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Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant addressed the media about the state of the team on Wednesday afternoon at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence.

(PD file)

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant took ownership of his team's poor performance this season during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at Cleveland Clinic Courts.

"We're all accountable for it, including myself," he said. "It's frustrating. It's disappointing to our fans. The fans deserve better."

The Cavs are coming off two particularly horrible performances, wasting a 20-point first-half lead in a 99-90 loss to Phoenix on Sunday at The Q, followed by a totally inept 100-89 home loss to New Orleans on Tuesday night. Fans who braved frigid temperatures on both days left hot, voicing their displeasure with boos in the arena and tongue lashings on social media.

The Cavs, who opened the season promising to make the playoffs, are 16-29, 11-12 at home, where they went 1-4 in a five-game homestand. The only victory came over the Milwaukee Bucks, the worst team in the league.

"The lack of effort is just not acceptable,'' Grant said. "It's not who were are or who we want to be.''

Grant said he believed in coach Mike Brown and his offensive and defensive systems and said he thought the coach was connected to the team. He said the players need to be more consistent in their execution of both. Whereas Brown talked about making unspecified changes after Tuesday's loss, Grant wasn't sure if there would be more changes in the roster. The NBA trading deadline is Feb. 20.

"Obviously, we added [Luol] Deng, which was a big trade and big position need for us, and he's been fantastic,'' Grant said. "Like anything else, this group is capable of doing better than how they've played recently during this stretch. But at the same time, yeah, we're a team that's always looking to improve ourselves. I'm never going to say we're never going to do anything. That's not our focus right now. Our focus is, 'Hey, we've got some talent on this team and we've got to get them to play more consistent.'''

Grant was asked about owner Dan Gilbert, a fairly frequent Twitter user who has been mostly silent during the recent homestand.

"Dan wants to win,'' Grant said. "He's passionate. People know that. I've said this before: There's a great combination of Dan Gilbert and the fans of Northeast Ohio. It's just a special combination.

"He wants to win. He's supportive. He understands. He's very involved -- as far as asking questions and debating and talking -- but in the right way, what we all would expect him to [be]. He's been great, but at the same time, yeah, he wants us to win, as do we.''

Some other highlight's from Grant's 15-minute press conference:

On whether he's happy with the progress/development of Kyrie Irving: "Yeah, I really am. He's a special young talent, and I think we see him growing and maturing constantly. Even in the last two weeks, I've seen a different guy, a different person, trying to lead and do things. Losing hurts him just as much, if not more, than anyone. He's growing, he's learning, we're pushing him, he's trying to get better. I've seen him grown in the last two weeks.''

On whether he thinks Irving understands the importance of defense: "I do. Watching him play, particularly in the last couple weeks, I think there's a different focus to him, which you start to see in players in their third year. I think he and Tristan [Thompson] both played half an NBA season their first year, with no summer league and no training camp because of the lockout. So they're not quite into their third year, but I think we've seen it from both of them, stepping up at that level and it becoming more important, which is great. It coincided with Mike [taking over]. Mike is demanding a lot more of those guys, and they have a lot more expectations on both ends of the court offensively and defensively demanded of them. I think Kyrie, Tristan, Dion [Waiters], a lot of the younger guys, see that, feel it and are starting to step up to it.''

On whether something specific bothers him about how the team plays: "Not necessarily. We've seen the guys do it. We've seen guys play and execute and try to do the things coaches are asking them to do. When you have a team you're trying to establish the foundation and grow and do things, there's times of adversity. There's times when it's hard. That's when it's time to bear down, work and get after it.

"That’s what we have to do right now. We owe that to our fans. We’re all accountable for it. Everybody wants to win, every coach, the front office, all the way down."

On why the Cavs haven't sent Anthony Bennett to the D-League: "Our priority with him has been if he has the opportunity to play here, I'd like him to play here. Certainly up until a week or so ago, he was in and out of the rotation and if that's the case, that's the priority. I want him to be here. Not to say he would never play in Canton or any of our players.

"I think the minor league system is an awesome opportunity, not just for young players but guys coming back from injuries or guys who aren’t able to practice you can send them down to practice. He may play in Canton, our other guys might play in Canton, but right now if he has an opportunity to play for this team, I think the priority should be here for him working with our coaches, being on the floor getting those experiences.

"Last night was great. He performed well and played well and you could tell he was ready for the opportunity.''

On whether these players hate to lose: "Yeah, I think they do. Being with them on a daily basis and talking with the guys individually, yeah, I don't think any of the guys like to lose. Certainly you walk on the court as a competitor or as a coach or the front office, we're all accountable for the wins and the losses. Nobody likes to lose and fans deserve more than that. We need to do a better job and we've got to get out of this stretch and get back to playing better basketball."

On the team's culture, one of his signature concepts: "Certainly when you lose games, when you're playing poorly and going through tough times, people always tend to question those things. That's when you have to rely on the things we're trying to build and install and the foundation. You see our guys in practice today they had a very competitive, good practice. Guys are bought in, they're watching film, they're getting after each other. Guys are still coming early and working. You see positive signs during tough times, those are pretty good indicators.''