The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Lue had to be at his best for Cavs
Coaching the best basketball player in the word comes with a target on the back of whoever has the privilege/ task of holding that job
Neighbors, coworkers and the sages who call into sports talk radio all know better how to use the Cavaliers bench players than Coach Tyronn Lue does. They’re convinced they do, anyway. But Lue is back in the NBA Finals for a fourth straight time, and he’s there despite a season of unprecedented upheaval for a defending conference champion.
Lue navigated the season without Kyrie Irving, who was traded to the Celtics in late August, dealt with his own health issues, won with a team that has only four players remaining from the 2016 championship team and he navigated Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals without Kevin Love.
Love suffered a concussion early in Game 6. Lue was hopeful Love could play in Game 7 on May 27, but, just before the team flew to Boston a day earlier, team trainers informed him Love would be out.
Lue had a decision to make: Start Jeff Green or start Larry Nance Jr. Nance’s energy in the second quarter of Game 6 was a key to the Cavs rallying to take command of that game.
Lue decided to go with Green, and Green delivered with 19 points, eight rebounds and one blocked shot in 41 minutes to help the Cavs knock off the Celtics, 87-79.
He was part of a Cavaliers defensive effort that held Boston to 53 points over the final three quarters after the Celtics scored 26 in the first quarter.
Green started only one other playoff game in the Eastern Conference playoffs this spring. He played 26 minutes in the playoff opener against the Pacers, was 0-for-7 from the field and did not attempt a free throw. Yet Lue knew it was wise to start Green, a 10year veteran with playoff experience, because the chances were strong Nance would be too hyped with the pressure of a Game 7, and that is exactly what happened. Nance played seven minutes and committed four fouls.
“I kind of know the narrative throughout the season if we lose,” megastar LeBron James told reporters after the Cavaliers beat the Celtics in Game 7. “If we have a bad month, I already know what’s going to happen on the outside world. I’ve been a part of it. If we win, I know the narrative. I get it. It’s all a part of the storyline.
“Me personally, I don’t really get involved in it. I’m kind of over that at this point in my career. But I think Coach Lue, he feeds off of it. Some of our teammates kind of feed off of it, on just people counting us out and counting them out personally. I think this was another example of counting my guys out, saying they’ve been struggling, they won’t play well on the road and whatever the case may be. And counting my coach out. I think they all rose to the occasion.”
Lue did have the good fortune to have James healthy for the entire season. It was fitting the Cavs clinched the conference championship in James’ 100th game of 2017-18.
That should not take away from everything else Lue has done to get to this point.
Lue didn’t really have a reliable point guard until George Hill was acquired at the trading deadline. It took until Game 7 of the series with the Pacers for Tristan Thompson to start playing like he did in previous playoffs.
Lue has had to put up with the moodiness of J.R. Smith, who sometimes plays as though he isn’t interested. Smith, Thompson, Love and
James are all that remain from the team that dethroned Golden State to become NBA champions in 2016.
Lue had to deal with Derrick Rose being injured most of time when Rose was a Cavalier and he had to keep the team together while Isaiah Thomas was tearing it apart.
General Manager Koby Altman resolved those issues by shipping Rose and Thomas out of town at the trading deadline.
Coaching or managing at this level is usually more about massaging personalities and keeping players focused than it is about X’s and O’s. Lue does an excellent job of that, especially this season when the Cavaliers could have easily imploded.
The mission isn’t over. The Cavaliers will be underdogs in the Finals against the winner of the Golden State-Houston Game 7 on May 28.
Lue will know how to get the most from his team when the Finals begin on May 31.
Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider