The Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling in a big way right now and, aside from the hilarity that ensued at the team’s Halloween party, there isn’t much positivity to point to outside of a tremendous track record. With that as the backdrop, the team held an “air-it-out meeting” on Tuesday and Dave McMenamin of ESPN brought word of what transpired.
The report indicates that LeBron James was “vocal” in the meeting, though it is important to note that the same source indicated to ESPN that “most everyone spoke” in the chat that was deemed “very productive.” In some ways, it makes complete sense that the Cavs would be looking inward after a woeful, 3-4 start but, in the same breath, it does seem pretty early for this kind of gathering.
Kevin Love acknowledged the unusualness of doing this early in the year but downplayed any real heat behind it.
“I mean it’s early in the season, I feel like, to do it but it wasn’t one of those meetings where it was so ‘over the top,’ so to speak,” Love said. “It was just figuring out exactly what we need to do. We watched certain segments on film of the game. We broke down film a little bit differently and came out here and got some good work in.”
The All-Star big man went on to say that there was “a lot of really good positive energy” from the meeting and that is a far cry from the way head coach Tyronn Lue described the proceedings prior to Tuesday. In short, Lue indicated that “guys are not having fun” at the start of the season and, in addition to getting in better shape across the board (including James, who self-prescribed that issue earlier this month), it was about translating off-court dynamics back to the floor.
For most of the NBA, the Cavs’ early struggles are seen as a team that isn’t particularly engaged on the defensive end and, well, that comes with the territory when the great majority of focus is on June rather than October. Still, Cleveland hasn’t even displayed cohesive signs of a championship-caliber unit on the defensive end and perhaps this meeting of the minds will inspire an uptick in both focus and effort in the coming days.
(Via ESPN)
