David Blatt is a former NBA coach

[Paul]

This is such a tired take. Nobody here hates Blatt and nobody wants us to lose. Ridiculous.

Nobody hates him right now because we're winning. Let's see what is said here if and when we lose a series.

 

[buzzdog]

Blatt still runs his offense. How many times have Moz or TT handled the ball out at the top of the key then set screens, etc. to get an offensive set rolling that might eventually turn out to be an LBJ drive to the hoop or post up? Also according to those who have followed him Blatt has always used the isolation when he has the right players to execute it and Blatt has said all along he will use whatever works for the personnel and the situation.

I can only strongly disagree that any coach would have handled this situation as well as Blatt has in year one of the return of LBJ and the complete overhaul of the roster just before the Allstars break.

 

[NasstyNate]

You're saying that the Blatt fans are blowing Blatt's impact on the team out of proportion? That's not the sense I get. At least for me, I am not even trying to portray him as an elite level head coach, I think the book is still out on that. There's signs he either is already or is heading toward that, but I feel (and I think others also feel) that he is offering a contribution to the teams success. It's overall smaller than the player's role in wins and losses but it's large enough where it can have an impact on a series and potentially swing a series from defeat to victory. Part of us beating Chicago was Blatt's coaching. How big was that part? I think that's something we will never be able to quantify, and that's okay.

Well that's basically my opinion concisely written, so well done. Now duck!

 

[teamballer]

This is such a tired take. Nobody here hates Blatt and nobody wants us to lose. Ridiculous.

Oh rly? I can think of at least two posters on this forum that have irrational hate for Blatt (I don't think I have to name them. Most know exactly who I'm talking about), and at least a couple of others who probably do a better job of hiding their irrational hate. I'm not lumping you (or Douglar) with those groups but I do think you both err on the side of not giving Blatt credit for anything when possible, and I'm not going to speculate on the reasons for this.

 

[Douglar]

Has business insider joined the anti-Blatt conspiracy?

http://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-james-david-blatt-awkward-2015-5

Not sure if I agree with the conclusion though. Blatt might still be under pressure to succeed.

I don't hate Blatt. I just think he's been in some tough situations and has not come away with a spotless record. It will be an interesting off season.

 

[SVC]

What's the argument? That coaches aren't as important as the top few players? Of course they aren't. No coach makes 5/120.

Pop and the Ghost of Red Auerbach couldn't win 40 games with Philly's roster. Coaches get credit for rotations primarily. And with young teams, they get credit for instilling their ideology. Hence why the coach of the year is almost always awarded to someone who overachieved with a young team like the Hawks or the Suns the previous year.


Blatt isn't here to coach Lebron. No one can coach Lebron. I'm not sure anyone is coachable once they land a max deal beyond a few tweaks. Guys are what they are after a few years.

He's here for rotations, to get along as best as possible, and to move his excellent game pieces around the chess board without ruffling feathers.

Same as Doc or Phil or Pops before him who found themselves with great rosters.

I've never known a legendary coach that wasn't dependent on x player for offense. Even the balanced teams like the Spurs win absolutely nothing if you remove Duncan. Nada. No Jordan, no titles. No Magic, no titles. Call them all stars or coaches or whatever.

Given those limitations, and the challenges the injuries brought about, he's much better than Brown and many others.

You coach around Lebron as best as possible. He's great most of the time, and what you can do, you do with his blessing or when he sits. You try to make small points that may resonate with the role players, and he's done that very well. You become a legend if your players perform. Same as Michael or Larry or Magic or Russell. They create legends. Coaches mold role players in their image and hope to have good timing.

This isn't college football where a genius can turn junk into a treasure. You have to have 1 of 5 guys to have a prayer. We have one. And a few other good ones also.

I don't get the value of coming into a coaching-specific thread and pissing on new Cavs fans enthusiasm with banal observations that are true of every coach in NBA history unless you're just a miserable person looking to be argumentative.


