David Blatt is a former NBA coach

gourimoko said:

Pop,
Mike Budenholzer,
Spolestra (LeBron/Love)
Doc,
Steve Kerr,
Thibbs,
Dave Joerger,
Carlisle,
Kevin McHale,
SVG

In that order.

That doesn't mean Blatt won't be better than most of the guys on that list. But I'm assuming you mean, at this very moment who do I think is a better NBA coach or also who would I rather have coaching the Cavs.

Edit: I think the bolded are great NBA coaches that maybe could have had greater success here than Blatt. But really, I'm not too concerned about it, I think Blatt has the potential to be great NBA coach.

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Slightly off-topic: Can someone tell me what the "philosophical differences" were, that led to Lionel Hollins not getting renewed, and Dave Joerger getting promoted? And is Dave Joerger roundly regarded as a phenom, given that he's been an NBA head coach for as long as Blatt has, and he is included in this list?

Thx,

KT

gourimoko said:

Pop,
Mike Budenholzer,
Spolestra (LeBron/Love)
Doc,
Steve Kerr,
Thibbs,
Dave Joerger,
Carlisle,
Kevin McHale,
SVG

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Spoelstra and SVG are baffling.

Popovich and Thibodeau are the only two coaches on the list that I think would be doing better than we currently are.

KilgoreTrout said:

Not only are the MEANS way different, the DISTRIBUTIONS probably don't even overlap much (i.e., the worst NBA players might be better than the best Euroleague players). Unless we are talking about Doc Rivers' kid, that is.

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I think you guys are grossly overstating the gap between the NBA and Europe. Yes, of course the talent in the NBA is much greater than it is in Europe, but there are plenty of ex-NBA players who have failed in Europe and plenty of Euroleague players who came to the NBA and have had better NBA careers than Euro careers. There are also quite a few European players who could play in the NBA, but choose to remain close to home and have a bigger role on a Euro team (and make more money) rather than have a smaller role on an NBA team. So yes, there is a gap, but it's far from "the worst NBA player would be the best Euro player".

gourimoko said:

Pop,
Mike Budenholzer,
Spolestra (LeBron/Love)
Doc,
Steve Kerr,
Thibbs,
Dave Joerger,
Carlisle,
Kevin McHale,
SVG

In that order.

That doesn't mean Blatt won't be better than most of the guys on that list. But I'm assuming you mean, at this very moment who do I think is a better NBA coach or also who would I rather have coaching the Cavs.

Edit: I think the bolded are great NBA coaches that maybe could have had greater success here than Blatt. But really, I'm not too concerned about it, I think Blatt has the potential to be great NBA coach.

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Even if this entire list represented a consensus (which it doesn't, but I don't want to derail this thread by making it a ranking of current coaches thread), this means that Blatt, even as a "rookie coach," is still an above average (#11 out of 30) NBA coach and would be ranked above quite a few NBA coaches with many years of experience. So, since the above coaches aren't available, do some Cavs fans really want the likes of Mark Jackson over him?

Jscc said:

Spoelstra and SVG are baffling.

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I watched most Miami games when LeBron was there. Obviously you didn't. I even qualified Spo because I knew someone would say this, but he demonstrated (over time) the ability to use all three of Wade, Bosh, and LeBron effectively.

Spo's 2-4 year Miami offense was one of the best I've seen that relied on the 2-man game between the 3 superstars.

Miami's offense was great.

We haven't even talked about their defense.

Jscc said:

Popovich and Thibodeau are the only two coaches on the list that I think would be doing better than we currently are.

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Lol..

teamballer said:

I think you guys are grossly overstating the gap between the NBA and Europe. Yes, of course the talent in the NBA is much greater than it is in Europe, but there are plenty of ex-NBA players who have failed in Europe and plenty of Euroleague players who came to the NBA and have had better NBA careers than Euro careers. There are also quite a few European players who could play in the NBA, but choose to remain close to home and have a bigger role on a Euro team (and make more money) rather than have a smaller role on an NBA team. So yes, there is a gap, but it's far from "the worst NBA player would be the best Euro player".

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May I ask, where are you from?

gourimoko said:

Lol..

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Why is that so laughable? Since the return of healthy LeBron and the Moz/JR/Shump trade the Cavs are 21-5. Of the five losses, only in two did Blatt have his entire big-3, and both of those were at a point were the entire team was fatigued due to a brutal schedule. Do you really think each of the coaches you listed would have done better than Blatt?

gourimoko said:

Because our offense is so one dimensional, I think it's silly to say Blatt is a better coach than some of the guys on that list, outright, just because we're winning.

It's laughable because we can't blame the players for all the losses and only heap praise on Blatt for all the wins.

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Who's doing that? Nobody.

Why is our offense so one dimensional? Any guesses?

I bet it has to do with a certain player... and I'm pretty sure Blatt doesn't like it.

JSS2306 said:

Who's doing that? Nobody.

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"Popovich and Thibodeau are the only two coaches on the list that I think would be doing better than we currently are."

JSS2306 said:

Why is our offense so one dimensional? Any guesses?

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Is it time to blame the players again?

JSS2306 said:

I bet it has to do with a certain player...

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Thought so..

JSS2306 said:

and I'm pretty sure Blatt doesn't like it.

