In Cavs- Celtics, a tale of two coaches
There's a popular bit performed inside TD Garden in Boston. During timeouts in Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, the camera finds this one guy.
They put him up on the Jumbotron.
In dramatic fashion, he unzips his pullover to reveal a green shirt with white letters spelling out the name of the Boston Celtics' reluctant hero: Brad Stevens.
The crowd loses it as cameras zoom in to the name of the coach who never scored a bucket in the Celtics' two wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers nor defended a single possession against LeBron James. This loud ovation for randomguy-in-a-shirt draws an even louder response than when Boston's own Donnie Wahlberg gets face time on the big screen. Apparently, Stevens has the right stuff.
The series shifted to Cleveland on Saturday night, and good luck finding a fan with Tyronn Lue's name spread across his or her chest. The Cavaliers' coach does not evoke the same rock-star reaction as Stevens, who has been praised as a tactical mastermind for getting these Celtics (without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward) this far. Stevens thinks all the adulation is silly, but he can't stop it. Lue, who has won an NBA championship, doesn't have to beat back the worshipers.
There are no wine and gold shirts bearing his name. Quicken Loans Arena will not erupt if Lue's image flashes across the scoreboard.
Among the four remaining coaches in the conference finals - including Stevens, Houston's Mike D'Antoni and Golden State's Steve Kerr - Lue is easily the most second-guessed. This might have prompted ESPN analyst Mark Jackson, who knows a thing or two about being a maligned coach, to extol Lue's virtues during Game 2.
An "outstanding coach," Jackson called Lue, before mentioning Lue's winning percentage since taking over for David Blatt midway through the 2015-16 season (.624). However, the Cavaliers trail this series 2-0 and, by Thursday, Cleveland-area reporters were questioning Lue's substitution patterns in the Cavaliers' Game 2 loss.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Boston had overcome a double-digit deficit to take a seven-point lead, and yet Lue responded by playing a fiveman lineup devoid of both James and five-time All-Star Kevin Love.
Jackson might think Lue is "outstanding," but others in the area are of a different mind, such as Cleveland.com, which offered up a piece with this headline: "Tyronn Lue made costly mistake with his lineup in Game 2, says he will be better."