• 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.
I have been a huge supporter of Blatt and have given him the benefit
of the daught so far. But this team plays with no heart and no effort. You have KI reverting back to a ball hog, no movement on offense and a defense that can't play any worse. Someone needs to go off his staff if his message is not getting though.
 
When I watch these games, every 3 minute stretch seems like it could be the stretch in which we get blown out. A poster on the game thread (cavsfan87?) said that it feels like we're teetering on the edge of a blowout at all times. At NO point did it seem that we could even take the lead in this game. NO POINT. That's what the last 5 games have felt like sans the game in Philly there's just no hope.

I feel bad for Blatt because guys who should be at the end of the bench are the guys who get minutes. He didn't even have any "scrubs" to sub in at the end of the game when it was a clear blowout because the players he was playing were the scrubs. On the other hand, he looks lost and nobody seems to playing hard other than a few players.

I would say a mitigating factor for Blatt would be that Dion was statistically our best defender over the past 3-4 weeks and now with him traded and with James and Marion and Shump out, we don't have a single wing defender out there because JR has been awful at defending this year and is confused out there. The opponent seems to shoot 50%+ nightly AND turn it over fewer than 10 times a game. We would have to play perfectly offensively to win and we sure as hell don't do that.

Lastly, every team seems super confident against us and knows at some point that our offense will bog down and that our defense will give up a bunch of scores. Everyone is so damn comfortable and confident against us. Houston wasn't worried at all in the fourth and showed no signs of panic. When they're so relaxed, all the jumpers seem to fall and that happens to us nightly. It doesn't help that opponents see an unathletic starting lineup and bench and gain confidence because they know they will get a chance at them.

James, Shump, and Marion defending will help, but I just don't know anymore. 18-11, 30 poiint quarters, blown leads seem so far away because we can't even get the damn lead.
 
Last edited:
I noticed that answer too, and I thought the same thing: you know what "two max players" means, David. It means that you have two players widely regarded as top 25 or so talents out there and you're getting embarrassed nightly. You have vets that can play around them and you are playing like the Stepien Cavaliers. He knows what it means, he either doesn't know what to do about it or he doesn't want to bust on people in that situation.

The thing that annoys me most about all this is that he's playing people a lot of minutes - I think Mozgov was going to play 40 there for awhile - but getting no results from it.

All that said, I feel bad for the guy. I don't like watching people fail. He's either lost the team or he's out of his element. I've been there at my job and it's a painful place. I know some of you say he has millions of reasons to not feel so bad, but you know, most men are driven to some degree by their work performance, and he's pretty clearly in fail mode now.
 
Last edited:
JPK said:
Players at all levels of sports quit on coaches. We are not in practices or the locker room, so we never fully know why players quit on their coach. It could just be that Lebron is the leader of this team and the rest of the players have modeled his behavior. The players just may not respond to his personality or respect Lue more than him. Either way, it is painfully clear that this team has quit on Blatt and a healthy roster is not going to fix that problem. I do not view it as throwing him under the bus, as much as it is just saying circumstances changed between his hiring and now, and it is not working out for anyone. I think he could develop into a very good NBA coach. It is just not going to be with this team under these circumstances.
Click to expand...

That's true, but think about this. If Kyrie has quit on the guy, that's THREE coaches Kyrie has quit on in just three years. That's just... astounding.
 
Czvosec said:
That's true, but think about this. If Kyrie has quit on the guy, that's THREE coaches Kyrie has quit on in just three years. That's just... astounding.
Click to expand...

I do not necessarily disagree with that assessment. However, I think this team will model Lebron's behavior. For a little while it appeared Kyrie was playing better defense and being a better teammate. Above I said we can never fully know why a team quits on their coach, but if I was to wager a guess in this circumstance, it is no coincidence that when the rumors first started to come out about Lebron not liking Blatt that this team imploded at the same time. Lebron not fully backing Blatt opened the flood gates for everyone else to question him. Sure, we have had injuries, but injuries do not, or at least should not, affect effort, motivation, etc. The lack of effort indicates that this is not an issue that will be solved by a healthy roster, which is why if we are going to make a move, we should do it sooner rather than later.
 
saw most of the game.

looked really bad.


but then I gave it some more thought -

10 players available.

3 can't physically play in the nba any longer and are only there for their trade value (haywood) and their relationship with lebron (miller, jones), and perhaps the occasional hoop when playing with a full healthy roster.

they're just done - especially on the defensive end.

1 guy isn't an nba player either yet at this stage - harris.
again - especially defensively.

1 guy is a borderline backup/3rd stringer in the league, giving full effort but is still very limited physically - delly.

that's 5 guy that simply can't compete physically against nba athletes. period.

what's left for blatt to work with tonight ?

2 guys who joined the team 3 days ago or so -
mozgov, who you can see will be a big help, but also clearly see the lack of familiarity and chemistry with the other players.
and smith - who when he's on can be helpfull, but when he's off - he's hurting the team - not to mention when the chemistry and familiarity issues are clearly and understandably present.

who's left ?

love who can't defend and missed a LOT of great looks.

thompson who tries but just isn't good enough.

and irving - who understandably reverted back to his ball hog self with almost no one to play with.


I just don't see where the defense can come from on a night like this, or even any effort that's going to be visible in a league full of athletic wings.
is the blame here that j.r. smith didn't turn into a full effort-sacrafice your body type of defensive player tonight ?

and even offensively - love got great looks.
missed too many.
irving tried but was not his night and didn't really have anyone to work with - which will change once mozgov and smith get more acclimated.

and who else ?

this team as constructed and at the present moment (trying to incorporate mozgov and smith), can not compete with all of lebron, shumpert, and marion out.

a team of cousins, gay, and a full roster of legit athletic nba role players with continuity SHOULD blow this team of irving, love, and patchwork of bodies half of whom can't play and 2 of the others just arrived - out of the gym every time.

replace the dead corpses on the bench with young athletes eager to earn their place in the league like philly has - and things would look much MUCH different (for that reporter that compared this team's "effort" to philly's).
 
Last edited:
Mark Jackson might b able to get these assholes to play hard

Blatt sure as fuck can't
 
so the remark about Love not being a max player in the post game. Not going over well in NBA circles on twitter.. He is not helping his cause here
I get the feeling he is 1 bad week away from being fired

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>David Blatt is going to catch a lesson tomorrow morning ... unless everyone is still arguing about Dez.</p>&mdash; Tom Ziller (@teamziller) <a href="View: https://twitter.com/teamziller/status/554507279672684544
">January 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-14: "Time for Playoff Vengeance on Mickey"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:14: " Time for Playoff Vengeance on Mickey."
Top