The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Hood back in game plan after apology
After apologizing to teammates, Cleveland moves on to preparing for Celtics
Rodney Hood is out of the doghouse and back into the game plan for Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue.
Hood apologized to his teammates before practice on May 10, the first time the Cavs were on the floor together after beating Toronto in Game 4 on May 7 to sweep the series and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
With about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter
and the Cavaliers in firm command, Lue tried to send Hood into the game, but the 6-foot-8 guard refused and told Lue to send in Jose Calderon instead. Hood was not punished. But to put an end to the incident, he faced his teammates, apologized, and practice proceeded.
“The frustrating part is I have a lot more to give to the team,” Hood said. “I just haven’t played well. Regardless of what minutes I get, I have to make a positive impact.”
Lue isn’t saying how Hood fits into plans to challenge the Celtics in the conference finals, which begin at 3:30 p.m. May 13 in Boston.
“I’ve been a part of so much stuff, that (Hood refusing to play) was nothing, really,” Lue said after following Hood and Kevin Love to the media circle at the Cavs’ practice facility in Independence.. “He apologized. It’s over. Now our focus is on the Celtics.
“If you watch the last time we played them, he had a good game. He really played well scoring the basketball. Just get back to being aggressive looking to score the basketball.”
Hood, one of four players acquired at the trading deadline, scored 15 points against the Celtics in Boston on Feb. 11 in his first game with the Cavaliers.
He scored 14 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the next game.
“That (the Feb. 11 game in Boston) was probably one of our best games as a group,” Hood said. “The energy that we played with — not thinking because we didn’t really know much at the time, and now just getting back to that, just going out
there, flying around, running the court hard, defending, being physical. All the things we did in that game I think give us confidence.”
Hood started and scored nine points against the Pacers in the first playoff game. He was used off the bench in spot situations for the rest of the series against the Pacers.
Hood scored one basket in the first three games against the Raptors while totaling 38 minutes. The prickly situation at the end
of Game 4 followed. But if you’re wondering whether his teammates that put in the work to sweep the Raptors resent him — they don’t.
“Not even that it’s a second chance, but things like that happen in the course of a season,” Love said. ”I’ve only known Rodney for a short period of time, but I know he’s a great guy. I know he’s here to win. Was that a great decision? Maybe not. But he came in today, said he’s all in and we believe him. That’s why
we were able to laugh it off. He came in and had a great practice today.”
Love said the way the Toronto series ended could make Hood hungry to redeem himself. Hood recently became the father of fraternal twins — one boy and one girl.
“We’re extended family but he has a new member to his family — or two, sorry — and that’s even more incentive, having twins. So, I think he’s definitely hungry and ready to play.”