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David Blatt is a former NBA coach
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gourimoko
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JSS, we have one of the worst defenses in the league.
kookoo
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Honestly, I want whoever has disagreed with me on my stance on Blatt to suck it right now. This is what I've been saying all along. Blatt is a good coach, but not for a win now team. With a Love and LeBron-less team, he'd be able to work it better, but with this team he is in way over his head. He'll probably be in the NBA for a bit, but we can't possibly think a rookie NBA head coach will earn the respect Blatt deserves in the first few seasons without having a league name built for himself. I hate Kidd, but he gets more respect than Blatt ever will.
MirORich
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As that is over 1 month away, I think that is fair. I also believe its going to be turned around so I don't see it happening. A lot of what Blatt is getting criticized for I feel is overblown but you can not ignore the lack of plays and touches for Love in the 4th qtr, especially in games without LeBron playing. I feel like its 50/50 Blatt being too stubborn to call for specific plays for a specific player feeling like the system will dictate where the ball goes, but either the system is not doing a good job or Kyrie and JR both felt it was hero ball time.
I think that is corrected with LeBron back as LeBron will dictate where things move in the 4th qtr and Love will see more touches. I also don't think JR will be on the floor in the final 6 minutes of most games, so that will help to a degree.
I love having a guy who can score off the bench though, regardless of who's guarding him or who he's on the floor with. He just had to play too many minutes tonight with LeBron, Marion, and Shumpert all out. That said, I had zero issues with JR tonight(he is what he is) and no issues with Blatt playing him that many because the alternative was Delly.
I think a lot of it comes down of course to LeBron. If LeBron is seeing what JR, Shumpert, and Mozgov can bring and realizes its just a matter of getting healthy, than he may decide that yet another change midseason is pointless and that they should be able to gt things together in time.
Yes there is a 10 game all star break this year, but with LeBron, Kyrie, and Love all being involved in some capacity, its not as if we'll be able to use that break to fully implement new things.
I don't know, I get why everyone is upset but when I see what Mozgov and JR can bring already, I just think that there is too much talent and fit now for things to continue to slide ONCE we're at full health.
Yes it is frustrating though to have the game get away in the 4th qtr.
It's frustrating to see the open 3s and the ouple of times where we got caught with no one under the basket, but I felt the majority of those plays came at times when JR and Mozgov were both in the game, which makes sense to a degree as they have just got here and still need to learn what we're trying to do and get used to communicating with their teammates.
To have to do that tonight against the Warriors, an elite team with the majority of the guys on the team having played together for 3 years + was a tough task.
kookoo
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We're paying Mike Brown anyway. Blatt as offensive coordinator, Brown as defensive coordinator and Lou as head coach. DONE.
JSS2306
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He's wearing on me. I'm getting to that point of just getting the guy these players want and be done with it. Maybe it gets them to put forth a better effort? Hey, I'm for it.
I hate Mark Jackson but maybe he's the players coach these guys want to crawl through the trenches with.
kookoo
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The ball not going to Love is 100% Blatt. It's happened for months now. I just don't get it. We wouldn't have won the Charlotte game if it wasn't for Love, yet that is the only game where he's had a shot in the last few minutes of a game. At some point the blame has to go on the head coach. I've been anti Blatt for a week now and I don't see it changing. Out 4th quarter execution has been so consistently bad this season I just don't know a person other than Blatt I can blame it on.
MirORich
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How much respect did Kidd get last year from a team full of vets? How good of a coach did he look like then?
That is not to critique him at all. He's been amazing so far with Milwaukee and they have been far more competitive than I imagined they could this year.
It's difficult to have an entirely new team and new coach in the same year. Add in injuries and midseason trades and its a big handicap, though one which we have no choice but to overcome.
Look at the Warriors. Kerr is a first year coach but Curry, Klay,Lee, Green, Bogut, and Barnes have all been together 3+ years now. Speights and Iguadola went through their growing pain with them last year. But we're not fans of that team. We don't watch them every night and therefore we don't see their growing pains.
This is not how I saw the first 37 games going but I just think that time together will solve a lot of things that are jumping out to us as huge issues. If the players believe and understand that too, then we can be as tough as any team in the NBA by March.
MirORich
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I didn't see bad effort/bad body language tonight until about the 5 minute mark of the 4th when they realized the Warriors had them. But up until that point, I thought we gave great effort all game. I saw blown assignments, miscommunication, and a little too much late game guard hero ball, but the effort was there for 42-43 minutes.
Which, yes, is still obviously not enough. But this wasn't some shitstorm of a game. We competed hard and played the one of the best 3 teams in the NBA close on the road for most of the game.
Did you guys see it differently?
Here's what I'm seeing from Blatt.
