It can be easy to forget, but Tyronn Lue has only coached in 51 NBA games. It’s rare for a rookie head coach to be coaching into late May (although Billy Donovan is doing the same thing, and both David Blatt and Steve Kerr did it last year), and it’s even rarer for a coach who took over midseason to be in this position.
Nevertheless, with the expectations of a championship higher than ever in Cleveland, Lue’s lack of experience will not get him off the hook if the Cavs once again fail to win it all. Everything was going swimmingly for the 39-year-old coach through the first ten games of the playoffs as his team was unbeaten in the postseason and just two wins away from their second-consecutive finals appearance. However, Lue’s Cavs have been exposed a bit in Games 3 and 4 in Toronto, and many are placing the blame on the head coach.
During the fourth quarter of Game 4, and much to the chagrin of puzzled Cavs fans, Lue ran with a closing lineup of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving (so far so good), Matthew Dellavedova (okay…), Channing Frye (?), and Richard Jefferson (?). Three-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love sat on the bench during the final frame, and although he stepped on a referee’s foot earlier in the game, he was not injured.
On top of that weird choice of closing lineups, Lue also played LeBron for 46 minutes (with most of that time spent covering DeMar DeRozan); he may have tired out his star with a crucial Game 5 on the horizon. Lue is facing a tremendous amount of criticism for his choices in the loss, with everyone from The Big Lead, to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, to Bill Simmons calling him out for his failures.
I need to watch 4th quarter again to fully determine how bad Ty Lue was.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 24, 2016
It will be interesting to see how Lue reacts to the criticism levied his way heading into a pivotal Game 5. If the Cavs lose that one on their home court, they could be done for. It’s been mostly smooth sailing for the young Cavaliers coach in his early head coaching career, but now he is facing serious adversity for the first time as a coach, and he must find a way to overcome it.
