Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 reasons it was smart to fire Tyronn Lue

3. Good guy, bad tactician

Look, players like Lue. It’s apparent from the praise and condolences he received on Twitter.  LeBron James hardly credited Lue as being an excellent coach while he played for him, but he did seem chummy with this tweet:

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1056580887574392832

Others, who never really seemed to give Lue much credence in the past, also voiced their support of him following news of his firing.

Players enjoy competing for Lue. He is a player’s coach — easygoing, lets guys utilize their own styles. Athletes rarely have a problem with him.

Few, though, have praised him him as a tactician. He won’t get credit for a dominant offense and he never crafted a respectable defense. In their most successful times, the Cavs pretty much ran the pick-and-roll. If “porous” counts as a defensive identity, that’s what it’s been under Lue. He relies heavily on switching.

The eye test might be the best way to determine a coach’s viability as a schemer. Are players getting better? Does the offense flow smoothly? Cleveland’s offense has looked stagnant much of the season. A couple young players, most notably Rodney Hood, seem stunted in their development.

If there is an indicator to measure a coach’s greatness outside of wins and losses, maybe it’s how teams perform in third quarters. The idea is good coaches pinpoint improvable areas from first halves and adjust accordingly in the third quarter.

For what it’s worth, The Cavaliers have outscored their opponents just twice in the third quarter of games this season. They have also never lead in a second half.

Of course, a coach’s fate is ultimately determined by the win-loss column. In this case, it couldn’t get any worse for Lue.