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David Blatt is a former NBA coach

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I've liked the hire of Blatt since Day 1, but I think he let his ego make a rougher time of it than it had to be. He really should have been a bit more humble coming in about the leap to the NBA, because I think some coaches and players didn't quite appreciate it.

I still think he was treated unfairly by a lot of folks, and I'm not excusing that. It's just that I think he might have had some more vocal allies defending him if he'd just given a bit right at the beginning. He didn't have to diminish what he did before, but at least recognize publicly that what he was walking into was different. Could have thrown a bone to how his great staff would help him make the adjustments, etc.. To some extent, his insistence on "it's just basketball" actually had the opposite effect of what he intended. Rather than convincing people that he really knew what he was doing, he ended up convincing some that if he didn't recognize/admit to the differences, he must not understand them.

It's funny -- Blatt obviously understands the value of humility (even false humility) when talking about his team versus other teams. Even if you're a much better team, you still throw out some false compliments so as not to insult the other team, or give bulletin board material. But he basically refused to recognize that there would have been similar value in applying that to the transition to the NBA.

Anyway, I'm really glad that all seems past him now, and I'm really hoping LBJ let's him run more of the kind of offense he wants to, because it will end up saving wear and tear on LBJ himself.
 
The Human Q-Tip said:
I've liked the hire of Blatt since Day 1, but I think he let his ego make a rougher time of it than it had to be. He really should have been a bit more humble coming in about the leap to the NBA, because I think some coaches and players didn't quite appreciate it.

I still think he was treated unfairly by a lot of folks, and I'm not excusing that. It's just that I think he might have had some more vocal allies defending him if he'd just given a bit right at the beginning. He didn't have to diminish what he did before, but at least recognize publicly that what he was walking into was different. Could have thrown a bone to how his great staff would help him make the adjustments, etc.. To some extent, his insistence on "it's just basketball" actually had the opposite effect of what he intended. Rather than convincing people that he really knew what he was doing, he ended up convincing some that if he didn't recognize/admit to the differences, he must not understand them.

It's funny -- Blatt obviously understands the value of humility (even false humility) when talking about his team versus other teams. Even if you're a much better team, you still throw out some false compliments so as not to insult the other team, or give bulletin board material. But he basically refused to recognize that there would have been similar value in applying that to the transition to the NBA.

Anyway, I'm really glad that all seems past him now, and I'm really hoping LBJ let's him run more of the kind of offense he wants to, because it will end up saving wear and tear on LBJ himself.
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I don't think he let the ego get in the way at first, it was the constant questions about being a rookie coach and how the NBA is different that pushed him into a more defensive, "Hey guys let me explain to you" mode... then he perhaps felt he couldn't backpedal from that. Which is a little weird because you're right, he does the no-I-in-team thing really well, readily allowing credit to go to others.
 
Yesterday Blatt had an extended interview with the Israeli media (40 minutes). Some highlights from his remarks:

Last season -
* It took a lot of time to "recover" from the loss in the finals - it was such a powerful experience.
* The team did the best it could do in these curcumstances, but without the injuries it could have looked different.
* After the Cavs were up 2-1 he knew that the best chance was to win game 4, but they couldn't find the energies.

The media -
* I understand the importance of the media, but I'm not affected by the "background noises" during the season.

Lebron -

* Coaching a player like him is a blessing, he's unique, in a list with Michael, Larry, Magic and Bill Russel.
* With Lebron, you don't try to order him to do something, it's a dialogue, sometimes you agree and sometimes you disagree.
* Yet, he's definitely coachable, he's more mature and experienced than ever.

The staff -
* Tyronn was my pick, he has the knowledge, the experience and I know I can trust him 100%.
* when you have people like Ty, Larry Drew and Boylan, you need to use them, give them responsibilities and let them contribute to the team.

Next season -
* The team is commited as ever to bring the title to Cleveland and to Ohio in order to end the 51 year drought.
 
crazyfish said:
Yesterday Blatt had an extended interview with the Israeli media (40 minutes). Some highlights from his remarks:

Last season -
* It took a lot of time to "recover" from the loss in the finals - it was such a powerful experience.
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That is a major point of interest for me. I'm not sure about everyone else, but i want to see how we come out against Golden State on Christmas day, and how the Cavs galvanise themselves in the Oracle. I'm interested especially to see the response of four people; JR, Kyrie, Blatt and Lebron. I'm only mentioning Kyrie because I think it would've hurt him quite a lot to miss that series, and he knows he could have made some difference to the series. JR to galvanise a pretty poor performance, and Lebron because, well ;

But Blatt especially I think is hurt a lot by what happened last year and his mismanaging of the media in his inability to dumb down what he is saying in order to avoid controversy. Blatt is a bloody smart guy, and the loss of the finals, a season of experience in handling the media and the NBA life as a coach, and an offseason to really properly prepare will see a transformed and see Blatt at his best, here's hoping at least.
 
I want to bump this thread and discuss what we expect to see from Blatt in year 2.

Assuming Kyrie misses extended time (training camp, pre-season, and then roughly a month is a realistic expectation, I think), Blatt will have to fix a lot there. Last year's offense boiled down to LeBron and Irving attacking via pick and roll and isolation, and everything else happening as a result.

I think we'll still see plenty of PnR with LeBron and Mo, but that's not going to be good enough to be an elite offensive team.

