Last season, on March 26, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue told reporters that he had a secret plan to fix his team's porous defense for the playoffs. "We've got to hold back. We can't show our hand early because ... these are some good teams and we don't want them to be able to come into a series and be able to adjust to what we do," Lue explained.
Now, just over a year later, Lue is running those comments back. When speaking to reporters on Monday, Lue told them that the Cavs' defense would be "totally different" come the playoffs. Via Cleveland.com:
"We'll probably do things we haven't done all season when it comes to the playoffs, things we've been working on all year," Lue said. "It's the same thing we do every playoffs. So, we'll see what happens."
It's not exactly a "secret" plan. Defense in the playoffs picks up because there's increased intensity and you have a long time to scout your opponent, figure out their weaknesses and adjust from game to game. Still, it's pretty amusing to picture Lue and the Cavs coaching staff huddled in their office scheming up a secret plan to make their defense better.
Entering the final few days of the regular season, the Cavs are sporting a defensive rating of 109.5, which has them ranked 29th out of 30 teams. Only the Phoenix Suns, who have clinched the worst record in the league, have performed worse on defense this season.
Of course, they had an awful defense last season and were still able to run through the Eastern Conference. And with LeBron James on their side, there's a good chance they'll do the same thing this season.
