“We get a three-second call, we’re playing our defense and we’re doing something right.”
It isn’t easy to defend an MVP candidate like Joel Embiid, and when Jarrett Allen tried, it resulted in a lane violation and a trip to the free-throw line.
Of course, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see Embiid earn a trip to the charity stripe considering. The big man has attempted more free throws per 100 possessions than everyone in the NBA except for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But what was more surprising was how genuinely excited Allen seemed to get flagged for three-in-the-key. Jeff Van Gundy, who was on the call, said he had never before seen someone celebrate their team getting called for such a violation.
Watch the clip above and you will see the bizarre events.
The arena is silent and yet you can hear Allen thunderously roar as he is called for a penalty. What is the context that Van Gundy and non-Cleveland fans were missing?
Well, as you could have guessed, Allen didn’t just go rogue and decide he was happy that Philadelphia was given a free trip to the line. This is actually a defensive philosophy pushed by Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff said “we don’t care” if the call is made because he “begged” his bigs to protect the paint (via Cleveland.com):
“The year [the Celtics] won the championship [in 2008], Kendrick Perkins led the league with 19 of them … Imagine how many times he was in the paint and they didn’t call it. As we think about it, just stand in the paint. They shoot 19 free throws on the year, they make 14 of them, you give up 14 points, but think about how many you take away. That’s kind of our mentality.”
It’s sort of like in the NFL, where the old saying goes that refs could probably call holding on every play (even if a flag shouldn’t be thrown on that call to decide a Super Bowl — but that is a digression).
Refs aren’t going to call three-in-the-key every time, but Cleveland is daring them to try.
Allen explained his reaction to this mandate:
“I could see how it (can) come off as different to some teams, but that’s just how we roll,” Allen said. “About two years now, J.B. (Bickerstaff) was like ‘J.A., just stand in the paint, stand in the paint, they’re not gonna call it.’ He said celebrate. I just took it, and I just ran with it. Our thing is to protect the paint. We get a three second call, we’re playing our defense and we’re doing something right.”
Considering that the Cavs are encouraged to stay in the key, it’s no surprise to learn they lead the league (20) in defensive 3-second violations.
Despite the newfound and unexpected encouragement from his head coach, however, Allen was called for three-second violations more often in Brooklyn (0.14 per 100 possessions) than he has in Cleveland (0.03) thus far. But when the calls happen, he says that he’s going to keep celebrating:
“The whole arena started laughing at me,” Allen told cleveland.com. “If we’re down 20 or we’re down 40, I’m not going to change. That’s how we do our defense. It worked at getting us back in the game. It used to just be looking at the bench and clapping. Then I just chose to evolve to something much greater. I don’t know where I’m going to take it next.”
Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, who has recorded the third-most three-second violations (9) of anyone in the NBA so far this season, added more context.
“Coach wants us to be in the paint at all times,” Mobley said. “Me and J.A. are there to protect the paint and anchor the paint. We’ve bought into the system and sometimes we’re going to get defensive three seconds. Started a little trend of celebrating because we’re in the paint like we should be. We’re going to keep doing it. We’ve been doing it all season.”
If the goal is to protect the paint, Allen and Mobley are doing great.
Opponents are currently shooting 63.0 percent against Cleveland at the rim, per Cleaning the Glass, which ranks second-best in the NBA. Overall, the Cavs currently have the best defensive rating in the league.
Given his personnel, maybe Bickerstaff’s idea isn’t so crazy after all.
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