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'I vibe with them': Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson leads team into 2025 playoffs
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- 'I vibe with them': Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson leads team into 2025 playoffs
INDEPENDENCE — Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson is keen to dive into everything the playoffs can offer.
He's ready to tackle the constant chess match that a best-of-7 series demands . He's ready to go toe-to-toe with another playoff squad to see who's better prepared.
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But he's also ready to not overdo it simply because it's the playoffs. He's done that before, and it's something he isn't looking to repeat.
He's ready to hit the gas when Game 1 arrives Sunday, April 20, with the Cavs awaiting either the Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat . He's just also ready to hit the brake when needed.
"I've overdone it. I've over-coached it," Atkinson said Thursday at the team's practice facility in Independence, speaking of his past playoff coaching experiences. "I've kind of lived with those mistakes, and you learn from them."
It's about finding the balance between reacting and making needed adjustments on the fly without overreacting. It's walking the tightrope between an appropriate response and throwing out the game script that worked all season too early.
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"One thing I'm trying to do is check myself and not get too hyped," Atkinson said. "Making sure we're doubling down on who we are and not changing my messaging, early. Because I think the guys, they recognize that if all of a sudden you become Playoff Kenny instead of Kenny, I have to stay authentic to who I am, authentic to what we've been doing all year.
"I'll just add the caveat — we also have to be ready to give them adjustments when it's necessary, right? We are ready for that. It will change. But going into Game 1, it's kind of stick with the script."
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) talks with coach Kenny Atkinson during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 18, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Cavaliers have trust with Kenny Atkinson, Jarrett Allen , Darius Garland entering playoffs
An element in that balance of adjustments is the trust built between a coach and players. Atkinson, in his first year in Cleveland , has leaned into that. He noted recently that not one player has come to his office to complain about playing time, which for him was a first.
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The trust between Atkinson and Jarrett Allen has been discussed as well considering the Cavs center has at times been on the bench during some key fourth quarters. But it was understood why, and the team avoided any potential conflict.
For Atkinson, that chemistry and trust goes back to the first time he met Darius Garland.
"I said, 'Tell me about this group.' He said, 'Man, we vibe. We vibe,'" Atkinson said. "And you're like, kind of wanting to wait and see what he's meaning … because there are going to be games where someone doesn't finish the game that normally finishes, someone that normally starts doesn't start. So now when you start getting those shifts in roles and playoff minutes and all that. I think the tighter the group is, the more they vibe, the more they communicate.
"I'm not saying it's going to be perfect, everybody's going to be happy and that phony stuff. I think it's going to be more, we can talk about this, we can communicate. And the last part, I think I vibe with them."
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Atkinson was brought to Cleveland with the specific goal of taking largely the same roster as last year and elevating it into a true Finals contender. The beginning of that job arrives Sunday.
The Cavs know Game 1 of their first round will be at 7 p.m. Sunday. They don't yet know the opponent until the NBA's play-in tournament concludes Friday night.
Atkinson is ready to get going — without going too far, of course.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson hopes to learn from past playoffs
