It’s no secret that J.R. Smith’s offensive prowess is as volatile as his decision making. Even though he has turned on a significantly better leaf in Cleveland, it is still hard to expect for Smith to go spotless over a long period.
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In all fairness to him, he has not done anything detrimental to the team or become a bad teammate. Yes, there were poor on-court decisions like the one he committed on Boston’s Jae Crowder in the playoffs, but he was also very instrumental in the Cavs’ series victories against Chicago and Atlanta. He may be remembered right now as the one who disappointed Cavalier hopefuls in the finals, but there was not much he can do in a limited time to fix his shooting woes then.
His history may have played a big part in his most recent ejection which occurred during the Cavaliers’ latest loss against the Warriors, or at least, that’s how he saw it. In Dave McMenamin’s article for ESPN, the mercurial shooting guard was quoted on his assumption towards the call.
“Coach and I talk all the time. For me to play aggressive, that’s what keeps me on the court. So, sometimes it just doesn’t work in my favor, so I just got to try to be conscious of it, but at the same time, understand there’s a difference between my fouls and everybody else’s.”
“I wasn’t surprised. Anytime it’s up for a question whether [a foul is] a flagrant or whatever, I’m going to be on the worst end of it. So, I wasn’t surprised.”
Cleveland’s coach David Blatt expressed support for his trooper. He has been that way ever since Smith arrived in Cleveland and the two have held a very good relationship.
“In looking at that play, I’m not sure that if that was someone else that that’s a flagrant foul, in all honesty. But that was not my decision. That was someone else’s decision.”
Smith’s ejection was very crucial to the Cavs’ cause as he appeared to be the lone bright spot for the team. In 20 minutes of play, he scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. He’ll now have to ensure that the Cleveland Cavaliers conduct their business properly in order to get another possible crack at the Golden State Warriors in June.