Everything you wrote is fair and I agree with it. The part I quoted is what I have been interested in discussing. I'm not so sure that we have made that many adjustments. Douglar asked for specifics on this question, and despite all of the Blatt fanatics in this thread, only MrMsix6 was able to give it a shot. I think that is telling. Our new friends are very interested in giving us never-ending details of Blatt's coaching history overseas, but never talk basketball here with the Cavs outside of impossible to define things like nurturing talent or managing egos. That's also telling.
Yes, we are down Love and have a hobbled Kyrie, but Love was never really part of the offensive plan anyway. We basically played pickup ball against Boston with Kyrie and Lebron alternating iso and then came out with a pretty embarrassing performance against Chicago after a week off to game plan. We started a guy who will not see any more minutes for the rest of playoffs! Credit to Blatt for realizing his mistake, but it was a mistake nonetheless and hardly an inspiring adjustment. Our offense is still as simple as it gets, which is give Lebron the ball and let him make things happen. So what are the offensive adjustments from the coach? As I've said all year, Blatt continues to impress with plays out of timeouts. But then we go right back to Lebron freelancing.
What are we doing differently on defense? That is a real question, because I am not seeing anything when it comes to our scheme. What I see is Lebron finally locked in and Shumpert finally getting the minutes some of us said he should have been getting months ago (and who only started because of the JR suspension). I also see Love and Jones, not exactly defensive stoppers, not playing big minutes and getting attacked on every possession. Delly has really stepped up, but who else is Blatt going to play? So from here it looks like the injuries/suspension have helped our defense, not coaching adjustments. If people disagree, what are you seeing?
I just want to add, it is not logical to state that because we are doing well, it is Blatt's fault. While it is similarly illogical to state the same of Lebron, I think the evidence supports that claim. I am simply asking for specifics for those who see nothing but positives from Blatt. Saying he overcame injuries is not being specific. This is a basketball discussion forum, not a fan club.
Finally, if you read this as an attack on Blatt, then you need to either re-read it or just move on. I think Blatt is an excellent coach.
Our new friends are very interested in giving us never-ending details of Blatt's coaching history overseas, but never talk basketball here with the Cavs outside of impossible to define things like nurturing talent or managing egos. That's also telling.
So obviously the gap that opened in yesterdays game in our favor, while lebron was sitting is from "giving lebron the ball and make things happen"Our offense is still as simple as it gets, which is give Lebron the ball and let him make things happen.
Something in the name "Real Cavs FANS" suggests that there is a place here for fans too, and not only for "basketball specific geniuses".This is a basketball discussion forum, not a fan club.
Thanks for a substantive reply.That is a ridiculous statement Nate, you would only have to look at our offense before and after Olynyk to see so. Sure, Love was underutilized in our offense, but his mere presence opened up driving lanes so much, because of how good of a shooter he is. We constantly relied on using him as a threat from outside to open up the floor for Kyrie and LeBron, and I haven't even begun talking about his Basketball I.Q. and passing ability. to say that those immense offensive gifts didn't have an impact on our offense and that his injury didn't force a huge adjustment is... I don't know, it sounds fucking insane to me, and I can't believe you would honestly think that, or even try to marginalize it.
I agree. What does this have to do with me saying Blatt has not made many adjustments?I don't get this part, what do you expect from him? His rotation has shortened in the playoffs and the guys he has gone with are excelling. sure, they are the ones doing the job but his system works brilliantly as evidenced by our results.
Totally disagree. Lebron is our offense. Has been for the last half of the season and continues to be in the playoffs. And he continues to be really good. Did you know that we are leading the playoffs in offensive rating?Saying that the injuries has helped our defense is the wrong way to look at it. rather, the injuries have hurt our offense so bad, that we are forced to rely on defense to win games. I personally think it's very impressive that we have made that transition so fluidly and I also happen to think that it is indicative of how well-coached we are on the defensive end.
This is all correct. Blatt had a great rookie year considering the circumstances. But it has nothing to do with me asking specifically what we have changed in the playoffs.But he did overcome injuries Nate, massive ones. and roster changes as well, and massive superstar egos running rampant. these are facts, well documented facts, that rightfully should be included when evaluating Blatt's year, his first in the NBA. all of these things, along with how he has coached the games, have painted a picture of a coach who is incredibly good at adapting and adjusting on the fly, and who isn't afraid to shake up the gameplan. I think you sort of marginalize the arguments by simply saying that "he overcame injuries" is the narrative that people are pushing. The fact that he overcome said injuries among other obstacles is however indicative of what his main strengths as
a coach are.
