Cavaliers players are rebelling against John Beilein for acting as if the players and himself are still in college. Besides the fact that they are now NBA players. Reported by Joe Vardon and Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Cavaliers players are bristling at new coach John Beilein because he’s treating this season like they, and he, are still in college, numerous sources told The Athletic.
It’s already gotten to the point where players are looking past Beilein to his lead assistant, J.B. Bickerstaff, for guidance, those sources said.
Grievances include his nitpicking over basic fundamentals, too much harping in lengthy film sessions, not enough versatility on offense, and a broader lack of understanding of the NBA game and opposing players
Yikes. That is not how you want your first NBA season to go. Granted, I can’t blame the guy either. When all you’ve really coached is college basketball, the transition to the NBA can be hard. The frustration can be expected though, despite the quote above, the Cavs are still 5-15. They’ve lost 10 of the last 11 games. A streak like that is sure to make any team have some chemistry issues. However, Beilein needs to know that he isn’t in the NCAA anymore. The NBA game is a lot harder and faster than college. His basic fundamentals won’t exactly work here.
No, the Cavs were not supposed to be good. They are rebuilding and they need it. Although they want to keep Tristan Thompson, I’m not sure why they haven’t traded Kevin Love for more young players and picks. It seems fruitless to hang on to him if he is not going to be along for the long run. Beilein needs to change his coaching perspective and maybe realize that he needs to focus more on himself than the players during film sessions.
