LeBron James

So it's all about LeBron's "brand"? That would make him the most petty asshole ever, if he's willing to sabotage the entire season for something he wants. Why would LeBron want to do that? He of all people knows what winning does, especially to his brand.

LeBron might be an asshole, and making Blatt's life hell. Sure, I obviously sympathize with the guy for that. I wish LeBron would be more embracing.

But why would LeBron embrace a guy like Mike Brown, and not someone like Blatt at all? It can't all be LeBron! I get it, he's a diva, egomaniac superstar. He's trying to oust Blatt. These aren't things that I like. Even if I myself am questioning Blatt, that's still poor leadership by LeBron.

But if this guy was willing to put up with MIKE BROWN, it can't be impossible for someone like David Blatt to win him over too.

Maybe these two need to go out to dinner, something, and sit down and really get to know each other. I think both LeBron and Blatt could do a better job trying to embrace each other.

Come on, this guy isn't the most impossible person to get along with. Difficult? Yeah, but not impossible to win over.

Even when LB was out of the picture, it was Blatt's time to shine. Let's be real, we've seen no "hints" of this basketball genius. I don't know what goes on off the court, but on the court whether LB is there, or not, his team is not responding to him. That's a huge problem.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not questioning the man's knowledge of the game, and saying he doesn't know how to coach. X's and O's only get you so far. There's a reason why a lot of college coaches, that are some of basket teachers the game has ever seen flop badly in the NBA.

They don't know the NBA language, culture, and how to get through to these guys, which is much different compared to any other level of basketball.

This is new territory for a guy like Blatt. Europe much like college, the coach literally rules, and has firm control. In the NBA, the players have the control, and the biggest trick isn't at basketball tactical standpoint, but actually getting guys to do what you want. Which is hard! This isn't groundbreaking news.

There's a reason so many fail. Blatt is quickly swimming in that boat. NBA players are never going to change. These guys aren't going to go backwards and beyond, just for a head coach.

Now is the time for Blatt to show THEM something, that will garner their respect, likability, literally, something!

The bowling thing, honestly what a great idea. I think it was by far his best/smartest tactic yet. His job is to win over the guys, and yes LeBron.

Do I think he can do it? I do. These guys are difficult, stubborn, spoiled, and pampered. But not impossible to get through to.

shoes22 said:

The whole LeBron undermining the coach thing to bring in Jackson seems like a poor strategy, because it's not like Jackson could be brought in right now in the middle of the season, can he? At the very least there would be an interim coach for the rest of the season, which essentially accomplishes nothing.

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Yes, but then his boy Lue takes over.

gourimoko said:

Frank... lebron is the only reason we'd be looking at going to the finals this year or next.

I don't care about the internal power plays going on.. We all knew that was going to happen. I just want a winning Cavs team.

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I think the power plays are absurd, unprofessional, and detrimental long term. That being said, i don't give a shit what has to happen if it wins us a championship. 4 or 5 years down the road, if we don't win our rings, we're going to look at wiggins tearing uo the league and Blatt coaching brilliantly and think "man this organization is incompetent. "

Of course, if we do win, very few cavs fans will have qualms. Myself, and most Blatt fans included.

crabbyshark said:

You mean like Kevin Love taking charges when he could barely walk?

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Kevin Love has hardly contributed lately and up until that point was carried that game by others (particularly LeBron) also before that charge LeBron asked him to give up whatever he had left. Then he made that defensive play

Flight479 said:

Kevin Love has hardly contributed lately and up until that point was carried that game by others (particularly LeBron) also before that charge LeBron asked him to give up whatever he had left. Then he made that defensive play

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Is Kevin Love playing hurt? If yes, how long has he been playing hurt? If he is hurt, could his injury be affecting his gameplay? Has his injury caused him to miss games or games he's started?

crabbyshark said:

Is Kevin Love playing hurt? If yes, how long has he been playing hurt? If he is hurt, could his injury be affecting his gameplay? Has his injury caused him to miss games or games he's started?

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His back has been troubling him for at least a month, evidently.

I think it is no coincidence he looked his best after taking a game off and resting. He elevated on his shots and was moving well.

He should sit out a few games. He isn't helping when he can't hit shots or move.

crabbyshark said:

Is Kevin Love playing hurt? If yes, how long has he been playing hurt? If he is hurt, could his injury be affecting his gameplay? Has his injury caused him to miss games or games he's started?

