David Blatt is a former NBA coach

[Damien O'Connel]

I love turning on espn and seeing this as a big developing story. Since when is it news super stars call out plays depending on the flow of the game instead of the coach? Jackson certainly let Jordan dictate the play on the floor and nothing was news worthy there. If this was an Iverson or Marbury doing it, I get it. It would also be a knock on the coach, but this is James. A proven champion should be in the thick of game calling and the coach shouldn't be second guessed over that.

To your point....I don't think there's a team in basketball at any level above middle school that doesn't allow its PG to at least OCCASIONALLY call out plays.

ESPN beats the 'floor general' tag to death. But these are the Cavs, EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IS A TOTAL DISASTER NO MATTER WHAT....









......but they're playing the best ball in the NBA......

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Here's an update/response from Blatt and LBJ:

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James says he has "freedom" to call plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the course of a game, and coach David Blatt says that the superstar dictating the action is business as usual.
"I don't think that's peculiar," Blatt said after Cavs practice Wednesday. "When the game is going on and you are in the heat of the battle at times, you can't get a message through or you don't want to stop the flow, so a guy may [call the play on his own].

"We have sets that we know what we're going to use going in. You know, we have a package that we're going to use going in and at times, according to the flow of the game, somebody may call out a play. I don't think that's unusual..."

....James elaborated on his leeway to call plays Wednesday.

"Well, we have a package," James said. "If I see something, I have the right to call plays. Kyrie [Irving] does as well. We kind of do that play calling. Coach Blatt does the play calling obviously throughout the game in timeouts, but it's great to be able to have some type of freedom out there with Kyrie to be able to call sets that we feel best suit our team."

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....ing-plays-yeah-so/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

What was overlooked from the beginning of this story was that regardless of who is calling the individual plays -- the plays being run are Blatt's plays. It's his offense, his sets, and his packages. Within that framework, who actually decides which play to run is much less important.

One nice nugget in McMenamin's updated story is LBJ's tone. He's not just making crap up as he goes along -- "well, we have a package" indicates that he's understands the offensive scheme devised by the coaching staff, and isn't fighting against it the way he was his first year or so in Miami. He may still call his own number a lot, but he's not objecting to the concepts and underlying sets.

 

[Hydroponic3385]

It's amazing that the media made this such an issue. It seems like basic common sense that the PG/ball-handler will sometimes (often?) call out plays during a game. I mean...wtf?

 

[Kbiz]

LBJ has called plays his ENTIRE career. He did it his first time in Cleveland. He drew plays up during time-outs in Miami. Why is this news? This is not news.

 

[supermario21]

Broussard totally shut Windhorst down saying it's no big deal at all. Talked about how he did the same in Miami and how other star players do the same thing. Said it would only be a problem if Blatt and LeBron were always butting heads but that isn't the case.

 

[amazon123]

Here's an update/response from Blatt and LBJ:

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James says he has "freedom" to call plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the course of a game, and coach David Blatt says that the superstar dictating the action is business as usual.
"I don't think that's peculiar," Blatt said after Cavs practice Wednesday. "When the game is going on and you are in the heat of the battle at times, you can't get a message through or you don't want to stop the flow, so a guy may [call the play on his own].

"We have sets that we know what we're going to use going in. You know, we have a package that we're going to use going in and at times, according to the flow of the game, somebody may call out a play. I don't think that's unusual..."

....James elaborated on his leeway to call plays Wednesday.

"Well, we have a package," James said. "If I see something, I have the right to call plays. Kyrie [Irving] does as well. We kind of do that play calling. Coach Blatt does the play calling obviously throughout the game in timeouts, but it's great to be able to have some type of freedom out there with Kyrie to be able to call sets that we feel best suit our team."

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....ing-plays-yeah-so/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

What was overlooked from the beginning of this story was that regardless of who is calling the individual plays -- the plays being run are Blatt's plays. It's his offense, his sets, and his packages. Within that framework, who actually decides which play to run is much less important.

One nice nugget in McMenamin's updated story is LBJ's tone. He's not just making crap up as he goes along -- "well, we have a package" indicates that he's understands the offensive scheme devised by the coaching staff, and isn't fighting against it the way he was his first year or so in Miami. He may still call his own number a lot, but he's not objecting to the concepts and underlying sets.

