Here's a novel idea...if guys are tired and not giving you what you want, BENCH THEM. Allen and Mitchell were playing really badly for their standards. When guys are playing like they're dead and have no energy, the solution isn't to just cross your arms, (and in the process refuse to call timeout to set up a game winning shot) and just see what happens.
Don't just keep ineffective players out there at the end of the 4Q and through 2 overtimes because of some weird obligation you feel you have. LeVert, Okoro, Wade, Garland and Mobley had a great rhythm going. LeVert and Okoro in particular gave you a much needed spark every second they were on the court, and Wade played better defense on DeRozan than anyone else on the team. Why not reward them for their good play and let them finish the game?
JB is a stubborn motherfucker who does not make in-game adjustments or adapt to game feel whatsoever.
This is precisely the kind of thing that will kill the Cavs in the playoffs.
I'm so fired up and dejected about this, because it's one thing to lose games where the other team is just better than you, where your personnel just can't compete with theirs. I'm okay with those losses. It's another thing when winning is right there, you have personnel groupings that can actually put the game away, and instead you hopelessly watch your head coach lose the game in real time by clinging to a mediocre and increasingly ineffective starting lineup.
It makes me not excited for the playoffs at all, because this is all so fucking predictable.
