We have been saying for the past couple of seasons, the one good thing you could say about the front office of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is they haven’t brought in any knuckleheads.
After the reports that some players are quoted that coach John Beilein’s too much of a “rah rah” college coach, we stand corrected.
To be fair, it could be a false report, or it could also be the rantings of a disgruntled player who is trying to ease his way out of Cleveland, but with the Cavs currently at 5-17, and losers of 12 of their last 13, it wasn’t a good time to be happening, for everyone involved.
First of all, Beilein was brought in for his teaching skill. The wine and gold have a very young roster, outside of Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, and maybe of them need to learn how to play the game, and we aren’t speaking about just the pro game either.
Second, if a player is upset about not getting playing time in Cleveland, he should be more worried about his future in the NBA. The Cavaliers are one of the worst teams in the league, and if you can’t get on the court for that team, then perhaps as Chuck Noll used to say, you need to get on with your life’s work.
In our opinion, Beilein should be tougher. The coach says he wants a team that moves the ball, like Boston or Dallas, but his starting guards average 2.9 assists (Darius Garland) and 2.4 assists (Collin Sexton) per game.
The teams’ best player, five time All Star Kevin Love, averages the third most shots on the team, behind Sexton and Thompson, and is barely ahead of Garland and Jordan Clarkson.
And it isn’t like Love is coasting, waiting to be dealt to a contender. He’s still averaging 10.5 rebounds per night, and this is for a Cleveland team that is smaller than the opponents on a nightly basis.
What would be do if we were coaching? We know Beilein was brought in to develop the young players, so he is trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we would start making some cuts in playing time to send a message.
Sexton is showing signs of being a “chucker”, looking for his shot before anything else. It might be time to have some time to understand what the coach is looking for offensively.
We have said this for a few weeks, but we would move Nance into the lineup at small forward (he’s shooting 37% from three) and move Cedi Osman to the two. That would instantly make Cleveland bigger, but Nance is a very good passer and Osman isn’t bad, so it would increase ball movement.
And maybe, it lights a fire under the second year guard, who we think has regressed from the way he ended his rookie season.
It would also open up some time for Alfonzo McKinnie, who we would like to see more of.
Whose minutes would be cut? We understand the Cavs would like to deal Clarkson, an asset because of his expiring contract, but his shoot first mentality is an odd fit here anyway.
Moving Nance to the three would also open up minutes for Ante Zizic, who the organization needs to find out about.
Thompson was very vocal after Friday’s game about the comments about the coach, saying it was a bad look, although he was much more forceful than that.
GM Koby Altman should be finding out who made the comments and get them out of town as quickly as possible.
The Cavs made a bold choice in bringing in Beilein. Now they need to have his back.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 