Larry Drew Can’t Continue To Coach The Cleveland Cavaliers If No Improvements Are Made
Larry Drew has done nothing to make the Cleveland Cavaliers any better. He’s saying all the right things but isn’t actually acting on them. You can’t come out and state you’re challenging the team when the same mistakes are made every night. Things aren’t looking good for his future in Cleveland.
One of the issues I’ve got with Larry Drew is his rotations. It makes little sense to not have Larry Nance Jr as part of your starting lineup. Ante Zizic isn’t aggressive at all and isn’t very athletic. Nance covers both of those. With Kevin Love back, Nance can develop his skills down low. Nance is the one to develop not Zizic.
The Nance starting issue does hit a roadblock when Tristan Thompson comes back from injury. Here’s a case where Drew needs to make a basketball decision. Thompson has come off the bench before, and he’s looked good doing so. The Cavs did sign TT to a massive contract 2 years ago, however, they need to start developing the new core of talent.
Larry Drew will be faced with a tough decision when Tristan returns. Two issues that need to be addressed immediately, Jordan Clarkson and Colin Sexton.
Clarkson is a great scorer, no questioning that. The issue lies in his decision making. No reason to force shots or drive into double or triple team’s. It’s especially frustrating when it happens in the 4th quarter, as Clarkson wants to be the hero. Drew has yanked him out of the game before, but the fact he keeps doing it shows how seriously coach is taking it.
Sexton is a whole different can of worms. He’s one of the leaders among rookies in scoring. The only problem, Sexton is a horrible point guard. Larry Drew has done very little helping Sexton pick up the point guard role. Like Clarkson, he’ll look for his own shot first, not pass the ball or move the ball around. He’ll never learn if Drew doesn’t address it.
Larry Drew needs to hold players accountable. It feels like Drew is just going through the motions at this point. The Cleveland Cavaliers front office paid him to coach this year, why should he care what happens next year?
Drew isn’t just perplexing with the players.
There are so many little things he does too. Drew has been known to call timeouts down 10 or more with under a minute remaining in the 4th quarter. It’s just stupid stuff like that which make you scratch your head.
A lot of Drew’s struggles come from the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers roster just isn’t that good. Still, a lot of issues remain. There’s no chance the Cavs front office makes the decision to keep him next season. If they do, they’re just asking to be mediocre once again.
Image Source: Associated Press (AP)
Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
