Cleveland Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson held his team accountable with harsh realities and extensive breakdowns during a recent practice, DeAndre Hunter revealed, following a 99-94 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs dropped their sixth game in 10 tries. They’ve fallen to 14-11.
Amid a six-day break due to the last week of the NBA Cup, Hunter says coach Atkinson didn’t hold back in his frustration with the Cavs’ recent performance.
“He just called us out,” Hunter said. “He broke down exactly what we needed to do, exactly what we haven’t been good at, and we watched it. As a whole team, it’s not the easiest thing to see when you’re not doing well, but we saw a lot of that.
“It’s negative. I feel like anything negative, if you watch it and try to actively work on it, you should get better at it… You need those things. You can’t just brush ’em to the side and say we’re gonna be better later in the season because that’s not necessarily true.”
For Hunter, it’s nothing the Cavs can’t fix.
“It’s your own accountability,” Hunter said. “You can’t blame anyone else, can’t say you weren’t in a rhythm, or you aren’t making shots or anything like that. If you just watch film and see yourself and you’re getting cut back door or you’re getting beat in transition, that’s on you. We saw that, and we’re taking accountability. It helps every single player because we saw it, so it’s hard to deny it.”
Perhaps it’s the collective session of constructive criticism that can catapult the Cavs’ turnaround, especially this early in the regular season, when Cleveland’s seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference standings is only 1.5 games behind the Boston Celtics for third place.
Kenny Atkinson calls out Cavs in recent film session
Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson gets his message across to players how he sees fit. This year is no different, considering the Cavs once again entered the season as favorites. Plus, Atkinson sees this extended break as the perfect opportunity for his team to really focus on rectifying their flaws.
“I feel like part of this reset is just getting back to what we started in training camp and our identity,” Atkinson said. “And quite honestly, with five [games] in seven [nights], you don’t have time to do that. And there’s slippage. Slippage happens. especially when you’re playing three, four young guys.”
The Cavs will face the Wizards on Friday.
