Tyronn Lue’s inability to adjust is going to kill Cavaliers’ title hopes

The Cavaliers were spanked in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers. Part of it was Dan Gilbert motivating Victor Oladipo. The other part falls squarely on Tyronn Lue’s inept rotations.

It is fairly obvious at this point the Cleveland Cavaliers were delivered a stunner in their playoff opener against the Indiana Pacers. The team looked lethargic and lost from the opening tip and were beaten to the tune of 98-80. With this loss, the Cavaliers are again thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons with reckless speculation from multiple sources.

There are plenty of things to point the finger at for the team’s loss. Half of the blame can be placed on team owner Dan Gilbert. Gilbert, who cannot keep his foot out of his mouth, was critical of the trade the Pacers made to acquire Victor Oladipo. Originally, the Cavaliers would have sent Kevin Love to the Denver Nuggets, Paul George would come to Cleveland, and Gary Harris and other pieces would have gone to Indiana.

Fast forward to now and the Oladipo-led Pacers spanked the Cavaliers in the opening game of round one. Oladipo had this to say following the game:

Great. But as mentioned before, Gilbert only deserves half the blame for the Cavaliers humiliation by Indiana. The other half of the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of head coach Tyronn Lue.

Heading into the playoffs, Lue announced that forward Jeff Green would be starting for the team. Cavaliers fans reacted similarly to Spongebob’s brain when he could not remember his name. Green then finished out the regular season with averages of 15.6 points and 2.2 rebounds and looked a lot like the Green from earlier in the season. Some people even thought he would be key to the team’s title hopes. (Whoops…)

Still, Cleveland fans are some of the most cautiously optimistic fans in sports, mind you. Despite Green’s solid numbers it is pretty easy to remember the myriad of stinkers he has had. Then along come the playoffs and Green had yet another one of his stinkers.

In 27 minutes he finished with 0 points on 0-7 shooting, along with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block. He also was embarrassed by Pacers’ goblin Lance Stephenson:

So, how is starting Jeff Green going for you, Lue?

After the game, Lue gave his usual coach speak, but also delivered this gem to reporters:

It is understandable that Green does provide some respectable defense but in Game 1 it did not show. As seen above, he was posterized by Stephenson and he was unable to contain Oladipo, which Lue said he would be able to do.

But defensively is not where Green hurt the Cavs the most. Most fans would notice during the game that the Pacers were lightning quick to close out on three-point shooters.

Whenever Kevin Love touched the ball in the corner the Pacers would swarm him to prevent him from shooting it. This also happened with George Hill, Kyle Korver, Rodney Hood and JR Smith.

But it sure did not happen with Green. The Pacers were openly inviting Green to shoot it from beyond the arc, and he lived up to his seasonal average of 31.2%. Unlike most fans, Lue did not notice this trend and continued running sets where Green would flare out to beyond the arc.

So while Green was bad, it is more Lue’s fault than anything.

Even Air Bud, who probably has severe cataracts from his age, could fix this coaching issue. But Lue is not a good boy like Air Bud and really let the team and fans down by running with Green for so long. The Pacers obviously took advantage of this and it helped secure the win.

The real kicker is the fact that Kyle Korver, one of the greatest shooters ever, was sitting on the bench while Green floundered.

Korver, who only saw the floor for four minutes, would have been paramount in a comeback. Lue cited the flow of the game as the reason why Korver did not see more time.

It does make a little sense though. Korver has been dealing with a nagging foot injury for a while and has shown some rust. But if Lue ever wants Korver to get back to form, he should see more than four minutes. The Cavaliers live and die by the three-pointer and it is logical to sub out Green for Korver to claw back into the game.

Heading into Game 2 against Indiana, it is pretty clear Green will remain with the starting unit.

After Monday’s practice, Green shared that he will keep shooting if Indiana gives him open looks. Spoiler: after Monday’s game, they for sure will.

For the Cavs sake, after Game 1, Green needs to be kept on a pretty tight leash. It is irresponsible of the Cavaliers’ coaching staff to let him lay another egg after the disrespect Indiana showed Green. If he is still showing signs of horrendous shooting again he needs to be pulled in favor of anyone else.

If Green does have another bad game against Indiana, he needs to be quickly benched. The most logical choice would be to start Larry Nance Jr. at the five.

This then slides Love back to the four. Nance has been the Energizer Bunny for the Cavaliers and is a part of the team’s best lineup when alongside Hill, Hood, James and Love.

King James himself said that experience is the best teacher and after Game 1, the Green experience gave a master thesis. It showed that when Green is off, he needs to be pulled, especially when the team falls behind.

The team needs to head into Indianapolis with the series tied, as they have struggled there mightily in the past. If Green continues to be a hindrance, the team needs to drop him to maintain footing in the series.

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