David Blatt is a former NBA coach

[AZCavs]

Hey Lloyd (and anyone else who doesn't like Blatt)

 

[blommen]

Everything you wrote is fair and I agree with it. The part I quoted is what I have been interested in discussing. I'm not so sure that we have made that many adjustments. Douglar asked for specifics on this question, and despite all of the Blatt fanatics in this thread, only MrMsix6 was able to give it a shot. I think that is telling. Our new friends are very interested in giving us never-ending details of Blatt's coaching history overseas, but never talk basketball here with the Cavs outside of impossible to define things like nurturing talent or managing egos. That's also telling.

I strongly disagree with this, We have gotten plenty of really interesting insight into Blatt's coaching from a lot of the new guys on here and there's been plenty of stuff that isn't rooted in intangibles. Mostly, I find the insight provided here to fit very well with what we are seeing on the court and in no way does their analysis come off as a forced narrative to gloss over Blatt's shortcomings.

Yes, we are down Love and have a hobbled Kyrie, but Love was never really part of the offensive plan anyway. We basically played pickup ball against Boston with Kyrie and Lebron alternating iso and then came out with a pretty embarrassing performance against Chicago after a week off to game plan. We started a guy who will not see any more minutes for the rest of playoffs! Credit to Blatt for realizing his mistake, but it was a mistake nonetheless and hardly an inspiring adjustment. Our offense is still as simple as it gets, which is give Lebron the ball and let him make things happen. So what are the offensive adjustments from the coach? As I've said all year, Blatt continues to impress with plays out of timeouts. But then we go right back to Lebron freelancing.

That is a ridiculous statement Nate, you would only have to look at our offense before and after Olynyk to see so. Sure, Love was underutilized in our offense, but his mere presence opened up driving lanes so much, because of how good of a shooter he is. We constantly relied on using him as a threat from outside to open up the floor for Kyrie and LeBron, and I haven't even begun talking about his Basketball I.Q. and passing ability. to say that those immense offensive gifts didn't have an impact on our offense and that his injury didn't force a huge adjustment is... I don't know, it sounds fucking insane to me, and I can't believe you would honestly think that, or even try to marginalize it.

What are we doing differently on defense? That is a real question, because I am not seeing anything when it comes to our scheme. What I see is Lebron finally locked in and Shumpert finally getting the minutes some of us said he should have been getting months ago (and who only started because of the JR suspension). I also see Love and Jones, not exactly defensive stoppers, not playing big minutes and getting attacked on every possession. Delly has really stepped up, but who else is Blatt going to play? So from here it looks like the injuries/suspension have helped our defense, not coaching adjustments. If people disagree, what are you seeing?

I don't get this part, what do you expect from him? His rotation has shortened in the playoffs and the guys he has gone with are excelling. sure, they are the ones doing the job but his system works brilliantly as evidenced by our results. Saying that the injuries has helped our defense is the wrong way to look at it. rather, the injuries have hurt our offense so bad, that we are forced to rely on defense to win games. I personally think it's very impressive that we have made that transition so fluidly and I also happen to think that it is indicative of how well-coached we are on the defensive end.

I just want to add, it is not logical to state that because we are doing well, it is Blatt's fault. While it is similarly illogical to state the same of Lebron, I think the evidence supports that claim. I am simply asking for specifics for those who see nothing but positives from Blatt. Saying he overcame injuries is not being specific. This is a basketball discussion forum, not a fan club.

Finally, if you read this as an attack on Blatt, then you need to either re-read it or just move on. I think Blatt is an excellent coach.

But he did overcome injuries Nate, massive ones. and roster changes as well, and massive superstar egos running rampant. these are facts, well documented facts, that rightfully should be included when evaluating Blatt's year, his first in the NBA. all of these things, along with how he has coached the games, have painted a picture of a coach who is incredibly good at adapting and adjusting on the fly, and who isn't afraid to shake up the gameplan. I think you sort of marginalize the arguments by simply saying that "he overcame injuries" is the narrative that people are pushing. The fact that he overcome said injuries among other obstacles is however indicative of what his main strengths as
a coach are.

