• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

David Blatt is a former NBA coach

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Status
Not open for further replies.
After we win our first title either this year or next I think we should get everyone from RCF and celebrate by throwing Blatt in the air like this.

Screen-Shot-2014-06-22-at-1.55.35-PM.png


Yes, getting Kevin Love and LeBron James on this team was unfathomably huge but hiring David Blatt as our head coach could be seen as equally significant down the road. This team will need a genuine leader and I fully believe Blatt is the kind of guy that when the Cavs win by 20 he'll find things we could have done better. He might not pout visually but inside he'll be figuring out things they could change for the next game. I seriously have a great feeling about him. And it doesn't hurt that his sense of humor will only aid in how fun things are this season. Can't wait.
 
Nice short interview with David Blatt.
When asked about him and LeBron speaking, Blatt said - we meet everyday.
And he gives a snippet of the effect having LeBron training there on the young guys.

 
Nice short interview with David Blatt.
When asked about him and LeBron speaking, Blatt said - we meet everyday.
And he gives a snippet of the effect having LeBron training there on the young guys.



lebron is going to rub off on these youngins
 
"One of the key elements to the way Blatt’s system already is will be the opening of lanes to the basket. With such proposed ball movement, players like LeBron and Kyrie Irving should have less of a problem driving to the rim as the area won’t be clogged with defenders. Isolation ball should almost never be seen unless there’s a final shot that needs to be taken or something. This will be pleasantly different for James, who dealt with a lot of standing around during his tenure with the Miami Heat."

This 'standing around' thing is what I'm most curious to see if/how Blatt will address. Excessive isolation play, dribbling the air out of the ball, and having teammates 'stand around' has been an issue on and off throughout Lebron's career. It more or less went away in Miami when he learned how to play in the post more, but then I saw it come back this year and in the finals. I think it has to do with his personality -- obviously he is not at all a selfish player, but sometimes he loses faith in his teammates in a subtle way. I think Lebron himself understands and controls this a lot better now, but it will still be interesting to see if he can disappear into a Spurs-type offense without stopping the ball at times.
 
I deleted some posts that were getting personal or turning political. There are threads in other forums if you want to talk politics.

I would like to keep this thread focused on basketball issues, regardless of whether you think his skills will or won't translate to the NBA.
 
It’s a big deal to get players like that, plus Shawn Marion, and Kyrie Irving is already there. How do you deal with the expectations that creates? You’re the number-one contender for the championship.

“Now you’re sounding like a reporter who isn’t serious.”

Why?

“Do you know how many times I hear things like that? There are always expectations of one kind or another in professional sports, and they’re nothing to be afraid of. The main thing is to work well and right, and with the belief that you can fulfill the potential of the team you have. Sometimes it takes longer, but you have to stick with the team’s principles, values and path. I think we’ve gotten off to a good start.”

I actually freaking love this guy so much. Oozes intellect, professionalism, commitment and culture. Everytime he speaks, he's able to rub off something positive to the listener. Just imagine how his words will affect the locker room.
 
Also can't remember if this was posted pages back, but I wanted to re-post it. It's this kind of leadership and command that I'm really excited to watch this season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOIxRBjsw0s

(P.S is there a reason why I can't embed this as per previous occasions?)
 
(P.S is there a reason why I can't embed this as per previous occasions?)

embedding youtube is not working at this instant but it will return.
 
After getting Kevin Love and Shawn Marion, here's my take on what Blatt will do:
1. Love will be the centerpiece of the "bigs" - Varejao, Love, Tristan, and ... LeBron. Spotting will be Marion, Miller, Dwight Powell, and Hayward. I see a lot of LeBron as the 4, including with Love as the 5. Actually, offensively, this is probably the best lineup, along with Irving, Dion and Miller (wowoweewa...). Blatt LOVES small ball and I expect a lot of it. Going small may have its deficits on defense, but there are ways to handle those.
2. Limit LeBron to 30 mpg max during the season. Expect some games LeBron will see less that 20 minutes, depends on the situation and the score.
3. Defensively, expect Blatt to clog the middle and "allow" teams to shoot 3's. Good 3-pt shooting teams will have good games against the Cavs. But since the Cavs are so superior offensively, practically no team will keep up. Expect zones of all sorts, mainly 2-3 zone, which morphs to man2man after a few seconds. Offenses will have to "think" to break down the Cavs, which makes it that much harder.
4. Run run run. With so many offensive pieces, expect the team to "maximize the number of possessions", which means a lot of running, transitions, early offenses, etc. I'd say they average above 100 ppg, and I dare to say 'easily'...

Bottom line - can't wait for it to start already!


PS - how's the new avatar? :clap:
 
After getting Kevin Love and Shawn Marion, here's my take on what Blatt will do:
1. Love will be the centerpiece of the "bigs" - Varejao, Love, Tristan, and ... LeBron. Spotting will be Marion, Miller, Dwight Powell, and Hayward. I see a lot of LeBron as the 4, including with Love as the 5. Actually, offensively, this is probably the best lineup, along with Irving, Dion and Miller (wowoweewa...). Blatt LOVES small ball and I expect a lot of it. Going small may have its deficits on defense, but there are ways to handle those.
2. Limit LeBron to 30 mpg max during the season. Expect some games LeBron will see less that 20 minutes, depends on the situation and the score.
3. Defensively, expect Blatt to clog the middle and "allow" teams to shoot 3's. Good 3-pt shooting teams will have good games against the Cavs. But since the Cavs are so superior offensively, practically no team will keep up. Expect zones of all sorts, mainly 2-3 zone, which morphs to man2man after a few seconds. Offenses will have to "think" to break down the Cavs, which makes it that much harder.
4. Run run run. With so many offensive pieces, expect the team to "maximize the number of possessions", which means a lot of running, transitions, early offenses, etc. I'd say they average above 100 ppg, and I dare to say 'easily'...

Bottom line - can't wait for it to start already!


PS - how's the new avatar? :clap:

LeBron under 30 mpg is ridiculous. He's turning 30 this year, not 39.
 
To be fair to the people predicting LBJs mins to be low, I think most are assuming there will be a lot of blow outs and garbage time for others.
 
Blatt have done an interview today for an Italian sports magazine.
I used the magic of Google Translate:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&nv=1&rurl=www.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.gazzetta.it/Nba/17-09-2014/nba-blatt-cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-intervista-90482422070.shtml&usg=ALkJrhiLzCzdEFTeR8zPVhqQVUqRqnv-iw
"I think LeBron is the best player in the world. And who wants to be coached, and coached the right way. I want to do exactly that. "
 
Last edited:
Two things:

1) James will never play under 30 minutes a night. Of course his minutes will go down when blowing out opponent after opponent, but he won't average under 35 minutes. Just won't happen...

2) While I like the idea of playing small ball at times, it shouldn't be our usual "go-to-lineup" in crunch time and it certainly shouldn't be our "standard", let alone starting line up.
While it's clear that Love will be the centerpiece of our bigs on offense, it really shouldn't be the same on defense. I don't like the approach of trying to play more small ball because our center rotation doesn't allow otherwise. Yes, it worked in parts for the Heat, but still, their biggest weakness remained their center spot and it ultimately was one of the main reasons, why the Heat had such problems it's last two seasons. Their philosophy of playing small ball was more born of necessity than anything else.

I can't see James playing a lot as our power forward and I think he also doesn't want to spend too many minutes as our 4.
It was one of the reasons he left Miami. Their forward position (Battier/Lewis/Beasly/Haslem) was a complete joke and it was one of Miami's biggest flaws LeBron had to cover.
So getting a solid back up center should remain our top priority.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top