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He's the coach. The buck stops with him.

gourimoko said:

Because our offense is so one dimensional, I think it's silly to say Blatt is a better coach than some of the guys on that list, outright, just because we're winning.

It's laughable because we can't blame the players for all the losses and only heap praise on Blatt for all the wins.

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I think you are building a huge straw man here. No one is blaming anyone here. I think it's silly to play the blame game when the team is doing so well. Yes, there have been some losses. Those happen. Even the 96 Bulls lost 10 games. Yes, the Cavs offense has looked one-dimensional at times. This has happened with any team LeBron has ever been on, including Miami (I assume you have watched the 2014 NBA finals). This is not blaming LeBron - he is the best player in the world and is the main reason this team is contending - but with all his positives there are also a few negatives, one of which is that he can *sometimes* be a bit too ball dominant for his own good and fall into constant LeIso. Other times, the ball movement has looked great and this team has blown quite a few opponents out of the building.

Everyone was criticizing Atlanta the other night for showing their hand in the regular season by blitzing on defense. Have you considered that Blatt might be saving some rabbits to pull out of the hat in the playoffs, which is what he has done most of his career? Are you really expecting the Cavs to have perfect ball movement at all times and not lose any games?

I am not blaming players and not heaping praise on Blatt. The players are doing great for the most part. Blatt has been doing great as well. Again, I am not getting into whether or not Blatt is a better coach than any of those you mentioned. I am just saying there is no real indication that any of these coaches would've done better than him, unless you think the Cavs record would've been 26-0 since January 15th with SVG at the helm rather than 21-5, or that Spo would've had them at the top of the Eastern conference while having to play Mike Miller, Joe Harris, AJ Price, Brendan Haywood, and Dion Waiters heavy minutes.

I deleted some personal back-and-forth messages. The Ignore feature on this board is useful...

I really like Blatt and think he could be a longterm solution. Not perfect but I like how he has handled the major challenges (media, superstars, defense). I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with time to gameplan during the playoffs. Also looking forward to what he can do in his 2nd season, assuming he makes it there.

teamballer said:

Why is that so laughable? Since the return of healthy LeBron and the Moz/JR/Shump trade the Cavs are 21-5. Of the five losses, only in two did Blatt have his entire big-3, and both of those were at a point were the entire team was fatigued due to a brutal schedule. Do you really think each of the coaches you listed would have done better than Blatt?

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Going to have to agree. Coaching is important, but it is a players league. Our major issues were exacerbated by lebron being hurt and Andy going down. We then made a sequence of moves that addressed the fit of our team and subsequently Lebron came back looking like a different player.

It is no coincidence that we have been one of if not the hottest team in the last few months. Listen, any new team where you have 80% new players and a new coaching staff is going to take time. If you expected this team to hit the ground running you haven't been around very long. Lets not forget, people were calling for Spo's head 25 games into the season.

Once Blatt has a full and healthy roster, another full offseason / preseason to install sets and continuity develops we will be one of the most efficient teams in the league.

People greatly underestimate how important continuity and familiarity are on the basketball court.

Blatt has been thrown into literally the worst position for a new coach and has handled it remarkably well.


On a side note I can't believe Carlisle is that low on your list @gourimoko I thought he was widely considered top 3 in the league.

KilgoreTrout said:

Not only are the MEANS way different, the DISTRIBUTIONS probably don't even overlap much (i.e., the worst NBA players might be better than the best Euroleague players). Unless we are talking about Doc Rivers' kid, that is.

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That is wrong in so many levels. Ofcurse there is a gap in the level, because there a huge gap in salaries, but europian players doesnt fall from the everyday NBA player, ofcurse the superstars like Lebron Kyrie Parker Curry etc are a few levels above everything europe has the offer, but teams like CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid and even Maccabi could go head to head with most non-playoff teams in the east, and some non-playoff teams from the west.

Nba defines itself as the best league in the world and really today NBA is a worldwide phenomenon, and this is why I think teams like Philly who suck should look overseas for talent and go with that, I know is NBA is the American Basketball League, but when something gets so big... the extent of foreign players ib the NBA should grow

gourimoko said:

Steve Kerr,

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You're complaining about a rookie NBA coach (which blatt is, a rookie nba coach), and then prefer a rookie coach who never ever coached a single basketball game in any level whatsoever before this season started, and had the benefit of having a playoff experienced NBA roster that ran together successfully for several years,and still didn't prove anything (personally i think that coaches, including Blatt and Kerr prove their abilities come playoff time, when they need to prepare a team for a series of post season tough games), and you think that he is a better coach than a coach that had experience coaching for 20 years (even though in an inferior level than the nba), and had to adjust and integrate 11 entirely new players to his roster, 3 of them in the middle of the season.
I mean, Blatt is not perfect at all, and european basketball isn't the nba, but it just baffles me.

Im sorry i just dont see kerr as being a great coach, they are winning because of the team they have not because of kerr. Hes always laughing and playing around on the bench like he isnt taking it serious. Also when we face them and he was arguing with the refs, it kinda seemed like he was forcing it/acting it Just to seem like he was stickin up for his guys. It wasnt genuine. And the few times the games get close for gs it seems like he doesn't know what to do just shoot 3's. Idk something about him. Mabey thatll bite em in the butt come playoff time