 

[gym]

Our new friends are very interested in giving us never-ending details of Blatt's coaching history overseas, but never talk basketball here with the Cavs outside of impossible to define things like nurturing talent or managing egos. That's also telling.

Since us idiots can only talk about "impossible to define things" but not about basketball specifics (seems like you choose to skip all the post game posts in this thread that discuss adjustments, matchups and rotations) ,

And since you have already declared that "Lebron is the coach of the Cavs",

Lets turn the table for a minute, and have you educate us on the basketball specifics that Lebron has given us as a the Cav's COACH not as a player.
(I should not be misunderstood as taking a knock in any way at Lebron as a player or as a leader, I just want to hear the "definable BB specifics" as a coach).

Our offense is still as simple as it gets, which is give Lebron the ball and let him make things happen.

So obviously the gap that opened in yesterdays game in our favor, while lebron was sitting is from "giving lebron the ball and make things happen"

This is a basketball discussion forum, not a fan club.

Something in the name "Real Cavs FANS" suggests that there is a place here for fans too, and not only for "basketball specific geniuses".

 

[NasstyNate]

That is a ridiculous statement Nate, you would only have to look at our offense before and after Olynyk to see so. Sure, Love was underutilized in our offense, but his mere presence opened up driving lanes so much, because of how good of a shooter he is. We constantly relied on using him as a threat from outside to open up the floor for Kyrie and LeBron, and I haven't even begun talking about his Basketball I.Q. and passing ability. to say that those immense offensive gifts didn't have an impact on our offense and that his injury didn't force a huge adjustment is... I don't know, it sounds fucking insane to me, and I can't believe you would honestly think that, or even try to marginalize it.

Thanks for a substantive reply.

I said Love was not really part of the offensive plan. That does not mean he served no role. That would be ridiculous. And it does not in any way marginalize him as a player nor his impact as a spacer. We did not really run plays for Love this year. We began the year with Kyrie as a traditional point guard running pretty diverse plays, which did not go anywhere. Then Lebron took over and conducted the entire offense, with Kyrie taking over as primary scorer when Lebron sat. Love is a great player and had some great performances, but they were rooted in Lebron's play. Every national broadcast and commentator went on and on about how we need to get Love involved in the offense. Do you disagree with any of this?

I don't get this part, what do you expect from him? His rotation has shortened in the playoffs and the guys he has gone with are excelling. sure, they are the ones doing the job but his system works brilliantly as evidenced by our results.

I agree. What does this have to do with me saying Blatt has not made many adjustments?

Saying that the injuries has helped our defense is the wrong way to look at it. rather, the injuries have hurt our offense so bad, that we are forced to rely on defense to win games. I personally think it's very impressive that we have made that transition so fluidly and I also happen to think that it is indicative of how well-coached we are on the defensive end.

Totally disagree. Lebron is our offense. Has been for the last half of the season and continues to be in the playoffs. And he continues to be really good. Did you know that we are leading the playoffs in offensive rating?

But he did overcome injuries Nate, massive ones. and roster changes as well, and massive superstar egos running rampant. these are facts, well documented facts, that rightfully should be included when evaluating Blatt's year, his first in the NBA. all of these things, along with how he has coached the games, have painted a picture of a coach who is incredibly good at adapting and adjusting on the fly, and who isn't afraid to shake up the gameplan. I think you sort of marginalize the arguments by simply saying that "he overcame injuries" is the narrative that people are pushing. The fact that he overcome said injuries among other obstacles is however indicative of what his main strengths as
a coach are.

This is all correct. Blatt had a great rookie year considering the circumstances. But it has nothing to do with me asking specifically what we have changed in the playoffs.

 

[blommen]

Thanks for a substantive reply.

I said Love was not really part of the offensive plan. That does not mean he served no role. That would be ridiculous. And it does not in any way marginalize him as a player nor his impact as a spacer. We did not really run plays for Love this year. We began the year with Kyrie as a traditional point guard running pretty diverse plays, which did not go anywhere. Then Lebron took over and conducted the entire offense, with Kyrie taking over as primary scorer when Lebron sat. Love is a great player and had some great performances, but they were rooted in Lebron's play. Do you disagree with any of this?

