The five stages of grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Ty Lue certainly fits the bill for stage 1, but he is far off on number five.
After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals 129-120 on Monday night to lose the series in five games, Lue said that he does not see a “big gap” between his team and the Warriors.
Ty Lue on the podium, says "I don't see a big gap" btwn the teams, but invokes Game 3, says "when you have them beat, you have to beat them"
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 13, 2017
While it’s nice that Lue has confidence in his team, and his point about them not closing out Game 3 is valid, the reality is that there’s a big gap between the Warriors and Cavs. Actually, there’s a huge gap between the Warriors and everyone else.
The Warriors stole Game 3 because they’re that good, because they have that many talented players. They went 16-1 in the playoffs. They were lethal. As LeBron James even said, it takes an A++ effort to beat Golden State.
The gap between the Cavs and Warriors is wide. Things will only get worse for Cleveland in the future as James ages. Their only chance of overcoming Golden State next season is if they make some major roster changes. Hopefully Cleveland’s front office understands that better than Lue does.
