Tonight marks one of the most important games of the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is due only partially to the fact they’re hosting the Chicago Bulls, a team seen by many as one of the few that could pose a threat in the Eastern Conference. However, tonight’s game didn’t become as significant as it is until yesterday at about 4:00 p.m.
This was around the time the announcement was made that Cleveland had fired coach David Blatt despite the fact he led the team to the top seed in the conference. In the moments after the surprising move, more and more stories were released about how ill-fitted Blatt was for the job and about how much the team deferred to assistant coach Tyronn Lue.
In the grand scheme of things, the only truly shocking element about the firing was the timing. Cavs star LeBron James never seemed as though he could coexist with Blatt, and it appears this relationship was essentially doomed from the start. Additionally, it was no surprise Lue was promoted to head coach, as he’s had the ears and respect of the players since Blatt was hired.
Lue’s tenure as Cleveland’s head coach starts tonight against the Bulls, and for his sake, the team better win convincingly. As mentioned, tonight’s bout is a statement game for the Cavs. At the same time, this would’ve been the case regardless of which team they were playing.
Tonight’s game is a must win for Cleveland and for Lue. The Cavs are selling the idea that Lue is the true difference-maker for this team, and if they want people to buy it, the impact of his promotion better be immediate.
I don’t envy the situation Lue has walked into. However, this isn’t because he’s taking on a task Blatt seemingly failed to accomplish, somehow being able to coach James. No, this is instead because he’ll now be coaching a team which has voluntarily thrust itself under the microscope.
Any time the Cavs lose, regardless of which team it’s to, people will be forced to judge Lue. He’s the one the team’s players and front office all labeled as a solution to the overall lack of identity. He’s the one who is supposed to take a 30-11 team and make it even better. Any loss will force people to ask why the players aren’t performing to the best of their ability now that the coach they really wanted is running the show.
The fact is the promotion of Lue has officially erased any excuses this Cavs team can make for not competing for a championship. All along, we’ve been told Blatt was holding Cleveland back and that the players were never going to respond to him. Now that he’s gone, the assumption is the Cavs are just going to constantly look like a top-tier team.
If they don’t, though, who can they blame? Will they shift the narrative from claiming Lue was the solution to saying he’s an issue, too?
This is why the Cavs are going to need to show the league that Lue can get the most from them, and they’ll need to do so immediately. A lot of scrutiny was thrown the Cleveland’s way when Blatt was fired to make way for Lue, and the team has to do everything it can to prove this was actually the right move to make.
Tonight, the Cavs have to show that Blatt was the only thing truly holding them back. They have to prove to the rest of the NBA that his firing was a necessity, that under Lue this team can actually reach its ceiling and take down the league’s elite.
If Cleveland can’t do this, if the team takes the court tonight and doesn’t look very impressive, the skepticism is going to reach a new high. In firing Blatt, the Cavs told us that there was one issue holding them back, and they removed it. For their sake, they better make sure they prove this to be true right away.
