2019 Offseason

clejsykes

If Friday’s practice was the least physical and most educational of the week, Saturday’s session was definitely the most competitive.

Players still had plenty of information to absorb, but the squad scrimmaged hard when drills and walk-throughs wrapped up. The competition was real and even some tempers flared, but that’s par for the course for a team that’s faced no one but each other for the past five days. By the time San Lorenzo rolls into Cleveland on Monday night, the fellas will be champing at the bit.

Even Saturday’s drills were competitive as the team ramps up for the preseason, with losers doing push-ups afterward.

Coach John Beilein has been specific about not naming starters just yet, so read nothing into the team breakdown in Saturday’s scrimmage, but one squad featured John Henson, Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Cedi Osman and Brandon Knight vs. a quintet consisting of Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and Kevin Porter Jr.

One of the most encouraging signs of the say was the appearance of rookie Darius Garland during Saturday’s scrimmage session.

The rookie hasn’t seen live contact through the first week of Training Camp and Coach Beilein stated that he won’t do so until he’s 100 percent. He looked pretty close to triple-figures on Saturday, showing off his sneaky quickness, his deft handle and, most of all, his silky jumper – splashing home a pair of a catch-and-shoot jumpers that showed exactly why Cleveland tabbed him with the 5th overall pick.

As he had before getting injured last season, Tristan has re-established himself as the Cavaliers veteran leader. He’s been the team’s most vocal leader and has backed it up on the floor; he’s been competitive, focused and intense in both drills and scrimmages.

Delly has re-established himself as a coach on the floor, and his work with the rookies will go a long way this season. At several points during practice, the seventh-year man was spotted talking things through with the youngbloods.

Nance is another of Cleveland’s most cerebral players, and on Saturday he talked about the challenge of having to pick up a new system.

"It’s a lot of information,” said Nance. “We practice a long time and most of it’s listening. We’re doing a whole lot of listening and dummy work – by dummy work, I mean going over plays without a defense on us – but (Coach Beilein) has to implement an entirely new system, one that we haven’t run in our lives. So it’s been a learning process, that’s for sure.”

Even after they welcome San Lorenzo into the newly-renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday night, the Cavaliers will continue implementing and getting familiar with the new staff’s system. The season opener is now less than three weeks away.

* Anyone who’s played organized sports growing up has probably played with a guy like Kevin Porter Jr. He’s that guy who doesn’t leave a real impression during drills and walkthroughs then blows your mind in a game.

On Saturday, Porter was a live wire in the team’s scrimmage – hitting two big buckets and drawing hoots and hollers from the squad. When things get competitive, the young Seattle native is a baller.

"(Porter)’s a gamer. I think that’s the best way to put it. He’s a gamer. We can be going through drills and that doesn’t best suit him. We can be walking through drills and that doesn’t best suit him. But you roll that ball out there and say ‘get a bucket …,’“ praised Nance, adding, “I’d love to see a one-on-one game with him and Jordan Clarkson. It might never end.”

training-camp-notebook-day-5

Training Camp Notebook: Day 5

clenadams

With Training Camp tipping off on Tuesday, the John Beilein Era is officially underway in Cleveland.

It was an all-hands-on-deck affair – minus Larry Nance Jr. (who wasn’t feeling well), Darius Garland (who’s been working out regularly with the team but missed Tuesday with foot soreness) and Dylan Windler (likely out through the preseason with left leg soreness).

Tuesday marked another first – the first time John Henson was actually able to officially practice with the squad after missing almost all of last season with an injured wrist.

Cleveland hasn’t had a player block over 100 shots since Zydrunas Ilgauskas did so in 2007-08 and were dead last in the league last season. Henson, part of the three-team trade last December that brought Matthew Dellavedova back to Cleveland while sending George Hill to the Bucks and Sam Dekker to the Wizards, hopes to change that this year.

"(Being able to practice) is a blessing, man,” said Henson. “I came to practice with butterflies in my stomach. I haven’t been able to practice since, like, November 14 of last year. So I’m happy to be running up and down, getting to hang with the team, playing with the team and building that kind of relationship."

The 14th overall pick of the 2012 Draft, Henson has played in 405 career games with Milwaukee before the trade – averaging 7.8 points on 54 percent shooting to go with 5.4 boards and 1.48 blocks. He’s swatted over a hundred shots in four of his first seven seasons. In 2014-15, the former Tar Heel blocked 135 shots; last year, the Cavaliers blocked 195 as a team.

If John Beilein wants to put an emphasis on defense (and start a pair of point guards), his squad will need a rim protector. A healthy Henson might just be the answer.

* On Media Day, Collin Sexton mentioned the “Beilein ball.” At first, it sounds like a system, like “small ball.” But it’s actually a specific basketball (pictured above) that Beilein uses to illustrate the rotation on the basketball – using a thick stripe around its circumference.

On Monday, the new head coach was asked about its origin.

