Tyronn Lue is in over his head

[celticsclay]

The Cavs are scoring a heck of a lot more since Lue took over, only natural the defense would give up more.  That is why stats are a bit deceiving.

Raw defense, aka points per game, should still go up.

However, it's possible to play at a fast pace and still play good defense.  The defensive rating measures per 100 possession stats, and 14th is not good for a contender.  19th in defensive FG% is downright terrible.  The reason the Cavs played so well in the playoffs last year was not only because of Lebron's brilliance, but because Blatt had everybody playing elite defense.  This season, neither Love nor Kyrie has bought in.

Blatt was a really good coach that his stars couldn't relate to.  Lue seems like a lousy coach, period.

They also basically played a 6 man rotation and 5 of the guys were good to great defenders (Smith being the exception).  James, Shumpert, Mozgov, Thompson, and Delly were the main rotation (with Smith), those guys are defenders for the most part.  Jones is the only person that played in all 6 finals games (under 19 a game). 

I think Blatt was probably the better guy to finish out this year, but Blatt horribly mismanaged Love and rubbed everyone the wrong way that he was gone this summer unless they won (and he still might have been let go) anyway.  Lue has been thrown to the Wolves and is trying to get it figured out, but offensively they do look a lot better, but that has been to some extent the detriment of the defense as they are playing smaller and the offensive oriented guys more minutes.  I think come the playoffs when they tighten up the rotation a bit, the defense will improve and they should be able to keep up the better offense.

At what point are Love's struggles his own fault?  Maybe he wasn't utilized enough, but the 30% shooting and lack of effort on defense are all on him.

I don't really understand why he chose to resign there. It really doesn't look or seem like he enjoys playing there and he chose to go back when it seemed pretty apparent Kyrie and Lebron were not going to change their playing style and they were signing a younger player at the same position as him for a ton of money with big ties to Lebron.

[MJohnnyboy]

I don't really understand why he chose to resign there. It really doesn't look or seem like he enjoys playing there and he chose to go back when it seemed pretty apparent Kyrie and Lebron were not going to change their playing style and they were signing a younger player at the same position as him for a ton of money with big ties to Lebron.

They could offer him the most money out of anyone and, technically speaking, a chance to win a championship.

[celticsclay]

I don't really understand why he chose to resign there. It really doesn't look or seem like he enjoys playing there and he chose to go back when it seemed pretty apparent Kyrie and Lebron were not going to change their playing style and they were signing a younger player at the same position as him for a ton of money with big ties to Lebron.

They could offer him the most money out of anyone and, technically speaking, a chance to win a championship.

I wonder how true that really even is. Obviously everything is different if they win the championship, but that didn't seem super likely heading into the offseason and it seemed like there were a number of teams that could have offered him a contending position. Also, isn't it possible he could get pretty equal monday with much better endorsement opportunities if he was playing in a system that featured his talents more than as a third banana in Cleveland. Plus, also, Cleveland. Maybe he loves cold weather.

[Who]

Either Kyrie or K-Love has to go to the bench. They clearly have not been able to make their star trio work together under either coach this year and they have run out of time to make things work. Change the lineups.

I'd put Kyrie down there. I think he'd be better as a 6th man.

[mctyson]

While I am inclined to agree with most in this thread, let's see what happens in the playoffs.  Lebron may just prove that it doesn't matter who his coach is, he can turn it on when it counts and that's all that matters. 

That is not an endorsement of Lue, but Lebron may have forced Blatt out just so his buddy and a coach signed with this agency could reap the benefits of his playoff success.

[MJohnnyboy]

I don't really understand why he chose to resign there. It really doesn't look or seem like he enjoys playing there and he chose to go back when it seemed pretty apparent Kyrie and Lebron were not going to change their playing style and they were signing a younger player at the same position as him for a ton of money with big ties to Lebron.

They could offer him the most money out of anyone and, technically speaking, a chance to win a championship.

I wonder how true that really even is. Obviously everything is different if they win the championship, but that didn't seem super likely heading into the offseason and it seemed like there were a number of teams that could have offered him a contending position. Also, isn't it possible he could get pretty equal monday with much better endorsement opportunities if he was playing in a system that featured his talents more than as a third banana in Cleveland. Plus, also, Cleveland. Maybe he loves cold weather.

That's why I said "technically" but I agree that Cleveland's championship odds are not high. Not just because the Spurs and Warriors are better teams, but because the Cavs have awful team unity.

To your second point, maybe, but Cleveland had his bird rights thanks to the extension he signed in Minnesota (KAHN!!!!!) so they could offer him more money than anyone else could have last summer. I think his train of thought was even if things continued to not go well, they'd trade him somewhere else because he still has value around the league. I firmly believe teams would still trade for Love if given the chance. It just might be as much as Cleveland would want.

Players like the money and they like a winning situation. If both are offered, it is hard to say no, IMO.

[Moranis]

The Cavs are scoring a heck of a lot more since Lue took over, only natural the defense would give up more.  That is why stats are a bit deceiving.

Raw defense, aka points per game, should still go up.

However, it's possible to play at a fast pace and still play good defense.  The defensive rating measures per 100 possession stats, and 14th is not good for a contender.  19th in defensive FG% is downright terrible.  The reason the Cavs played so well in the playoffs last year was not only because of Lebron's brilliance, but because Blatt had everybody playing elite defense.  This season, neither Love nor Kyrie has bought in.

Blatt was a really good coach that his stars couldn't relate to.  Lue seems like a lousy coach, period.

