by The Cavs played well for the final 27 games of the season because of Nance’s addition. They had a modest 42-40 season record, finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference Central Division. They made the playoffs for the first time in several years. The Cavs lost to Chicago in the first round, taking the Bulls to the limit by forcing a deciding game five in the best of five. It was the first trip to the playoffs for this young group, and also the first showdown with a player who would become a familiar enemy, Michael Jordan.
It didn’t matter to them who the leading scorer was each night. Their philosophy was to feed the hot hand on any given night. They were unselfish, which was the key component to why they were so good. There weren’t any egos on the team, a true sign of teamwork and great coaching. Long time radio play by play man Joe Tait had these words to share about the team dynamics: “That was a ballclub from top to bottom that was a more talented team then the Miracle team, but in the same token the league was much better as well. Michael Jordan was playing in league of his own. You had Isaiah Thomas with the Pistons, Malone and Stockton with the Jazz and the best pound for pound player, Magic Johnson, who could play all five positions. It was the same in the standpoint that the fans really got pumped, but in the same token the league was loaded with talented teams at that particular time
It was common for the Cavs to have a two hour practice, followed by a one hour meeting in the locker room. They loved to talk and spend time with each other so much that after most practices, they would all go over to a teammate’s house to bond some more! Larry Nance shares his view of this magical time, “I think it is because we loved each other and it didn’t matter night to night who was the leading scorer. We didn’t care who was going to be the leading scorer, we just wanted to win. Our goal was to find the guys with the hot hands and keep feeding them the ball. There were no egos ever, anywhere or anytime! We never got into an argument about someone taking too many shots, it never happened. We truly loved being around each other, and so did our wives and families. I was never part of a group that was like that before or after. That kind of teamwork and chemistry is what made us successful. I don’t see that type of thing anymore with today’s athletes and teams. That’s why so many people when I go places say they loved our group. They enjoyed watching team, unselfish basketball.” This team bond was very rare in professional sports.
Craig Ehlo tries to explain the chemistry of the team during this time when he says, “The main thing was team chemistry and that we made ourselves available for fans by living in the local area. Our chemistry was built with several factors in place, one of which was the fact that Larry Nance had a pond we would go fishing in before practice behind his house. We played together and it didn’t matter that we had All Stars, because we still played together. I think people really enjoyed our team because of the team ball method of playing. It didn’t matter who led the team in scoring as long as we won. I think it was a fun time for people to come out and watch a team play together like that. Then in the off- season we all stayed in town and none of us moved out of state. I lived in Fairlawn, Mark and Brad lived in Hudson, Larry lived in Bath, and “Hot Rod” lived in Akron, so we were visible.
We would go to Summit Mall and constantly interact with fans. I think because we were visible and stayed in the community through the year it helped the fans relationship with us. I think it helped having Joe Tait around because if he was doing something with his horses at the racetracks or events with women’s groups, it was amazing. I never thought I would spend my summers in Cleveland, but then I found that there were lots to do by sticking around. There were plenty of golf courses and many other things to do. I think our visibility in the community is what won the hearts of the fans over.”
Ehlo goes on to explain how everyone on the team got along so well together, “Our wives would get mad at us after the games because we would sit in the shower for over an hour after the game like a bunch of old women just talking. We would walk out in that cold garage in the Richfield Coliseum and our wives would be like “what is taking you so long?” It was just an amazing time listening to “Hot Rod” talking about Louisiana or Larry talking about cars, or even listening to Tree Rollins talk about how many kids he had. Gary Briggs, our trainer, was the glue that held us together.” The fans flocked to the Coliseum to see this unique and unselfish team-orientated basketball.
The Coliseum was rocking nightly as the fans gravitated to the players on the court because of their workman like approach. The total season attendance was 730,925, a number good enough to finish fifth out of twenty-five teams in the league. It proved once again that when Cleveland produces a winner, the fans show up to the games.
1988 – 1989 was the first full season with the core team in place and it quickly showed as the Cavs continued to improve. They managed to win a club record 57 games, good enough to finish second in the Eastern Conference Central Division. The key factor to the improvement was how well the team bonded. They were friends on and off the court and truly cared for one another. This was a factor in building their chemistry and made them dangerous to any opponent.
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