Where I disagree is that Love going out of the line-up due to injury would not cause the Coaching staff to adjust the offense, but instead just put in TT and be on our merry way. I think you are giving LeBron faaaaaaaar to much credit with how our offense has worked and you seem to imply that while LeBrons presence helped Love it didn't necessarily go the other way. I think Love had a much bigger role in our offense than you seem to give him credit for.

Totally disagree. Lebron is our offense. Has been for the last half of the season and continues to be in the playoffs. And he continues to be really good. Did you know that we are leading the playoffs in offensive rating?

When you say continues to be really good, I have to disagree, we just came off a Bulls series where Bron looked down right putrid for entire games, I certainly don't agree that he has been some sort of paragon of stability on that end of the floor during the season. Again, I think you are selling our offense woefully short, yes at the moment it's pretty much Bron ball, why is that? Because both Love and Kyrie are hurting. therefore we aren't able to put the offensive pressure on opposing teams like we used to, and while our offense is efficient it's not the reason we are winning. that would be our defense. this is an adjustment made by the coaching staff, based on the losses we've had due to injuries. It seems like you are trying to write off how well we are playing on the defensive end compared to the regular season, simply because it's the only choice we had due to injuries. well, the fact that we even had that option to fall back on is a testament to how well coached we are as a team, IMO.

This is all correct. Blatt had a great rookie year considering the circumstances. But it has nothing to do with me asking specifically what we have changed in the playoffs.

Because Blatt has been challenged during these playoffs once again, by injuries and match-up problems and just like he did in the regular season he's adjusted well and come back strong. I think where we go wrong with each other, is that you give more credit to LeBron than I do, especially on offense, and how big of a change losing Kev and a hobbled Kyrie is.

It is now 03.13 AM here and I have to get some sleep now but thanks for the discussion even though I vehemently disagree with basically everything you've said

 

[NasstyNate]

Since us idiots can only talk about "impossible to define things" but not about basketball specifics (seems like you choose to skip all the post game posts in this thread that discuss adjustments, matchups and rotations) ,

And since you have already declared that "Lebron is the coach of the Cavs",

I don't think you are idiots. I just think you unfailingly support Blatt and take literally everything he does and fit it into some historical story where he comes out on top. First he is a hardass who gets his players to respect him. He was going to revolutionize the offense with a decentralized scheme with spacing and passing. Then, wait, he is actually a defensive coach. Then, actually, he really likes to run iso. Then, he is a genius at adapting to his players. Now he isn't a hardass, but great at ego management. They're all just-so stories and are no longer that informative because they will keep changing to adapt to the current circumstances.

Lets turn the table for a minute, and have you educate us on the basketball specifics that Lebron has given us as a the Cav's COACH not as a player.
(I should not be misunderstood as taking a knock in any way at Lebron as a player or as a leader, I just want to hear the "definable BB specifics" as a coach).

I've already done this -

Let's take the game yesterday. He decides to play in the post and utterly dominates. Anyone with eyes can see that he should be doing this every game. Blatt almost certainly has shown Lebron the tape and told him to work down there. Yet he does every few games at most. So who is actually in charge? Or look at the 4th quarter. Leiso once again stalls us and makes the game way closer than it should have been. Did Blatt make that call? If so, how can you defend that? If not, who is actually in charge?​

Lebron completely threw Blatt's offense out of the window and installed his own. He comes in and out of the game whenever he wants. He overrides plays at the end of the game. None of this is Blatt's fault. It is Lebron's. But you guys can only see this as attacking Blatt.

So obviously the gap that opened in yesterdays game in our favor, while lebron was sitting is from "giving lebron the ball and make things happen"

This isn't the zinger you think it is. Should we sit him all game then?

Something in the name "Real Cavs FANS" suggests that there is a place here for fans too, and not only for "basketball specific geniuses".

