The Eastern Conference continues to be as wide open as it has been in recent years. And the Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to move past the 2nd round of the playoffs for the first time since 2018. If that does sound like a poor ambition to have, that’s because it probably is, especially considering their strong performances.
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Even last year, the Cavs won 64 games in the regular season. Yet somehow, when the playoffs came knocking, nobody answered the door.
Earlier this year, the Cavs took a very important step to rectify that and signed Lonzo Ball to their ranks. Ball sounded equally excited to join the roster. While Ball maintains that he’s not important enough to call himself the missing piece at Cleveland, the point guard does assert that he has a role to play, and he will fulfill that as a good teammate.
Ball has charted out his job description. “Play defense, hit open shots, and don’t turn the ball over. Those are my three main points, and I just go from there,” he said.
The guard downplaying his importance is not changing how Kenny Atkinson is viewing things. The Cavs’ Head Coach is convinced that Ball is necessary to the team’s chances of success in the playoffs.
“I always talked to Steve Kerr about this… he always felt like their role players, like David West, Shawn Livingston, they were obviously really good players, but they also had really high basketball IQs,” Atkinson began, explaining how Ball’s intelligence will play a significant role in their success.
“So I think at the playoffs level, you need toughness and all that and talent, but you also need IQ. IQ wins in the playoffs. At the end of the day, players elevate you, right? We are going to tweak some stuff, but at the end of the day, he’s the guy [Ball] who can help push us to that next level,” the head coach asserted.
Of course, the signing of Ball comes with its own ifs and buts. The point guard, who was drafted by the Lakers in 2017, has endured a few serious injuries in his career that have forced him out of entire seasons.
That’s something Atkinson, his staff, and Ball need to talk about and plan to ensure the player remains injury-free. They will have to manage Ball’s minutes throughout the season.
On the bright side, this off-season was the first in many years that Ball has spent without nursing an injury. And the Cavs would be hoping that the trend continues.
