Little Linda Lue says Cavs are out of shape

Need to Play Faster!!!

blaming it on fitness. I'm sure fans on message boards are going -- "Right on, coach. Make those lazy millionaires run."

But at least he blames himself, too. "I have to do a better job to get us in better shape." Basically, he wants to do a Riley and turn them into a showtime running team. So for the time being, it's fatigue. So, he wants to be a mix of player's coach and drill sergeant.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index...e_cleveland_cavaliers.html#incart_river_index

Is this the excuse Klinesman uses, too

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"The vision I have for this team, I think we got to play faster," he said. "I think we have to utilize Kyrie's [Irving] and LeBron's [James] one-on-one ability in transition, open the floor more. ... We just haven't been accustomed to playing that way. So, something new. I have to do a better job to get us in better shape."

Lue wants to do away with walking the ball up court, with the goal of limiting the number of half-court sets. Saturday, Cleveland shot an abysmal 37 percent from the field and was 9-of-22 from the charity stripe, losing its second home game in the last three opportunities.

Fatigue was a factor, said Lue.

"I don't think we're in good enough shape," he said. "I think early we wanted to push it, we wanted to open the floor and I think we came out and did that and we just dropped off the map.

"I think we got tired. 'Bron came out early, Ky wanted to come out early, Kevin wanted to come out early. So, I just don't think we're in good enough shape to play the style we want to play."

In order for this switch in pace to work, Lue will have to use his bench to keep guys fresh. He used 10 players in the first quarter, a sign he's trying to establish an effective second unit. But players succumbing to exhaustion caught him off guard.

"I had a mindset of how I wanted to play and how I wanted the rotation to be and then LeBron came out early, Kevin came out early, Ky came out early and then Tristan [Thompson] gets two fouls. It kind of put us in a tough position," he said.

Lue said it's going to take a couple of weeks before the team is fit to handle the rigors of a an accelerated pace, but his players are up for the task at hand.

"We need to start doing stuff on off days, doing stuff at practice, during shootarounds, getting up and down the floor, getting our heart rate going because he wants to play faster," James said. "He wants to play with more pace than we've done in the past. Try to get up and down the floor before the defense is set on us. We all need to get in better shape."

Love is all for the pace bandwagon.

"I think that we do have the personnel to get the best out of playing that brand of basketball and playing with pace," he said. "There's a lot of ways that I can play in this and I just feel like we need to get used to playing a faster brand. I think that started today and we'll get better pretty quick."

What will it take to get guys in shape?

"We just got to do a lot of stuff full court, just running through your offense," Lue explained. "But instead of doing it twice, we'll have to do it eight times in row. Back [and] back until you get it right. I don't believe in running sprints like that per se, but we have to do things to incorporate running and getting into shape however I have to do that."

It's going to take some time before this team gets where Lue believes they need to be. The coaching change is an unexpected hurdle for the Cavaliers, but the players agreed they're headed in the right direction.

Lue's message is clear: "If you want to be out on the floor, you can't get tired. And if you do, you have to come out," James said.​