Tyronn Lue is in the hot seat as the Cleveland Cavaliers were defeated handily by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, losing 148-124. That loss, coupled with the Cavs’ poor showing since Christmas Day, led to questions about Lue possibly being fired. Still, Kyle Korver is endorsing his coach amid these speculations.
“He’s got a tough job,” Korver says in an interview from ESPN by Dave McMenamin. “He’s trying to find lineups that are working, and he’s trying to find minutes for everybody. I think he’s doing a great job in that regard, as far as getting everybody in the game. Maybe not Channing [Frye], we’d like to get Channing out there a little more, but it’s a numbers thing right now. It’s tough. Cedi [Osman], we’d like to see Cedi out there more, too. It’s tough. There’s a numbers thing right now.”
The lineups employed by Lue have had mixed results after the pile-up of losses showed the team’s lack of chemistry both offensively and defensively. The Cavs are in the midst of their worst slump in the middle of the season, losing nine of their last 12 games.
Korver understands the difficulty that Lue is in as their head coach.
“Ty’s in a tough spot, he really is,” Korver adds. “I think he really cares about the spirit of our team and trying to keep guys positive and keep guys rolling in the same direction. I think there’s always speculation any time the team is not winning every game. Change the lineup and this and that. But you’ve seen that go bad, too, when coaches start jerking guys in and out of the lineup and it’s a blame game.”
According to Lue, he doesn’t believe a lineup change will do any good, but the Cavs need changes for sure although don’t expect the lineup to be affected anytime soon.
Whether the fans or the media agree with Lue or not, he can be sure Korver has his back.