Cavs Must Become Mentally Tougher After Latest Playoff Failure, Koby Altman Says

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — If there’s one thing to take away from Koby Altman‘s end-of-year press conference, it’s that he saw what so many others have claimed was the case.

The Cavaliers were just not tough enough. And that may be a big reason why their remarkable regular season ended in disappointment in the playoffs.

As you know, the Cavs entered the playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. They finished 64-18 and then easily swept past the Miami Heat in the first round.

Then came the second round, and the Cavs were outmaneuvered in dropping a 4-1 series decision to the underdog Indiana Pacers.

So what do the Cavs do now? Well, toughen up — theoretically, anyway.

“I think there’s a mental toughness you have to get going through these playoff failures,” said Altman, Cleveland’s president of basketball operations. “I think people speak to the physicality. … This was different because it wasn’t like we were getting shoved around.”

Altman went on to support his point by saying the Cavs won the battle of all the important “hustle” categories. But there’s no denying they were defeated on the scoreboard.

Anyway, when Altman talks about toughness, he’s referring to the mental side of the game.

“We’re not tough, like there’s a mental toughness that we’re going to have to get to,” he said. “If you want to talk about toughness, intangible, hustle, hustle stats — we actually won that battle. I think it was the mental piece.”

It doesn’t appear that the Cavs will make any sweeping changes to the roster this summer. That means the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen will be back. Same goes for De’Andre Hunter and Max Strus. Altman added he’s “hopeful” that the Cavs can re-sign unrestricted free agent guards Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill.

All could be better for experiencing the latest postseason disappointment. Again, theoretically, anyway.

“These are the experiences you have to go through to get to that next level,” Altman said. “I mean, Oklahoma City last year, number one team in the West, then lost in the second round.

“You keep going down the list, Denver’s core that they’ve kept together and finally breaking through for a championship. It took seven years for the Celtics to break through and win a championship. This is Year 3 for the core four.”

Altman makes a valid point. You don’t win a title without a little heartache along the way. No one expected the Cavs to finish with 64 wins. But they did, raising the bar during the course of the season.

Now, they have to raise their level of play when it matters most.

“The heavy lift was, how do we get the best talent?” Altman said. “And now we know we have that in-house now. We have to refine it, right?

“We have to get better in terms of playoff situations, how do we win on the margins?. How we get stronger, how we’re working on our diet, our sleep, all the stuff that goes into winning.”