While the Cleveland Cavaliers still sit atop the Eastern Conference with a slight edge over the Boston Celtics, their season has been anything but smooth. Head coach Tyronn Lue has struggled to come up with a consistent winning formula over the latter part of the season as he tries to re-incorporate Kevin Love and J.R. Smith into the offense.
Above all the adversity Cleveland has been subject to this season, their lack of intensity on the defensive end has been the most noteworthy. LeBron James-led teams rarely fail to be solid defensively, but the Cavs have been mediocre, at best, on the less glamorous end of the ball over the second half of the season.
Considering all this, Lue and his Cavaliers have had no shortage of drama this season, going through various ups and downs. No one knows this more than the head coach himself, but Lue insists he has nothing but love for his squad. Following from Marla Ridenour of Akron Beacon Journal:
Asked after the victory over the Magic how he felt about the Cavs compared to a week ago, coach Tyronn Lue said, “I feel good about this team all the time. It’s like a soap opera, but I love this team. We know what we’re capable of doing. Even though we lost the Chicago game, for three quarters defensively we were great. Jimmy Butler and (Rajon) Rondo had a good game, but (Nikola) Mirotic hurt us more than anything. We’ve got to take him out of the game when we play them again. Defensively the effort is there, the multiple effort. We’re getting stops. I always feel good about this team. It could be this week, next week. You know how we are.”
Lue saying this shows nothing but confidence out of the coach and he has every right to be. Though they’ve hit a rough patch in recent weeks, the Cavaliers are still the defending champions and roster the best basketball player on earth. With the Cavs riding a mini winning streak of three games, hopefully, they’ll be able to ride this recent momentum as the postseason sits just days away.
