Windhorst Radio Show & Updates

[Futuredome]

I'm not buying all the excuses. There were excuses with Scott. There were excuses with Brown. Blatt is a very intelligent, successful coach who should eventually turn into a winner in the NBA. Mr. James and the rest of his clan must think they are perfect- which is so far from the truth. At what point do the excuses stop? The players need to take responsibility and/or meet with Blatt so they can all figure this out.

There is absolutely no reason this cannot work out. If it doesn't, I'm blaming the diva again. I've seen this movie before.

Blatt needs to start acting like a professional coach. He came from a quasi-collegeesque environment and it shows.

 

[Chris]

The problem is our window is not as big as we all thought when this came together and we have almost no bullets left in the gun when it comes to assets.

Disagree with just about every facet of this statement. Plenty of assets to improve the team still. It's not like you need another star player...you have three. Our window is also pretty damn nicely sized due to the youth of the team.

 

[Damien O'Connel]

Blatt needs to start acting like a professional coach. He came from a quasi-collegeesque environment and it shows.

This is completely asinine and ignorant. Blatt faced more pressure overseas on a day-to-day basis than he does here.

Quasi-collegeesque? That sounds like something that is not at all similar to college.

How has Blatt acted unprofessionally? He's one of the more professional individuals I've ever seen...anywhere. If the guy ran for president he could probably convince me to vote for him.

 

[Willard513]

Blatt needs to start acting like a professional coach. He came from a quasi-collegeesque environment and it shows.

How about the players do what they are supposed to do and be professionals? Respect the coach and his system. I hate the elitism that the players have for people that haven't played in the NBA. Just because someone wasn't naturally gifted the same way doesn't mean that he doesn't know the game and command the respect of his players. In all honesty, I'm willing to bet blatt is a much more cultured and intelligent man than Lebron, and he should not have to prove anything to anybody.

Fyi: I know I have commented on your posts the past like 3 times and I'm not targeting you, just trying to contribute to the conversation.

 

[Simmy]

The part where Windhorst talks about the disconnect between players and Blatt is believable while they look to or are more comfortable with Tyrone Lue makes sense. He is an ex player who has won championships. Blatt is coming from an environment where his team plays half the amount of games as an NBA season. He puts more stock in every game while Lebron etc looks at the journey and stepping stones towards a goal.

Didn't hear the radio show but it seems he's translated this message across into paper for this article:

• Cavaliers haven't lived up to billing yet
• 
• By Brian Windhorst | December 20, 2014 2:29:56 AM PST

CLEVELAND -- Last time the Cleveland Cavaliersplayed the Brooklyn Nets it was the royals, Jay Z and Beyonce. Late Friday night the celebrity row waiting for private audience with LeBron Jameswas Macklemore and Jason Dufner -- a Grammy winner and PGA champion.

The return of James and arrival of Kevin Lovehave certainly made the Cavs the NBA's "it" team, but now, 25 games into the season, the team itself has yet to really live up to its billing. The outlook for them to do so, at the moment, is hazy.

The Cavs are winning games -- they beat the Nets for the second time in the past two weeks, 95-91 on Friday -- but their progression has slowed noticeably. Unlike much of their competition in the Western Conference, they aren't scaring anyone right now.

Here is where some pro forma text would go about how the new team needs more time to find itself and its identity. That's a reasonable and measured position. However, thus far, there have been few sparks to emerge that portend a coming explosion.

The team is 15-10 overall but just 7-7 against teams with winning records and 2-6 against the superior Western Conference. They have played only two games thus far against the top seven teams from the West -- they lost to Portland and San Antonio -- and overall, they've enjoyed a home-heavy schedule this far.

