CLEVELAND — In the midst of losses in four consecutive games and 10 of their past 11, 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.
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“Guys drowned out his voice, and when guys start searching for the next in line for help, I believe you’ve lost them,” one Cavs player said.
“The little things become big things, and sometimes very big things,” another player said.
“Our assistants are definitely more prepared for the NBA,” a third said.
Beilein, 66, is in his first season as an NBA coach after 27 successful seasons in college, the most recent 12 at the University of Michigan, where he took the Wolverines to nine NCAA Tournaments and two Final Fours.
Veterans and younger players, from all corners of the roster, are frustrated with what they see as the pitfalls of a college environment Beilein brought with him. When the Cavs were 4-5, players viewed some of these things as quirks of a coach with a different approach.
Now, they consider them grating. 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. Some of that comes with this being his first year in the league.
Bickerstaff, 40, was a head coach for parts of three seasons with the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies and interviewed to be the Cavs’ coach. His father, Bernie, is a senior adviser to Cavs general manager Koby Altman.
Earlier in the season, when the Cavs were showing a marked improvement on defense from the previous season’s historically bad performance, Beilein and the players credited Bickerstaff’s simplifying of the schemes. But, as their overall record would indicate, the Cavs have fallen on hard times on that side of the court, too, and are ranked 25th out of 30 NBA teams on defense, allowing 113.4 points per 100 possessions.
Beilein’s other assistants are Antonio Lang and Dan Geriot, both with previous NBA experience, and Lindsay Gottlieb, in her first pro season after serving as head coach for the Cal-Berkeley women’s team.
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The Athletic shared its information with the Cavs before publishing this story.
The Cavs, who host the Orlando Magic on Friday, were clobbered by 33 on Tuesday by the Detroit Pistons and have suffered losses of 18 or more points in five of their past nine games. On Wednesday, players and coaches met for a lengthy film session that turned even longer when both sides vented over things happening during games, sources said.
The players’ problems with Beilein aren’t necessarily sour grapes over a losing streak.
“At the same time I think the players are the reasons things are happening the way they are,” one player said. “Coaching can’t fix 20- and 30-point blowouts.”
Beilein, hired shortly after meeting face to face with Cavs chairman Dan Gilbert, was signed to a reported five-year contract by the Cavs, who were attracted to him because of (among other things) his long history of working with players in their teens and early 20s. That’s who’s going to be playing with the Cavs for the next few years.
Two key pieces of the Cavs’ future, their past two lottery picks from the past two drafts, Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, are 19 and 20 years old, respectively. Two more rookies drafted in June, Kevin Porter Jr. and Dylan Windler, are 19 and 23. Cedi Osman is 24.
There are also three players remaining from the 2016 championship team — Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova — and Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson (along with Osman and Ante Zizic) were on the Cavs’ most recent Finals team from 2018.
The Cavs have seven veterans — Thompson, Clarkson, Dellavedova, Zizic, Brandon Knight, John Henson and Alfonzo McKinnie — playing on the final year of their contracts.
Grievances with Beilein are not limited to one demographic, sources said.
The Cavs are in Year 2 of what could be a lengthy rebuild after LeBron James left via free agency and losing was expected inside and outside the organization. They are 5-15 and in 13th place in the East, one year after finishing 19-63.
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Beilein, hired in May, coached the Cavs during the first portion of their Summer League schedule, running Windler, and a roster of players who would not likely make the Cavs’ NBA team through rigorous, lengthy two-a-day practices that drained them. He admitted his mistake there.
But the Cavs also held a rookie camp the week before training camp started, and Garland emerged from that with a sore foot that cost him a week. Windler has yet to play because of a stress reaction on his left leg from summer workouts.
Beyond his meticulous focus on rudimentary basketball fundamentals, which NBA players have little patience for in-season, players roll their eyes at things like the terminology Beilein brought to the Cavs.
For instance, all of the team’s screens, cuts, and pivots are named after wild animals. A curl is a “polar bear” in Beilein’s system.
“You don’t go pro to do that kind of thing,” one league source said.
There is, of course, ample time for Beilein to mold his style to the NBA game and for players to adapt to him. There is no expectation to win, and even for this season, there are still 62 games to go.
Cavs fans have heard a story just like this. David Blatt was hired in 2014 after a long career coaching overseas but no prior NBA experience.
His players quickly grew frustrated with him for a number of reasons, all centered around the basic charge that he was not prepared for the speed, tempo, and rigor of NBA games and the schedule at large. Players looked past Blatt, to Tyronn Lue, who was eventually promoted to head coach when Blatt was fired in January of 2016.
These are different times. LeBron was on those teams, and the Cavs were trying to win a championship.
(Top Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)