Message of positivity for the Cavs serves as reminder of what's been accomplished, but continuing to improve is what's important
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Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and thelandondemand.comExpectations can be a tricky thing. They exist for people to prepare themselves for what should be considered satisfactory and above or below it. With the Cleveland Cavaliers, expectations may have risen a little too high with the addition of Donovan Mitchell this offseason. When the team started off with an 8-1 record, those expectations ballooned even higher.
Now, with the team posting its worst month of the season – an 8-8 record in January – and dropping six of its last 10, questions are beginning to arise, and negativity has followed.
The Cavs are certainly a flawed group. They’re not a perfect roster, they’re young, and they’re still learning what it takes to win together as a group in the NBA. That’s been evident over what was a tough month schedule-wise for the Cavs compounded by the fact that All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell missed six of the team’s 16 games.
“We had a conversation with the guys, also, just about the reality of where we are,” head coach JB Bickerstaff said after practice on Wednesday. “Sometimes, I think people wanna skip steps in getting where we all want to go. We're not putting a roof on our guys, but what they've accomplished at this age is above and beyond what is standard. I think they need to know that and they need to appreciate it.”
This comes one day following a loss to the Miami Heat at home, one in which the message from players included frustration and talk of taking steps backwards as a group with things that have been focused on for the better part of the season.
“Sometimes it's like we took a step back because we talk about closing the games out and then we do it good one game and then the next game we don't do it so well. I think everybody can speak on that,” Jarrett Allen said after the loss to Miami. “I do think we're in the right direction, it's just frustrating when we take a step back sometimes.”
This type of adversity that the Cavs are facing can help to put into perspective how difficult winning is in the NBA. When teams are young, and the Cavs continue to say that they qualify under that distinction, the growth process isn’t one that happens overnight. Patience is needed and that’s a fair thing to expect and require. That patience helps to lead to keeping the locker room in a positive place.
“I think we're already positive to be honest with you,” Darius Garland said on Thursday morning about Bickerstaff’s message. “We know that we're in a good spot. We've been saying it all along. We just have to just keep getting better at it, so we just don't get behind.”
Progress is required too, though. It’s not as if what the Cavaliers have accomplished is good enough for this era as a whole, and they don’t think it is. If the same conversations are being had by the end of the season as they are right now, it won’t be good enough. The expectations surrounding the Cavs shouldn’t be for the team to win the Eastern Conference or something similar. They should be to continue to grow throughout this season and find themselves in the playoffs without having to fight through the play-in tournament.
To date, the Cavs are still in that position despite the recent stretch of games. If they’re still in this position in the standings when the season ends, it will be deemed a success.
Much like Mitchell said on Tuesday that if they’re still having the same problems as they are right now – primarily closing out games and playing competent offense in the fourth quarter –near the end of the season, it’ll be a problem. That’s something they still have time to fix.
If the Cavs are in this position where they need to be reminded about how good they are and how young they are next year, it will be an issue. Right now, even if things aren’t great, they’ve got plenty of time to figure it out.
“We've got a lot done in a short amount of time and building a team isn't easy. You've had three games, completely healthy and I think people get lost in the reality but I want our guys to just understand all the things that they've done and how good of a place we're in right now,” Bickerstaff said. “We're not done getting better, and we will continue to get better, I'll get better, the players will get better, but it's always about this. Nobody has started from here and then just jumped to here. You all do this. Teams take defeats in the first round of the playoffs. They come back next year, they're better. That's how this thing works. Again, this is not to stunt our guys' expectation and growth, but I want them to understand all the things that they have done and how positive this place is and how we are moving and trending in the right direction.”
Bickerstaff is right in the sense they have done a lot in a short amount of time. They’ve been one of the better teams in basketball despite being young and new. But they also still have a long way to go. It’s best for the Cavs if they don’t lose sight of either end of that spectrum.
