The Cavaliers are struggling. They’ve fallen from the Eastern Conference favorite to being tied with the Washington Wizards for the No. 4 seed. Now Isaiah Thomas appears to have found at least one reason Cleveland is slumping, and it seems his gripe is with coaching.
Tyronn Lue says Isaiah Thomas’ latest coaching criticism is ‘not true’
Things are getting spookier by the second in Cleveland. Now IT is questioning the coaching staff.
Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images
“We got to do better,” Thomas said via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “We got to adjust throughout the game. They made adjustments, and it worked, and we just kept getting hit with the same thing, and we made no adjustments. And that’s been one of our biggest problems all year, is adjusting. Teams are not just going to allow us to continue to score and continue to do things at a high level. They’re going to make adjustments, and we have to do the same thing, too, and we’re not that good at that right now.”
Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue was informed about Thomas’ comments and replied sternly, “That’s not true.”
There’s equal blame to go around in Cleveland. Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert sets the culture from the top down. General manager Koby Altman is largely responsible for putting this roster together. Lue is responsible for getting 110 percent out of his players, and the players — including Thomas — are responsible for executing Lue’s game plan and, more importantly, winning basketball games. The message has been fractured at one level or another, and it’s showing on the basketball court.
The Cavaliers are 30-22, but they’ve been outscored 5,703-5,666 through 52 games, according to ESPN, and their 18-point loss to the lowly Orlando Magic this week — after leading by 21 points — may indeed be the rock bottom of all rock bottoms.
Cleveland has had its fair share of mid-season drama, but this is far worse than anyone could have imagined. We can only wait and see how the rest of this unfolds.
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