He said when LeBron was ruled out that he would have to "scale back" the offense. Now, the system wasn't all that complex that they were running to begin with. In my opinion, that is as much of an indictment on Kyrie as it is Blatt. The offense Bron was running was not complicated at all, he's just 1000X the playmaker Kyrie is. Kyrie is in score first, pass second mode right now, which is often mistaken for aggression. I always say there is a fine line between being "aggressive" and being "reckless." Just because a player is attacking over and over again doesn't mean they are playing aggressive. Kyrie was reckless tonight. As a result, there was absolutely no movement in the offense. Kyrie wasn't setting up any plays. He would either come down and immediately start a series of 15 dribbles between the legs, behind his back, etc with an obvious decision of his to score on that possession. Too many times he comes down and predetermines what he is going to do, which is score, and because of that there is no offensive system.
Blatt can't have his system run if his point guard is unwilling to follow it. That is problem #1. Problem #2 is Blatt himself. He has absolutely no idea how to best use Kevin Love and my theory why is because he never watched film of him in Minnesota. He never looked at the sets Adelman ran for him to get him open looks. This isn't something LeBron is going to be able to do. This is 100% Blatt's job. He needs to sit down with Kevin and say "Kevin, tell me how to best use you." That's the only way they will get on the same page. Otherwise, it will always be the same problem.
Finally, he just needs LeBron back. Plain and simple. Kyrie cannot run point and have this team be successful. LeBron to his credit recognized this 11 games in and took it over himself. Kyrie is 100X better off the ball, which is why him and LeBron fit so well together. Kyrie is a great shooter and when teams aren't loading up on him, it takes an enormous weight off his shoulders. He's impossible to stop when playing next to LeBron. At this point, nobody can get mad at LeBron for taking over the offense from Blatt and Kyrie. It does not work.
P.S. Smith and Mozgov looked great tonight. I have no problem with Smith taking 23 shots tonight because he was in rhythym all night and he was their only consistent player.
He said when LeBron was ruled out that he would have to "scale back" the offense. Now, the system wasn't all that complex that they were running to begin with. In my opinion, that is as much of an indictment on Kyrie as it is Blatt. The offense Bron was running was not complicated at all, he's just 1000X the playmaker Kyrie is. Kyrie is in score first, pass second mode right now, which is often mistaken for aggression. I always say there is a fine line between being "aggressive" and being "reckless." Just because a player is attacking over and over again doesn't mean they are playing aggressive. Kyrie was reckless tonight. As a result, there was absolutely no movement in the offense. Kyrie wasn't setting up any plays. He would either come down and immediately start a series of 15 dribbles between the legs, behind his back, etc with an obvious decision of his to score on that possession. Too many times he comes down and predetermines what he is going to do, which is score, and because of that there is no offensive system.
Blatt can't have his system run if his point guard is unwilling to follow it. That is problem #1. Problem #2 is Blatt himself. He has absolutely no idea how to best use Kevin Love and my theory why is because he never watched film of him in Minnesota. He never looked at the sets Adelman ran for him to get him open looks. This isn't something LeBron is going to be able to do. This is 100% Blatt's job. He needs to sit down with Kevin and say "Kevin, tell me how to best use you." That's the only way they will get on the same page. Otherwise, it will always be the same problem.
Finally, he just needs LeBron back. Plain and simple. Kyrie cannot run point and have this team be successful. LeBron to his credit recognized this 11 games in and took it over himself. Kyrie is 100X better off the ball, which is why him and LeBron fit so well together. Kyrie is a great shooter and when teams aren't loading up on him, it takes an enormous weight off his shoulders. He's impossible to stop when playing next to LeBron. At this point, nobody can get mad at LeBron for taking over the offense from Blatt and Kyrie. It does not work.
P.S. Smith and Mozgov looked great tonight. I have no problem with Smith taking 23 shots tonight because he was in rhythym all night and he was their only consistent player.
BA_CavsFan
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I think others have done a pretty thorough job of what Blatt did wrong this game, but I just wanted to point out one thing he did right - Delly only played 15 minutes tonight, and Joe Harris played only 7.
Henry Tuttle
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A lot of great points, but I think this sums up how I feel best. We're 18-11 (and have been GREAT on the offensive end) with the shell of Lebron James, have had almost no time to gel, and just netted at least one more actual NBA rotation player (considering Andy's injury). We're going through a stretch without our best player, our only (viable) 7 footer, and some key depth-ish components. I see shortcomings and room for improvement, but this outcry is so unwarranted.
MirORich
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When healthy, we will have a pretty great and versatile 9 man rotation:
LeBron, Kyrie, Love, Mozgov, Shumpert, JR, Tristan, Marion, Miller.
I think Blatt will have a much easier time balancing the minutes and rotation at that point. Guys like Delly, Jones, Harris, and Haywood can get minutes in blowouts or every once in a while just to keep them sharp.
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