They rank in the bottom 10 in defense, bottom 10 in pace and the middle of the pack in a host of other key measurements, from rebounding to shooting. They do have a top-five offense, which is what they are hanging their hat on. They're great at throwing long passes, and they sure can deploy shooters -- Mike Miller returning against the Nets from a concussion to drill seven 3-pointers in his best game of the season being just one example.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak
LeBron James' Cavs are not scaring their opponents in the manner of the West powers.
James has put up generally good numbers and had a few of his trademark dominant evenings. On balance, though, his overall production has slipped this season compared to his normal standard, at least up until now. He's playing more point guard than he has in years and more minutes than he'd prefer, and perhaps that's zapping him a tad, though he has shown little interest in discussing it.

"I don't think about the minutes I'm playing. I just do my job," James said after playing 40 minutes and scoring 22 points. "I feel good."

He hasn't finished outside the top three in most valuable player voting since 2008, when he was fourth. Yet if there was an MVP awarded for the first quarter of the season, there's a reasonable chance James would finish out of the top three, behind Stephen Curry, James Harden and Marc Gasol. Anthony Davis would be up there, too.

The Cavs did recently enjoy an eight-game win streak -- all the wins coming against East teams -- and they showed a surge in defense and togetherness. James and Kyrie Irving, who is currently mired in a shooting slump, have made nice strides in learning to play with each other. At times they've shown they can play decent defense, holding the Nets to 58 points over the final three quarters after giving up 127 points to the Atlanta Hawks earlier this week.

Coach David Blatt has mostly abandoned the facets of the Princeton offense he ran throughout training camp and the preseason and has been constantly tinkering with his lineups and rotations. He tried his third different starting shooting guard against the Nets, a move that looked inspired as he went to Miller on a night when he had his best game of the season.

His veteran players seem to oscillate between lukewarm and irritated with the European legend. Blatt coaches with the gravitas and confidence of a man who has won many, many championships, which he has. It is not hard to miss that the players connect better with lead assistant coach Tyronn Lue, who doesn't have anywhere near the résumé Blatt does but carries more currency because he's an ex-player who had existing relationships with many of the Cavs. How that situation will end up playing out, like this entire Cavs season, will be intriguing, if nothing else.

The Cavs probably have the most talented roster in the East, and they're actively trying to add more. They finished second to the Houston Rockets in the bidding for Corey Brewer, who was traded Friday, and the Cavs will be in more talks in the coming weeks.

They just rarely play like the most talented team, and when they do -- like when they jumped on the Charlotte Hornets 21-0 to start a game this week and then blew the lead -- it rarely sustains. The teams ahead of them in the East standings all have more continuity, and it often shows.

Even with Brook Lopez out and Deron Williamsleaving in the first half with a calf injury, the Nets were a bobbled Joe Johnson catch in the final seconds from forcing overtime. To add some perspective there, the Nets are now 1-10 this season against teams with winning records.

Sunday the Cavs get a measuring-stick game when the Memphis Grizzlies come to town, the biggest game they've had thus far in the season. It's a true chance to impress, a reaction that has yet to be truly applied to these assumed contenders.


Tags:LeBron JamesCleveland CavaliersDavid BlattTyronn Lue

 

[Rich]

That, to me, is a bad Windhorst article. Like I said earlier, we're 8th in SOS and that's the highest of all playoff teams besides New Orleans. I mean he bends the stats to make it look like it's been a cake walk by saying we've only played the top 7 teams in the West three times, but look at who we've played in the East. We've played the top 4 teams in the East EIGHT times, and the top 3 seven. So while we haven't played the very best of he West, we've played the very best of the East a lot and haven't been feasting on the bottom of the barrel teams like Philly hardly at all.

 

[jason436]

I think our biggest issue in trades will be making the dollars match. We just don't have a lot of contracts that we can trade or would be willing to trade. The contracts that are in play tend to be smaller ones which don't add up very fast to bring in a player that makes too much.

 

[Tornicade]

Windhorst is definitely twisting facts and mixing it in with safe speculation. It was obvious Marion wouldn't be the starting two the entire season and Miller would eventually get a shot at the starting job. Blatt looked at other options first and I dont believe is settle in with Miller at the starting guard position.