Thanks for a substantive reply.
I said Love was not really part of the offensive plan. That does not mean he served no role. That would be ridiculous. And it does not in any way marginalize him as a player nor his impact as a spacer. We did not really run plays for Love this year. We began the year with Kyrie as a traditional point guard running pretty diverse plays, which did not go anywhere. Then Lebron took over and conducted the entire offense, with Kyrie taking over as primary scorer when Lebron sat. Love is a great player and had some great performances, but they were rooted in Lebron's play. Do you disagree with any of this?
Totally disagree. Lebron is our offense. Has been for the last half of the season and continues to be in the playoffs. And he continues to be really good. Did you know that we are leading the playoffs in offensive rating?
This is all correct. Blatt had a great rookie year considering the circumstances. But it has nothing to do with me asking specifically what we have changed in the playoffs.
I don't think you are idiots. I just think you unfailingly support Blatt and take literally everything he does and fit it into some historical story where he comes out on top. First he is a hardass who gets his players to respect him. He was going to revolutionize the offense with a decentralized scheme with spacing and passing. Then, wait, he is actually a defensive coach. Then, actually, he really likes to run iso. Then, he is a genius at adapting to his players. Now he isn't a hardass, but great at ego management. They're all just-so stories and are no longer that informative because they will keep changing to adapt to the current circumstances.Since us idiots can only talk about "impossible to define things" but not about basketball specifics (seems like you choose to skip all the post game posts in this thread that discuss adjustments, matchups and rotations) ,
And since you have already declared that "Lebron is the coach of the Cavs",
I've already done this -Lets turn the table for a minute, and have you educate us on the basketball specifics that Lebron has given us as a the Cav's COACH not as a player.
(I should not be misunderstood as taking a knock in any way at Lebron as a player or as a leader, I just want to hear the "definable BB specifics" as a coach).
This isn't the zinger you think it is. Should we sit him all game then?So obviously the gap that opened in yesterdays game in our favor, while lebron was sitting is from "giving lebron the ball and make things happen"
Oh I know it. And it looks like I'll be piling up the disagrees to prove it.Something in the name "Real Cavs FANS" suggests that there is a place here for fans too, and not only for "basketball specific geniuses".
Since us idiots can only talk about "impossible to define things" but not about basketball specifics (seems like you choose to skip all the post game posts in this thread that discuss adjustments, matchups and rotations) ,
And since you have already declared that "Lebron is the coach of the Cavs",
Lets turn the table for a minute, and have you educate us on the basketball specifics that Lebron has given us as a the Cav's COACH not as a player.
Totally disagree. Lebron is our offense. Has been for the last half of the season and continues to be in the playoffs.
But that is exactly what we have done! I liked how we got the ball to Mozgov early to try to get him going, so credit to Blatt for that. But we abandoned that after the first few minutes. Then it is back to give Lebron the ball and find an open shooter.Where I disagree is that Love going out of the line-up due to injury would not cause the Coaching staff to adjust the offense, but instead just put in TT and be on our merry way.
I could be. Which is why I am asking people to give specifics. Love was awesome for us this year, but his spacing helped Kyrie far more than Lebron.I think you are giving LeBron faaaaaaaar to much credit with how our offense has worked and you seem to imply that while LeBrons presence helped Love it didn't necessarily go the other way.
Agreed! I wish we would run Blatt's offense instead of Lebron ball.When you say continues to be really good, I have to disagree, we just came off a Bulls series where Bron looked down right putrid for entire games, I certainly don't agree that he has been some sort of paragon of stability on that end of the floor during the season.
This all sounds good. What, specifically, have we adjusted?Because Blatt has been challenged during these playoffs once again, by injuries and match-up problems and just like he did in the regular season he's adjusted well and come back strong. I think where we go wrong with each other, is that you give more credit to LeBron than I do, especially on offense, and how big of a change losing Kev and a hobbled Kyrie is.
