Cavs’ Lue dismissal puzzling
No LeBron proving to be a big problem
The only way I can figure the Tyronn Lue firing after just six games is that the Cavaliers said in effect, “Hey, we’re really a mess now that LeBron has left us again... but how can we make this worse?”
The club couldn’t have expected much better than the 0-6 start, especially with Kevin Love missing the last two of those defeats with a foot problem. And, OK, there was, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, a question about whether to sit some veterans and play younger people, but shouldn’t upper management and coach have come to an agreement about this before the start of the season?
Look, I realize that coaching is very much a “horses for courses” proposition and that Lue was given the job mainly because he could draw respect from LeBron — as much as that’s humanly possible considering the latter’s control tendencies. But if it wasn’t going to be a fit with this de-Jamesed roster, clearly that realization should have been reached over the summer.
The Cavs seem to have set themselves back by waiting until now, and while they will no doubt have candidates for the job because, hey, there are just 30 of these things, some of the best people have to be scared away just a tad. Said one coach this week, “Sure, there’ll be someone who wants that job in hopes they’re going to do better than expected and get into the NBA loop where guys can get recycled once they get a head position. But is that a place you can win? You’re going to have to get really bad and then draft really well, because you’re not going to get the biggest free agents to go there.
“And, let’s be real, they only got LeBron to come back because he’s from that area. That’s going to be a tough place to get people to come if you don’t have a magnet like a LeBron — and that’s for a lot of reasons. That doesn’t seem like a stable place.”
It’s a shame. The Cavaliers get supported well, but the club has, at times, been out of sync with its situation. It hired David Blatt to coach a developing team, and that changed when James, clearly unbeknownst to management, decided to return. Now the firing of Lue makes it at least appear that the Cavs were caught flatfooted by a scenario that should have been expected.
Red Sox a hot topic
Even around the Celtics, the Red Sox were a hot topic during their World Series championship run. Marcus Morris, known as “Mook” to his friends and family, is a vocal Sox follower who very much enjoyed the season’s outcome.
“I’m a big baseball guy, big Red Sox guy,” Morris said.
“I might not talk about it much, but I watch all their games. I know all their players’ first and last names. I know everything.” He’s met a number of the Sox, too, but never had a conversation with Mookie Betts about the whole MookMookie thing.
“Some people call me Mookie actually,” said Morris.
“I don’t respond, but they call me Mookie. It’s cool though.” By the way, I ran into former 76er Maurice Cheeks in Oklahoma City. He was on the court in 1982 when his club was beating the Celtics in Game7 and, in a show of class, was serenaded with a spontaneous “Beat L.A.” chant as it earned the right to meet the Lakers in the NBA Finals. Told the slogan was big at Fenway Park in the SoxDodgers series and has been in use for Celtics-Lakers games, Cheeks was a bit surprised.
“They’re using for their own teams?” he said. “But that’s ours. That was for us. Well, I guess they should be able to use it. They started it.”
Pierce honored
Another year, another Garden party for Paul Pierce. The Celtics great will be among the honorees as the New England Sports Museum hosts its annual event, The Tradition, on Nov. 28. Also getting the treatment are Don Cherry, Deion Branch, Julie Foudy, Jim Lonborg and Richard Petty. Go to the museum’s web- site (sportsmuseum.org) for ticket information. It’s important to note that, unlike many other such events, those with tickets get to mingle with the stars at a reception.
Celtic timeline
Monday at Denver, 9 p.m. — Nikola Jokic. If you’ve had your head caught up in local matters, make sure to know that name before watching this one. The Nuggets’ big man has been tearing it up this season -- and he’s been pretty damn good over his first few years in the league, too.
He averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds against the Celtics last season in two games the C’s won by a combined total of seven points. Denver is off to a strong this year, and the Celts’ defense will be tested against Jokic and the Nugget shooters.
Thursday at Phoenix, 9 p.m. — The Suns beat Dallas by 21 on opening night. You might say they peaked early, as a string of losses followed. They also lost their head of basketball ops, Ryan McDonough ,the former Celtic staffer who was let go by Phoenix ownership a week before the start of the season.
Devin Booker always presents a challenge, and it’ll be interesting to see prized rookie Deandre Ayton, but, with two open days since the game in Denver, the Celtics would be suffering a pretty bad upset if they lost this one. Friday at Utah, 9:30 p.m. — Gordon Hayward plays his first game in Salt Lake City as a Jazz opponent.
He, of course, missed both games last year because of his injury. The 2017-18 surprise for the Jazz is that it finished just three games worse in the standings after losing its leading scorer, though star rookie Donovan Mitchell had a lot to do with keeping Utah above sea level.
The Jazz won by 12 here, while the Celtics won at the buzzer in SLC on a Jaylen Brown 3-pointer. This should be a highly competitive affair.