INDEPENDENCE, Ohio \u2014 About a month ago, following their lopsided win over the Washington Wizards in NBA Cup play that helped boost their point differential, one member of the Cavs immediately asked for the result of Toronto-Atlanta \u2014 another game happening simultaneously within the same group. <\/p>\n
That player knew the stakes. He had his sights on Vegas. <\/p>\n
The Cavs won\u2019t be going to the desert this weekend \u2014 officially eliminated from Cup contention on Nov. 28 as a result of a 130-123 setback to the Hawks. <\/p>\n
Their consolation prize: Five days off, an early-season pause. <\/p>\n
Only this week is far from a respite. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Cavaliers practiced for the first time since Nov. 4 \u2014 an exhausting defensive-minded session. There was also a revelatory film session in which no player was safe from Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson\u2019s wrath. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe just called us out,\u201d starting swingman De\u2019Andre Hunter said. \u201cHe broke down exactly what we needed to do, exactly what we haven\u2019t been good at. We watched it. As a whole team, it\u2019s not the easiest thing to see when you\u2019re not doing well, but we saw a lot of that. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely a tough, tough, hard film session. But I think we needed it. I think it\u2019s gonna help us in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
By any measure, the Cavs have been one of the league\u2019s greatest disappointments, especially considering what was expected of them this season. <\/p>\n
A title favorite, predicted to finish atop the Eastern Conference for a second straight campaign, Cleveland is currently seventh with a 14-11 record and five losses in the last seven games. <\/p>\n
In recent weeks, multiple players have spoken up about the continued struggles and lack of consistent effort \u2014 areas that were harshly identified Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t gonna give you the specifics, but it\u2019s more so just our compete level,\u201d Hunter explained. \u201cThere\u2019s not really much Xs and Os. It\u2019s really just our energy, doing the things that we can control night in or night out, whether we\u2019re making or missing shots. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s negative. I feel like anything negative, if you watch it and try to actively work on it, you should get better at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atkinson compared this week to a training camp environment, giving the team a chance to reset, resharpen its principles and rediscover a lost identity. He even used the comparison of being down 2-1 in a playoff series, something that brings back haunting memories to last spring, when Cleveland was unexpectedly tossed out of the conference semifinals by Indiana. <\/p>\n
Part of that assessment was a painful mirror test. It\u2019s the same thing right now. <\/p>\n
Honest evaluation. Constructive criticism. Harsh truths. Accountability. Embarrassment. <\/p>\n
Coaches. Players. Everyone. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t blame anyone else,\u201d Hunter admitted. \u201cCan\u2019t say you weren\u2019t in a rhythm or you weren\u2019t making shots or anything like that. If you just watch film and you see yourself, you\u2019re getting cut back door or you\u2019re getting beat down in transition, that\u2019s on you. We saw that and we\u2019re taking accountability. It helps every single player because we saw it, so it\u2019s hard to deny it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Saturday\u2019s inexplicable loss to the woefully-undermanned Golden State Warriors \u2014 a night in which the Cleveland locker room was somber and muted \u2014 Atkinson and staff gathered to discuss the coming week. <\/p>\n
What was the best approach? How much rest should be given to this beat-up team? Should practices be short or long? Drills or scrimmaging? <\/p>\n
Determined to capitalize on this break, coaches agreed that a deep dive into the problems, with direct messaging and video clips that supported it, was best. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not enjoying it,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cWe\u2019re on edge. We\u2019re competitors. This isn\u2019t fun. Wasn\u2019t fun in the sense of the film session was uncomfortable. Practice is uncomfortable. Everybody wants that joy. The joy comes back when you start improving and turning a corner as far as what we want as a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it\u2019s not fun, it\u2019s not joyful. You\u2019re a little tweaked, a little frustrated. How are we going to react to that? It does not feel good right now. How do we react to that? How do we bounce back? This is an important stretch to see how we react to our struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cavs understand the circumstances surrounding their record. <\/p>\n
A hellish schedule with five sets of back-to-backs and two separate five-in-seven-game stretches. Thirteen different starting lineups. An injury report that seemingly won\u2019t shrink. <\/p>\n
The bright spot: It\u2019s only December, still plenty of time to turn things around. <\/p>\n
Veteran center Thomas Bryant knows all about it. Even though Bryant said the Cavs are in a \u201cgray area\u201d because of everything they\u2019ve dealt with over the first 25 games, he won\u2019t use it as an excuse. Last year, his Pacers were forced to overcome many of those same obstacles. They were 10-15 at this same point. Didn\u2019t creep back above the .500 mark until early January. <\/p>\n
It tested them. Galvanized them. Helped fuel a Finals run. <\/p>\n
Bryant brought that up Tuesday when players held a separate meeting amongst themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it\u2019ll catapult us right here,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cSometimes, you have to feel that playoff-ready mode, you have to feel those type of games, you have to feel those type of feelings throughout the season, so that way it gets kind of engraved into you as the year goes on. Pressure is a good thing. You want that type of pressure. I feel like on this team, we have the capability to do something special. I still believe that to this very day. These are the tough days. These are the mental toughness days that we have to get through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just shows that we\u2019re all bought in,\u201d Hunter added. \u201cWe\u2019re all not happy with where we are. We are trying to be better, and we have a common goal. So, to have a team-led meeting and have guys speak out and speak their minds, I think that helps not only the players but the coaches as well. I think you need those things. You can\u2019t just kind of brush them to the side and say we\u2019re going to be better later in the season. Because that\u2019s not necessarily true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant admitted the player-led discussion centered on complacency, spirit, intensity and focus. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long season, it\u2019s a grueling season,\u201d Bryant reiterated. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna have ups and downs and everything, but our consistency level of what we do with each other has to stay the same, and that has to grow day-in and day-out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t just start thinking like, \u2018Oh, it might be this game. We can turn it on in the second quarter or fourth quarter when we\u2019re down.\u2019 No, it has to start at the beginning of the game, before the clock starts, and then, all the way \u2018til the clocks hit zero in the fourth quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a strange way, failing to advance in the NBA Cup could prove beneficial. This break has given a teetering team the chance to get its footing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like part of this reset is just getting back to what we started in training camp and our identity,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cAnd quite honestly, with five [games] in seven [nights], you don\u2019t have time to do that. And slippage happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite ranking 10th on offense and eighth on defense \u2014 lower than desired in both categories \u2014 Atkinson said drastic tactical changes aren\u2019t needed. <\/p>\n
First things first, the team\u2019s mentality needs to change. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great about today as a coach,\u201c Atkinson said. \u201dGet back to our principles and our fundamentals and how we do things. Double down on that, double down on our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cavs get a chance on Friday night against the Wizards, one of two games added to the schedule after missing the knockout rounds. The other comes Sunday at home versus Charlotte. <\/p>\n
The next six will be against teams with a record below .500 \u2014 the perfect runway to start a turnaround. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDEPENDENCE, Ohio \u2014 About a month ago, following their lopsided win over the Washington Wizards in NBA Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[356,355,168665,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-341275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers-2024-2025","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-san-antonio-spurs-2025","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341275","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=341275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}