Hey Chris, whatever happens to the full-broadside columns that you really, really want to submit, but know you can't? Do they just stay in your head, or do you write them anyway, plaster them all over your apartment, and rage into the void after each game?
Inquiring minds want to know!
I can submit anything I want. I am frustrated with the team, I think it's apparent, but clearly the issues aren't really Lue's. So I can rage at DG for putting Lue in an unwinnable situation, I can complain about the team's lassitude against inferior teams, and rage about the utter lack of Defensive intensity. But as these problems have been going on all year long, I am as bored with their issues as they are with the regular season.
I'm running out of ways to talk about their bipolar disposition. I felt Blatt had them slowly moving in the right direction, but Griffin felt the team should be buddies faster. Well bully for them. I don't trust Lue's abilities to adjust in big games, but how can I possibly prejudge a guy who hasn't been given an opportunity yet.
As much as Griffin allegedly thought firing the coach would improve accountability and vibe, it gave them an excuse as well in "well it's a new coach, and we didn't have the time to get into the swing." BS, but if DG thought changing coaches would stop the excuses he was misled. "Look at yourself" has not been effective, for the obvious reason that individuals can diffuse their accountability amongst their teammates and Lue seems to lean toward enabling more than Santini-ing their bored butts down to size.
But just as I argued that Blatt's more deferential manner of dealing with his coaches and his players should be given room, so to must I let Lue do what he's going to do. They're in first place at this point, so they've done everything they HAVE to. Sure we'd like if they showed up to work on time every day, didn't take long lunches and leave early, But as they're still smoking the rest of this district branch with their work, you really are advised to wait and see.
Finally, it doesn't help that Cleveland fans are prone to hysteria. Last year it was "the season's lost without Love." Let's ponder that one for a moment. But I was leaning into that wind, and again, when Kyrie got injured and they went into Atlanta. I was like, "Have you seen Atlanta play lately?"
So in sum, I've always been a bit less pessimistic than the general tenor, and since I gave Blatt leeway to go against the grain in some of his choices, I feel the need to give Lue time to wheedle these guys into playing better.
since the team in its actions and behaviors (not words) says that nothing counts until the playoffs, well, then I have to take them at their word and judge them by their actions come playoff time. Until then the circumstances warrant witholding judgement. Maybe chaos and mess is what better stuff springs out of. I don't know, and this team, more than most in basketball, is very hard to predict outside of their unpredictability.
