Near the end of every year – and the Cavaliers are a best-of-seven away – it’s an interesting exercise to compare how preseason expectations eventually measured up to postseason reality.
Plenty of prognosticators would’ve predicted that the Wine and Gold would return to the Finals. But nobody could’ve forecasted that Channing Frye would be Cleveland’s first big off the bench, its fifth-leading postseason scorer and would likely face off against Anderson Varejao when they got there.
But that is the reality – and it’s about to play out over the next two-and-a-half-weeks.
After essentially being dealt for one of Cleveland’s longest-tenured and most beloved athletes, Frye faced an uphill climb to curry fans’ favor. But he did so two nights after arriving from Orlando – going 4-for-8 from long-distance to score 15 points in just 17 minutes off the bench in his home debut.
After cooling off for a couple weeks, Frye returned to the rotation on a mission, conquering the Staples Center with a pair of big performances. Against the Lakers, in his first start as a Cavalier, he hit his first five three-pointers and finished 8-of-10 from the floor for 21 points. Two days later, Frye returned to torment the Clippers – coming off the bench to go 5-for-7 from beyond and finishing with 15 points as the Cavs crushed the Clippers.
In his return to the postseason, after going without an appearance since 2010, Frye got off to a slow start – hitting just one three-pointer (in only two attempts) in Cleveland’s four-game sweep of Detroit. But that changed rapidly when the Cavaliers met the Hawks in the Conference Semis.
After an eight-point outing in Game 1, Frye went 5-of-7 from the floor in Game 2. Those were just warmups for his outburst in Atlanta – drilling seven triples, going 7-of-9 from long-distance and 10-of-13 overall to net a game-high 27 points in just 28 minutes of work as the Cavaliers took Game 3 and eventually, the series.
And he hasn’t slowed down since, canning 15 treys in the first four games of the East Finals. When the series wrapped up last Friday night in Toronto, Frye had shot 63 percent in the series (20-for-32) – including 58 percent from long-distance (14-for-24).
And as the Wine and Gold prepare for their second straight NBA Finals appearance against the Golden State Warriors, Frye enters the tournament’s final round shooting .578 (26-of-45) from beyond the arc this postseason – the highest three point percentage among all current players in the 2016 Playoffs.
Now, reconnected with his longtime friend, Richard Jefferson, and playing for a franchise that blew through the Eastern Conference in search of its first title, Frye has had difficulty wiping the smile off his face.
The easygoing stretch-4 from Arizona took time with Cavs.com to talk about his eventful run with the Wine and Gold …
How did you transform from a “regular” big when you came into the league into a knock-down stretch-4?
Channing Frye: During the years in Portland, I had been working on (three-point shooting), but it just didn’t fit into the system that was there.
I played just more of a general 5, and I think it helped me in the long run to be able to guard 5’s – know that position, be comfortable going down there and then knowing where I’m better at.
And then, when I got to Phoenix, (Coach) Alvin Gentry was like: ‘Dude, take a step back. That’s a bad shot. That’s a good shot. Shoot a thousand of these.’
So I was literally in the gym with a lot of guys that are on the Golden State staff now. Their staff really developed me, got me in the gym, got me to kind of having a shooter’s mentality – caring less about if they go in and more about shooting what’s a good shot for you.
I started as a post guy, a lot of work in the paint in college – just a baseline jumper. And when I got into the league, I went more with the face-up because guys were bigger. And eventually I just came out to here.
One summer before I got signed by the Suns, I was shooting in a high school gym and there was no NBA three-point line, so I’d just shoot from anywhere. And when I came back (to Phoenix) I was like: ‘Oh crap! I’m shooting farther than I was before.’
So that’s how it all came about.
Your coaches and teammates have said repeatedly that they want you shooting the three any time you have a good look. Is that a liberating feeling?
Frye: I think it’s extremely liberating. But at the same time, I think I’ve earned it. They see me working on it every day.
And I think they know my attitude, where I’ve been in that position, in the Western Conference Finals where I’ve gone through a huge slump and had to overcome it. So for me, I look at it like: ‘I’ve been the goat before.’
I’ve been the guy where people were like ‘Stop shooting!’ and my teammates were like: ‘No, keep shooting!’ And I know that mental anguish.
I know I can make these shots. And I know that simplicity is going to overcome all this. I know who I am as a player and I know I can do other things to help this team win – whether it’s two minutes or 20 minutes or 40 minutes.
And so, for me, there was pressure on me shooting J’s – but then again, there isn’t. And it doesn’t hurt that I’m seven-foot tall and nobody’s gonna block my shot.
You were wearing out the fans in that corner across from the Raptors’ bench in Toronto. Do you like to jaw with the crowd when you’re hitting like that?
Frye: (laughs) Yeah, now and again.
I don’t ever do it in a disrespectful way. But, you know, I’m not from a place where you go out and there’s a lot of people coming to watch you play ball. I’ve always been heckled a little bit – being that big guy who shoots J’s. ‘You’re soft – you can’t do this, you can’t do that.’
Well, if you know somebody who shoots ‘em better than me, I wouldn’t be out there, I wouldn’t be in the league this long.
So for me, getting into it with the crowd, having a little bit of anger, having a little bit of that attitude. It’s not like I’m telling people “&%#@” or anything like that.
Most of the guys on the team would say my banter is corny more than anything else. So it’s fun. It’s just a little back and forth.
Did dropping 27 points on Atlanta in Game 3 spark you from deep for the rest of the Playoffs?
Frye: No. To be honest, they just kept leaving me open. (laughs) I was like: ‘At some point, you guys have to understand that I’m gonna keep firing these things up.’
I think at the time they made a choice, I feel like they said something in the newspaper like: ‘We wanted Kevin to shoot those shots, we want their 4s and 5s to make decisions.’ And I just didn’t miss many. I played the game the right way, I took the shots that were supposed to be taken and I made them.
And to be honest, teams don’t leave me open that much. Let’s be honest, I’m never really that open. Guys were just rotating around me, so I did my job.
For me to be out there, I just have to be a threat – that’s the biggest thing.
If I can get you to play me from seven feet to four feet, with all the other weapons we have on this team! I’ve done my job.
Somebody might say: ‘Well, you’re not scoring much.’ But I’ll say I’ve done my job. If I get off two three-pointers in a quarter, then one of their guys is getting taken out of the game.
I know my role. It’s not the biggest role, but it’s a role that’s gonna help us win.
People in the organization talk about the fresh perspective and attitude you brought to the team. Do you agree with that?
Frye: I’m just me, man. I try to be myself all the time.
I joke around about being appreciative for the burritos or the coffee you get before practice or the places that we stay. But I really am!
All I’ve ever asked since I’ve been in the league is to be put into a situation where I can be successful. And how can you not take advantage of the situation here?
(Reaching this level) doesn’t happen very often – maybe for one or two guys here. But for me, I just gotta be me, man. I’m enjoying every moment of this!
Getting to play with my best friend. Getting to know new friends – me and Kevin and Richard are getting close. I’m cool with James and J.R. and LeBron and Kyrie and all the young fellas. The guys are just really cool.
So really, those guys have the pressure on them. But I also think it’s for their own legacy and the fact that they need to have that pressure because they’re paid to have that pressure.
I don’t have any of that pressure – like I’m not even supposed to be here. I had literally planned my summer vacations and I had shipped my cars out and then (my agent) was like: 'You’re going to the best team in the Eastern Conference.’
I was like: ‘Welp, there goes my summer.’ But you know what: it’s gonna be a way better summer.