He's made good decisions to the best of his ability. Some people can't stand to see anyone enjoy anything without inserting the very obvious. I always assume those are miserable people, though they'll never admit it. They'll call themselves realists and astute..

 

[NasstyNate]

Well I am off to start pregaming. Just wanted to let any who are winding up a big haymaker know that I wasn't knocked out. Thanks to all who participated in good faith and sorry to have monopolized the thread over the last couple days.

Here's to five pages of people telling me so after a win tonight! And maybe, just maybe talking basketball tomorrow?

 

[blommen]

I've already explained this so I will not go into it at length. We started the year with a dynamic offense led by Kyrie, one similar to the types most successful teams run. We blew that up not even halfway through the season even though it is pretty well recognized that a new group of players needs time to learn to play with each other in a new system. Lebron took the ball from Kyrie and we started running a greatly simplified offense centered around the PnR and Lebron/Kyrie taking turns.

I do not think any modern coach with any kind of eye on long term success makes that move. That's my thought process at least.

I think you are romanticizing our offense at the start of the season man, We were much, much more dysfunctional as a team on both ends back then, and we adjusted into a simpler system that helped out the offense. Our offense was not some unstoppable juggernaught to start the season.

 

[Cavatt]

Blatt simplified the offense because Lebron never went to college.

 

[Chris Parker]

Blatt simplified the offense because Lebron never went to college.

Just a piss(poor)-take. Everyone I've spoken to has commented on James' deep understanding of the game, powerful mind and, believe it or not, his coachability. Now they aren't going to say the latter doesn't exist granted but the number of ppl commenting on his genius level basketball IQ leads me to believe if anything this is pretty definitively not the reason and isn't even true (probably, I mean it's ALL hearsay unless you've coached him.)

 

[buzzdog]

Just a piss(poor)-take. Everyone I've spoken to has commented on James' deep understanding of the game, powerful mind and, believe it or not, his coachability. Now they aren't going to say the latter doesn't exist granted but the number of ppl commenting on his genius level basketball IQ leads me to believe if anything this is pretty definitively not the reason and isn't even true (probably, I mean it's ALL hearsay unless you've coached him.)

I think your sarcasm meter may be broken.

 

[Chris Parker]

I think your sarcasm meter may be broken.

who can tell on this thread??

 

[buzzdog]

who can tell on this thread??

Well I hope it was sarcasm.

 

[mrbeaks]

Listening to the Lowe Post podcast w/ Windhorst, and it's absurd the extent to which Lowe goes to deny anyone but LeBron credit for the Cavs' postseason success (thus far). I went after him a little on Twitter for this during the Chicago series (primarily because he treated each Chicago win as a triumph, and each Cleveland win as baffling and/or a downer), and he bristled. But it's true: the guy has very fixed (and often perceptive) notions about how the game should be played, and if a team breaks from that, he acts like it's an affront to the game. It reminds me of how some sabermetrics guys rooted against the Royals in last year's postseason because they were playing what they considered "dumb" baseball. My response to all of this: I don't care if it's antithetical to the way the game should be played, it's working; your job is to tell me why it's working in spite of what the advanced statistics say.

The value of a guy like Lowe should be his ability to throw away bias (and he's pretty clearly an anti-Blatt, if not anti-Cleveland guy), and analyze the game from a pure x's and o's standpoint. Don't get caught up in the sideshow of who's calling time outs or plays; explain why Cleveland keeps winning. And if your conclusion is "Chicago just couldn't get it together" or "the Eastern Conference sucks" (as he said on today's Lowe Post), that's useless. The way the Cavs coaching staff has adapted to the litany of postseason injuries is remarkable. They deserve credit. It's not LeBron's greatness alone because, as we all know, he's not shooting the ball all that well.

In general, it just seems like the national media is pissed off that the Cavs are winning, and this mindset is creeping into areas where it doesn't belong.

 

[2Fluffy4U]

Stop the madness! Go cavs!
Any more archiological excavations / feeding the fire I will do something bad!
Like posting backstreet boys videos.. Or van gundy commentary... Whatever just plz stop this madness! Thank you