Cavs open Camp Scott focused on defense

INDEPENDENCE: The lockout last season spared Cavaliers players from the worst of Byron Scott's training camp, but they aren't as fortunate this season.

The infamous Camp Scott began in full force with Tuesday's opening pracitce and another is scheduled for Tuesday night. The sessions are heavy on conditioning and defense for obvious reasons -- Scott wants to run and the defense has been abysmal each of the last two seasons.

Scott has repeated since the summer the Cavs must improve defensively. They were among the five worst teams in the league last season in points allowed and opponents' field-goal percentage, and their minus-7.2 point differential was second-worst in the league.

That's why Scott was pleased that guys were "enthusiastic" about what he was teaching on the first day.

"I know it's only the first day, but that's one of the keys of what we're talking about, especially on the defensive end from last year, is communication," Scott said. "For a first day, I thought it went extremely well."

Scott was pleased with the Cavs' interior defense last season until Anderson Varejao went down with a fractured wrist. Now that Varejao is healthy and rookie Tyler Zeller is available, Scott is hopeful the defense will improve.

"I think we'll be a lot better, but that's based on paper," Scott said. "We’ll have to see how we grow as a team."