Oh I know it. And it looks like I'll be piling up the disagrees to prove it.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Since us idiots can only talk about "impossible to define things" but not about basketball specifics (seems like you choose to skip all the post game posts in this thread that discuss adjustments, matchups and rotations) ,

And since you have already declared that "Lebron is the coach of the Cavs",

Lets turn the table for a minute, and have you educate us on the basketball specifics that Lebron has given us as a the Cav's COACH not as a player.

Well, that's an interesting way to look at it. If we're going to judge Coach Lebron by the plays he calls, then the last 8 or so minutes of Game 1 say he's a terrible coach. What even marginally competent coach would deliberately call all those consecutive ISO plays that involved pounding the ball for 20 seconds before launching an off balance shot?

Honestly, "Coach" LeBron should be fired.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Totally disagree. Lebron is our offense. Has been for the last half of the season and continues to be in the playoffs.

No. Lebron is NOT our offense. He's our best offensive player, but he's certainly not the only thing we have on offense, as illustrated by our leads sometimes growing when he's out.

Can't you see that you're throwing reasoned discussion off track with hyperbolic statements? Maybe what you intend to convey is perfectly reasonable. But over the top statements like "Lebron is the Coach of the Cavs" and "Lebron is our offense" are just begging to be shot down. And they're so over the top that it's easy to do.

 

[NasstyNate]

Where I disagree is that Love going out of the line-up due to injury would not cause the Coaching staff to adjust the offense, but instead just put in TT and be on our merry way.

But that is exactly what we have done! I liked how we got the ball to Mozgov early to try to get him going, so credit to Blatt for that. But we abandoned that after the first few minutes. Then it is back to give Lebron the ball and find an open shooter.

I think you are giving LeBron faaaaaaaar to much credit with how our offense has worked and you seem to imply that while LeBrons presence helped Love it didn't necessarily go the other way.

I could be. Which is why I am asking people to give specifics. Love was awesome for us this year, but his spacing helped Kyrie far more than Lebron.

When you say continues to be really good, I have to disagree, we just came off a Bulls series where Bron looked down right putrid for entire games, I certainly don't agree that he has been some sort of paragon of stability on that end of the floor during the season.

Agreed! I wish we would run Blatt's offense instead of Lebron ball.

Because Blatt has been challenged during these playoffs once again, by injuries and match-up problems and just like he did in the regular season he's adjusted well and come back strong. I think where we go wrong with each other, is that you give more credit to LeBron than I do, especially on offense, and how big of a change losing Kev and a hobbled Kyrie is.

This all sounds good. What, specifically, have we adjusted?

It is now 03.13 AM here and I have to get some sleep now but thanks for the discussion even though I vehemently disagree with basically everything you've said

Thanks for staying up! Hope to see you tomorrow.

 

[NasstyNate]

No. Lebron is NOT our offense. He's our best offensive player, but he's certainly not the only thing we have on offense, as illustrated by our leads sometimes growing when he's out.

How in the world could me saying Lebron is our offense be interpreted as saying we have no other offensive players? That is some asperger-level literal interpretation. Our lead sometimes grows when he's out because we have a roster of NBA players. That does not mean that our offense is not totally dependent on and goes through Lebron.

Can't you see that you're throwing reasoned discussion off track with hyperbolic statements? Maybe what you intend to convey is perfectly reasonable. But over the top statements like "Lebron is the Coach of the Cavs" and "Lebron is our offense" are just begging to be shot down. And they're so over the top that it's easy to do.

Reasoned discussion? Ha! Anything not praising Blatt is lumped into this category of haters who think he is actively harming the team.

I responded to someone who complained that others keep saying Lebron is the coach of the Cavs and explained why people would think that way. (Edit - actually, you are right. What I wrote suggested I agree) I stand by saying Lebron is our offense and am asking for that to be shot down. Go ahead.

 

[Paul]

There aren't many objective criteria to judge coaches by, other than wins and losses. I'd say Blatt gets high marks based on that.

Nate what are the specifics that you are seeking to validate that Blatt is a good coach? It's obviously pretty difficult to rate coaches and coaching because we are not privy to most of what is going on.

