Kevin Love already likes what he’s seen so far from new Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein.
After the Cavs’ first day of practice on Tuesday, Love made it clear that Beilein made quite an impression on the five-time All-Star.
“It was great,” Love said. “Like I said to Tristan (Thompson) and Larry (Nance Jr.) afterward, that was a great first day of practice. There was a lot of attention to detail. Then at the end, we played a couple games of five-on-five. I think guys are excited to play.”
Love also likes that Beilein has the right attitude and approach to the game.
“It’s just his enthusiasm,” Love said about the former college coach. “It’s how he talks and how he approaches every day. I wouldn’t say he’s a breath of fresh air because I’ve played for some great coaches. But he brings a different approach, that old-school mentality. We’re not only going to have fundamental basketball with a fun style of play, but also it’s gonna be fun to talk shop with him—college basketball, old NBA, ABA, all of it.”
Old school appears to sit very well with Love, who recognizes that Beilein is different from his previous coaches. As a traditional big man who loves crashing the boards and playing in the post, the 6-foot-10 forward is grateful that Beilein’s offense features his 3-point-shooting abilities as well.
“Old school to me means you stress the fundamentals, you want people to be on time, you want them to do things the right way, do what’s important,” Beilein said. “I think those are pretty good values to have.”
As a first-time coach in the NBA, the former University of Michigan skipper seems to be pushing the right buttons in getting his team ready for the upcoming 2019-20 regular season.
“It’s only one practice, but it was great for me to get out there,” Beilein added. “I couldn’t sleep last night. Not because of any anxiety, but because I was excited to get these guys out there, see what we have and just get the process going.”
The process of bringing the Wine and Gold back to respectability already began with the start of training camp yesterday. With Love showing excitement for his coach’s methods, it’s likely that the rest of the team feels the same way, too.
