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David Blatt is a former NBA coach
- Thread starter wuck
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I would like to show you how consistant and systematic blatt and his intake on life is. Remember his last night presser? Here is a quote from june 12 2014 after his season with maccabi and signing with the cavs:
"I am leaving home, but not family. Heavy hearted, yet whole, for I feel it is the time for me to move on. I will always appreciate the accomplishments and people I have worked with. I am not leaving for a better contract - I am persuing a childhood dream.It is the one challenge I have yet to achieve in my career."
"אני עוזב את הבית, אבל לא את המשפחה. הלב שלי כבד, אך שלם, מפני שאני מרגיש שזה הזמן הנכון עבורי להתקדם. תמיד אעריך את ההישגים ואת האנשים שעבדתי איתם. אני לא עוזב בשביל חוזה גבוה יותר, אלא בעקבות חלום ילדות. זהו האתגר היחיד שטרם כבשתי בקריירה".
Its amazing how similar it is to what he said the other day..
"I am leaving home, but not family. Heavy hearted, yet whole, for I feel it is the time for me to move on. I will always appreciate the accomplishments and people I have worked with. I am not leaving for a better contract - I am persuing a childhood dream.It is the one challenge I have yet to achieve in my career."
"אני עוזב את הבית, אבל לא את המשפחה. הלב שלי כבד, אך שלם, מפני שאני מרגיש שזה הזמן הנכון עבורי להתקדם. תמיד אעריך את ההישגים ואת האנשים שעבדתי איתם. אני לא עוזב בשביל חוזה גבוה יותר, אלא בעקבות חלום ילדות. זהו האתגר היחיד שטרם כבשתי בקריירה".
Its amazing how similar it is to what he said the other day..
Binkster
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Dude, you've bought WAY into the baseless media narrative that's been proven to have zero substance.
Check the record books and find me a coach who has been fired immediately after winning the Finals... No? Ok, let's try coaches fired after reaching the Finals. Still nothing?
That's fucking odd, isn't it?
Binkster
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There's one very misinformed (ugly and deformed) Stephen A./Windy/Bucher/Bayless hybrid baby running around here.
Joe Henderson
keyboard monkey. also, not actually Joe Henderson.
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I'm not saying I agree with @halrook, but that's not his point. His angle, and I think it's a new one, is that Blatt would welcome a change because he will never get enough credit for coaching a team this talented.
This doesn't make a lot of sense (to me at least), but let's not bury the new guy under an undeserved pile of SAS/Bayless/Bucher progeny.
Binkster
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Nah, I'd prefer to bury him.
I present: The Halrook Stephen Bay-Ucherhorst:
Enjoy the nightmares.
David.
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Woah max disagrees
boogie-havoc
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Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert says he never considered letting go of David Blatt, insists he's the man for the job
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the 2015 NBA Finals, and coach David Blatt played an essential role in leading them to a destination they haven't been to in eight years.
To say that Blatt has had quite the year would be an understatement.
Not many foresaw this being the outcome after a robust roster featuring LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love got off to a disappointing 19-20 start. It was a team in disarray, and Blatt was overwhelmingly held responsible by popular opinion.
There was a three-week period beginning on Christmas Day where the Cavaliers lost 10 of 12 contests. James missed eight of those games to receive extended treatment on his knee and back, but the roster was still badly underperforming.
The speculation was that Blatt's short days in Cleveland were numbered. And although General Manager David Griffin came to his coach's aid with a vote of confidence, calling the reports of Blatt's looming ouster "truly ridiculous," it was difficult to buy it considering how poorly the team was playing.
It was a dark period for Blatt.
In an exclusive interview with Northeast Ohio Media Group, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said firing Blatt was never considered, and added that his confidence in his coach never wavered.
"It really didn't," Gilbert told NEOMG. "I don't care what the expectations were, especially after we changed coaches twice in two years. This was a guy with a long-term record of success. You have to at least give a season, maybe more than just one. I think it would have destabilized the entire franchise and it would have been bad."
On the court, Blatt's fortunes would change.
Griffin traded for Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, and James returned from his two-week hiatus with more pep in his step. Blatt overhauled the defense, and the Cavaliers went on to obliterate the competition.
After Jan. 15, Cleveland posted an NBA-best record of 34-9. That domination carried into the playoffs, a sweep of the Boston Celtics in the opening round. Those whispers about Blatt's departure subsided, but picked back up again during the Eastern Conference semifinal round against the rival Chicago Bulls.
