He is obviously a pure pitcher and doesn t give him a shot. What is the meaning of the Cavaliers keeping him on the court?

In a previous NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, the Indiana Pacers defeated the top regular season Eastern Conference team at home 121-112. After this game, the Pacers took the lead and temporarily led their opponents 1-0 in this round of the series, and they also regained their home advantage through this game.

In this game, the performance of the Cavaliers' starting and backcourt player Sam Merrill was a very disappointing one. Merrill played 17 minutes and 50 seconds in the game, made 2 of 5 shots and 2 of 5 shots from outside the three-point line, scored 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and had 2 fouls, with a plus-negative value of -10. Merrill did not have enough shots and a high enough tactical position to support him on the offensive end, and his shooting characteristics were also completely unsatisfied. Merrill himself is a pitcher, and his ability on the defensive end is actually very limited. When he is on the court, the team is also very passive on the defensive end. Considering that his backcourt player Donovan Mitchell is also a player with limited figure and mediocre defensive ability, the team's defensive effect is also conceivable. It is no exaggeration to say that Merrill was targeted and beaten by his opponents on the defensive end. Overall, Merrill did not show his value at all on the court, which also led to the team's final defeat to a certain extent.

In the NBA regular season this season, Merrill played a total of 71 games in 82 games, averaging 19.7 minutes per game, averaging 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.2 blocks, and 0.5 turnovers and 1.7 fouls. His shooting percentage was 40.6%, three-point shooting percentage was 37.2%, and his free throw shooting percentage was 96.6%. In the playoffs, Merrill averaged 19.9 minutes in the first five games, with averaging 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.4 blocks, 0.4 turnovers and 1.6 fouls, with a shooting percentage of 39.1% and a three-point shooting percentage of 39.1%.

Merill himself is a player with very distinct advantages and disadvantages. In addition to his good shooting ability, his abilities in other aspects are very average and even a bit bad. Merrill must also be able to show off his shooting characteristics when he is on the court with enough ball and shots. As a result, the Knight gave him the chance to start but did not give him enough phone calls. Isn’t this obviously making his strengths unable to be played out and his weaknesses magnified? If the Cavaliers can't use Merrill reasonably, they might as well choose to remove him from the rotation.