In Cleveland Cavaliers’ victory over the Phoenix Suns, coach Ty Lue surprised them with the decision to choose Kyle Korver for J. R. Smith into the Starting Five. Smith was a little irritated by this.
It was a decision of feeling, Lue said contented after the game – because the measure paid off: Korver hung up 22 points and also Smith showed in 22 minutes from the bank with 14 points a good performance at the 129:107 victory of the Cavaliers. The coach also said he could imagine that Smith would be more than a playmaker of the bank in the future.
After the game, however, the two contradicted each other. Lue said there’s been a “good” conversation with Smith about the switch, but he denied it to ESPN:”We didn’t talk,” said Smith,”He sent me a message on Monday and I answered,” No problem. I didn’t know it counted as a conversation.”
Smith also admitted that he was surprised by the change,”That’s all right,”said Smith,”but I’m not angry about it. I just guess I’d like to have a little more dialogue on the subject.”
This season, Smith scored only 8.4 points at 39.1 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from the three-line. The veteran was also notorious for throwing a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon Jones and suspending a game for that.
Now he doesn’t know exactly what to do with him:”Honestly, I don’t know,”said Smith when asked what his role will look like from now on. Actually, Rodney Hood is supposed to take on the role in the Starting Five when he returns from his injury.
“But I think that’s good for the Starting Five,”said Smith about taking Korver in,”so there’s another player on the court for whom you can run plays and that’s a threat, unlike someone who’s not a real option.”