Toronto Raptors Two-Man Game: Raptors vs. Cavaliers Series Preview
By Demar Grant
The Cavs look to have the personnel advantage (Incase you didn’t realize they have LeBron on their team) but what about coaching? Who wins that battle?
Demar: I’m not particularly high on Ty Lue as a coach but I’m not necessarily high on coach Dwane Casey. Casey has shown each year that he’s capable of making the correct adjustment to align his team with victory but it usually takes him a game or two to do so. In a series where you’re the underdog you need to be able to throw something out there that’s obtuse and unexpected to rattle your opponent to even the playing field. Lue is a meh for me, the team is completely built around LeBron and I sometimes question how much coaching he does versus ego management. Lue’s ATOs are really nice though. I’m giving the slight edge to coach Casey here.
Chris: I can’t believe I’m going to write this considering how critical I’ve been of the Cavs this year, but I’m going to give a slight edge to Tyronn Lue.
The Cavs are atrocious on D, but they’ve accepted that and Lue has helped the team mask some of their deficiencies in crucial moments.
A prime example of this was in the Pacers series where they would immediately double Paul George or Jeff Teague and force the ball into the hands of Lance Stephenson. The whole purpose of this is to force lesser players to make quick — and correct — decisions. It’s a simple strategy, but it’s something that worked for them during the NBA Finals last year when they forced Harrison Barnes to do a lot more than he was accustomed too.
They also implement a ton of pick-and-roll looks, aren’t afraid to abandon their base offence to exploit a matchup and also make solid second half adjustments.
Dwane Casey is no slouch either, but his in-game adjustments aren’t as good as his game-to-game adjustments. In a series of this magnitude, I’m going to give the slight edge to LeBron… err, I mean Ty Lue.