Professional sports is much more complicated than the rules of the game. There are financial and economic aspects, interpersonal and communication intricacies, and of course, physical health.<\/p>\n
But the mental side may be the most important one. It is definitely paramount for the flailing Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Cavs were humiliated 123-112 at home<\/a> to the woeful Utah Jazz<\/a>, a team that was coming off a 55-point loss at the hands of the equally woeful Charlotte Hornets. It was the latest in a long list of puzzling losses amidst a season that is not only frustrating, but starting to slip away completely. On the flip side, Utah is not competing for a playoff spot, and they don\u2019t have any pressure to win games. They are just trying to be better than their last time out on the court, and against the Cavs, they most definitely accomplished that.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were desperate, they were physical, and they won the aggressive match,\u201d Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said about the Jazz after the game. \u201cThey won the mental battle.\u201d<\/p>\n Atkinson said several times in his post-game press conference that the Cavs\u2019 loss was due to \u201cthe psychology of sports\u201d. Less than a month ago, he said after a loss to the Houston Rockets<\/a> that he felt the game was over in the first quarter because the Cavs \u201cweren\u2019t ready for the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n This has become a common theme, and not just this season. In years prior, the Cavs seemingly wilted when it meant most, were unable to get up off the mat after they got punched, and failed to put forth the effort needed to win the biggest games. But now these mental lapses apply to any game, not just the biggest and most important ones.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI got to do a better job of putting appropriate fear into the team,\u201d Atkinson continued. \u201cThey (the Jazz) were desperate. We just kind of played.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cavs are now halfway through the season and sit outside a secured playoff spot at seventh in the Eastern Conference. That is a far, far cry from where they were predicted to be at this point of the year. To come out and \u201cjust play,\u201d given the seemingly dire situation they are in as the most expensive \u2014 and most disappointing \u2014 team in the league, is alarming in more ways than one.<\/p>\n Atkinson and his coaching staff have to do better. This was also said about former Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who is thriving in Detroit<\/a> with a roster that has clearly bought in to what is being asked of them: Be tough and relentless every single night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe try to warn them verbally, like \u2018Hey, these guys (the Jazz) are going to be ready to bounce back,\u2019\u201d Atkinson said when asked about what he could do to help win the mental battle. \u201cThese guys are pros, they know the circumstances. Sometimes you have a letdown, you think it\u2019s going to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Verbal warnings. Reminders. Assuming that the players will just \u201cget it\u201d eventually. None of these have worked this season, nor have they in years past. Bickerstaff was blamed for being unable to reach the locker room, and now Atkinson is starting to be saddled with the same thing.<\/p>\n The common denominator is the players.<\/p>\n Jarrett Allen said in the locker room following the loss to Utah that he \u201cabsolutely\u201d feels these things are correctable, but it didn\u2019t seem firm. Donovan Mitchell was so quiet with his post-game answers that they were hardly audible a few feet away. A few hours later, the rumor of De\u2019Andre Hunter wanting to play elsewhere<\/a> started circulating. The Cavs are going through the motions of an NBA season, plodding through games and saying the same public relations speak, without having accomplished the things that give them the excuse to do so.<\/p>\n Cleveland is, at this moment, lacking a galvanizing veteran who keeps everyone in line. For the Jazz, Kevin Love and Georges Niang are being relied on to fill in the gaps that head coach Will Hardy cannot reach<\/a>. In Detroit, Tobias Harris is so valuable to the locker room as an accountability force that the organization is hesitant to trade him despite a clear ability to improve their roster (on paper) by doing so.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n