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David Griffin took the reins of a Cleveland Cavaliers team in a freefall. Pegged to make the playoffs, the team floundered for much of the season. In one of the worst Eastern Conferences in history, the Cavaliers tried, and failed, to make the playoffs.
Things are looking a little bit better now. The team introduced Kevin Love as a Cavalier this afternoon, and the power forward made clear his intentions to play in Cleveland long-term. LeBron James joined the team this summer. A team that couldn't shoot also added Mike Miller and James Jones. A team that couldn't guard the perimeter added Shawn Marion.
So, as you might expect, David Griffin is feeling a bit better about his situation. He spoke with Fred McLeod, Fox Sports Ohio play-by-play announcer, about his new-look Cavs. Watch the whole thing, but here are some fun excerpts.
On whether the team fits:
"We have guys that know how to play. We’ve got basketball IQ. We’ve got floor spacing. We’ve got great athleticism. And then we’ve got Kevin Love in the trail position … it’s a beautiful picture you can paint."
This team has a focus and a single-mindedness that is awesome ... but these things don’t happen overnight … If it takes a year of seasoning ... that's fine. We know where it’s heading. What I want our guys to do, and what it'd be great if our fans would do, is just passionately lose yourself in the process of watching us get better."
We were speaking earlier, Kevin and I were, about his post game. In the past his post game needed to result in scores because he may not have been surrounded by the same shooters. Now Kevin is going to be able to post to create, and that passing element that you talked about is going to be even more exciting.
I think Kyrie has proven in the time he has spent with USA basketball ... he went from maybe he makes the team he is at least a part-time starter now. He's doing the things he's required to do to win basketball games. That's going to be an awesome experience for us as a franchise that he's getting to have, so I expect these pieces to stack up on themselves very well.