David Blatt is a former NBA coach

[theSTEREO.]

I find myself wondering if the game turned into to iso ball screen stand around in the second half by design from blatt or if LBJ and Kyrie made the call and blatt allowed them to have the ownership of the offense?

I can see the benefit of letting the players make the calls and then using the film session to break it down and teach afterwards. I hope that was the case, you could use that game tape to teach quite a lot about shot selection and offensive flow

Windy's article today said Blatt hasn't even installed most of his offense yet. So until they learn the whole system, there will probably be a decent amount of ISO and standard pick n roll.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Windy's article today said Blatt hasn't even installed most of his offense yet. So until they learn the whole system, there will probably be a decent amount of ISO and standard pick n roll.

Wow...he hasn't even installed most of his offense and it already looks a hundred times more complex than anything Mike Brown did last year.

 

[shoes22]

Wow...he hasn't even installed most of his offense and it already looks a hundred times more complex than anything Mike Brown did last year.

I think our offense when fully installed will resemble the Spurs during the Finals last year. That was the most efficient looking offense I'd ever seen.

 

[KingDavidBlatt]

I think our offense when fully installed will resemble the Spurs during the Finals last year. That was the most efficient looking offense I'd ever seen.

Not to dis on the Spurs, but obviously you've never seen Maccabi of '04-'05 (Anthony Parker, Sarunas et al) or Jugoplastika Split of '90-'91 (Toni Kukoc, Vlade, Radja and friends). One could even argue that Kinder Bologna of '02 (Manu) played one of the purest offenses. Oh, and guess who was assistant coach on that Maccabi team? ... That's right, it was Coach Blatt.
Put NBA stars on any of those teams and you're approaching greatness. That's the goal, the dream for these Cavs. But it takes time and commitment. Talent alone is not enough.

 

[shoes22]

Not to dis on the Spurs, but obviously you've never seen Maccabi of '04-'05 (Anthony Parker, Sarunas et al) or Jugoplastika Split of '90-'91 (Toni Kukoc, Vlade, Radja and friends). One could even argue that Kinder Bologna of '02 (Manu) played one of the purest offenses. Oh, and guess who was assistant coach on that Maccabi team? ... That's right, it was Coach Blatt.
Put NBA stars on any of those teams and you're approaching greatness. That's the goal, the dream for these Cavs. But it takes time and commitment. Talent alone is not enough.

That's fair, and no I have not. I was only speaking at the NBA level. There is a valid concern though as to how this will work with the extreme disparity in talent level in the nba, and especially on this team. We've already seen some hang ups due to the ISO tendencies of Kyrie, Dion, and LeBron. I don't think it's as simple as just plugging in NBA players and running the same style of offense Blatt ran before. Often a really good offensive system can mask deficiencies in talent, and it's easier for players to rely on the system. Here, there will have to be some adjustments.

 

[David.]

im a fan, not an analyst and have no idea what Im watching except the scoreboard and highlight plays, but what exactly is ther reason for the consistently high amount of turnovers?

I love Blatt.. Issue could be him.. Im guessing the counterargument is that its a shit ton of new players in a situation where theyre learning an extensively complex offense thatre not accustomed to.. Is that about right?

 

[Cavatt]

On open court they were semi-dissing Blatt saying a rookie head coach is going to have a hard time in the playoffs. I think the whole league is sleeping on him.

I already feel really good about Blatt. He is confident, and unlike Byron or Brown, I find him criticizing the same problems I see in the game instead of spouting cliches. He seems to know exactly what they need to work on, and he is very up front about everything. Very refreshing.

The in game adjustments point to Blatt having a better understanding of what is actually happening on the court than most coaches. I am looking forward to every game he coaches.

 

[Cavatt]

im a fan, not an analyst and have no idea what Im watching except the scoreboard and highlight plays, but what exactly is ther reason for the consistently high amount of turnovers?

I love Blatt.. Issue could be him.. Im guessing the counterargument is that its a shit ton of new players in a situation where theyre learning an extensively complex offense thatre not accustomed to.. Is that about right?

Lots of passing and sometimes over passing. I think there is also a hubris to this new team. They want to make highlight plays all day. The Pacers picked off at least 3 of KLove's outlet passes. Lebron has turned it over putting the ball behind his back etc. Some of it is new players, some of it is hot doggin it IMO.

 

[oracio]

im a fan, not an analyst and have no idea what Im watching except the scoreboard and highlight plays, but what exactly is ther reason for the consistently high amount of turnovers?

I love Blatt.. Issue could be him.. Im guessing the counterargument is that its a shit ton of new players in a situation where theyre learning an extensively complex offense thatre not accustomed to.. Is that about right?

This is a totally new team playing together for less than a month, but it has to do a lot because it's preseason - some showoff passes who turned into easy turnovers and lack of determination.

 

[David.]

On open court they were semi-dissing Blatt saying a rookie head coach is going to have a hard time in the playoffs. I think the whole league is sleeping on him.

I already feel really good about Blatt. He is confident, and unlike Byron or Brown, I find him criticizing the same problems I see in the game instead of spouting cliches. He seems to know exactly what they need to work on, and he is very up front about everything. Very refreshing.