Blatt was in full support of Lues hiring and made it a point to say he was consulted on the matter.

Blatt also made adjustments to accommodate the players. Love felt it was too "radical" and Lebron really never endorsed it.

I believe Blatt made a mistake allowing Waiters to goto the bench personally and one that will be fixed before the season is out.

The coahcing staff is going to be scrutinized but ultimately what has lue done on the defensive end.

I do Think the coaching staff as a unit is on different pages but I think Gilbert and Griffin will be very cautious about making a major head coaching season for the 4th time in 4 season.

 

[Ohio]

Windy pissing on the Cavs, nothing new here.

 

[David.]

he's half right. we havent played many of the behemoths of the west. weve played the hard east teams.

i have no problem with him using stats to his benefit if it sets the tone for how we're performing and potentially creates a sense of urgency for the team

 

[LeShaq]

That, to me, is a bad Windhorst article.

I agree. As someone who likes and defends Windhorst often, I think that article is one of the more worthless pieces of his I've seen in awhile.

Although it admittedly might be useful for those people who are not Cavs fans.

For those of us following the team regularly and listening to his weekly show, I didn't get much out of the article.

 

[pr26]

I still like Windhorst for trade news and such, but it's hard to take him seriously when he basically said last week "yeah, i was forced to write this Lebron article". When you work for ESPN and you are covering a very hyped team going through growing pains, there is going to be some unnecessary sensationalism.

 

[MH32246]

I'm not buying all the excuses. There were excuses with Scott. There were excuses with Brown. Blatt is a very intelligent, successful coach who should eventually turn into a winner in the NBA. Mr. James and the rest of his clan must think they are perfect- which is so far from the truth. At what point do the excuses stop? The players need to take responsibility and/or meet with Blatt so they can all figure this out.

There is absolutely no reason this cannot work out. If it doesn't, I'm blaming the diva again. I've seen this movie before.

That Diva you are talking about is a 4X MVP 2X NBA Final MVP 2X Olympic Gold Medalist vs. A rookie head coach who hasn't even been an NBA assistant coach who coached over in Europe. I wasn't making or saying it should be excuses I'm saying I can understand that the players might respect Lue more than Blatt. He has been in their shoes before and knows the NBA game thats not a knock on Blatt is just a fact. Blatt has been involved with the NBA from a coaching aspect for 25 games.

 

[e0y2e3]

That Diva you are talking about is a 4X MVP 2X NBA Final MVP 2X Olympic Gold Medalist vs. A rookie head coach who hasn't even been an NBA assistant coach who coached over in Europe. I wasn't making or saying it should be excuses I'm saying I can understand that the players might respect Lue more than Blatt. He has been in their shoes before and knows the NBA game thats not a knock on Blatt is just a fact. Blatt has been involved with the NBA from a coaching aspect for 25 games.

Why do you bend Bron's NBA history without talking about Lue's history of suck and dik riding?

This is the worst post ever here.

 

[gourimoko]

Why do you bend Bron's NBA history without talking about Lue's history of suck and dik riding?

This is the worst post ever here.

All the guy is saying is that LeBron has been around the block and Blatt hasn't. Even Kevin Love has more or less said he's not thrilled with Blatt's offense. Windhorst says what he planned in the offseason has been completely abandoned (I think that's a lie btw).

Point being, Blatt is having a tough transition. But many of us believe in his ability to turn things around and right the ship. I think he'll go down as a great NBA coach and he needs much more time to put things together.

I back Brown being fired midseason last year, and I was for the firing of Byron Scott in the offseason he lost his job (because he'd lost the team). But any calls for Blatt's head are premature; at least, as far as I understand the situation.

Again, Windhorst paints a bleak picture; but I think that's just his classic motif. Remember, this is the guy who said Kyrie and LeBron would never play together, ever.

Blatt will do fine... hell, offense isn't even the issue; it's defense!