Independence, OH (92.3 The Fan) – In a season that has the Cavaliers at the bottom of the NBA standings, Cedi Osman has been a bright spot.
And a hot hand.
Osman is coming off a 17-point, 8-rebound, 2-assist and 2-steal performance at Chicago that saw the Cavs eek out their 10th victory of the season, 104-101.
“The next step for me is to be consistent,” Osman said Tuesday morning following the Cavs’ shootaround leading up to their game Tuesday night against Washington. “I have problems with the consistency but right now I think I know how to be consistent and be aggressive and just keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing.”
Osman has scored in double figures in 32 contests this season but has heated up over his last 5 games where he is averaging 19.2 points while shooting 52.3 percent from the field to go with 4.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 34.7 minutes per game.
Over that stretch Osman is also shooting 43.3 percent from deep.
Osman credits conversations with the coaching staff, veterans as well as film study for his increased production but he credits Channing Frye with having the most influence on him.
“He’s seen a lot and knows what is right and what is wrong, so I like when he talks to me,” Osman said. “Whenever I come to the bench he always says, like when I’m doing bad, he talks to me about the bad stuff and when I’m doing good, he talks about the good stuff. He’s just trying to help me, and I really appreciate that. I know he has a lot of experience and it is good for my game.”
Feel the Love – Kevin Love took another step towards his return this week as he begins participating in practice – with contact.
While there is no set date for Love’s return, he is getting closer which excites Osman.
“We just miss him a lot, especially offensively,” Osman said. “He’s a great scorer and when we started the season he was playing good and after he got hurt obviously he gets hurt, we get hurt but we can’t Wait for him to come back.
“He’s the scoring leader of the team so that’s why when he comes back we’re going to be a much much better team.”
Sharing is caring – In Sunday’s win at Chicago the Cavs recorded 26 assists on 39 field goals made.
There’ could be a lesson in there for the young Cavs.
“As a team, we’re very young and we’re teachable,” Osman said. “We have a lot of young players and after every game we’re watching film. When we’re playing bad, we’re talking about the bad stuff because we can’t just look last those things because we can learn a lot from our mistakes.
“Against Chicago we did a great job of sharing the ball and I think everybody enjoyed it. That’s the most important thing and now we have to be constant with that.”
Milestone markers – Channing Frye is 9 rebounds away from 4,000 for his career while Jordan Clarkson is approaching 2,000 career field goals made. He is 23 away at 1,977.
Home sweet home – Tuesday night’s game against the Wizards begins a stretch that will see the Cavs play 10 of their next 13 at home.
Cleveland is 5-19 at home and 5-22 on the road this season.
Injury report – Love (left foot surgery), Tristan Thompson (left foot soreness) David Nwaba (left ankle sprain) and John Henson (left wrist surgery) are all out against the Wizards for Cleveland.