Thanks for staying up! Hope to see you tomorrow.It is now 03.13 AM here and I have to get some sleep now but thanks for the discussion even though I vehemently disagree with basically everything you've said
How in the world could me saying Lebron is our offense be interpreted as saying we have no other offensive players? That is some asperger-level literal interpretation. Our lead sometimes grows when he's out because we have a roster of NBA players. That does not mean that our offense is not totally dependent on and goes through Lebron.No. Lebron is NOT our offense. He's our best offensive player, but he's certainly not the only thing we have on offense, as illustrated by our leads sometimes growing when he's out.
Reasoned discussion? Ha! Anything not praising Blatt is lumped into this category of haters who think he is actively harming the team.Can't you see that you're throwing reasoned discussion off track with hyperbolic statements? Maybe what you intend to convey is perfectly reasonable. But over the top statements like "Lebron is the Coach of the Cavs" and "Lebron is our offense" are just begging to be shot down. And they're so over the top that it's easy to do.
I don't think you are idiots. I just think you unfailingly support Blatt and take literally everything he does and fit it into some historical story where he comes out on top. First he is a hardass who gets his players to respect him. He was going to revolutionize the offense with a decentralized scheme with spacing and passing. Then, wait, he is actually a defensive coach. Then, actually, he really likes to run iso. Then, he is a genius at adapting to his players. Now he isn't a hardass, but great at ego management. They're all just-so stories and are no longer that informative because they will keep changing to adapt to the current circumstances.
I don't think you are idiots. I just think you unfailingly support Blatt and take literally everything he does and fit it into some historical story where he comes out on top. First he is a hardass who gets his players to respect him. He was going to revolutionize the offense with a decentralized scheme with spacing and passing. Then, wait, he is actually a defensive coach. Then, actually, he really likes to run iso. Then, he is a genius at adapting to his players. Now he isn't a hardass, but great at ego management. They're all just-so stories and are no longer that informative because they will keep changing to adapt to the current circumstances.
I've already done this -
Let's take the game yesterday. He decides to play in the post and utterly dominates. Anyone with eyes can see that he should be doing this every game. Blatt almost certainly has shown Lebron the tape and told him to work down there. Yet he does every few games at most. So who is actually in charge? Or look at the 4th quarter. Leiso once again stalls us and makes the game way closer than it should have been. Did Blatt make that call? If so, how can you defend that? If not, who is actually in charge?
Lebron completely threw Blatt's offense out of the window and installed his own. He comes in and out of the game whenever he wants. He overrides plays at the end of the game. None of this is Blatt's fault. It is Lebron's. But you guys can only see this as attacking Blatt.
This isn't the zinger you think it is. Should we sit him all game then?
Oh I know it. And it looks like I'll be piling up the disagrees to prove it.
You really are amazing, love your knowledge of the game."Lebron completely threw Blatt's offense out of the window and installed his own. He comes in and out of the game whenever he wants. He overrides plays at the end of the game. None of this is Blatt's fault. It is Lebron's. But you guys can only see this as attacking Blatt."
None of this is actually true. Clearly you've allowed ax-grinding Blatt writers to spin it their way.
honestly sometimes it seems like your perspective on team management is more related to playing strat-o-matic than say, handling a theatre company of ego-laden prima donnas.
The teams has run the offense at times. You've seen that dribble handoff set they run on the right and left sides right? Indeed I saw Delly run it when he was in last night. So "scrapped" is a bit of a stretch. Next - LeBron & Ky are best at Iso. That is their best skill - penetration with ball, so is it stupid to play to your players strengths or to stick with your pre-determined plan (Hi ex-Coach D'Antoni)
he doesn't take himself out or put himself in any more than any other superstar , but you know if LeBron does it, it must be a clear dis of Blatt.
Honestly this stuff is so stupid and spun that it's not even worth discussing in any more depth.
Oh by the way, you said you didn't notice any changes? How did they play Rose on the PnR versus Teague? Maybe I'm an idiot, it's possible, but it looked to me like they let Teague try to beat them but wouldn't let him hit 3 shooters so he had to do it himself, whereas with Rose they actively tried to get him to give up the ball. But really why am I discussing defensive shifts with you if you don't believe they happen, can't see them, and follow the beat company line that LeBron is carrying the Cavs in spite of Blatt.
Love how no LeBron can make success only him and failure mostly someone else. Great gift, wish I could use that at MY work.... or with my wife!