Mainly I think what we end up doing (media,fans) is that we simply take the end result (win or loss and by how much) and then apply 20/20 hindsight to create a narrative to fit that result. If we lose by 20, there has to be something there that the coach failed at, so we seek out things during the game that fits the outcome. Now what if a coach happened to do the exact same decision-making but wins by 20? Would he still be a horrible coach winning by 20? Would we the outside observers have any idea one way or another ? It's very difficult to nail down specifics and as I've said before, it's even more difficult in the case of Blatt because people will claim that Lebron or an assistant actually made these decisions for him. I can give you a list of what I would describe as specifics. I doubt you will have anything to say about them that is positive but here goes:

1) He's made good subsitutions in the playoffs, outside of starting Miller. The Kyrie situation is very tricky and I think despite Kyries bad performance, Blatt has walked that tightrope between not playing him enough and playing him too much pretty well.

2)He's been good about saving his timeouts. One criticism of him from earlier in the year is he ran out of timeouts in a Spurs game. He ran out in game 4 vs Chicago but only after burning I think 2 or 3 on that inbounds fiasco.

3)He's winning! That's pretty specific and objective. He's won way more games than he's lost in the playoffs, and was dominant in the regular season after Jan 15th.

4) I feel he's done a good job of incorporating the input from LeBron and and the assistant coaches. He's given them voices and let them make some of the decisions and he's given them credit in the postgame pressers for what they've brought to the table. He could have tried a "my way or the highway" approach but he didn't.

5) He's rapidly incorporated Timo, Shump and JR into the team after the trades. It didn't take long for them to be factors and help the team win.

6) He supports his players in the media. He seems to encourage them and I think he deserves some of the credit for JR's rebirth, along with LeBron.

7) He's been praised by the media frequently for the plays he calls coming out of a timeout. When there's time to run a set play, he generally comes up with very good ones.

8) He has a great track record overseas and many posters here have pointed out the traits he brought to those teams and how there's been a continuity between what he did with those teams and what he's doing with the Cavs.

I'm sure there are more knowledgeable posters here who could present you with more ideas, but these are what came up off the top of my head. Most of his decisionmaking is obviously things that we never notice or things that you couldn't definitively prove are his idea rather than say Lue's or whoever. But the same could be said for any coach. I'm sure some of Popovich's finest moments came on decisions that were inspired by players like Duncan or Parker or Ginobili or from one of his assistants. We aren't privy to all of that. All I know is that we are winning and IMO overachieving and it's hard to imagine us doing that with a coach who is not contributing directly to the success.

 

[Tazoz]

I don't think you are idiots. I just think you unfailingly support Blatt and take literally everything he does and fit it into some historical story where he comes out on top. First he is a hardass who gets his players to respect him. He was going to revolutionize the offense with a decentralized scheme with spacing and passing. Then, wait, he is actually a defensive coach. Then, actually, he really likes to run iso. Then, he is a genius at adapting to his players. Now he isn't a hardass, but great at ego management. They're all just-so stories and are no longer that informative because they will keep changing to adapt to the current circumstances.

Pretty much everything you said here can be proven one way or another and in most cases the claims were given with real proof in the form of various videos of Maccabi. Watch Maccabi versus Milano or versus Real Madrid and try to see the similarities between the basketball that Cleveland has been playing and the basketball that Maccabi played. I don't see how any of the claims work against any of the other claims. Everything you said is pretty much true. (Outside of maybe saying that Blatt's offensive scheme is revolutionary which I don't remember anyone saying.) The offensive scheme of spacing and passing relies on a high quality slasher that uses the wide open lanes to either go iso, or dish out the ball to a three pointer. In other words, yes, Blatt relies on Iso and spacing...