In Game 4 of that series, Blatt nearly cost his team the win by trying to call a timeout he didn't have in the closing seconds of the game. Associate head coach Tyronn Lue, mindful of the timeout situation, quickly pulled Blatt off the court before a referee could spot him.
Had an official seen Blatt signaling for a timeout, Chicago would have been awarded a free throw and possession of the ball. It went from Chicago going up 3-1 in the series to Cleveland evening the series after James' buzzer-beating, game-winning jumper.
Blatt owned his mishap and credited his coaching staff for being cognizant of the circumstances.
How did Gilbert view the blunder? He insists that even if the Cavaliers had lost that game due to Blatt's timeout call, releasing him wasn't an option.
"Look, there's nobody you can point to in the world that doesn't make a mistake," Gilbert said to NEOMG. "The best players, the best business people, the best coaches. So one thing is not going to make or break a person."
Now the Cavaliers are four victories away from ending a 51-year professional championship drought in the city, and Blatt is a huge part of that.
"They wanted Coach Blatt fired, saying we needed another point guard, will LeBron and Kyrie be able to play together? So many story lines was just happening at that point in time," James said. "For us to be sitting at this point today, being able to represent the Eastern Conference in The Finals, this is special. It's very special."
Blatt's first season in the NBA has been filled with trials and tribulations like no other. This isn't what he signed up for, but due to his wealth of experience coaching at a high level elsewhere, he was able to adapt on the fly.
James acknowledged there's an unjust dose of scrutiny and ridicule that comes with being associated with him. That's the good and bad of coaching the best player in the game.
Whether the criticisms of Blatt were warranted or not, Gilbert believes Blatt was just an easy target and is confident that he's still the man for the job.
"I think it's natural when a team has such high expectations, under .500 halfway through the season, they're going to go after a brand new coach," Gilbert explained to NEOMG. "So I don't think it was so much him as it was the situation. You have to go by some of his body of work. This guy won 17 of 21 seasons. He won championships in four or five different countries and brought the Russians to the Olympic medal round.
"When we did checks on him, we must have talked to 70 or 80 people, literally. We couldn't find somebody to say a bad word. There's something about him. It's hard to put your finger on it, but there's something about him. He's a good soul and he knows how to get these guys to love each other, to play for the team. That to me is the most important thing."
After sweeping the Hawks, Blatt was humbled. He praised Atlanta for their professionalism in what was a hard-fought, emotional series for both teams for various reasons. It was like a sigh of relief for Blatt on that podium, knowing his team is almost close to the ultimate prize – an NBA title.
He has come a long way, and it's well deserved.
"I know it's hard for people to understand because they don't really know my path and my career, but this also is a new situation for me and a new place for me," Blatt said. "LeBron came home. I left home to come here, and I left a lot of people that I love dearly and a lot of people that I'm close, so close to, in order to pursue a dream, in order to do something in my career that I hadn't had the opportunity to do.
"That's a big sacrifice on the part of my family and the place that I'm from. It's special because it's all worthwhile. I came here. I got the opportunity to work with a great group of guys, with the best player in the world and maybe in the history of the game. With the wonderful management who's given us every opportunity to succeed and with fans who are so loyal and have been for so many years, who just want a champion. So it makes me very happy and very proud to be a part of that and to have this experience in my life."
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index...sa.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
----
Yup, he's gone.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the 2015 NBA Finals, and coach David Blatt played an essential role in leading them to a destination they haven't been to in eight years.
To say that Blatt has had quite the year would be an understatement.
Not many foresaw this being the outcome after a robust roster featuring LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love got off to a disappointing 19-20 start. It was a team in disarray, and Blatt was overwhelmingly held responsible by popular opinion.
There was a three-week period beginning on Christmas Day where the Cavaliers lost 10 of 12 contests. James missed eight of those games to receive extended treatment on his knee and back, but the roster was still badly underperforming.
The speculation was that Blatt's short days in Cleveland were numbered. And although General Manager David Griffin came to his coach's aid with a vote of confidence, calling the reports of Blatt's looming ouster "truly ridiculous," it was difficult to buy it considering how poorly the team was playing.
It was a dark period for Blatt.
In an exclusive interview with Northeast Ohio Media Group, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said firing Blatt was never considered, and added that his confidence in his coach never wavered.
