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David Blatt is a former NBA coach

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Blatt's recent thoughts:
http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/video/teams/cavaliers/2015/04/28/150428BLATTmov-3585232

- We're in the process of making our plans and taking things into consideration and coming up with different possibilities, of which there are many.

- Missing those two pieces obviously there is going to be a difference in how we use LeBron. We're not gonna re-invent the wheel, but make the adjustments that we have to.

- We haven't made excuses all year, and we're not looking for some special consideration. We'll get ourselves ready to play and win.

- Having a little more time to prepare does help. Being out for so many days also has its degree of difficulty, but you can't have everything. We'll deal.

- (Reporter quoted Noah's comments) - We haven't had many examples of loss of poise or mentality, we have done extremely well with the exception of one or two isolated incidents. We'll be fine regardless of who we face. And quoting Joakim is not fair to the Bucks, since they are still very much in that series.

- We are considering different lineups. Who are opponent is will determine the adjustments we gotta make. In the meantime we work on the things specific to us.

- Our guys have been locked in. Everyone recognizes that we have to pick it up. The next man up mentality is prevalent in the team. We are hurting for what happened to Kev, but not to the point where we are less hungry or discouraged.

- Having LeBron is priceless. He was great in the first round and led the guys. The other players have stepped up as well. The guys recognize the moment. We needed to close the game in Boston without two starters and we did it, and that's what we'll need to do in the next series, whoever the opponent.

- JR is JR. As good as you are, one moment can be costly. We're with JR and behind him at all times. He was a big part in our success and will continue to be so.

- The last game of the sweep was a sweet and sour dish. Not gonna be eating any Chinese food anytime soon :D :D
 
It's certain possible to make an argument that there are or were potentially better coaches out there than Blatt. You never know the results of the choices you don't make, so it can be debated endlessly.

But it's pretty clear that at the very least, this is one pick that Griffin didn't blow.
 
Overall I was happy with the first round coaching. Going big and squeezing the life out of Boston seemed like it was clearly the best choice. It gave the Cavs the best chance to win with the least risk. The games seemed to be less close than the scores indicated. I don't think those 4th Q runs were much more than the Cavs easing off the pedal, not Boston making a serious run. I don't have a problem with the minutes that anyone played.

Next series is going to require more creativity. The Opponent will have more weapons and the Cavs will have fewer. Looking forward to the next set of games.
 
Douglar said:
Overall I was happy with the first round coaching. Going big and squeezing the life out of Boston seemed like it was clearly the best choice. It gave the Cavs the best chance to win with the least risk. The games seemed to be less close than the scores indicated. I don't think those 4th Q runs were much more than the Cavs easing off the pedal, not Boston making a serious run. I don't have a problem with the minutes that anyone played.

Next series is going to require more creativity. The Opponent will have more weapons and the Cavs will have fewer. Looking forward to the next set of games.
Click to expand...

This.

I also couldn't shake the impression that the Cavs thought they could beat Boston on pretty much just talent and defense, so it didn't make sense to break out the real creative, funky stuff. If you can keep beating a team with 1:1 ball and a measure of PnR action, then why not save the more elaborate sets for the next round?
 
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ready to see what Blatt has to offer in game 1 and 2..I think he succeeds and we go up 2-0 and have an angry and motivated JR back in game 3 ready to have a monster game to help Kyrie and Lebron
 
Really proud of his growth over the year and excited to see what he can do in this upcoming series, i would love to see him exploit noahs injury and the weak defense of some of their players(specifically mirotic and dunleavy) and really attack and put the bulls in a position of weakness. And I hope James Jones, Mike Miller, and Shawn marion have been working on skills/conditioning because we are gonna need their shooting, and defense in marions case, really really bad.
 
I've really liked the things Blatt has said since the injury/suspension and I'm confident that he's going to stabilize this team and give them confidence. It will certainly not be easy against the Bulls, but it can be done.

