Cleveland Cavaliers: Airing of the grievances at Kevin Love, Ty Lue
The Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves down 2-1 and it’s time to air some grievances against Kevin Love and Ty Lue.
If you’re a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, at least the first-round of the NBA playoff are interesting. You’re irate the Wine & Gold are down 2-1,
• This team desperately misses Kyrie Irving because this series has put on spotlight on the fact the Cavs have no No. 2 scorer. Zip. Zilch. Zero!
• Kevin Love should have everyone throwing their hands up in the air. I can’t defend the guy anymore. Love is the clear No. 2 option, but instead of playing like an All-Star, he all but disappears in crunch time.
• Before, I could argue Love did enough as the Cavs third option, as LeBron and Kyrie could stuff the staff sheets. He had 19 points and six rebounds in the Game 3 loss. If Irving was still here, those numbers are fine. He’s not, those numbers, on top of disappearing at the end of the game aren’t enough.
• With a usage rate lower than Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, George Hill and Rodney Hood, Love’s relegated himself to a floor spacer with a max contract.
• Ty Lue should also have Cavs’ Country at the end of their rope. How do you blow a 17-point lead with LeBron James on your team?
• When Indiana was making their comeback, Lue called timeouts to try and weather the storm, but nothing he tried worked. Heck, you couldn’t even tell what adjustments he was trying to make. The next time the Cavs look better coming out of a Lue called timeout when the roof is falling in will be the first!
• Remember how smooth the Cavs looked under Larry Drew when Lue was out for health reasons. The point is that this team is clunky, has been clunky all year, and it’s a valid reason to blame Lue for some of its clunkiness.
• Love’s issues can be blamed on Lue. Why couldn’t the coach get him more involved in the second half, particularly, at the start of the fourth quarter. And then there was this, from The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd:
"“Lue thought James’ presence the entire fourth — when Love should’ve been featured to open the quarter — contributed to Love’s lack of shots in.”"
• So coach, you don’t know to get your All-Star big man going at the same time LeBron’s on the floor? What have you been doing the last four years!
• LeBron gifted his teammates some fancy suits to wear into Banker’s Life Fieldhouse and the Cavs drew rave reviews on social media for their camaraderie. The boots alone retail for $1,000.
• Hopefully they gave them back to LeBron after the game, because they should’ve been embarrassed to walk out of that arena wearing those threads.
You’d think that kind of gift could get a guy some help. Instead Korver and Hood were a combined 0-8 on 3-pointers.
• Until Love’s desperation 3 from the corner with just under 15 seconds to play, LeBron was the only Cavs to score in the final 9:17.
• What if this is it? Three trips to the Finals, one championship. Not a bad run. Unfortunately it collided with Warriors re-inventing the way the game is played.
• This series is far from over. In fact, the Cavs could very well win it. When you’ve got the best player in the world, you’ve always got a chance.
Hey, we’ll always have the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead. And who will forever forget the sights from that parade.