"It really didn't," Gilbert told NEOMG. "I don't care what the expectations were, especially after we changed coaches twice in two years. This was a guy with a long-term record of success. You have to at least give a season, maybe more than just one. I think it would have destabilized the entire franchise and it would have been bad."
On the court, Blatt's fortunes would change.
Griffin traded for Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, and James returned from his two-week hiatus with more pep in his step. Blatt overhauled the defense, and the Cavaliers went on to obliterate the competition.
After Jan. 15, Cleveland posted an NBA-best record of 34-9. That domination carried into the playoffs, a sweep of the Boston Celtics in the opening round. Those whispers about Blatt's departure subsided, but picked back up again during the Eastern Conference semifinal round against the rival Chicago Bulls.
In Game 4 of that series, Blatt nearly cost his team the win by trying to call a timeout he didn't have in the closing seconds of the game. Associate head coach Tyronn Lue, mindful of the timeout situation, quickly pulled Blatt off the court before a referee could spot him.
Had an official seen Blatt signaling for a timeout, Chicago would have been awarded a free throw and possession of the ball. It went from Chicago going up 3-1 in the series to Cleveland evening the series after James' buzzer-beating, game-winning jumper.
Blatt owned his mishap and credited his coaching staff for being cognizant of the circumstances.
How did Gilbert view the blunder? He insists that even if the Cavaliers had lost that game due to Blatt's timeout call, releasing him wasn't an option.
"Look, there's nobody you can point to in the world that doesn't make a mistake," Gilbert said to NEOMG. "The best players, the best business people, the best coaches. So one thing is not going to make or break a person."
Now the Cavaliers are four victories away from ending a 51-year professional championship drought in the city, and Blatt is a huge part of that.
"They wanted Coach Blatt fired, saying we needed another point guard, will LeBron and Kyrie be able to play together? So many story lines was just happening at that point in time," James said. "For us to be sitting at this point today, being able to represent the Eastern Conference in The Finals, this is special. It's very special."
Blatt's first season in the NBA has been filled with trials and tribulations like no other. This isn't what he signed up for, but due to his wealth of experience coaching at a high level elsewhere, he was able to adapt on the fly.
James acknowledged there's an unjust dose of scrutiny and ridicule that comes with being associated with him. That's the good and bad of coaching the best player in the game.
Whether the criticisms of Blatt were warranted or not, Gilbert believes Blatt was just an easy target and is confident that he's still the man for the job.
"I think it's natural when a team has such high expectations, under .500 halfway through the season, they're going to go after a brand new coach," Gilbert explained to NEOMG. "So I don't think it was so much him as it was the situation. You have to go by some of his body of work. This guy won 17 of 21 seasons. He won championships in four or five different countries and brought the Russians to the Olympic medal round.
"When we did checks on him, we must have talked to 70 or 80 people, literally. We couldn't find somebody to say a bad word. There's something about him. It's hard to put your finger on it, but there's something about him. He's a good soul and he knows how to get these guys to love each other, to play for the team. That to me is the most important thing."
After sweeping the Hawks, Blatt was humbled. He praised Atlanta for their professionalism in what was a hard-fought, emotional series for both teams for various reasons. It was like a sigh of relief for Blatt on that podium, knowing his team is almost close to the ultimate prize – an NBA title.
He has come a long way, and it's well deserved.
"I know it's hard for people to understand because they don't really know my path and my career, but this also is a new situation for me and a new place for me," Blatt said. "LeBron came home. I left home to come here, and I left a lot of people that I love dearly and a lot of people that I'm close, so close to, in order to pursue a dream, in order to do something in my career that I hadn't had the opportunity to do.
"That's a big sacrifice on the part of my family and the place that I'm from. It's special because it's all worthwhile. I came here. I got the opportunity to work with a great group of guys, with the best player in the world and maybe in the history of the game. With the wonderful management who's given us every opportunity to succeed and with fans who are so loyal and have been for so many years, who just want a champion. So it makes me very happy and very proud to be a part of that and to have this experience in my life."
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index...sa.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
----
Yup, he's gone.
Binkster
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teamballer
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This is a great quote by Gilbert, because it captures a big part of why Blatt has had so much success in his career, and these things have very little to do with whether you're coaching in the NBA or elsewhere.
gourimoko
Fighting the good fight!
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Wow!!!
Maybe he hit the wrong button??
How could they fire him after going to the Finals though? I mean, unless he quit and said he wanted to go back to Israel/Europe and they parted ways amicably?
I just can't envision a scenario where David Blatt could be fired with just cause.
@Maximus
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