If fully expect Blatt to mitigate the loss of offense due to Love's absence and the floor spacing he provides by playing more of our defensive lineups. After LeBron's return and the trades, our offense was humming along on all-time type elite level and our greatest core competency was an efficient offense that was difficult to defeat primarily due to how we shot the ball (we averaged going 13 for 31 on threes after the All-Star game). We can't really win like that anymore, so we're going to have to play other ways that will help maximize our core competencies.

Per 82games.com, the Delly/Shump/James/TT/Moz lineup was the BEST DEFENSIVE LINEUP out of the top 600 five man units in the NBA this season with a DRating of 70 and also sported an ORating of 118 for a net +38 which is really impressive. Only 40 minutes played total with that lineup, but it was deployed in multiple games against different types of teams and was successful almost every time out.

The second best lineup was GSW's Curry/Thompson/Iguodala/Barnes/Bogut with a DRating of 72.

Our other great defensive lineup was Dellavedova/Shumpert/JR.Smith/James/Thompson boasting a DRating of 81 and an ORating of 139.

I really hope that Kyrie can be part of these great defensive lineups one day, but he's just not there right now.

Lastly, fucking Olynk ruined our great starting lineup with was a net +21 (119 ORating, 98 DRating), the type of numbers you see from the starting lineups of all time great teams. For example, GSW's starting lineup was a net +20 this year, the great 2008 Celtics team was a net +20, our 2009 Z/Andy/LBJ/West/Mo lineup was +20, and so on. I posted the following when the starting lineup was at +26 per 100 possessions:

Since 2001, the year BKREF gives us lineup data, these are the BEST starting lineups over the past 14 years:

2006 Rockets +27.4--525 minutes: R. Alston | S. Battier | C. Hayes | T. McGrady | Y. Ming

2014 Cavs +26.3--347 minutes: K. Irving | L. James | K. Love | T. Mozgov | J. Smith 347 minutes (we're now at +20.7, still good for the 4th best in the past 14 years for lineups with 400+ minutes)

2005 Mavericks +25.5 271 minutes D. Diop | A. Griffin | J. Howard | D. Nowitzki | J. Terry

2003 Indiana +24.8--528 minutes: M. World Peace | J. Foster | R. Miller | J. O'Neal | J. Tinsley

2008 Magic (not starting) +24.3 256 minutes D. Howard | C. Lee | R. Lewis | J. Nelson | H. Turkoglu

2006 Mavericks +22.2--548 minutes: E. Dampier | D. Harris | J. Howard | D. Nowitzki | J. Terry

2004 Spurs +21.6--577 minutes: B. Bowen | T. Duncan | M. Ginobili | R. Nesterovic | T. Parker

OTHER Lineups (minimum of 200 minutes):

2005 Miami (not starting) +19.9 209 minutes U. Haslem | S. O'Neal | G. Payton | J. Posey | D. Wade

2007 Celtics +19.7--1,072 minutes R. Allen | K. Garnett | K. Perkins | P. Pierce | R. Rondo

2008 Cavs +19.7--485 minutes Z. Ilgauskas | L. James | B. Wallace | D. West | M. Williams

2012 Spurs +19.0--362 minutes T. Duncan | D. Green | K. Leonard | T. Parker | T. Splitter

2010 Celtics +18.9 (not starting) 265 minutes R. Allen | K. Garnett | S. O'Neal | P. Pierce | R. Rondo

2007 Lakers +18.8 (not starting) 271 minutes K. Bryant | A. Bynum | D. Fisher | L. Odom | L. Walton

2012 Miami +18.7 300 minutes S. Battier | C. Bosh | M. Chalmers | L. James | D. Wade

2004 Mavs +18.6 409 minutes E. Dampier | M. Finley | J. Howard | D. Nowitzki | J. Terry

2008 Blazers +18.2 561 minutes L. Aldridge | N. Batum | S. Blake | J. Przybilla | B. Roy

2008 Lakers +17.1 499 minutes T. Ariza | K. Bryant | D. Fisher | P. Gasol | L. Odom
 
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