{"id":192060,"date":"2025-09-30T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/192060\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:42:09","slug":"cavs-comment-on-their-biggest-weakness-in-last-years-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/192060\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs comment on their biggest weakness in last year\u2019s playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">NBA Media Day is a chance for every team to set its narrative before the start of a new season. But it\u2019s also an opportunity to reflect on the past. Everyone knew the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fearthesword.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cleveland Cavaliers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> would have to answer questions regarding their recent playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. That might be why everyone had a similar answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Monday was how often the Cavaliers talked about conditioning. Multiple players mentioned it when asked about their offseason and what they learned from their loss in the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cA big focus so far has been our conditioning level,\u201d said Sam Merrill. \u201cWinning in the playoffs is so about winning on the margins. Sometimes you just have to get a rebound, or get the ball in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Last year\u2019s Pacers were a shining example of how far the intangibles can take you. Simply playing harder than everyone else was a core reason they made it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Of course, many factors contributed to Indiana\u2019s success \u2014 but being faster and more conditioned than everyone else was a non-negotiable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cBuilding our bodies so that we\u2019re able to last through the whole season,\u201d said Evan Mobley. \u201cBecause the season is so long, and grueling, and also knowing when to turn it up and turn it down. I think this team has done their research, and it\u2019s a great team, and they built a program for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The importance of staying healthy through the season is something they don\u2019t need to be reminded of. They\u2019ve been bitten by untimely injury bugs in consecutive seasons. That\u2019s one reason they have focused so much on building their bodies this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cWorking on conditioning and cardio,\u201d said Darius Garland. \u201cIt\u2019s important for all of us to get that work in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Cavs stressed the value of working together this offseason. They have committed themselves to building towards a common goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe motivation, you see it in every player, every workout,\u201d said Dean Wade. \u201cGuys are hungry\u2026 you get on the court and it\u2019s all business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Plenty of teams wait until training camp to officially begin working out together. But this Cavs squad has been in the gym ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cBeing here a few weeks before training camp has been really huge,\u201d said De\u2019Andre Hunter on working with Kenny Atkinson this summer. \u201cBuilding that relationship with Kenny, just picking each other\u2019s brains on what I can do and where I can fit in\u2026 it\u2019s been a collaborative thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Conditioning is about more than just running laps. The Cavs are a team that has repeatedly hit a wall in the playoffs. Clearing that mental hurdle is just as important as being physically in shape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI think there\u2019s a mental push,\u201d said Donovan Mitchell. \u201cWe\u2019ve run into the same wall three times in a row, and mentally you could stop and quit\u2026 and so [the question is] are we ready to continue pushing forward? I believe we are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Staying motivated could be especially difficult for a team that won 64 games in the regular season last year \u2014 only for it to mean nothing in the playoffs. The Cavs understand that there isn\u2019t anything left to gain from the regular season. At this point, nothing matters but the postseason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe biggest thing is just understanding that we have to keep going,\u201d said Mitchell. \u201cThat\u2019s really all I got, we just gotta keep going and see what the season brings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cleveland won\u2019t have an opportunity to redeem itself until the playoffs begin. Until then, all they can do is put their shortcomings in the past and strive to be better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe NBA, it\u2019s a long season,\u201d said Jarrett Allen. \u201cIf you stop and sulk for too long, you\u2019re going to get left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA Media Day is a chance for every team to set its narrative before the start of a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[8174,27494,27496,13054,51299,3441,27495,355,111822,99],"class_list":["post-192060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-darius-garland","tag-dean-wade","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-evan-mobley","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-nba","tag-sam-merrill","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}