Report: Cavs cleared air in players-only meeting after Blatt firing
After taking over for the ousted David Blatt, newly installed Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue spoke of his plans to hold Cavs stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love more accountable for their actions on the court. As it turns out, the stars themselves coming around on that point might have been an even bigger key in revitalizing what had reportedly become a somewhat moribund team.
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From ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe:
Following a meeting called by general manager David Griffin to inform the team coach David Blatt had been fired, Cavs players held an extended and spirited players-only meeting, sources told ESPN.com. It turned into an airing of grievances for players including stars LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving but eventually led to an agreement that has been a basis for the Cavs recent strong play.
“It was like ripping off a scab,” one team source said. “And it was exactly what needed to happen, I think it was what [Griffin] was hoping for.”
“It was very healthy for the team,” another source said. “It probably needed to happen weeks ago.”
After a false start to the post-Blatt era against the Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers have found steadier footing and, seemingly, a new gear. They’ve strung together wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons and, most notably, San Antonio Spurs to improve to 4-1 under Lue and 34-12 on the season, 2 1/2 games up on the surging Toronto Raptors for the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference.
They’re scoring like gangbusters, averaging a league-best 121.4 points per 100 possessions during the four-game winning streak, up from 105.6-per-100, fifth-best in the NBA, at the time of Blatt’s firing. And while Lue’s stated preference for pace-pushing hasn’t resulted in a total overhaul of Cleveland’s offensive tempo — they’re averaging just under 94 possessions per 48 minutes over the last four games, about one fewer than under Blatt — the Cavs have generated nearly 1.5 more fast-break points per game during their current streak than they did before bidding Blatt farewell, and have seemed more attentive in entering sets quickly to attack opposing defenses before they can dig their heels in and set their scheme.
James, Irving and Love have each scored 20 or more points in the Cavaliers’ last two wins, marking the first time that’s happened since James and Love came to Cleveland before the start of last season. Love, as Windhorst and Lowe note, really has gotten a steadier diet of opportunities to attack from the elbows under Lue than he did under Blatt, and he’s made them count. His place in the Cavaliers’ ecosystem still isn’t entirely set, but he’s been more frequently prioritized of late, and even if he doesn’t quite know how to describe it all, he’s pretty pleased by the results, according to Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
“I still don’t know how to answer it,” Love said when asked again how to define his role. “We’re all just out there playing and making good reads and being good basketball players. It starts with Bron. As far as basketball IQ goes I don’t think there’s anybody better, nobody has a better basketball IQ than him. Kryie is out there playing. He seems to be finding his way after coming off that injury. We have guys who play off them. I can’t tell you enough how fun they make the game and when we play like that it just opens up everything for us.”
While Love, Irving and the rest of the Cavaliers play off James on the court, the same is true off the court. That’s where stuff like LeBron responding to Lue’s comments about Cleveland not being in good enough shape to play at the fast pace he prefers by saying he’d get himself tuned up, and by actually doing it, matters, as laid out by Tim Grover of The Vertical:
But if the entire team is going to get this done, it’s on LeBron to hold his teammates to the same standard. The team leader can’t just lead by example, he has to make everyone else accountable for their performances as well. It’s not enough to say, “Hey, I did my job.” Like a relay team handing off the baton, one weak athlete destroys the entire chain. If one individual isn’t ready to play, the team isn’t ready to play.
It’s up to LeBron to make sure his teammates are ready to play the game the way their coach wants it played.
James, Love and Irving have evidently made a more concerted effort to carry that emphasis on individual and collective accountability from training through tipoff, and the result thus far has been an uptick in performance. That might not make Blatt feel especially grand, but as I wrote last week, it’s what makes this such a huge opportunity for Lue — with the amount of talent on hand in the Cavaliers locker room, just getting all the principals pulling in the same direction (admittedly not a simple task) could elevate Cleveland from very good to potentially great, and turn the Cavs from an East-topping also-ran into a legitimate championship threat to the Western powers.
The reasons why it took this long to clear the air are now immaterial; from here, it’s all about keeping it that way. Formalizing an approach where nobody’s immune from critique — not even All-Stars and all-time greats — seems like a solid start.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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