The in game adjustments point to Blatt having a better understanding of what is actually happening on the court than most coaches. I am looking forward to every game he coaches.

No doubt about it. The guy can adjust and actually think on his feet, he's layers upon layers deeper than Mike Brown in regards to strategy and knowing the game, he gets respect from the locker room/is incredibly likable, and he's a fucking animal competitively.

 

[Splitz]

I'm almost mad that we have a coach that I like. I'm just not used to it. It kind of takes the wind out of my comedy sails. My hatred towards Mike Brown was posting fuel. I'm at a loss. I'm going to hock 10 loogies into a plastic cup to make myself feel better.

 

[Muffinalt]

What i find funny is that most of the NBA analysts and reviewers describe our new offense using words like: can you imagine the pick and roll with LeBron/Love/Kyrie? Literally the only words ive seen being used (credit to a few deeper articles that did their research, though even those were guilty of this) is the freaking pick and roll.

Our offense is a different kind of animal, this can be seen from even the preseason. I think most of these analysts have become too accustomed to the standard non creative simple NBA offenses. Theyre only waking up to the Spurs now, and even then the only thing they can say is "huh..well ball movement".

They are in for a treat. I do not claim to have sufficient knowledge on Blatt's previous systems, but him as a coach just exudes confidence. He knows he is good, and his results so far have only backed him up. The things our lovely Blatt band-wagoners (seriously how cool is that) have been telling us just makes me even more excited.

Again credit to the few articles that delved deeper into the history/possibility of Blatt's offense but i feel the crop of today's NBA analysis is seriously outdated and too tunnel-visioned on cliches like the freaking pick and roll.

 

[wuck]

I enjoyed the sequence in the 2nd quarter when Hubie Brown had to describe the different defenses the Cavs were playing on a few consecutive possessions. I don't think the Cavs know what they're doing yet when they play 2-3 zone, but I appreciated how they were pretty fluidly changing defenses and also mixing thing up in terms of whether or not to press full-court. There were also times they decided to switch everything (not always great results, led to some ugly mismatches) and times they decided they would fight over screens.

When they actually know how to play a 2-3 zone or some other zones, it will be fun when they start disguising and varying their defense within possessions. It could take a while, but you can see signs of the defense developing. I guess Blatt spends some time on offense and some time on defense in practices. Shocking!!!

 

[Jack Brickman]

I guess Blatt spends some time on offense and some time on defense in practices. Shocking!!!

It's almost as if he actually knows how to coach.

 

[KingDavidBlatt]

Now that preseason is over, a small summary of what I've seen so far with the team

Post-preseason observations:
1. Ball handlers - Blatt loves to play with as many ball handlers as possible. He has obviously found his 2 main guys in Kyrie and Dion, but also LeBron and Delly are options. Any combination of at least 2 of them will be on the floor at all times. On the flip side, Miller, Harris, and Jones are NOT ball handlers.

2. Bigs - Andy and Tristan. Tristan and Andy. Use Love only if the other team has no real big of theirs. Kirk and Haywood as backups. Since this is kind of thin, I expect a roster improvement. Both Andy and Tristan were great in the preseason, each in their own strengths. Luckily both are good rebounders, and Love and LeBron are a huge helping hand in that regard. On offense Tristan will play the role of the pick and roller who will eventually alley-oop for easy dunks, while Andy is more of a play initiator. Both will flourish, assuming they stay healthy.

3. Shooting - the sheer amount of exceptional shooters on this team is amazing. Love, Irving, Dion, Harris, Miller, Jones, Delly, and of course - LeBron. Specifically LeBron has vastly improved his shot since 4 years ago. We saw Love on fire in one of the games, and Kyrie in another. Once they jell and get in rhythm, it will be scary

4. Offense - it seemed great at times, and not so much at other times. I expect gradual improvement. The principles are obviously there. Execution will come in time. Guys will learn when not to overpass, when not to force it, and when to attack or go iso. The learning curve can take a while, but hopefully by playoff time they'll have a good sense of it.

5. Defense - this may be (as expected) the point where there may be problems. Good teams will have great games against us, at least for the 1st part of the season. I expect that by midseason we see improvement, but this is the real question mark - can this team force stops when they need to, like great teams do?
6. Chemistry - Not that enthusiasted with LeBron's remarks. Seems that there may be issues with Kyrie-Dion and Love in general. LeBron-Kyrie seems like a match. LeBron is the obvious leader of the team, but he will willingly take a back seat as far as scoring is concerned. Will be interesting to see the reactions once the PPG stats start coming in - how much will ego truly be a non-factor, even when winning...

7. Them Little Things - I was specifically interested to see what Blatt does regarding the the little differences between Europe and the NBA, so here goes:
7.a. Stopping fast break by "using" fouls - no, haven't seen it. Maybe once, and not on purpose. Seems Blatt is going with the flow, or maybe cause it's just preseason. This is standard practice in Europe, even when over the foul limit.
7.b. End-of-quarter timeouts - h**l yeah. I dont think there was even one quarter that Blatt didnt take a timeout at about 1 min left or less.
7.c. Up by 3 foul - European coaches ALWAYS foul at the end of a game when up by 3. In the one occasion I saw, Blatt didn't foul (Miami). Perhaps it's because of preseason. Maybe just he knew Napier would miss... twice...
7.d. No set rotations, abundance of lineups - clearly, everyone saw that one... And my guess is it's not just cause it's preseason...

