The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the road for their next three games, and head coach John Beilein is right in highlighting how that will help off the floor.
The NBA season is quite the grind, and for a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, which will playing so many young pieces big minutes, 82 games will take its toll.
The Cavs’ three rookies this year in Darius Garland, Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr., who will all be key contributors (Windler will when he is recovered from his reported stress reaction in his left leg), and those on the coaching staff, such as head coach John Beilein and assistant coach Lindsay Gottlieb, have not been through an NBA season before. Both coaches made the jump from the collegiate ranks.
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Anyway, though the Cavaliers, who are 2-5 and have the league’s fifth-worst net rating, according to NBA.com, have had their struggles, and there’s going to be plenty of growing pains for them in the 2019-20 season, they’ve done a better job of sharing the ball this year.
That’s been crucial in them staying in most games, which is a sign of the team playing together.
Of course, the Cavaliers’ two primary leaders, bigs Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson being healthy, has been huge, but again, the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing the right way in terms of prioritizing man and ball movement more often than last year, and Beilein and the coaching staff should get a ton of credit for that.
Anyhow, the Cavs had a tough loss where they fought their way back against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday 119-113, but that could be a step in the right direction for them.
In addition, the Cleveland Cavaliers are amid a three-game road trip, which begins at the Washington Wizards on Friday, and it could be a nice time for the team to further build camaraderie off the floor, and that’s big in again, a long season.
Beilein touched on that, and he’s right-on in essentially saying how time on the road can really help bring teams together.
I’d think for young pieces such as Garland and Porter, it could be a significant part of their growth and hopefully get them more familiar with veterans, such as guard Matthew Dellavedova, whose wife, Anna, just had their baby boy, Anders, and congrats to them, by the way!
Here was Beilein’s bit on that team-building element, courtesy of Basketball Insiders’ Spencer Davies, and again, Beilein’s spot-on here.
Though the Cleveland Cavaliers could potentially have roster turnover this season, these road trips still can help teams come together more.
Yes, the Cavs have five expiring contract players in Thompson, John Henson (who is dealing with a reported hamstring strain but could bring rim protection when healthier), Dellavedova and guards Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Knight.
That being said, those players I’m sure all still will help Beilein and the coaching staff off the floor in helping the younger pieces such as Garland and Sexton, at least up until if they are traded, and the Cavs likely won’t deal all of them, anyway.
So again, these sort of three-ish and plus-game road trips are a solid way to help teams come together more off the floor, which is essential for a team with so many young pieces in Cleveland getting better on the floor, too.
It’s encouraging that Beilein understands that.
Best of luck on this road trip at the Wiz, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, Cavs.