If you want proof of him being a great motivator, a defensive coach and also fantastic at creating a cohesive unit, read this interview:

http://www.euroleague.net/features/...i/137856/david-blatt-maccabi-electra-tel-aviv

Some notable quotes:

"Opposing coaches talk about the way your team plays defense, with matchup zones and traps all over the place. How difficult is it for players to learn this system, not knowing who they will guard on the next play? Is it fun for them to play defense that way? "

"That's a very good question. We have to make up for a lot of efficiencies and mismatches, and there are certainly areas of the game, disadvantages that require us to find solutions. What really makes a team successful is not only the talent and the strength of the roster, but the players' willingness, the coaching that is given to them and the system that can work for them given their particular skills set. All guys understood and accepted our style and our system, and then they went on and performed it in the best possible way. You can't do those things if the players are not willing to buy into it, because it is a little unusual and requires a lot of thinking, sacrifice and effort – not only physical effort but mental effort, too."
-----------------------------------------------

"Blatt put together a team with great character and spirit that used two great comebacks at Mediolanum Forum – in Game 1 of the playoffs against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and in the semifinals against CSKA Moscow – to gain the required momentum to knock off mighty Real Madrid in the championship game."

-------------------------------------------------

During the celebrations right after the championship game, your players talked about being a family and going through everything together. Did that team spirit make things easier for you as a coach? Is it something you worked hard on developing?

"I think that chemistry is obviously a key component in any successful team. I think most of chemistry is developed when you make your decisions on what players to bring into the organization and how you educate them in terms of the values and principles of your team and club. It helps, of course, when you are a winning team, but I can tell you, we started the year in the local league with a lot of difficulties. Coming through that and staying together really helped us fortify and strengthen the bond between the players, because when you go through difficulties and you survive them, you overcome the adversity, it makes you stronger and brings you closer as a team. Sometimes, early troubles can actually help a team to deal with them properly and develop an inner strength, which you need in order to fight the big battles at the end of the year. And I really think that was the key to our team, the way our guys stayed together, even in difficult times at the beginning of the season.

 

[buzzdog]

I don't think you are idiots. I just think you unfailingly support Blatt and take literally everything he does and fit it into some historical story where he comes out on top. First he is a hardass who gets his players to respect him. He was going to revolutionize the offense with a decentralized scheme with spacing and passing. Then, wait, he is actually a defensive coach. Then, actually, he really likes to run iso. Then, he is a genius at adapting to his players. Now he isn't a hardass, but great at ego management. They're all just-so stories and are no longer that informative because they will keep changing to adapt to the current circumstances.


I've already done this -

Let's take the game yesterday. He decides to play in the post and utterly dominates. Anyone with eyes can see that he should be doing this every game. Blatt almost certainly has shown Lebron the tape and told him to work down there. Yet he does every few games at most. So who is actually in charge? Or look at the 4th quarter. Leiso once again stalls us and makes the game way closer than it should have been. Did Blatt make that call? If so, how can you defend that? If not, who is actually in charge?​

Lebron completely threw Blatt's offense out of the window and installed his own. He comes in and out of the game whenever he wants. He overrides plays at the end of the game. None of this is Blatt's fault. It is Lebron's. But you guys can only see this as attacking Blatt.


This isn't the zinger you think it is. Should we sit him all game then?


Oh I know it. And it looks like I'll be piling up the disagrees to prove it.

You seem to have a passive-aggressive attitude towards Blatt. You say on one hand that you think he is an excellent coach. then on the other hand you make an assertion that Blatt doesn't matter in the least, that basically anyone could do what he's doing with the same success.

I listed what I feel are Blatt's actual unique contributions and successes with this team and I'm not going to repeat them, you'd have to scroll back a few pages to see my feelings. if you are looking for some kind of X's and O's breakdown then you're asking the wrong people. No-one outside the actual players and coaches know exactly what is drawn up, when players execute it, and when Lebron over-rides the designed plays.

What I can tell you is that Lebron is doing what he does, and Blatt is USING those things to our advantage, and if anything Blatt is working to facilitate and accentuate our strengths throughout each game. The fact that the team has actually stretched and extended leads when Lebron has been resting are only indications of the success of Blatt's team management, how could you see it any other way? Your suggestion that because that has happened on several occasion maybe we should sit Lebron more is ludicrous and a non-sequitur, why would you even go there?