They also basically played a 6 man rotation and 5 of the guys were good to great defenders (Smith being the exception).  James, Shumpert, Mozgov, Thompson, and Delly were the main rotation (with Smith), those guys are defenders for the most part.  Jones is the only person that played in all 6 finals games (under 19 a game). 

I think Blatt was probably the better guy to finish out this year, but Blatt horribly mismanaged Love and rubbed everyone the wrong way that he was gone this summer unless they won (and he still might have been let go) anyway.  Lue has been thrown to the Wolves and is trying to get it figured out, but offensively they do look a lot better, but that has been to some extent the detriment of the defense as they are playing smaller and the offensive oriented guys more minutes.  I think come the playoffs when they tighten up the rotation a bit, the defense will improve and they should be able to keep up the better offense.

At what point are Love's struggles his own fault?  Maybe he wasn't utilized enough, but the 30% shooting and lack of effort on defense are all on him.

30% shooting?

[guava_wrench]

The Cavs are scoring a heck of a lot more since Lue took over, only natural the defense would give up more.  That is why stats are a bit deceiving.

Raw defense, aka points per game, should still go up.

However, it's possible to play at a fast pace and still play good defense.  The defensive rating measures per 100 possession stats, and 14th is not good for a contender.  19th in defensive FG% is downright terrible.  The reason the Cavs played so well in the playoffs last year was not only because of Lebron's brilliance, but because Blatt had everybody playing elite defense.  This season, neither Love nor Kyrie has bought in.

Blatt was a really good coach that his stars couldn't relate to.  Lue seems like a lousy coach, period.

They also basically played a 6 man rotation and 5 of the guys were good to great defenders (Smith being the exception).  James, Shumpert, Mozgov, Thompson, and Delly were the main rotation (with Smith), those guys are defenders for the most part.  Jones is the only person that played in all 6 finals games (under 19 a game). 

I think Blatt was probably the better guy to finish out this year, but Blatt horribly mismanaged Love and rubbed everyone the wrong way that he was gone this summer unless they won (and he still might have been let go) anyway.  Lue has been thrown to the Wolves and is trying to get it figured out, but offensively they do look a lot better, but that has been to some extent the detriment of the defense as they are playing smaller and the offensive oriented guys more minutes.  I think come the playoffs when they tighten up the rotation a bit, the defense will improve and they should be able to keep up the better offense.

At what point are Love's struggles his own fault?  Maybe he wasn't utilized enough, but the 30% shooting and lack of effort on defense are all on him.

30% shooting?

Personally, I think a percentage he doesn't even have is not on him.

[spikelovetheCelts]

http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland-cavaliers/post/_/id/2449/cavaliers-momentum-ended-in-indy-not-so-says-tyronn-lue 1-4 without Lebron. Lue knows he cannot win without Lebron playing as coach. We shall see if he can make any moves in playoff. Hopefully we will see how he matches up in the Eastern Conference finals against a real coach in Brad Stevens.

[Denis998]

Hot Take: Cavs won't get to the NBA Finals

[Roy H.]

The Cavs are scoring a heck of a lot more since Lue took over, only natural the defense would give up more.  That is why stats are a bit deceiving.

Raw defense, aka points per game, should still go up.

However, it's possible to play at a fast pace and still play good defense.  The defensive rating measures per 100 possession stats, and 14th is not good for a contender.  19th in defensive FG% is downright terrible.  The reason the Cavs played so well in the playoffs last year was not only because of Lebron's brilliance, but because Blatt had everybody playing elite defense.  This season, neither Love nor Kyrie has bought in.

Blatt was a really good coach that his stars couldn't relate to.  Lue seems like a lousy coach, period.

They also basically played a 6 man rotation and 5 of the guys were good to great defenders (Smith being the exception).  James, Shumpert, Mozgov, Thompson, and Delly were the main rotation (with Smith), those guys are defenders for the most part.  Jones is the only person that played in all 6 finals games (under 19 a game). 

I think Blatt was probably the better guy to finish out this year, but Blatt horribly mismanaged Love and rubbed everyone the wrong way that he was gone this summer unless they won (and he still might have been let go) anyway.  Lue has been thrown to the Wolves and is trying to get it figured out, but offensively they do look a lot better, but that has been to some extent the detriment of the defense as they are playing smaller and the offensive oriented guys more minutes.  I think come the playoffs when they tighten up the rotation a bit, the defense will improve and they should be able to keep up the better offense.

At what point are Love's struggles his own fault?  Maybe he wasn't utilized enough, but the 30% shooting and lack of effort on defense are all on him.

30% shooting?

He shot in the 30s -- i.e., below 40% -- from December 1 through mid-March.

[Ogaju]

Did Tyrone Lue just say he didn't know whether or not his team settled for to many three point shot? He said he didn't know and he had to go look at film. He also took time to add 'honestly' to his answer.

Now we all know that when someone says 'honestly' to emphasis a point they are probably lying or embellishing.

So here is the point, if the coach does not know what is going on with his team during the game and has to go watch film, how does he make in-game adjustments?

[greece66]

Lue has been more than fine in these playoffs.

This was an expectable L given Toronto was playing all or nothing at home.

Too early to reach conclusions IMO.

[TA9]

Lue has done well so far, and he kind of gained my respect when he told LeBron to **** up during a huddle !

They will probably get through the Raptors with ease, and then they will hopefully lose in the Finals

[Celtics4ever]

Question is will the wheels fall off for CLE now the spectre of losing arises.  How will they happen adversity.   Historically, LeBron does not always handle it well.   I think they will still beat TOR but may fold up if they lose the first two games in the finals.