The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently in the midst of a complete overhaul under the watch of new head coach John Beilien, and it looks like the freshman NBA coach is looking to get his players back to basics.
Per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Beilein is using a specially-manufactured basketball designed specifically to improve passing and shooting technique.
“It didn’t take long for the ‘Beilein ball’ to make its appearance during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first day of training camp on Tuesday morning,” he wrote.
“Welcome to the John Beilein Era. It features specially-designed basketballs intended to get this 19-win team from a year ago back to the basics.”
Fedor went on to explain the idea behind the ball.
“A few of Cleveland’s rookies, including Darius Garland who smiled when discussing the topic Monday afternoon, were already introduced to the ball that has a thick black stripe around its circumference to illustrate the rotation,” he wrote. “It’s supposed to help players get the location of their hands correct on shots and passes. Garland, Dylan Windler, Kevin Porter Jr., Dean Wade and Marques Bolden were allowed to arrive 10 days before training camp, per NBA rules, giving them a head start.”
While it’s a return to basics for these pro ballers, All-Star big man Kevin Love praised the move by Beilein.
“The one with the stripes on it? I didn’t know that was called the Beilein ball,” Love said with a smile. “All those jump stops, those passes, all those fundamental things that sometimes you get away from, but serve us in a really good way — get us back to the basics and go from there. That attention to detail is going to do us really well, I think.”
As Fedor explained, the team actually reached out to Spalding and asked the company to laser the strip onto the balls. Now, the balls are used during passing and shooting drills, though not during 5-on-5 scrimmages.
During the first day of practice, Love referred to his new coach as old school. Beilein seemed to take it wholly as a compliment.
“If old school means you stress the fundamentals, want people to be on time, do things the right way and do what’s important, I think that’s old school and those are pretty good values to have,” Beilein said.
Only time will tell if this return to basics will help the Cavs improve from their dismal record last season.