To be honest, Lebron and Kyrie does not Blatt's plays all the time. Otherwise, you wouldn't see Le-iso and Ky-iso so many times during the course of a game. You certainly wouldn't see something in Blatt's European teams. Other than that, I agree with everyone here, it's really no big deal.

 

[Sirius]

It's amazing that the media made this such an issue. It seems like basic common sense that the PG/ball-handler will sometimes (often?) call out plays during a game. I mean...wtf?

It's a combination of 3 factors:

1. Windy's almost childish adoration and sycophantic ass-kissery of Lebron. They have a relationship in his mind.

2. David Blatt's demeanor pisses off some journalists. Windhorst seems like the type who'd get more butt-hurt than most if brushed aside. He's using his typewriter to settle a grudge.

It's like highschool. Windy is in love with Lebron and in-hate with Blatt and both hardly know he exists. Until he spews this kind of garbage out and gets some acknowledgement.

1 and 2 feed into:

3. ESPN and ESPN clones' built-in disrespect of Cleveland. Not so much anti-Semitism as anti-Clevelandism. Did I just invent a new word?

 

[Jon]

The spin that Windhorst put on this was that James was calling the plays - ignoring what Blatt wants, and then Blatt was mimicking the call to pretend like he actually had something to do with it.

It fits so nicely in to the ESPN narrative that Blatt is clueless when put that way.

 

[Ruken]

To be honest, Lebron and Kyrie does not Blatt's plays all the time. Otherwise, you wouldn't see Le-iso and Ky-iso so many times during the course of a game. You certainly wouldn't see something in Blatt's European teams. Other than that, I agree with everyone here, it's really no big deal.

Except, as I was corrected previously, Blatt was known in Europe to change his offensive system to suit the players he has. Do I think all of the iso calls are his? Certainly not, but when you have to players that are as good at iso as we do, it is going to happen fairly often.

 

[Pavlovic3Ball]

LeBron is the coach of this team.

 

[Green Lantern]

The spin that Windhorst put on this was that James was calling the plays - ignoring what Blatt wants, and then Blatt was mimicking the call to pretend like he actually had something to do with it.

It fits so nicely in to the ESPN narrative that Blatt is clueless when put that way.

Even though some things are true about the team , some of this stuff is getting blown out of proportion.
Almost as if some in the media don't want to see the team succeed with Blatt.

 

[Willard513]

I dont know if I have ever seen a coach of a team playing the best basketball in the NBA being more scrutinized. Good Lord. And it was nice to see that both Blatt and Lebron talk about packages of plays before games, indicating they are on the same page and have a common understanding of the plays that are necessary to win, whether it is Le-Iso, Ky-Iso, or a Blatt set. What also pleases me is Lebron's willingness to run Blatt's out-of-bounds-timeout plays, and not just try to Iso every time and take a side step three. THAT is more indicative of their growing relationship to me compared to earlier this season.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

2. David Blatt's demeanor pisses off some journalists. Windhorst seems like the type who'd get more butt-hurt than most at getting brushed aside. He's using his typewriter to settle some grudge.

I really didn't want to believe this, but....

Windy was the basketball guy in Cleveland during the MB days. He had more "inside" access than anyone, and that was a huge boost to his ability to write good stories. Then ESPN sucks him away to cover LBJ in Miami, and he's still "the" guy to some extent.

But this time around, it doesn't seem as if he's been given any greater access/information than anyone else. And I think that fact, coupled with the fact that Blatt doesn't suffer foolish questions gladly, has really bothered him. It's too bad, because I really think he has some good skills, and was admired around the league not just because of his access, but because of how hard he worked covering other teams, familiarizing himself with players, etc..

His writing about the Cavs almost seems petulant sometimes, and I hope he snaps out of it.

 

[amazon123]

Except, as I was corrected previously, Blatt was known in Europe to change his offensive system to suit the players he has. Do I think all of the iso calls are his? Certainly not, but when you have to players that are as good at iso as we do, it is going to happen fairly often.

I was responding to the bold, which said all the plays that are called are Blatt's plays, regardless of whether Blatt himself calls them. That's not exactly true, whatever happens Blatt will get all of the credit or blame.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I was responding to the bold, which said all the plays that are called are Blatt's plays, regardless of whether Blatt himself calls them. That's not exactly true, whatever happens Blatt will get all of the credit or blame.

I think the point is that some of Blatt's plays are isolations, and those are the ISO plays LBJ is calling.