The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Lue wants Green to be aggressive
The Cavaliers are going to need more than calls from officials to go their way when the NBA Finals resume on June 6 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs trail the Golden State Warriors, 2-0, in the best-of-seven series. The Warriors won, 124-114, in overtime on May 31 and drilled the Cavs, 122-103, on June 3.
For starters, Coach Tyronn Lue wants to see more production from forward Jeff Green.
Green scored 19 points in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics while starting for the injured Kevin Love (concussion). Green came off the bench in both games at Oracle Arena in Oakland. He scored seven points in 35 minutes in Game 1 and six points in 19 minutes in Game 2. He totaled five rebounds in the two defeats.
“Jeff could be more assertive, I think,” Lue told reporters after Game 2. “Be more aggressive offensively, not just settle for 3s, attacking the basket because of his athleticism and his power and strength of going to the basket. So just got to work with that.”
Green launched six 3-point attempts in the series opener and connected only once. He was 0-for-2 from long range in the blowout loss.
Kyle Korver didn’t connect on 3-pointers as he normally does in the first two games of the series, but his issue isn’t misfires. He isn’t taking them because the Warriors defense is making life difficult for him.
Korver played 17 minutes in Game 2. The only point he scored was from the foul line when the Warriors were charged with a technical foul.
He attempted only one 3-point shot. He was 1-for-3 from behind the arc in 16 minutes in Game 1.
Korver isn’t much help to the Cavaliers when his 3-point shots aren’t dropping.
“We know with Korver since he’s been here they do a good job of locking into him,” Lue said. “Anything we run for him, they
switch out, deny and take it away. So if he’s not getting shots, it’s tough on him because he’s not going to beat too many people off the dribble.”
Lue hinted he might shake up the starting lineup for Game 3, but his options are limited. He could bench J.R. Smith, but that would mean starting Korver, Jordan Clarkson or Rodney Hood as the shooting guard.
Lue already said the Warriors figured out how to clamp down on Korver.
Clarkson is erratic (2-for-9 in Game 1, 1-for-4 in Game 2) and Lue has shown no faith in Hood. Hood did not play in Game 1 of the Finals. He played in four minutes of garbage time in Game 2 and scored two points.
The easier adjustment could be to rough up the Warriors in the games at The Q. The crowd will be on the Cavaliers’ side and, if things even out, calls by referees that went against them at Golden State could go their way in the home
games.
“My coaches and I were looking at some things to make some adjustments of what’s hurting us,” Lue said. “But I didn’t think we started (Game 2) with the physicality we did in Game 1. It was too easy for them. They ran around a little too freely, so that’s how they were able to score and kind of get control of the game early.”
The Warriors jumped to a 15-6 lead with 8:12 left in the first quarter in Game 2.