly to an increase in efficient scoring (nearly 20 points per game, up 3.5 from last season!).

The lanky power forward is hardly the only one who’s changed. The Cleveland guards are being used differently, too. Darius Garland is having the bounce-back year I hoped for. On a per-minute basis, he’s averaging career highs in points, steals, blocks, and three-pointers attempted. Donovan Mitchell is at or close to career highs in those things, too.

Garland is zooming around off-ball and finishing a higher share of his possessions on catch-and-shoot opportunities. He’s doing a better job at getting up threes that he would’ve passed up or dribbled through before:

Garland is averaging 3.4 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts this season compared to 2.5 last year, and it’s given the offense more office space to work in.

Mitchell, meanwhile, is forcing the issue in transition, pirouetting to the hoop for layups or kickouts with his proprietary mix of power, grace, and secret spice blends. He chains together moves like a 2K player. Shammgod to spin to floater and-one? Please and thank you:

I’ve said this on X/Twitter (follow me!), but I don’t think people realize how plain fun it is to watch Donovan Mitchell play basketball. Look at the effort and the style here!

The difference in usage for three of Cleveland’s Big Four has made things easier for the final member. Center and oft-rumored trade piece Jarrett Allen is scoring more than last year, too, despite shooting two fewer shots — that’s what happens when you boast a league-leading 79% FG%.

Most importantly, the Allen/Mobley minutes — which sang defensively and wheezed offensively last season — are clear-cut winners on both sides. Those lineups are scoring 121 points per 100 possessions, 86th percentile leaguewide, and flaunt a net rating that looks like a typo.

One interesting subplot: before the season, the team lost Max Strus, the presumed starter at the three, until at least December. Replacement Dean Wade doesn’t have Strus’ quick trigger, but he’s a respected shooter (despite his slow start to the season) with one key advantage: massiveness. Wade is a legit 6’10”, and he has just enough defensive quickness to stay in front of most guards and wings (as long as Mobley and Allen are behind him to help). Having him in the starting lineup gives the Cavs a monstrous backline to support having two smaller guards up top.

Wade is also a smart passer and an excellent all-around connector whose advanced metrics have always shone like a particularly pasty sun. If the Allen/Mobley lineups continue to play well, and Wade stays healthy (always a question with him), it’s far from certain that Strus will stroll right back into his starting job when he returns.

Like a few other coaches (notably Taylor Jenkins in Memphis and Steve Kerr in Golden State), Atkinson has leaned heavily upon his bench this season, curtailing the starters’ minutes to keep them fresh, aggressive, and (hopefully) healthy. Caris LeVert has taken a smaller role than in years past, but he hasn’t missed a shot all season (seriously: he’s shooting nearly 70% from the field and 64% from deep). Georges Niang has found his stroke again after a godawful playoff run, and while Sam Merrill has started the season cold, his screening prowess and floor-spacing abilities are a perfect fit for Atkinson’s whirring offensive system. Isaac Okoro is playing fewer minutes, too, but he still brings voracious perimeter defense when the Cavs simply must have a stop.

I also have to spare a word for Ty Jerome, the former Virginia Cavalier turned Cleveland Cavalier (“CAVS AH HE-YEAH!”). I’m stunned by how much Jerome we’ve seen this season; in just 15 minutes per game, he’s averaging 11.4 points and 3.4 assists, largely on the back of a funky, arrhythmic floater game:

There are some warning signs we need to acknowledge. The Cavaliers probably won’t have an effective field goal percentage of 61% all season long (Boston led the league last year with a 58% eFG%). You’ll notice the above text was peppered with a lot of “career highs” and “league-leading” descriptors. Cleveland will eventually miss some shots.

But we know this team will stay dominant defensively (even more so than expected if Wade plays a big role). The fly in Cleveland’s soup has always been playoff offense. Opposing defenses took advantage of the lack of pace and the lack of space that the Cavaliers, particularly with Mobley and Allen on the floor, possessed.

Space is a funny thing. Sure, shooting creates it, but it’s also something the best players can eat up. If Mobley plays this well with the ball, and everyone else continues to run hard and make shots at a reasonable clip, the Cavs should be far more equipped to score in the playoffs than they have been. With a defense this good, they don’t need the league’s best offense to make the Conference Finals.

So like Pauly D, I simply can’t help myself from screaming “THE CAVS AH HE-YEAH!” at inappropriate times (sorry, Mrs. Poetry!). And they don’t seem likely to leave anytime soon.