Wild, Wild West

Hey everybody back in Cleveland! This is A.C. – what’s happening?

I really thing the team has showed a lot of resiliency out here on this West Coast trip.

When we left town, there was a very big question mark as to how the Cavaliers would perform out here – being undermanned and having the youth that we have. I think they’ve weathered the storm, pretty much. Friday night’s win over the Kings was huge – I call it a “bridge” game, because it sets up the opportunity for us to split the last two games and go .500 on the West Coast trip. And that’s something we haven’t done in a long time.

The team is adjusting well to the new offensive changes. They had 30 assists on 41 shots the other day, and they’re starting to make that extra pass. And that’s the key – it breeds unselfishness. Once you start breeding unselfishness, it makes it real tough on the defensive team. The only thing that they have to do now is get back to their defensive principles. The Cavaliers hang their hat on the defensive end of the floor.

Right now, defensively, they’re still thinking. And it needs to be second nature. Their defense last year was reactionary. Now this year, their offense is slowly becoming reactionary. And when they both become reactionary, then you have a solid team.

And that’s why I think it’s not really fair for people to get upset that moves haven’t been made. You can’t have a system on both ends of the floor that you can get players to believe in without having guys who have been there for a while.

In other words, the first thing a team has to have is a “vision.” The next thing you have to do is to get the players that fit your vision. Then you have to get those players to buy into that vision. And you have to eliminate players that don’t. And bring in players that do. Only then can you move forward. You can’t do that by changing personnel every year. It just doesn’t happen.

Take the Pistons. Even though some of their players are starting to get a little long in the tooth, they continue to function because these guys know the philosophy and the system. Now all you need to do is find younger guys to give those starters a breather, and you can move ahead as a franchise. And that’s what the Cavaliers are working towards. You have to build it that way.

Our young guys are buying into the vision. The young guys are meshing.

Right now the team is understanding how to play with LeBron, and LeBron is understanding how to play with them. He knows where Boobie’s going to be when he penetrates – in that deep corner. He knows where Sasha’s going to be.

As a distributor, that makes it a lot easier, knowing there’s someone on the other end that’s capable of making the shot.

And with Larry out, tt’s a young backcourt right now – with Boobie and Sasha – and naturally they’re going to have some problems. But the key for them is to keep the turnovers down. If they keep the turnovers down, there won’t be any problems.