Hell most of Blatt's supporters here admit he's far from perfect. Most of us just object to the complete lack of credit going his way in the mass media. And some fans follow what the media says like so many sheep.

As was stated in one of the above posts it is hard to quantify what you get from a head coach. All anyone can do is see what Blatt's M.O. has been throughout his career and then see if similarities are showing up as possible fingerprints. It is muddled to some degree because Lebron is actively working on building his reputation, his brand and his legacy so who really knows where the decisions are made from one play to the next? The beauty of Blatt is he sees this, he appreciates everything Lebron brings to the table, and he does what is in his power to maximize the benefit to the franchise. If that type of explanation doesn't satisfy you then I give up.

 

[Chris Parker]

"Lebron completely threw Blatt's offense out of the window and installed his own. He comes in and out of the game whenever he wants. He overrides plays at the end of the game. None of this is Blatt's fault. It is Lebron's. But you guys can only see this as attacking Blatt."

None of this is actually true. Clearly you've allowed ax-grinding Blatt writers to spin it their way.

honestly sometimes it seems like your perspective on team management is more related to playing strat-o-matic than say, handling a theatre company of ego-laden prima donnas.

The teams has run the offense at times. You've seen that dribble handoff set they run on the right and left sides right? Indeed I saw Delly run it when he was in last night. So "scrapped" is a bit of a stretch. Next - LeBron & Ky are best at Iso. That is their best skill - penetration with ball, so is it stupid to play to your players strengths or to stick with your pre-determined plan (Hi ex-Coach D'Antoni)

he doesn't take himself out or put himself in any more than any other superstar , but you know if LeBron does it, it must be a clear dis of Blatt.

Honestly this stuff is so stupid and spun that it's not even worth discussing in any more depth.

Oh by the way, you said you didn't notice any changes? How did they play Rose on the PnR versus Teague? Maybe I'm an idiot, it's possible, but it looked to me like they let Teague try to beat them but wouldn't let him hit 3 shooters so he had to do it himself, whereas with Rose they actively tried to get him to give up the ball. But really why am I discussing defensive shifts with you if you don't believe they happen, can't see them, and follow the beat company line that LeBron is carrying the Cavs in spite of Blatt.

Love how no LeBron can make success only him and failure mostly someone else. Great gift, wish I could use that at MY work.... or with my wife!

 

[roozy]

"Lebron completely threw Blatt's offense out of the window and installed his own. He comes in and out of the game whenever he wants. He overrides plays at the end of the game. None of this is Blatt's fault. It is Lebron's. But you guys can only see this as attacking Blatt."

None of this is actually true. Clearly you've allowed ax-grinding Blatt writers to spin it their way.

honestly sometimes it seems like your perspective on team management is more related to playing strat-o-matic than say, handling a theatre company of ego-laden prima donnas.

The teams has run the offense at times. You've seen that dribble handoff set they run on the right and left sides right? Indeed I saw Delly run it when he was in last night. So "scrapped" is a bit of a stretch. Next - LeBron & Ky are best at Iso. That is their best skill - penetration with ball, so is it stupid to play to your players strengths or to stick with your pre-determined plan (Hi ex-Coach D'Antoni)

he doesn't take himself out or put himself in any more than any other superstar , but you know if LeBron does it, it must be a clear dis of Blatt.

Honestly this stuff is so stupid and spun that it's not even worth discussing in any more depth.

Oh by the way, you said you didn't notice any changes? How did they play Rose on the PnR versus Teague? Maybe I'm an idiot, it's possible, but it looked to me like they let Teague try to beat them but wouldn't let him hit 3 shooters so he had to do it himself, whereas with Rose they actively tried to get him to give up the ball. But really why am I discussing defensive shifts with you if you don't believe they happen, can't see them, and follow the beat company line that LeBron is carrying the Cavs in spite of Blatt.

Love how no LeBron can make success only him and failure mostly someone else. Great gift, wish I could use that at MY work.... or with my wife!

You really are amazing, love your knowledge of the game.