The Cavs will need to incorporate the offense we saw in the beginning of the playoffs with plenty of inside-out action through James and Love down low, secondary pick and rolls with alternate players, and ball swings to shooters in sweet spots, IMO.

If Kevin Love cannot find an increased, defined offensive role with Irving down, I will seriously doubt Blatt's ability to coach this team to a title. I think that's a fair statement.

Defensively, I'm curious to see how Blatt and his staff scheme from the onset. I would assume the Cavs will be icing PnR's toward Mozgov right away, and if Kaun is capable defensively, that will be the gameplan for all 48 minutes. Otherwise, we'll see them switch everything, which will totally expose Mo and Love on mismatches.

I think that what we need to see Blatt instill more of in this team from the beginning, however, is the will to run the ball after stops. The Cavs are LOADED with players who are great in transition.

Mo has always been good on the fastbreak at pulling up, finding cutters, and trailing for 3s.

LeBron is LeBron.

JR Smith and Shumpert are both shooters with tremendous athletic ability.

Thompson and Mozgov run and finish on the fast break as well as any bigs in the NBA.

Kevin Love is a better outlet passer than any big in the NBA, and is one of the league's best defensive rebounders.

Tl;dr: Blatt needs to get this team running reliable offensive sets, particularly for Kevin Love, keep the defense where it was in the playoffs (yes, even before Love went down), and get this team out and runnning for easy points.
 
I was always willing to accept Year 1 with Blatt as a “learning on the fly” situation. Going into year 2 with almost exactly the same roster as the previous year, I am going to be holding him a lot more accountable for the team’s performance.
 
Cassity14 said:
If Kevin Love cannot find an increased, defined offensive role with Irving down, I will seriously doubt Blatt's ability to coach this team to a title. I think that's a fair statement.
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This team was a couple games from a title without Love, without Kyrie, and a worse roster than today. I have zero doubt in Blatt's ability to coach this team to a title after what transpired in the playoffs. That's not even an endorsement of Blatt as a great coach, but in my eyes he has shown to at least be good enough combined with Lebron and the overall talent on the roster to win a championship. (damned health permitting :banghead:)

Cassity14 said:
Defensively, I'm curious to see how Blatt and his staff scheme from the onset. I would assume the Cavs will be icing PnR's toward Mozgov right away, and if Kaun is capable defensively, that will be the gameplan for all 48 minutes. Otherwise, we'll see them switch everything, which will totally expose Mo and Love on mismatches.
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"Icing" a PnR is merely one way to defend a side PnR. When it's employed depends on both the offensive and defensive personnel. It will never be the game plan for all 48 minutes. Remember the Bulls destroying the Cavs with pick and pops with Gasol? A lot of those picks were iced, which tends to allow those kinds of shots. So again, it depends on personnel.

The Cavs typically only played the "switch everything" (most things) late in games when TT was on the floor. Love/Timo usually don't switch unless forced by poor guard defense. Until the day comes that Kyrie (and Mo) can avoid being completely wiped out by a screen, we're going to see the the unfortunate switches of Love/Mozgov (Kaun) onto guards. I'm pretty sure those switches aren't by design.


Later in the season and in the Boston series I saw Love's role in the offense evolve into a pretty close facsimile of what I think his role in the offense should look like. Frankly, I think his role is more directly related to how Lebron wants to play and is comfortable playing than anything Blatt schemes for him. In that respect, the developing relationship between Blatt and Lebron is of utmost importance. Hopefully we're past the bullshit from last year and some real trust is being established, which will allow Blatt to assume more control of what the team runs. Certainly, Lebron can't believe that completely dominating control of the offense is good for himself or the team in the long run.
 
teamballer said:
Man, it's barely September and the media is already obsessed once more with the idea of Blatt being fired.

Also, writing that Blatt enjoyed a grace period last year is just laughable.
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Did you read it? I thought it was fair and well written. The article didn't say anything negative about Blatt--it merely explained WHY he will be on the hotseat.
 
NoTitleTown said:
Did you read it? I thought it was fair and well written. The article didn't say anything negative about Blatt--it merely explained WHY he will be on the hotseat.
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I read it, and I'm not sure which part is well written. It basically says something along the lines of "the Cavs are stacked and if they struggle David Blatt may or may not get fired," which is something any 8 year old could say. You're right that it didn't say anything explicitly negative about Blatt, but I can't think of any other coach about whom the media is so obsessed with the prospect of him being fired. Can you imagine an article like this about any other coach in the history of the NBA, who has coached a team with two of its three best players out to the NBA finals (and a near upset in the finals)?
 
My hope is that with Irving out, we will establish Love better. We need to utilize him better at elbow and actually run plays through him. This should help hammer out the chemistry issues b/w him and LBJ.

Blatt is afforded the luxury of Mo and LBJ already knowing how to play together. Williams will get so many open 3 looks in this offense it will be insane. I could see him easily hitting 40% on his threes this season. (post-season is a different story)

IMO, Blatt had a great first year, considering he was a rookie coach who had to deal with untimely injuries in crunch time. His ability to adjust on the fly was such a breath of fresh air to see. That's what separates the good coaches from the great ones. I expect us to come out rolling this year. I expect an early attention to defense we didn't see at the beginning of last year. Our time is now and i am confident Blatt can lead this team.
 
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