http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...latt_knows_a_thing_or_17_about_winning_titles
Growing up in Framingham and cheering for the likes of Celtics greats Bill Russell and John Havlicek, Cavaliers coach David Blatt knew what championship basketball was all about.
At the professional level, Blatt has coached 17 champions in various leagues and tournaments, the most recent, a Euroleague title last year for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
None of those championships were the NBA, so critics were interested to see how he would handle his first postseason series against the Celtics.
“I don’t really know if people are aware of just what kind of different competitions I’ve been in based on how they approach my rookie season here in the NBA,” said Blatt, 55, a Princeton graduate. “It’s kind of funny to me. You have to recognize that I’ve been on playoff runs that are national team-oriented. I’ve coached teams that have played 11 games in 15 or 16 days in order to win a medal or European championship.
“They don’t have anything like that in the NBA. That’s extremely difficult.”
That said, Blatt isn’t naïve to the fact it’s a different landscape in the NBA and that his every move will be scrutinized.
“I’ve never coached a seven-game playoff series. I’ve coached five-game playoff series, so that’s different, and this is extremely difficult,” he said. “Every challenge has its own dynamic and its own demands. Like I said before, and I’ll say again, I’m still in the process of learning and of working hard to be the best coach I can be in this league.”
Blatt has the backing of his players, as he’s taken a team with many new to the playoff scene and molded it into his own.
“The one thing I appreciate with coach Blatt is that he’s always going to stay the same,” Cleveland guard
Kyrie Irving said. “He’s always going to stay the course. He’s even-keeled. I think we share that same mindset, but also deep inside he’s got a killer mindset as well. He’s prepared all the time. He gets us going and he brings the energy. He just wants us to play hard on both ends of the court. He’s a champion.”
Blatt is also a seasoned veteran when it comes to making quick decisions. Kevin Love might have finished with a solid effort in his playoff debut Sunday, but the forward certainly didn’t start that way.
“He’s been there before,”
Love said. “I know he doesn’t like to say he’s a rookie coach, but in this league he is. He just doesn’t hold himself like one. He did a great job of holding us together in Game 1 when we got down by seven or eight points and kept us calm. He called a timeout. We got together and were able to withstand and come out on top.”
As the series shifts tomorrow to the Garden for Game 3, Blatt has the respect of his players in a city that hasn’t seen a pro championship in 51 years.
“He’s been great,” star forward
LeBron James, the four-time NBA MVP, said. “He’s prepared us to go out and give us the best chance to win a ballgame. For us as players, we have to go out and do that.”