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Keeping Score: Cleveland Cavaliers, Trying to Speed Things Up, Find That Change Is Coming Slowly

When Tyronn Lue took over as the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he raised eyebrows by questioning the conditioning of his players and openly wondering if they could keep up with his vision for the team.

“We just haven’t been accustomed to playing that way,” Lue told reporters of the faster pace he tried to coax out of the Cavaliers in his first game, which the team lost to the Chicago Bulls. “So, something new. I have to do a better job to get us in better shape.”

LeBron James, while disputing reports that he helped push the previous coach, David Blatt, out the door, was either involved in Lue’s decision to change the team’s style or was trying to support the coach, because he did not challenge the assertion that the team was out of shape.