8. Blatt Trademarks - There are some plays that David "installs" (yeah, like on your phone...) in every team he's ever been:
8.a. "The Parker top of the key catch and shoot after a barrage of screens and picks" - you saw LeBron do it in the Chicago game. Actually you might even remember Parker do it in Cleveland, as he loved this play as well (and was really good at it).
8.b. "The Saras-Baston pick-and-roll to alley-oop dunk" (also known for Tyrese-Tyus last year) - yes, that's what the Delly-Tristan combination in the Memphis game was.
8.c. "The 2-1-2 full-court press after a made FT" - ahhh, one of my favorites. saw it against Memphis last night, and maybe several other times.
8.d. "The under the basket inbound to right under the basket" - actually I haven't seen this yet... a set of screens free's up a guy cutting to the basket, and the outbounder finds him for a dunk
8.e. "The Baston-Parker backpick followed by alley-oop" - this was when the croud needed some energizing, and normally meant - "look, we're better than you, and you know it too". Haven't seen it yet. Should be classical to run with LeBron, but also Dion, or Tristan on the receiving end.
8.f. "The Bluthental double-pick and pop for a 3" - This is a signature move for Kevin Love to master. He gives a screen for the ball handler, turns around, and pops out beyond a screen set by player X (say Tristan, or Dion, or LeBron). If the D doesnt switch, and the screens are good, he's open for a wide open 3. Haven't seen it yet. Eagerly waiting - this will be the crushing move that defenses will break on.
8.g. "The zone-to-5 defense" - The famous 2-3 zone that changes to man-to-man. Started to see it. Still a work in progress. Derrick Rose was able to beat it quite easily before stepping back for 3's

9. Specific players - can't help it - gotta write it down...
9.a. LeBron - was mainly cruising through the games he did play. When he decided to play - wow! the "new" step-back jumper, hitting 3 balls, I mean wow, just wow. Only thing that bothers me is that through some of the games he didn't look completely healthy, and he seems to be having some trouble adjusting to his lesser body weight (which, frankly, I don't know why he's doing it). If he's healthy and is in "ON" mode - wow...
9.b. Kyrie - glimpses of greatness, accompanied by general lack of understanding. He's got a lot to learn, but when he eventually comes to, he'll be the next Tony Parker, but better.
9.c. Love - we saw (and know) he can shoot, but we're starting to see him develop an inside game, and also the fake, drive and pass. A bit concerning is his tendency to disappear, but that's natural for a non-ball-handler on a team like this. He's got to be super-efficient when he does get his looks, or he becomes "only" a rebounding machine... which brings us to:
9.d. Dion - Probably the biggest question mark. If Dion makes the "leap" and starts playing smart basketball, there's no stopping this team. If he continues to play hero-ball and try his 25-ft fadeaways, he'll be traded. I think it'll be the former, and I think Blatt will be the reason. Seen it happen with so many players - Ricky Hicman, Tyrese Rice, Ariel McDonald, Jeremy Pargo, and more. Gotta believe...
9.e. Andy - Profoundly impressed. He's the perfect player for this kind of team ball. Constant movement, passing skills, smart play overall, and above all - he makes shots when he's open. On top of it he anchors the defense, and once it sync's - he'll be the focal point.
9.f. Tristan - I admit I haven't seen him last year, but from what I've seen so far - he's the junkyard dog of this team - scrappy, a fighter, and practically the only big with some athletic ability. Blatt has always utilized these kind of players to the max. Really optimistic here.
9.g. Delly - Maybe the player with the most "Blatt-hours" so far, and it shows. Not surprised it's his pass to Tristan for that dunk. Was given the assignment to guard Rose and didn't do well. One of the concerns for him is his ability to defend those quick athletic PG's, and he'll have to get better, or the team will have to recognize and cover for him. Overall he's a lock for that 3rd-4th ball handler.
9.h. Miller/Marion/Jones - aka "The Vets" - they know all about preseason, so the jury is out on them. In general they look a bit old and out of it, but hopes are high.
9.i. Joey - I think evidently he will grab some meaningful minutes behind Dion instead of Miller/Jones. But not at the beginning. Showed some good (but not great) shooting, and nice (but not great) overall skills.
9.j. Haywood/Kirk/Price - had quite a good preseason, especially Kirk. Will probably make the team, and maybe actually play upon injuries. All 3 are quite huge dropoffs in talent compared to the others.

10. Conclusions - there aren't any. It's preseason. These are just observations, for what they're worth. I think conclusions for this year will start to appear only at around the allstar break. But...

11. Predictions - still too early, yada yada... Cavs will win more than half of the next 5 years championships. David Blatt will be a first-ballot HOF - how many coaches won multiple NBA championships, multiple Euroleague titles, an Olympic medal and the European National Championship (not even counting local-country championships)??