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My response is to the post about his defensive play. That play was primarily done because of LeBron asking him to give all that he can. Interesting that LeBron would say such a thing. He must have really wanted to win. I do believe Love is playing injured but I believe that's more about playing for the players than coach.

King Stannis said:

His back has been troubling him for at least a month, evidently.

I think it is no coincidence he looked his best after taking a game off and resting. He elevated on his shots and was moving well.

He should sit out a few games. He isn't helping when he can't hit shots or move.

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He should sit out in rest. People were getting on Blatt for having him out there but Love clearly wanted to continue playing. Blatt will need to make the call of shutting him down for a few games. Thing is we have some tough games coming up.

There's so much benefit of the doubt being given to a guy who has shown zero in the league vs. a guy who has shown everything.

If this was Blatt versus some scrub or some loser, ok. But it isn't. And while smart organizations would probably pick Blatt up if he's let go, they'd also probably chose LeBron James over David Blatt too.

But what I don't understand is how this narrative, that LeBron doesn't like BLatt or want him coaching, has anything to do with David Blatt making poor coaching decisions. How do we just skim over that fact and focus on LeBron not liking the coach? David Blatt has shown very little promise so far. I'm not ready to ride with this guy and concede LeBron is screwing him over. LeBron may very well be right.

Flight479 said:

He should sit out in rest. People were getting on Blatt for having him out there but Love clearly wanted to continue playing. Blatt will need to make the call of shutting him down for a few games. Thing is we have some tough games coming up.

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True, but playing in the condition he is in does not help anyone but the opposition.

Rich said:

There's so much benefit of the doubt being given to a guy who has shown zero in the league vs. a guy who has shown everything.

If this was Blatt versus some scrub or some loser, ok. But it isn't. And while smart organizations would probably pick Blatt up if he's let go, they'd also probably chose LeBron James over David Blatt too.

But what I don't understand is how this narrative, that LeBron doesn't like BLatt or want him coaching, has anything to do with David Blatt making poor coaching decisions. How do we just skim over that fact and focus on LeBron not liking the coach? David Blatt has shown very little promise so far. I'm not ready to ride with this guy and concede LeBron is screwing him over. LeBron may very well be right.

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But duuuuudddeee, Blatt is an offensive genius. LBJ clearly is trying to sabotage him so he can screw over Cleveland!
Seriously though, couldn't have said this any better.

We just know the team was playing together and beating good teams when they were following the coach. The offense in preseason was awesome. Now they are getting all the iso they want and they go on long scoring droughts. That is why we don't trust Lebron. We know we saw the same thing in years past where everyone goes cold and expects him to do everything when we play Le-iso.

I was really excited to see the team play and move the ball. This is just so ugly.

Cavatt said:

We just know the team was playing together and beating good teams when they were following the coach. The offense in preseason was awesome. Now they are getting all the iso they want and they go on long scoring droughts. That is why we don't trust Lebron. We know we saw the same thing in years past where everyone goes cold and expects him to do everything when we play Le-iso.

I was really excited to see the team play and move the ball. This is just so ugly.

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Keyword there is "pre-season".

Secondly, what do you expect LeBron to do when everyone goes cold? Keep feeding them the ball so that they keep missing? When he tried to facilitate in the 2011 Finals since Mavs were guarding him so well, everyone was criticizing him for not attacking. When he attacks and plays isolation game, he is criticized for that as well. Sometimes, its like whatever he does will somehow or the other be criticized.

I am yet to see a reason which tells me why the team was so awful when LeBron was out. I don't care about the results but the team was getting blowout for fun. Surely if he was the one undermining Blatt and wanting him to get fired, we would have seen much better ball game when he was out?

May be he doesn't like Blatt much and doesn't think he is the coach that can help him bring a championship to Cleveland but to anyway suggest that he is trying to get him fired is ridiculous beyon belief. Players who would want to get their coaches fired wouldn't play like LeBron has in the past two games.

Just for the record, I think Blatt is a good coach and I still beleive he can turn this around. At the same time, I don't think LeBron is a saint either. But how can the issues be only highlighted on LeBron's mistakes and not what poor coaching decisions Blatt has made?

Rough calculation of tonight's Offensive Rating against the Clippers

122.3

Hate LeBron all you want, but he is the key to everything we will do now and in the near future.

Now it's time for LeBron to embrace Blatt. Keep playing like we have the last 2.5 games or so and we could just sneak out of the East.

Lebron looked fantastic today. Finally played with some fire.