Cleveland Cavaliers' Youngsters Are Ready for Playoffs Thanks to Their Veterans
CLEVELAND — Its five-year drought may not seem like an incredibly long time, but for those young Cleveland Cavaliers who have been through the rebuilding, it's been a tiresome, grueling process.
While it was widely assumed that the Cavs would reach the playoffs this season, their ticket was officially punched on March 20. Cleveland, 48-27 and in second place in the Eastern Conference following a March 29 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson will end their playoff absence in year four with the Cavaliers. Matthew Dellavedova is in his second season in Cleveland. Kevin Love, although having just joined the Cavs this past summer, will be in the postseason for the first time in his seven-year career.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Cleveland is loaded with veterans who have turned the playoffs into an annual tradition.
Shawn Marion has reached the postseason 10 times, more than any other Cavalier. He's followed closely by LeBron James, Mike Miller and James Jones (nine trips, two rings apiece). Centers Kendrick Perkins (eight appearances, one title) and Brendan Haywood (seven trips, one ring) also bring a lot of knowledge and experience to the locker room.
The team is essentially split by those who have been there and those who eagerly await their first taste of the postseason.
The Cavaliers are lucky enough to have a wide variety of both, which should only aid their championship quest.
The Path to Get Here
For years, Cleveland employed one of the league's youngest rosters. Guys were forced to learn on the fly from their mistakes. In Irving and Thompson's first three seasons, the Cavaliers were just 78-152, a winning mark of 33.9 percent.
Despite individual successes, none ever personally experienced the intensity, passion and grind that goes along with the NBA's second season and can only go off of what veteran teammates have to say.
Remember, it was Irving who innocently asked Miller during an Oct. 31 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls if that was what a playoff game felt like.
For Irving and the rest of the young Cavs, this is what they're reduced to until they get that personal experience.
Making the postseason for the first time is something all are looking forward to, Dellavedova told Bleacher Report: "Obviously I'm really excited. It's going to be intense, physical basketball where every possession matters."
When asked what he was most excited about come playoff time, Thompson replied, "Shoot, just playing after April 15. I haven't been part of that. I'm definitely excited."
Now, both have an idea of what to expect thanks to talking with the plethora of veterans that dot the Cavaliers roster.
"Every possession counts. In playoff time, the game is magnified even to the little possessions. One turnover here or there or a bad shot can alter the whole game or even affect the series," Thompson said.
"For us right now, especially for guys that don't have that experience, we need to have that mentality to treat every game now like a playoff game. Every screen matters, turnovers, all the little things count. We're trying to minimize those errors so we can be ready for the playoffs."
It's certainly no accident that the Cavaliers have intermixed lockers between young guys and veterans. Thompson is in between Perkins and Miller. Dellavedova is alongside James. Love is situated between Perkins and Anderson Varejao.
"I'm always talking to those guys about everything," said Dellavedova. "There are really good veteran leaders on this team. They're always imparting on everyone else, which is great."
The Cavaliers have been through their rebuilding stage. Youth, lottery trips, coaching changes and plenty of losses defined their last five years.
Now with a talented group led by James and other seasoned vets, this chapter is much different.
Finally, this is a group ready to win.
What the Vets Have to Say
In total, the group of James, Miller, Jones, Marion, Perkins and Haywood have made 52 playoff runs.
Their roles have ranged from superstar (James) to starter (Perkins, Marion, Haywood) to role player off the bench (Miller, Jones).
All bring that experience and knowledge and have a combined nine championship rings between them as well. Their individual roles may vary, but all have been imparting wisdom on the younger Cavs.
"I just told them they need to be mentally prepared, locked-in every game. Playoff basketball is really different from regular-season basketball," Haywood told Bleacher Report.
"It's a little bit more physical, every basket counts. Something that seems small now is very big in the playoffs, whether it be not boxing out, not knowing a certain guy's tendencies. Not running a play the correct way one time can cost you a game. So in the playoffs you have to be locked-in and have a super focus and be ready for a more physical style of play."
He added that Cleveland's young core has been very receptive of his teachings, as they recognize what the 35-year-old has been through since entering the league in 2001.
"I think it helps a lot because we've got great, young guys who really listen to the older vets. They know some guys like myself and Perkins who aren't playing that much, we can still help Tristan with things that we know about certain guys' tendencies. How he should play certain screen-and-roll situations and things of that nature.
"I think that experience definitely helps out a lot because knowledge is power, so you've got to know those types of things."
Haywood added that one of the toughest challenges is playing the same team over and over again, as it only has you to focus on.
"The toughest thing with playing a team back-to-back-to-back is that they're consistently geared up and more ready to play you every time they see you. When you're playing in the regular season, you play in Sacramento one night and then you fly and play in Dallas the next night. That team has nothing to do but gear up for you and the things that they didn't do right, they're watching film and correcting it.
"When a series goes six, seven games, by the time the end of the series comes, that team can run your plays just as well as you can because they've repped your plays and they know what they want to take away. That's why the playoffs are all about execution and getting easy shots."
This is something that Irving, Love, Thompson and Dellavedova will certainly have to get used to. Teams will continue to get tape on what side Irving likes to finish on or where Thompson positions himself most often for offensive rebounds. Weaknesses will be exposed, and strengths will be taken away.
How teams match up definitely makes a difference. Time and time again, we've seen higher seeds losing to lower seeds because of a mismatch at certain positions.
Despite this history, Thompson insists that the Cavaliers aren't watching the Eastern Conference standings.
"With the team we have, as long as we take care of business we should be just fine," he said. "Wherever we finish off in the standings, so be it. Whoever we play, so be it. They have to be ready for us just like we have to be ready for them."
Thompson may have lost his starting job to Timofey Mozgov earlier this season, but he continues to play an important role off the bench with his rebounding, hustle and defense.
One of his teammates recognizes the importance of role players in a playoff series, given that he helped win a championship in that same position.
"It's night and day [from the regular season]. You just have to make sure you're ready. It takes one role player to win a series," Perkins told Bleacher Report.
"You need to have guys step up and be ready. You've got to pay close attention to detail, the little things. The team that always wins the championships, they do the little things better than other teams. They do the little things better than everybody else."
When asked if he could draw any comparisons to the 2007-08 Boston Celtics squad that won it all with him as the starting center, Perkins replied:
"No I can't. That team had three future Hall of Famers with a lot of experience. You had guys coming off the bench like Sam Cassell, James Posey and Eddie House. There weren't too many young guys. As a matter of fact, the youngest guys on the team was myself and [Rajon] Rondo.
"There's really no comparisons because here you've got guys that are just coming in to it. The East is a lot different now than what it was. It had a couple of good, veteran squads."
With the help of mentors like Perkins and Haywood, Tristan Thompson and the other young Cavs are looking forward to finally playing past April.
"It's definitely exciting. It's basically like gearing up like a training camp for the second season," Thompson said. "It's better than playing the last few games and then going on vacation. Six to eight months was too long. I'm glad to be a part of this situation right now and getting ready for the second season.
"Come playoff time, that's when the basketball gets better and everything tightens up, so I've got to make sure I'm sharp and ready to go to battle."
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA for Bleacher Report since 2010.
All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. All quotes obtained firsthand unless cited.
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