New Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson is doing an excellent job in his new role with his new team, and he has the Cavs at 7-0 right now.
But they still have plenty of room for improvement, especially since the new NBA season is just under two weeks old.
One area the Cavs need to improve in is rebounding — they rank just 18th in overall rebounding percentage and 25th in offensive rebounding percentage despite having one of the league’s better big man duos in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
Atkinson says he wants his team to be much improved in terms of coming up with offensive boards, per Evan Dammarell.
#Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said that he still doesn’t think that Cleveland is as effective at offensive rebounding as he’d want them to be.
He’s also wanting to see more variety from his team on offense, getting Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell off the ball more.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) November 4, 2024
Through seven games, Allen is averaging 11.1 rebounds a game and Mobley is at 8.6 boards a game, but both have combined to average just 3.4 offensive rebounds a game after averaging 5.4 offensive boards a contest last season.
But Atkinson has to be pleased with the improvement Cleveland has made on the offensive end.
They ranked 20th in scoring and 16th in offensive rating last season, but coming into Monday, they were second in both categories to start this season.
They’re playing at a faster pace, and Atkinson is having them attack in transition far more than his predecessor J.B. Bickerstaff ever did.
Perhaps they’re also on their way to joining the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks as an elite Eastern Conference team.
NEXT: Donovan Mitchell Has Received Notable NBA Honor
