Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson’s focus on relationships, communication is encouraging | Ulrich
As Kenny Atkinson prepared for his debut as Cavaliers coach, albeit in a meaningless preseason game his team lost 116-112 to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night, he listened to Bruce Springsteen tunes.
It’s fitting because the new Cavs boss was “Born to Run,” as evidenced by how he has his team operating.
There’s an emphasis on Cleveland’s offense playing faster. It showed in the first half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, especially with the usual starting five deployed. Meanwhile, there’s also a concerted effort being made to maintain the defensive identity the Cavs forged under the guidance of Atkinson’s predecessor, J.B. Bickerstaff.
But this is the most encouraging aspect of Atkinson’s approach as he readies the Cavs for their Oct. 23 regular-season opener at Toronto: The coach knows it’s vital to build relationships with players during his honeymoon phase because adversity will inevitably strike at some point. When it does, having a foundation of trust already established will be crucial.
“That’s one thing I’m going to really hold myself accountable to as the season goes, keeping those relationships strong, keeping it going,” Atkinson said. “Maybe my first time through [as a head coach], it wasn’t the greatest.
“I almost got almost too caught up in coaching, if that makes sense. Like, ‘Man, coach the team. Make sure shootaround is perfect,’ where maybe I think this time around, I’m going to shift it towards relationships. It’s more important.”
Coming off last season’s 4-3 series win over the Orlando Magic in Round 1 of the playoffs and a 4-1 series loss to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Cavs chose to run it back with virtually identical personnel.
By opting for a level of continuity seldom seen in the NBA, the organization led by chairman Dan Gilbert and president of basketball operations Koby Altman is telling everyone it believes its roster decisions are correct and a coaching upgrade ought to prove the assertion with deeper playoff runs.