"Back before I had the budget to buy basketballs like that, I used to just take a magic marker and go around it just to get people to understand the great spin you need in passing; and it’s just as important as shooting," recalled Beilein. "Then, after we started having some success, I approached a company called The Rock, which makes basketballs. Now I have my own ball, it’s called the Beilein.

"It’s a different ball than the Spalding ball. So, Spalding was kind enough to laser on the stripe, so we can see the spin and they understand the spin. It’s a little thing, but it’s important."

When asked about marketing the ball, Coach quipped: "I won’t give any of you guys a deal, but you can buy it for $39.95."

* As Training Camp tips off every year, it’s pretty evident which players hit the weight room a little harder. Two Cavaliers who look visibly stronger this season are Collin Sexton and Tristan Thompson.

* There’s been so much made about the Cavaliers dynamic young backcourt duo of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. But there’s also a good battle going on for backup minutes behind the youngsters.

As the coaching staff broke down the squad into groups, one of them – the green team – featured Jordan Clarkson, Matthew Dellavedova and Brandon Knight.

Clarkson didn’t start a single game last year and led the Eastern Conference in bench scoring. Delly made his triumphant return to Cleveland in December, but missed the season’s final 17 games with a concussion. Brandon Knight resuscitated his season and maybe his career, starting the final 26 games last year alongside Collin Sexton.

On Tuesday, Clarkson showed one of Cleveland’s youngsters – Kevin Porter Jr. – why he’s the East’s top-scoring reserve -- as the USC product struggled to stay in front of him during 5-on-5 scrimmaging.

* The Cavaliers are scheduled to practice every day this week, with their preseason opener looming less than a week away – welcoming San Lorenzo di Amalgro to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Next Friday, the Cavaliers travel to Detroit to face the Pistons before wrapping up the preseason with a road contest in Boston (10/13) followed by a visit from the Celtics two nights later in Cleveland.

training-camp-notebook-day-1

Training Camp Notebook: Day 1

The Cleveland Cavaliers are excited to announce that the 2019-20 Cavs Kids Club Jr. Reporters presented by Jif and Smucker’s have been selected to represent Wine &amp; Gold Nation during the organization’s upcoming 50th Season Celebration. Six new and enthusiastic reporters, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years old, will be given an all-access opportunity to cover a variety of Cavs events including community relations initiatives and Wine &amp; Gold Nation events. They will also each get to attend a regular season Cavs game and more, during the 2019-20 season.

The Cavs warmly welcome the newest Kids Club Jr. Reporters (as pictured above in order):

The Cavs Kids Club Jr. Reporters jumped fearlessly into their first assignment on Monday, September 30th covering Cavs Media Day presented by FirstEnergy with the pros at Cleveland Clinic Courts, the Cavs practice and training complex in Independence, Ohio. They worked together to ask Cavs players and front office team members questions about the upcoming season and much more.

All five Cavs Jr. Reporters are members of the official Cavs Kids Club, which is an extension of Wine &amp; Gold Nation, the official fan club of the Cavs. For more information on the Cavs Kids Club and Wine &amp; Gold Nation, follow @CavsWGNation on Twitter and Instagram.

For photos and fun facts about each reporter, check out: https://www.cavsyouth.com/cavs-kids-club/kids-club-reporters.

Cavs Kids Club Jr. Reporter Search: Each child was asked to submit a sixty second video explaining why they want to be this season’s Cavs Kids Club Jr. Reporter. After reviewing all of the creative submissions, the group was narrowed down to the top ten semi-finalists who were asked to come in for a face-to-face audition at the Cavs offices. All of the finalists impressed a panel of judges with their positive energy, creativity and passion for Cavaliers basketball.

cavs-announce-2019-20-cavs-kids-club-jr-reporters

Cavs Announce 2019-20 Cavs Kids Club Jr. Reporters

nbaplatformservices

kevin-love-2019-media-day-availability

Kevin Love 2019 Media Day Availability

sights-from-2019-media-day

Sights From 2019 Media Day

Below is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2019 training camp roster. Camp officially opens Tuesday, October 1st.

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACHJ.B. Bickerstaff(Minnesota)

ASSISTANT COACHES
Antonio Lang (Duke)
Dan Geriot (Richmond)
Lindsay Gottlieb (Brown)

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SPORTS SCIENCE AND MEDICINEMark Kovacs (Auburn)

HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINERStephen Spiro (Temple)

HEAD STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACHDerek Millender (South Alabama)

view-2019-training-camp-roster

View 2019 Training Camp Roster

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is Officially Open for Business

rocket-mortgage-fieldhouse-is-officially-open-for-business

Players and Coaches Attend VIP Reception at the New Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

players-and-coaches-attend-vip-reception-at-the-new-rocket-mortgage-fieldhouse

Presented by:

fubo

ROUND 2 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW. <a href="https://seatgeek.com/cleveland-cavaliers-tickets?market=open&amp;aid=15870&amp;pid=web&amp;rid=50624&amp;utm_medium=partnership&amp;utm_source=cavs_ticketing&amp;utm_campaign=web&amp;utm_content=playofftickets">FIND SEATS &gt;&gt;</a>