Thank You Ty Lue, For Putting DeAndre Liggins On The Court

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue should be praised for putting DeAndre Liggins on the court as the home team took on the Philadelphia 76ers.

18. That’s the number of minutes that DeAndre Liggins was on the court last night during the blowout win versus the Philadelphia 76ers. However, his impact was felt within the first two. Starting in the second quarter, Liggins helped the Cleveland Cavaliers to stretch a three-point lead to a 18-point lead.

In fact, the Cleveland Cavaliers had their best offensive and defensive quarter in that period.

Recording a defensive rating of 97 in the contest, the best on the team, along with two steals, Liggins played great team defense and shut down not only his man but anybody contested the shots of any player he was near by. Liggins’ two strips came right as the Philadelphia 76ers were about to score.

Offensively, Liggins did nothing but move the ball and spot-up in the corners. As much as that sounds like doing nothing, sometimes less is more. Allowing the playmakers to handle the ball and shoot their shots rather than trying to shoot from the hip like the other shooting guards on the roster are apt to do is part of what allowed the Big Three to get in a rhythm.

That, and the energy exuded from the crowd as Liggins would strip the ball or suffocate the defense, leading to fast points by the Cavs on the other end.

Liggins’ impact would lead to comments like these from Advanced Ohio’s Chris Fedor and Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz.

Tyronn Lue also mentioned Liggins’ impact postgame, in a quote gathered by Swartz.

How’s that for a birthday present. The defensive-minded Liggins, who turned 29-years-old yesterday, had been inexplicably glued to the bench as the Cleveland Cavaliers bled out on the defensive end.

Tyronn Lue said “he just wanted to give him a look”.

There may be nobody more glad than me that he did. For those that don’t know, I’ve been crusading for Liggins to get playing time since the season started and was disappointed that he fell out of the rotation. When watching the opposing team’s ball-handlers get into the lane at will and Lue try to scheme his way around it when there was a proven lockdown defender on the roster was frustrating to say the least, it made me question Lue as a coach to be honest.

I mean, after all, when a player locks down Stephen Curry he’s not the type of guy that you forget about. Particularly when the team has had a problem stopping guards ever since he fell out of the rotation.

It remains to be seen if Liggins has earned himself a spot in the rotation with Richard Jefferson and Kyle Korver both out, or if he’ll be able to carve out a small role in the back of the rotation even with the two returning.

After all, all the Cavs need is for Liggins to be on the court just long enough to wreak havoc on defense and allow the Cleveland Cavaliers to build momentum and a lead.

Perhaps he’s the reincarnation of Matthew Dellavedova, a player who initially had a bit of trouble with his ball-handling and three-point shot with the Cavs but played tough defense and kept the ball moving on offense. If that’s the case, the Cleveland Cavaliers definitely need to find a spot for Liggins in the rotation, even at the cost of some minutes other players are getting.

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Do you think that the Cleveland Cavaliers should keep playing DeAndre Liggins? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.