King James Gospel
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For Cavs: Process Greater Than Outcomes Right Now

By Jared Mueller

Feb 1, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) passes the ball in front of Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Cavaliers won 111-106 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) passes the ball in front of Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Cavaliers won 111-106 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers are winning under Tyronn Lue but, right now, for the Cavs the process is more important than the outcome.

When Cavs GM David Griffin fired HC David Blatt the team was winning ball games. They had the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and had just won 2 straight. While the team looked far from perfect, and had been handled by the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, they were winning games.

That wasn’t enough for Griff as he felt the team lacked an enjoyment of winning and that a change was needed.

The hiring of Tyronn Lue as the Cavs new head coach has seemed to energize the team. The team is playing with more pace, generally speaking, while continuing to win. The problem for Lue and the Cavs is that the outcomes, winning games, isn’t the most important thing right now.

Right now, the Cavs are still in 1st in the East. They have a 35 – 12 record with only 1 loss under Lue. They even beat the vaunted Spurs pretty handily and have had big offensive nights against quality defenses recently.

Yet none of that really matters in the long run. They can lose a bunch of games, like they did last year, and still be fine. What matters most is how they deal with the process right now.

Last night’s game against the Indiana Pacers is a perfect example of Proces over Outcome. The Cavs were amazing in the 1st half. They moved the ball and players and played some very good defense totaling 60 points at halftime against the 8th best scoring defense in the league.

Had they carried that over into the rest of the game, the Process and Outcome would have matched. Even with all of the turnovers, 16 total, the Cavs showed a lot of development in the 1st half.

Then the 2nd half happened.

Maybe it was tired legs from playing their 3rd game in 4 nights. Maybe they just rested on what they did in the 1st half and thought they would cruise in the 2nd.

Either way, the process broke down in the 2nd half. Specifically, the process broke down on the offensive end. Instead of the push the pace, get into offensive motion quickly team of the 1st half, the Cavs went back to isolation ball.

Kyrie Irving time and time again pounded the ball into the ground for most of the Cavs possession. So did LeBron James, just less often. Some of those shots went in and were exciting but the overall process was a reversion to the Cavs basketball that wasn’t good enough against the Warriors or the Spurs.

Complying with Lue’s directives, playing team-oriented basketball and staying consistent are far more important than wins right now. The Cavs can make it to the NBA Finals from any seed in the East. They can out talent most or all of their Conference foes. They also are not catching the Warriors for the best record in the NBA to get home-court advantage in the NBA Finals. Catching the Spurs might also be tough but far more doable for a number of reasons.

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Instead, developing their consistent habits is the most important thing. That means the Cavs could lose a game and come out looking better than winning a game like they did in the 2nd Half last night.

Wins and losses right now won’t help them win the ultimate prize.

Developing their own healthy, consistent process right now can help them in route to the elusive NBA Championship.

Did last night’s win encourage or discourage you as you look at the Cavs process and big picture?