Independence, OH (92.3 The Fan) - John Beilein walked on the stage with a big smile. For the first time in his career, the new coach of the Cavaliers was ready to address reporters during the team’s annual Media Day.
The team is preparing to open practice with 11 players on the training camp roster that have played in two or fewer seasons in the NBA. The wine and gold are still in the early stages of their multi-year rebuild and it was imperative that they hire a coach that is both an excellent tactician and a teacher. John Beilein fit that mold perfectly and he’s ready to lead a team that is retooling.
“I look at it a little bit like Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse,” Beilein said. “There’s a lot of good things going on down there, just like with our basketball program. They didn’t have to knock it down and build another one. But they had to repurpose, refinish, rebuild different areas to keep up with the times. And we’re going to be doing the same thing. We hope our fans will embrace the product, be patient with it, and as we go along, hopefully you’re going to see steady improvement.”
Beilein is an NBA outsider, coming from the NCAA ranks where he won 754 games over 36 seasons. He won two Big10 championships and was twice a National Runner-Up while guiding the Michigan Wolverines. He may be just getting his first chance to lead an NBA franchise, but the 66-year old is not short on energy.
“I have more energy than ever,” Beilein said. “College was so good to me, but (in addition to the season) it’s all of July, half of August, all of September living in a suitcase when you’re out recruiting … there’s a different dynamic to it here that has given me a great sense of energy. I feel so good going into the season.”
That’s a promising sign, because he’s inheriting a team just one year removed from finishing 19-63 – tied for the second worst record in the NBA. It would have been tough for any team to win amidst injuries to several key players and a mid-season coaching change.
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There are reasons for optimism though. Collin Sexton surged in the last month of the season. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson have a clean bill of health and first round draft pick Darius Garland is incredibly talented.
That said, Beilein knows the team won’t start playing championship-caliber basketball overnight. Defining success for a group that isn’t expected to be a playoff-contending team can be difficult.
“We had a huge culture meeting early in the year, in fact just a couple weeks ago, and that was one of the questions we asked ourselves,” said Beilein. “When we’re at the point of the year where our guys, our team – everyone – is improving daily, being at their best, showing great habits in games and practices … it won’t be based on a number of wins. We want to see a steady rise in our play … the wins will take care of themselves. If we get better every single day, we’re going to have a heck of a year.”
That may be true, but as the old saying goes, defense wins championships – and that unit in particular has a lot of work to do.
The Cavaliers are coming off one of the worst defensive seasons in league history. Last year, Cavs’ opponents shot 49.5% from the floor and 38.0% from behind the 3-point line, both the worst defensive marks in the league. Even though he was known more for his offensive scheme while coaching at Michigan, John Beilein stressed how seriously they will take the defensive end of the floor.
“We were historically bad,” Beilein said. “There’s a lot of reasons for that, and we are going to correct them. As a team, we will grow every day and keep learning. J.B. (Bickerstaff) and our entire staff are going to work so hard at having this defensive mindset so that we can get better in that area. It doesn’t make a difference how pretty we do things on offense if we can’t stop anybody on defense. That will be an emphasis every single day.”
Training Camp officially begins tomorrow for the Cavaliers.
The team will practice each day from October 1-6 at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence. On Monday, October 7th, they will take the floor in the 2019 pre-season opener against Aregentina’s San Lorenzo. Tip off at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
The team has a Wine & Gold Scrimmage presented by FirstEnergy scheduled for Tuesday, October 8th. The final pre-season home game is the following Tuesday against Boston.
